The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Posts by hdcoadmin
Extra Extra Monday: OSHA ignores slow and silent killers, corporate influence reaches court, back-door school handouts
As OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester | The New York TimesThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency that many Americans love to hate and industry calls overzealous, has largely ignored the slow, silent killers that claim the most lives. Corporations, pro-business nonprofits foot bill for judicial seminars | Center for Public IntegrityConservative…
Read MoreBack-door school handouts
“Rolled into the usual state aid sent to districts, the subsidies are all but hidden and have been skyrocketing, starting at $46 million and increasing more than 1,000 percent in the years since lawmakers approved them, state data show. At its peak in 2008, the program cost taxpayers $805 million, with the majority of school…
Read MorePenalties and prosecution light as illegal gun market thrives in Minnesota
Over the last decade, federal prosecutors pursued only eight domestic gun-trafficking cases in Minnesota, according to court records examined by the Star Tribune. Federal law enforcement officials say their limited presence in the state and significant constraints in federal law present serious obstacles to cracking down on illegal gun trafficking. Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd…
Read MoreMaker of popular tax software fights free, simple tax filing
Collaborative reporting between ProPublica and NPR reveals that Intuit, the company behind America’s most popular tax software, TurboTax, has long fought efforts to establish an easier, free tax filing system in the U.S. Similar systems already exist in Denmwark, Spain and Sweden, and advocates for such a system say it could save millions of taxpayers…
Read MoreFour of five drug busts by Border Patrol involve U.S. citizens
There’s no argument that Mexico-based crime organizations dominate drug smuggling into the United States. But the public message that the Border Patrol has trumpeted for much of the last decade, mainly through press releases about its seizures, has emphasized Mexican drug couriers, or mules, as those largely responsible for transporting drugs. It turns out that…
Read MoreFear drives lack of public access in Maine
By Judy Meyer Maine is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to public access. Blame technology. The very computer systems and databases created to improve the flow of information and ease public access are now being held up, by lawmakers, as troublesome portals to be sealed shut in the interest of personal privacy.…
Read MoreStory of stolen semi-automatic reveals shadowy circulation of handguns
The Star Tribune tells the story of how one cheap semi-automatic handgun was stolen, and then used in three violent crimes in Minneapolis. The long and shadowy circulation of handguns like the Hi-Point often confounds police and can elude gun control laws.
Read MoreMobile apps for investigative journalists
Journalists can now carry many of the essential reporting tools — camera, voice recorder, notepad, phone, police scanner — with them in one hand-held device. But that same device can carry a police scanner, a document scanner, a photo editor, a video camera and a flight tracker. You can record audio and take time-stamped notes.…
Read MoreInvestigating agribusiness: A workshop and reporting examples
Navajo boys plow a corn field on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, date unknown. Photo from the National Archives and Records Administration. Monday is the last day to register for an all-expenses paid reporting workshop on covering agribusiness from The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and Investigative Reporters and Editors, held May 30 to June…
Read MoreConsultant’s report kept secret over ’embarrassing’ criticism
The Charleston Gazette reports that “a state agency paid a Virginia-based company an estimated $118,000 to review West Virginia’s use of $126.3 million in federal stimulus funds to expand high-speed Internet, but Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s administration won’t release the consultant’s findings to the public.” The reason, Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette told the Gazette, is that at…
Read More