After a staff member at an adult foster care home in the Duluth, Minn., area was left alone with and nearly raped by a resident who had twice been civilly committed for mental illness, the Duluth News Tribune investigated the homes and found numerous incidents of residents with severe mental illness, drug addiction and violent…
Read MoreA profile by Michael Fabey in Travel Weekly explores the credibility of Kate Hanni and FlyersRights.org. Three years ago, Hanni, a realtor-turned-lobbyist, stormed Washington on a crusade that wound up changing the way the Transportation Department makes airlines handle long-term tarmac delays. It appears Hanni misled Congress with false reports, data and statements. FlyersRights.org, the…
Read MoreBy Doug Haddix, IRE training director Time management can be a reporter’s biggest challenge when it comes to watchdog stories. During a recent Better Watchdog Workshop in Denver, two seasoned investigative journalists shared tips and tricks they’ve learned to make time for the big story. Advice and tips came from Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee…
Read MoreThe U.S. State Department has reversed its decision to deny a visa to Colombian investigative journalist Hollman Morris, clearing the way for Morris to participate in the Nieman Foundation for Journalism’s fellowship program at Harvard University. IRE and many other journalism organizations contacted the State Department asking officials to reconsider their initial decision. Morris initially…
Read More“A six-year archive of classified military documents made public on Sunday offers an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respects more grim than the official portrayal,” reports The New York Times. The documents were released online by WikiLeaks.org, but The New York Times, the British newspaper The Guardian and…
Read MoreIn Florida, convicted scammers and thieves are among workers selling unproven fixes and dubious diagnoses in the completely unregulated Chinese drywall “remediation” and inspection industry, a Palm Beach Post investigation found. A lack of state oversight makes dealing in drywall remedies a free-for-all for even the least qualified entrepreneurs, who are capitalizing on homeowner’s fears…
Read MoreIn a federal crackdown on the Latin Kings, a notorious street gang in Milwaukee, federal authorities had a chance to arrest a key gang leader wanted in connection with a homicide when he appeared at the county courthouse on a different case. But an investigation by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter John Diedrich revealed a startling…
Read MoreWhen it comes to using water, in Milwaukee the largest users do not have the largest homes or properties, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis by Ben Poston revealed. It’s the opposite: The biggest users are in the poorest census tracts in the city and are disproportionately minorities. Why? Those homes are more likely to have…
Read MoreCitations for safety and health violations by operators of underground coal mines have increased by nearly a third since 2006, with federal mine inspectors focusing about equally on three main types of mining hazards. An NPR analysis of nearly 80,000 citations written last year found that an accumulation of combustible coal dust was the most…
Read MoreDetroit Free Press investigative reporter Jennifer Dixon uncovered government documents showing that top executives at Synagro Technologies knew of questionable spending by underlings who paid bribes to win a $1.2-billion city contract in Detroit. The report noted that federal authorities prosecuted the two underlings, who now are in federal prison; but no executives with the…
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