Posts by Alena Rehberger
Baltimore defendants can spend weeks in jail before given the opportunity to post bail
Shykill Brewer, who was arrested on a misdemeanor drug charge days before Christmas, is among dozens of Baltimore suspects who have been detained for days with no chance at release, after being charged directly by prosecutors instead of by police. Officials say the unusual strategy is key to taking down major criminal organizations, but they…
Read MoreNew York state offices ignore Freedom of Information Laws
Part of New York’s Freedom of Information Law requires each state agency to maintain up-to-date “subject matter lists” — indexes of all records maintained by the agency — and to post them on the Internet. But a study of 86 New York state agencies by the Press & Sun-Bulletin found 9 in 10 were not…
Read More$163 million spent on injured public safety employees in three New York counties
Police officers and firefighters who file injury claims in the Lower Hudson Valley often collect tax-free salaries for years while local municipalities and the state wrangle over who ultimately picks up the tab. More than 15 percent of the state’s first responders end up retiring on a state-funded disability pension. That number is even higher…
Read MoreOklahoma veteran center doctors have records, substance abuse problems
Veterans centers in Oklahoma routinely hire doctors and other licensed medical personnel with a record of problems to treat the state’s sickest, most vulnerable veterans. Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs say money is the culprit, claiming it’s difficult to find suitable applicants with clean records to work at the state’s seven veterans…
Read MoreOil shipped by rail through Northwestern U.S. unusually volatile
Oil moving through Oregon has contained six times more propane – the same stuff in backyard gas grills – than comparable types of crude. Despite the risks, the oil isn’t required to go through simple steps to stabilize it when it’s extracted from the ground. Producers can flare off the propane and other gases in…
Read MoreFraud victims spend millions on attorneys and accountants trying to recoup losses
Being a fraud victim can be financially and emotionally devastating — then you get sucked into the U.S. legal system. For some investors, the experience can be maddening as they watch lawyers and accountants eat up $380 an hour and more in fees and expenses paid from recovered investor money as cases drag on. But…
Read MoreUpdated National Bridge Inventory database available from NICAR
Now current through 2013, the National Bridge Inventory database can help you assess the soundness of bridges in your area. Journalists can use the data to investigate bridges by identifying those with structural problems, or that haven’t been recently inspected. Other key fields include average daily traffic and overall sufficiency rating. The records represent information…
Read MoreResidents of ‘uninhabitable’ Calif. public housing complex to be relocated
Following a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, the City Council of Richmond, Calif. voted to give residents of the Hacienda public housing complex vouchers to move into private housing. Tim Jones, executive director of the Richmond Housing Authority, called the bulding uninhabitable, and dozens of residents have complained of health problems due to…
Read MoreMass. newspaper reporter catches city employees burning public records
A reporter from The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. caught city employees burning reams of public records, all without approval from the state. Old purchase orders, payroll records and utility bills, along with a handful of other documents, went up in smoke. The city’s public works commissioner “emphasized that all of the records burned in…
Read MoreIRE, SPJ, NECIR offer 2 additional workshops in Chicago, Fort Worth
Do you have reporters or editors on your staff who would benefit from training to help them produce enterprise and investigative stories? Thanks to a grant from Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the Society for Professional Journalists is working with Investigative Reporters and Editors and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting to offer two-day Watchdog Reporting Workshops for journalists from your region. …
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