An investigation by The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.) uncovered problems with the taxpayer-funded Torres-Martinez tribal welfare program.”Beneath the surface of rampant poverty and joblessness on one of California’s poorest American Indian reservations is nearly a decade of mismanagement and misuse of millions in taxpayer dollars meant for those needing the money most, federal and…
Read MoreThe News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) won what may be the first court ruling of its kind in Washington state, when a judge ordered the Tacoma City Council to video and audio record its executive sessions. The newspaper’s lawsuit comes on the heels of reporting by the News Tribune‘s Lewis Kamb on the city council’s appointment…
Read MoreThe 2010 Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) Conference is quickly approaching. Make your plans and register TODAY! Last year, participants were scrambling to find a hotel room after the room block had filled. This year we are in Phoenix during Spring Training, and hotel rooms and rates outside our block can be higher than our discounted rate. …
Read MoreIsaac Wolf of Scripps Howard News Service in Washington reports that “federal authorities have issued a sweeping order for some of the nation’s largest debt-collecting companies to open their books. In its first investigation of the $60 billion consumer debt resale market, the Federal Trade Commission has directed the nine companies that buy the most second-hand…
Read MoreAs many as 80% of children in some states who received a first dose of H1N1 vaccine haven’t received a booster dose that’s necessary to fully protect them from swine flu, according to a USA Today review of immunization registry data from 10 states. State health officials are worried growing public complacency could put these…
Read MoreOn January 14, the general manager of Washington D.C.’s Metro system announced he is resigning, bringing to five the number of top executives who are leaving or have been reassigned in response to a Washington Post series on safety lapses in the nation’s second-busiest subway system.
Read MoreA watchdog report by Ellen Gabler of The Chicago Tribune revealed that Christine M.J. Oliver, the president of the nonprofit Chicago Dwellings Association, was paid about $685,00 in 2008. Experts say this amount was nearly three times what other executives were paid at housing nonprofits in the area.
Read More“More than $800 million in student fees and university subsidies are propping up athletic programs at the nation’s top sports colleges, including hundreds of millions in the richest conferences,” according to a report by Jack Gillum, Jodi Upton and Steve Berkowitz of USA Today. At the same time, many of these school are facing financial…
Read MoreThe deadline for submitting entries for the IRE Awards is this Friday, January 15. All entries must be postmarked by midnight on Friday. As you review work from 2009, don’t forget that we have added a new category to the contest that honors breaking news investigations. It is open to all journalists, regardless of media…
Read MoreKPCC.org, the Web site for Southern California Public Radio, investigated allegations of inmate mistreatment at the California Institution for Men in Chino following a bloody 11-hour riot Aug. 8, 2009. The riot left some 200 men injured. It took authorities until sunrise to contain the violence. In interviews and in letters obtained by KPCC, inmates…
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