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It may be surprising to learn that after legislators in South Carolina passed a law that would allow them to collect their pension, while still working for the state full time, their annual incomes have nearly tripled. Thomas Frank, of USA TODAY, investigates the disturbing, yet legal, actions our legislators are taking. “More than 4,100 legislators…
Read MoreApplications are now being accepted from college students nationwide for the 2012 Campus Coverage Project. Apply online at www.ire.org/campus. The deadline for applications is this Friday, Sept. 30. IRE, in partnership with Education Writers Association and the Student Press Law Center, is launching the third year of a program that shares investigative reporting skills with college and…
Read MoreThe El Dorado County sheriff John D’Agostini surprised county administrators when a helicopter appeared as a new tool for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department. KCRA3 reporter Dave Manoucheri reveals that D’Agostini failed to alert county officials that a chopper was in the works, which raises risk management and liability concerns. Although the sheriff says…
Read MorePresident Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package granted “millions of federal dollars” to public school districts in Florida. As part of the President’s vision “to accelerate improvement in schools,” the money was meant to provide a means to improve low performing schools and prevent teacher layoffs. However, this investigation by Mc Nelly Torres of the Florida Center for…
Read MoreIn most towns across Illinois and the U.S., the Public Health Department publicizes any health code violation so that consumers can be aware of the risk they are taking by eating at a restaurant. However, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department chooses not to share the roughly 1,300 inspections done in a year. Many in the…
Read MoreWhen appliance giant Electrolux annouced plans to build a factory in Memphis, Tenn., it seemed like a great economic boost for the region. However, a closer investigation by reporters Daniel Connolly and Amos Maki of The Commercial Appeal reveals that the plan may cost taxpayers a lot more than it appears. “Government officials approved a massive package…
Read MoreDespite the President’s promise to reform U.S. immigration policy, Hispanics now make up over half of all federal prison population. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission “Hispanics comprised 50.3 percent of all people sentenced in that time period, blacks 19.7 percent and whites 26.4 percent. In comparison, last year Hispanics made up just 16 percent…
Read MoreBy Jane Regan When a massive earthquake killed some 200,000 people and devastated Haiti, billions of aid dollars poured in from around the globe. Groups such as “God’s Pit Crew” and “Drops of Hope” descended on the island, ostensibly to help people rebuild their lives. Although many of us in Haiti had lost friends, family,…
Read MoreSpencer Ackerman, of WIRED.com Danger Room, has acquired dozens of FBI training materials on counter terrorism and Islam. The training material argues that it does not matter whether or not American Muslims are law abiding citizens, “the Islamic “insurgency” is all-encompassing and insidious. In addition to outright combat, its “techniques” include “immigration” and “law suits.” So…
Read MoreAs part of an effort by three journalism organizations to maintain public access to an important database of physician discipline records, that data is now being made available free of charge through the IRE website. Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Association of Health Care Journalists and theSociety of Professional Journalists have protested the government’s decision to cut off access to The…
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