Reporters Meg Kissinger and Susanne Rust of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed thousands of pages of public records, from IRS documents to financial disclosure filings, to get inside the chemical industry’s push to fight a ban on bisphenol A, a chemical used in hard, clear plastics, including baby bottles. Their analysis showed the industry has…
Read MoreMatt Dixon of The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) reports that budget cuts and strict state regulations have prevented the clean-up of thousands of underground petroleum leaks throughout Florida. Analysis of discharge data maintained by the Florida Department of Environment Protection shows more than 17,000 uncleaned leaks dating back to the mid-1980s.
Read MoreAs part of its ongoing series on water pollution in America, The New York Times looks at the impact of atrazine, a popular weed killer, on our water supply . Recent research indicates that exposure to low concentrations of atrazine may be linked to low birth weights, birth defects and menstrual problems. The Times investigation…
Read MoreAndy Curliss of The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) reported that former North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley got at least $50,000 in free golf dues from an expensive club near Raleigh and did not report the gift on the required disclosure forms. The News & Observer‘s continued coverage of Gov. Easley has led to federal…
Read MoreDan Kane and Eric Ferreri of The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) took a look at a little known perk for University of North Carolina administrators known as “retreat rights” that paid them as much as a full year’s leave at their administrative salaries while they prepared for courses. In several cases, the administrators left…
Read MoreMilwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters John Fauber and Meg Kissinger reviewed unsealed court records and found that at a time when fears were growing about the link between hormone therapy and breast cancer a drug company paid the University of Wisconsin Medical School to sponsor ghostwritten medical education articles that downplayed the risk. The article is…
Read MoreAnalysis of foreign lobbying disclosure records by ProPublica and the Sunlight Foundation provide insight into foreign influence on Capitol Hill. “More than 280 lobbying firms collected $87 million in fees for representing 340 foreign clients, including governments, government-controlled organizations, political parties, separatist groups and a handful of for-profit firms.” United Arab a, principally addressing interests in…
Read MoreDespite a huge budget deficit, an Associated Press review of legislative pay records showed that many California lawmakers had given pay raises to their staff in the first half of 2009. These pay increases came at a time when the state had to make “some $30 billion in cuts over a two-year period to education,…
Read MoreJohn Schmid and Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office “has become overwhelmed by the growing volume and complexity of the applications it receives, creating a massive backlog that by its own reckoning could take at least six years to get under control.” The also found that…
Read MoreJonathan D. Salant and Lizzie O’Leary of Bloomberg.com report that there are approximately 3,300 lobbyists currently working on the issue of health care. “That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense.” During the…
Read More