Posts by hdcoadmin
Company executives knew of questionable spending by underlings who paid bribes to win city contract
Detroit Free Press investigative reporter Jennifer Dixon uncovered government documents showing that top executives at Synagro Technologies knew of questionable spending by underlings who paid bribes to win a $1.2-billion city contract in Detroit. The report noted that federal authorities prosecuted the two underlings, who now are in federal prison; but no executives with the…
Read MoreDespite no data to prove case, NY institutions receive more state dollars for residents with alleged criminal backgrounds
Institutions for developmentally disabled New Yorkers have taken a new approach to care: locked units for people who officials say have had a brush with the law, according to an investigation by Mary Beth Pfeiffer of the Poughkeepsie Journal. In Part 2 of the ongoing series, “Money Pit/Money Makers” the newspaper revealed that the state…
Read MorePost series reveals national security system too large to manage
The Washington Post’s “Top Secret America” series investigates the U.S. national security and intelligence system that is “so big, so complex and so hard to manage, no one really knows if it’s fulfilling its most important purpose: keeping its citizens safe.” The project, nearly two years in the making, includes detailed interactive graphics and maps.
Read MoreAugust Mapping Boot Camp — seats are still available, register today!
Take your CAR skills to the next level by learning how to uncover the “where” in your data, and receive a great deal on ArcView geographic system information system (GIS) software in this Aug. 13-15 bootcamp. Instructors Jennifer LaFleur of ProPublica and David Herzog of NICAR will lead this intensive three-day session in Columbia, MO. …
Read MoreGannett bolsters watchdog work
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director Attorney Herschel Fink brandished a copy of a $400,000 check from the city of Detroit – payable to the Detroit Free Press for legal fees in a public records battle involving former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. While large, the payment didn’t cover the newspaper’s full costs in its aggressive investigation,…
Read MoreSecondary chemo exposure a threat to healthcare workers
An InvestigateWest investigation revealed that the same powerful chemotherapy drugs that have saved hundreds of thousands of patients’ lives for decades have at the same time taken a potentially deadly toll on the health of hospital and clinic workers who handled them. The federal government, despite knowledge of the potential risks, continues to let these…
Read MoreIRE board protests State Dept’s visa denial for Colombian investigative journalist
The board of Investigative Reporters and Editors joins other journalism organizations in the United States to protest the U.S. State Department’s recent decision to deny a visa for Colombian investigative journalist Hollman Morris, who was selected as a Nieman fellow for the 2010-2011 year at Harvard University. Morris is among the most prominent investigative TV…
Read MoreGulf of Mexico littered with abandoned oil and gas wells
Associated Press reporters Jeff Donn and Mitch Weiss discovered that more than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one – not industry, not government – is checking to see if they are leaking. The oldest…
Read MoreBlast at BP Texas Refinery in ’05 foreshadowed Gulf disaster
An on-going investigation by ProPublica and FRONTLINE traces the story of a deadly but much lesser-known BP refinery explosion in 2005. The report explains how the company’s record of cutting corners on safety to maximize profits may have led to the blast. The explosion at a refinery in Texas City, Texas killed 15 people. “The…
Read MoreFEMA trailers reappearing in Gulf to house oil spill workers
FEMA trailers are appearing in the Gulf region to serve as temporary housing for workers involved in cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to an investigation by Ian Urbina of The New York Times. “The trailers were discovered to have such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being…
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