Posts by Alena Rehberger
Consumers With Canceled Insurance Plans Shifted to New Ones Without Their Permission
“The California Department of Insurance said it is exploring whether any laws were broken when insurance companies withdrew money from consumers’ accounts for plans they didn’t select,” ProPublic reports. Read the full story here.
Read MoreCharity Checker
The Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting have teamed up to create the Charity Checker, which “searches the nation’s top charity watchdog and review sites and shows you their ratings, all in one place.” Check it out here.
Read MorePatients’ deadly surgery wait as toll soars
“More than 840 people – 16 a week – died waiting for surgery in Victoria in the past year. The revelation comes as the length of time patients spend on elective surgery waiting lists continues to grow,” the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia, reports. Read their full story here.
Read MoreVirginia Supreme Court overturns blackout, opens public access to audio recordings of oral arguments
Members of the Virginia Supreme Court have a New Year’s Resolution — become more transparent. Starting this year, members of the public will finally have access to audio recordings of oral arguments. The recordings were once public, but installation of new recording equipment in January 2008 changed that. As the Alexandria Gazette Packet first reported last summer,…
Read MoreChemical spill site went largely unregulated for years
The Wall Street Journal reports that “the site of a West Virginia chemical spill that contaminated the water supply for 300,000 people operated largely outside government oversight, highlighting gaps in regulations and prompting questions on whether local communities have a firm grasp on potential threats to drinking water.”
Read MoreFeds in Ajo for Border Patrol home cost audit
“Following an uproar by residents and some members of Congress, the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation into whether $15 million in tax dollars to build housing for Border Patrol agents here was improperly spent,” The Arizona Republic reports. Read the full story here.
Read MoreHow Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholes
“It’s widely believed that the 2007 rewrite of congressional travel rules spurred by the scandal that sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison banned such international dalliances. But that’s far, far from true,” the National Journal reports. “A National Journal investigation has found that despite efforts to clip the wings of congressional travel planned and paid…
Read MoreDuke Fracking Tests Reveal Dangers Driller’s Data Missed
“When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared that a group of Texas homes near a gas-drilling operation didn’t have dangerous levels of methane in their water, it relied on tests conducted by the driller itself,” Bloomberg Sustainability reports. Read the full story here.
Read MoreBaldwin says ATF stings “totally inexcusable,” DOJ IG to investigate
“The U.S. Justice Department inspector general is reviewing the findings of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation revealing how ATF used rogue tactics in storefront sting operations nationwide and is considering how he will investigate them.” Read the full story here.
Read MoreICE Admits to Detaining 13 Pregnant Women
“As part of an on-going investigation, Fusion has learned that 13 pregnant women were detained in an immigration detention center in El Paso between August and November of 2013,” Fusion reports. Read the full story here.
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