Posts by hdcoadmin
Campaign finance reform spawning young donors
Donors are skirting campaign finance laws by making campaign contributions in their young children’s names according to a report by Matthew Mosk of The Washington Post. “Although campaign finance laws set a limit of $2,300 per donor per campaign, they do not explicitly bar donors based on age. And young donors abound in the fundraising…
Read MoreOne-third of S. Florida gas pumps inaccurate
A report by Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel shows that 34 percent of gas pumps in South Florida failed accuracy tests over the past three years. “The analysis found 580 of more than 2,500 stations in South Florida had at least one pump dispensing more gas than customers paid to purchase, while…
Read MoreAbuses found in Detroit’s tax-relief program
David Josar of The Detroit News investigated possibly abuses by the the city’s Hardship Committee, which grants millions in property tax exemptions intended for the poor but keeps no notes at its meetings, does not verify applicants’ claims and has never been audited. The News‘ three-month investigation found that some exemptions were granted to property…
Read MoreAthletes’ weight gain can lead to major problems
Garry Lenton of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., reports on the increased average size of high school football players. The newspaper used high school football rosters from 1988 and 2006, calculating the body mass index of 800 players total and finding that “Eighteen percent of 2006 players had a body mass index of 30 or…
Read MoreAmerican Imports, Chinese Deaths
Over a 12-month period, investigative reporter Loretta Tofani traveled to China, examining worker conditions and “observed first-hand how Chinese workers routinely risk their health and sometimes their lives making products for export to the United States and other countries.” Her series, printed in the Salt Lake Tribune, tells of workers using dangerous, outdated machines, sometimes…
Read MoreBlackwater leaves dirty trail
PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal features Jeremy Scahill, author of a book about Blackwater, a private U.S.-based company that is one of the largest private security contractors in Iraq, where its assignments have included protecting individuals and guarding the U.S. embassy. Scahill’s interview comes in the wake of Congressional hearings after the company’s employees were implicated…
Read MoreIllinois lags in tracking teachers’ misconduct
Scott Reeder, writing for Quad-CitiesOnline.com, found that Illinois ranked 49th in a nationwide analysis of disciplinary actions against teachers. The state has no system in place to investigate or flag teachers accused of misconduct. To determine how Illinois compares to other states, Small Newspaper Group obtained information on 20,000 cases of teacher licensure discipline from…
Read MoreThe Bundling Boom
The Wall Street Journal‘s Brody Mullins surveys the widespread influence of “bundling,” collecting individual donations and rolling them together into high-dollar, high-impact political fundraising. Although the term gained notoriety after the arrest of Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, bundling is a longstanding and legal campaign tactic. Brody writes that “bundling has become the chief source of…
Read MoreMore questionable deaths uncovered at Wisconsin psychiatric hospital
Using police and coroner records, Mary Zahn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found three more deaths at a state psychiatric hospital involving questionable medical decisions. One woman complained she was paralyzed after a fall, but doctors and nurses at Winnebago Mental Health Institute didn’t believe her. They waited six days to take her to a…
Read MoreDiscipline system for teachers, staff flawed in Ohio schools
The Columbus Dispatch delves into Ohio’s flawed system of disciplining and tracking teachers, coaches, aides, counselors and administrators. The Web site for The ABCs of Betrayal includes asearchable database of Ohio educators disciplined since 2000. The 10-month investigation found educators remained in the classroom despite misconduct such as theft, assault and abuse of children.
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