Posts by hdcoadmin
U.S. House panel probes SEC spending on consultants
“Reuters first reported in late February of last year that the SEC had spent millions of dollars hiring Booz Allen consultants to help streamline the agency, leading some agency insiders to question whether the SEC was getting its money’s worth.”
Read MoreContract for deed can be house of horror for buyers
A Star Tribune investigation of 1,330 Twin Cities real estate transactions known as contracts for deed reveals that they are beset by inflated prices, high interest rates and other terms that almost guarantee the buyer will default. In hundreds of cases, records show, sellers failed to provide mandated home inspections that would have revealed code…
Read MoreAre power wheelchair companies ripping off the government?
“Medicare fraud costs taxpayers an estimated $60 billion annually. One problem area is power wheelchairs, which cost the program hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Over the course of a several month “CBS This Morning” investigation, numerous people who have sold and prescribed these wheelchairs told CBS News that the industry bullies doctors, and…
Read MoreTriMet overtime: ‘Exhaustion has become part of the culture’ at transit agency
“Reports of drowsy drivers, including three with multiple incidents, are just one sign that Oregon’s largest transit agency is playing a game of chicken with fatigue. The newspaper’s eight-month examination found that the budget-battered agency allows operators to manipulate work rules to log as many as 22 hours in a 24-hour period, filling open runs…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Teacher absences, prescription painkillers, complaints at for-profit care centers
Welcome to IRE’s roundup of the weekend’s many enterprise stories — the last one of 2012 — from around the country. We’ll highlight the document digging, field work and data analysis that made their way into centerpieces in print, broadcast and online from coast to coast. Did we miss something? Email tips to web@ire.org. The…
Read MoreMedical marijuana: A few high-volume doctors approve most patients
“The Oregonian’s examination of high-volume marijuana doctors — including interviews with physicians and clinic operators as well as a review of state documents, medical licensing reports, court records and caseload data — paints a picture of a highly specialized industry.”
Read MoreRuthless Smuggling Rings Put Rhinos in the Cross Hairs
“Driven by a common belief in Asia that ground-up rhino horns can cure cancer and other ills, the trade has also been embraced by criminal syndicates that normally traffic drugs and guns, but have branched into the underground animal parts business because it is seen as “low risk, high profit,” American officials say.”
Read MoreDriven by suicide, gun deaths are increasing in Utah
“Data from the Utah Department of Health show gun deaths from 2007 to 2011 were 23 percent higher than from 2001 to 2005.”
Read MoreDrone War Spurs Militants to Deadly Reprisals
“For several years now, militant enforcers have scoured the tribal belt in search of informers who help the C.I.A. find and kill the spy agency’s jihadist quarry. The militants’ technique — often more witch hunt than investigation — follows a well-established pattern.”
Read MoreDying for Relief: Reckless doctors go unchecked
“Law enforcement officials and medical regulators could mine the data for a different purpose: To draw a bead on rogue doctors. But they don’t, and that has allowed corrupt or negligent physicians to prescribe narcotics recklessly for years before authorities learned about their conduct through other means, a Times investigation found.”
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