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According to federal documents, “This year, spending on contractors, who protect diplomats, civilian facilities and supply convoys, is projected to exceed $1.2 billion,” reports Peter Eisler of USA TODAY. This represents a 13% increase in spending since 2007. The increase is attributed, in part, to the fact that the focus in Iraq has shifted from…
Read MoreA great deal of the news coverage surrounding this week’s Democratic National Convention touched on whether the party could recover from a close primary election between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Articles focused on the desire from the Obama campaign to reach out to Clinton supporters, and whether a rift remained in the party.…
Read MoreA five-part series by The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) explores how the probation and parole system in South Carolina — and many other states — is broken. Criminals are being paroled at the expense of innocent people who are being killed, raped or robbed as a result.
Read MoreBrian Ross, Rhonda Schwartz and Avni Patel of ABCNews.com report that lobbyist money is flowing freely at the Democratic National Convention despite Barack Obama’s position to ban lobbyist and special interest contributions to his campaign. A spokesman for the Obama campaign stated the drawn out primary prevented Senator Obama from making changes to the handling of…
Read MoreAccording to a report by Matt Stiles and Chase Davis of the Houston Chronicle, “Angel Tours, the charter bus company tied to a deadly North Texas crash this month, also shuttled children and students on dozens of trips since 2006, mostly for extracurricular events paid by local schools and universities.” Records show the Houston Independent…
Read MoreMeg Kissinger and Susanne Rust of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed how the Environmental Protection Agency fails to regulate chemicals that are made in excess of one million pounds a year. The EPA vowed to crack down on these types of chemicals years ago but has made little progress – largely because chemical makers can…
Read MoreA Toledo Blade investigation by Steve Eder and Julie M. McKinnon shows doctors nationwide fear that increasingly stringent insurance rules and frequent second-guessing of doctors’ orders are eroding the doctor-patient relationship — and harming patients. The Blade’s four-part, eight-month investigation included interviews with about 100 physicians in a dozen states and a national online survey…
Read MoreSeattle Post-Intelligencer investigative reporter Eric Nalder showed that political patronage, the zeal to privatize, and a failure at background checks led to disaster for taxpayers and military families. Three services gave 8,000 military houses and billion-dollar contracts to a company headed by a politically-connected Texan involved in a messy bankruptcy and a Connecticut property manager…
Read MoreA voiceofsandiego.org investigation has led to the resignation of San Diego’s downtown redevelopment chief and put the future of a $409 million hotel and condo project in question. The investigation revealed that the redevelopment chief acknowledged receiving almost $3 million in income from a business deal with a developer while her agency chose the company’s…
Read MoreThe coroner and police reports from the 2004 death of Kathy Savio raise many questions about how the original investigation was handled, report Erika Slife and Matthew Walberg of the Chicago Tribune. “The investigators and experts re-examining her death as a possible murder are now asking how police could have been so quick to overlook…
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