The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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“West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection officials never reviewed two key pollution-prevention plans for the Freedom Industries tank farm before the Jan. 9 chemical leak that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents, according to interviews and documents obtained under the state’s public-records law,” The Charleston Gazette reports. Read the full story here.
Read More“News broke in San Diego last week about a mysterious foreign national bent on influencing San Diego politics by illegally funneling money to political campaigns through a retired San Diego police detective and a undisclosed “straw donor.” Now, the politicians on the receiving end of the tainted funds are scrambling to distance themselves from the…
Read MoreWith their quaint barrel-like contours and weathered cedar-plank sides, rooftop water towers are a constant on the New York City skyline. And though they may look like relics of a past age, millions of residents get their drinking water from the tanks every day. But inside these rustic-looking vessels, there are often thick layers of…
Read MoreMizzou did not pursue alleged assault | ESPNThe University of Missouri did not investigate or tell law enforcement officials about an alleged rape, possibly by one or more members of its football team, despite administrators finding out about the alleged 2010 incident more than a year ago, an “Outside the Lines” investigation has found. The…
Read More“Wisconsin officials have nearly quadrupled the number of offenders released from state custody after they were committed as sexually violent persons,” the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reports. “The risks to residents are reasonable, officials say, because the state’s treatment programs are working and new data suggest these offenders are less likely to reoffend than previously…
Read MoreIRE last week brought its popular Watchdog Workshop series to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Nearly 250 people attended the event, which included two extra tracks focused on financial and data journalism. The financial sessions focused on tools to investigate stocks and commodities, hedge funds and more, with speakers from Bloomberg, Reuters, the Times…
Read MoreThere’s been a lot of great reporting coming out of West Virginia recently as reporters continue to cover a chemical spill that contaminated water for about 300,000 people. National publications investigated the lax government oversight and toothless regulations that applied – or, perhaps, failed to apply – to Freedom Industries. But let’s not forget the local…
Read MoreJail and prison officials are reporting an increase in allegations of sex abuse, according to a new report from the Justice Department. ProPublica broke down the numbers and found some disturbing trends. The vast majority of sex abuse allegations are deemed “unfounded” by prison officials. Officials often allowed abusive staff members to resign, preventing the…
Read MoreThe latest installment in USA TODAY’s ongoing “Supplement Shell Game” investigation published today finds that the key author of a safety study of the controversial sports supplement Craze is a doctor who has been disciplined in two states for issues relating to fraudulent billing practices and other misrepresentations. Now the editor of the peer reviewed…
Read More“It’s been four months since record floods tore up roadways and transformed the geography of northeastern Colorado. Since then, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent millions helping people affected by the disaster. Yet an investigation by FOX31 Denver found some neighborhoods are getting a lot less FEMA money than others.” Read the full story…
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