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Posts by Alena Rehberger
Questions remain about botched Oklahoma execution
Clayton Lockett’s death took nearly four times as long as most Oklahoma executions because a failed IV line started by a medical professional whose credentials remain secret under state law slowly leaked a drug combination that experts had warned could potentially be inhumane, a Tulsa World investigation has found. When state officials realized what was…
Read MoreInvestigation shows heroin-related deaths are not accurately counted
Elected officials, law enforcement officers and others proclaim there’s a heroin “epidemic” sweeping the country, and it’s taking hold in rural and suburban communities once considered unlikely places to find illicit drugs. But nobody knows how many people have died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 3,036 people died in 2010 from…
Read MoreUncovered: The coal dust in our wind
Lamberts Point, a coal terminal on the banks of the Elizabeth River since 1885, never had an air permit because it predated the 1970 federal Clean Air Act and the resulting oversight. In effect, there are no coal dust emission limits for Lamberts Point, provided the terminal doesn’t handle more coal than allowed each year…
Read MorePain and gain: An Alabama clinic stands out amid data on Medicare payments
Anesthesiologist K. Dean Willis is now garnering national attention and new scrutiny. For the first time, newly released Medicare data has identified the costs associated with specific doctors performing procedures or administering drugs. The data allows for the identification of “hotspots” for particular treatments. The Washington Post found that the Huntsville area ranked fourth in…
Read MoreLawmakers pocketing your tax dollars by double billing
Six lawmakers likely owe taxpayers money, following findings from our “Louisiana Purchased” investigation. And some have already written checks to return cash that they never should have collected. It’s the latest report in a joint investigation of campaign finance by FOX 8 News and Manuel Torres of NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune. But that hasn’t stopped some lawmakers…
Read More60 years after Brown v. Board of Ed, pockets of segregation remain in Md. Schools
Sixty years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in 21 states was unconstitutional, diversity is not guaranteed in Maryland’s schools. Ten percent of the schools in Maryland have a high percentage of black students, nearly all of them in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis. And…
Read MorePublic PayCHECK: Check out local government salaries
Recent salary survey shows that City of Springfield wages often were less than the wages offered for comparable jobs in other cities. But a News-Leader analysis of public employee salaries shows that city government workers have no more — and no less — cause for complaint than other area workers. Overall, city wages appear to…
Read MoreHow much salt is in your well water? For some, too much
More than half of the private wells in the Town of East Fishkill have higher concentrations of sodium from road salt than some government health standards recommend, according to a new study by local scientists. The findings by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies are preliminary. But they represent the first scientific analysis of well…
Read MoreWatchdog: City schools pay $3M in unused vacation
There is no limit to how many hours Rochester School District supervisory staffers can exchange, save for what they carry over and accrue in a given year. And they have cashed out in greater number, for more hours and more pay on average than other district employees, records show. Over the past three years, they…
Read MoreJustice of the Peace job means big money – for some
They can pronounce you “man and wife…” evict you from your home and settle your minor legal claims. It is, by all accounts, a position with very basic judicial responsibilities. But the WDSU I-Team has learned that – depending on where a justice of the peace serves – the financial rewards can be huge. When…
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