The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Blog
FEMA trailers are appearing in the Gulf region to serve as temporary housing for workers involved in cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to an investigation by Ian Urbina of The New York Times. “The trailers were discovered to have such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being…
Read MoreAn six-part investigation by The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer “examined autopsies for more than 550 baby deaths from 2004-2008 that were classified as SIDS, a category that means natural and unpreventable.” The investigation revealed that at least one well-known and potentially fatal risk factor was present 69 percent of those deaths.
Read MoreAn accountant, a lawyer and two retired executives each collected more than $475,000 last year – and one topped $600,000 – doing part-time work for multiple Wisconsin companies, according to review of Securities and Exchange Commission data by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Cary Spivak. The men are members of corporate America’s most elite club: the…
Read MoreBy Jaimi Dowdell, IRE training director While oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the government is pouring resources into the cleanup effort. Track how much is being spent, which agencies are awarding it, and where it’s going with data from the Federal Procurement Data System. The FPDS’s Gulf Oil Spill Report, updated regularly,…
Read MoreNine institutions for New York’s developmentally disabled get nearly $5,000 per person per day in Medicaid reimbursements. This is ten times what they received in 1991 when the state vowed that they would shut the sprawling, inefficient centers by 2000. According to a report by Mary Beth Pfeiffer, of the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal, the state…
Read MoreMapping Boot Camp August 13-15, 2010 (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO) Take your CAR skills to the next level by learning how to uncover the “where” in your data. Instructors Jennifer LaFleur of ProPublica and David Herzog of NICAR will show how to use ArcView geographic information system (GIS) software in this intensive three-day session. …
Read MoreThe Charleston Gazette’s investigation of federal grant misuse at West Virginia’s state employment agency culminated with four criminal convictions in federal court and a prison sentence for one of the people involved. Gazette business reporter Eric Eyre used a hex editor to analyze the contents of a computer file, showing that the state official in…
Read MoreA New York Times investigation shows that regulators knew there were problems with the blind shear ram, a “fail-safe” device intended to prevent disasters like the Deepwater Horizon blowout, yet failed to address them. “An examination by The New York Times highlights the chasm between the oil industry’s assertions about the reliability of its blowout…
Read MoreA Texas Watchdog review of three years of the Houston Independent School District’s travel records shows a penchant for pricey, last-minute tickets, and a toothless travel policy that allows teachers and staff broad discretion over travel spending. Reporters also spotlighted the school district’s use of a travel agency that adds $30 to every ticket issued by the…
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