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Pain and gain: An Alabama clinic stands out amid data on Medicare payments

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Anesthesiologist K. Dean Willis is now garnering national attention and new scrutiny. For the first time, newly released Medicare data has identified the costs associated with specific doctors performing procedures or administering drugs. The data allows for the identification of “hotspots” for particular treatments. The Washington Post found that the Huntsville area ranked fourth in…

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Uncovered: The coal dust in our wind

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Lamberts Point, a coal terminal on the banks of the Elizabeth River since 1885, never had an air permit because it predated the 1970 federal Clean Air Act and the resulting oversight. In effect, there are no coal dust emission limits for Lamberts Point, provided the terminal doesn’t handle more coal than allowed each year…

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Investigation shows heroin-related deaths are not accurately counted

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Elected officials, law enforcement officers and others proclaim there’s a heroin “epidemic” sweeping the country, and it’s taking hold in rural and suburban communities once considered unlikely places to find illicit drugs. But nobody knows how many people have died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 3,036 people died in 2010 from…

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Questions remain about botched Oklahoma execution

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Clayton Lockett’s death took nearly four times as long as most Oklahoma executions because a failed IV line started by a medical professional whose credentials remain secret under state law slowly leaked a drug combination that experts had warned could potentially be inhumane, a Tulsa World investigation has found. When state officials realized what was…

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Denver parking revenue, tickets on the rise, analysis finds

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Denver is raking in significantly more money from parking tickets than it did just five years ago — largely because of added meters, overnight downtown parking hours, technology that speeds up ticketing and hiked street-sweeping fines. A Denver Post analysis of parking-citation data found that collections from tickets and penalties reached $30.5 million last year.…

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Records shape story of Pinyon Pines killings

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

The 449 pages of court records obtained by The Desert Sun document evidence that convinced a 19-member grand jury to indict Robert Pape in the deaths of Rebecca “Becky” Friedli, her mother, Vicki Friedli and her mother’s partner, Jon Hayward. Becky Friedli’s remains were found in the wheelbarrow. The shot, then burned remains of Vicki…

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Yarnell Hill Fire: System failed to alert hundreds to evacuate

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

Emergency evacuation calls during the Yarnell Hill Fire were delayed 21 minutes as dispatchers struggled to overcome technological problems, new records obtained by The Arizona Republic and 12 News show. Even then, only 79 calls went through, meaning hundreds of households in Yarnell and Peeples Valley were never notified, the records show. The new information…

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Obscure law is freeing county mental patients

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

A Seattle Times investigation has found that people like Gregory Benson are now released on technicalities from King County hospitals — without treatment or monitoring — on average every other day. During a recent 10-week period, at least 35 people deemed by the county to be imminent threats to themselves or others were released after…

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IHSA tournament profits tumble as employee salaries rise

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

“Even as pack-the-house players like Derrick Rose, Jabari Parker and Marcus Jordan led their teams to state titles in recent years, the Illinois High School Association has seen revenues and profits from its marquee state boys basketball tournament plummet,” the Chicago-Sun Times reported. “Between 2006 and last year, profits from the tournament fell by 29…

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Narrows Marina boat launch: Dark, deadly and unregulated

By Alena Rehberger | May 12, 2014

“A News Tribune investigation found that at least eight cars have plunged into the water at the Narrows Marina boat launch over the past 17 years. Four of 11 occupants were killed. Another was left permanently disabled,” the News Tribune reported. The accidents involved different types of people, from thieves outrunning the cops to an…

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