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After a 10-month investigtion, The Arizona Daily Star reports that many students in Tucson-area school districts are being socially promoted and not earning the grades they deserve. “In the 2006-07 school year alone, nine in 10 students were moved to the next grade level, but data show that nearly a third of them failed basic…
Read MoreA series by Dana Priest and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post uncovers an alarming level of neglect in immigration centers across the United States. “As tighter immigration policies strain federal agencies, the detainees in their care often pay a heavy cost.” In the last 5 years, 83 detainees have died while being held in…
Read MoreBloomberg‘s Jonathan D. Salant reports that John McCain is struggling to connect with the business donors who helped bankroll George W. Bush’s candidacy. “Employees from the securities, construction, pharmaceutical and energy industries, who accounted for about a tenth of Bush’s money in 2004, are turned off by his record and giving more to his Democratic…
Read MoreBilly Shields of the Daily Business Review exposed the growing business of litigation finance. These companies offer plaintiffs an advance on pending legal settlements, but at great cost. “The debate over litigation finance company begins over whether they are making a loan or investing in cases. Because courts have ruled their advances are not loans,…
Read MoreA Charlotte Observer investigation by Adam Bell revealed what happened behind the scenes after a race track owner threatened to move his speedway following a dispute with a community over plans to add a drag strip there. The billionaire owner landed $80 million in taxpayer incentives in exchange for staying in town. A review of…
Read MoreA North American game wardens conference in St. Paul last year cost taxpayers nearly $400,000, even though it turned a profit for the convention organizers, reported David Shaffer of the Star Tribune. “Some of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ 204 conservation officers also solicited private donations for the conference — a practice one official…
Read MoreA Gannett News Service analysis by Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith shows that “America’s aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned agencies responsible for sewage overflows.” Wheeler and Smith analyzed enforcement and compliance records gathered by the EPA and state regulators…
Read MoreAn investigation by Michael Braga, Aaron Kessler and Charlie Szymanski of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune used social network analysis and hundreds of land and corporation documents to uncover a web of questionable real estate deals involving a Southwest Florida investor and developer. The subject, Mark Brivik, moved properties back and forth between himself, companies he controlled,…
Read MoreIn a fourth installment of The Washington Post‘s Forced Out series, about abusive landlords who drive tenants from rent-controlled apartments, Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen report that D.C. government has widely misused a multi-million dollar fund to repair buildings when landlords refuse to do the work. “In the past three years, the (city) spent $617,000…
Read MoreAn investigative narrative by Justin Fenton of The Baltimore Sun explores the life and crimes of Cindy McKay who “was convicted in April 2008 of secretly stealing thousands of dollars from her boyfriend and stabbing him to death before his body was found burning along an Anne Arundel County road.” A career criminal, McKay stole…
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