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Nate Carlisle and Jessica Ravitz The Salt Lake Tribune report on the state of fire inspections in public schools, following a fire that destroyed Wasatch Junior High School. The school was old and did not have modern fire safety features. “Yet state records show the last time inspectors examined the school was four years ago.”…
Read MoreClifford J. Levy and Michael Luo of The New York Times used state Medicaid data to find that “the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse…
Read MoreJane Stancill and David Raynor of The (Raleigh/Durham) News & Observer analyzed state payroll data to find that “there are already more than 2,200 state and University of North Carolina system employees who are paid more than $100,000 in state money a year; more than two-thirds of them work at the universities.” Pay for university…
Read MoreMichelle Keller and Kevin Spear of The Orlando Sentinel used county pool inspection data to show that “at least one in eight failed tests for chlorine, meaning they could pose a health risk for swimmers who use them.” The findings roughly mirror an early federal study and the paper’s previous surveys of inspection reports. “This…
Read MoreMike McAndrew of The (Syracuse) Post-Standard investigates the “Power for Jobs” program, finding that more than a third of the businesses receiving state-subsidized electrical power in the program failed to deliver the jobs they promised. Cooper Crouse-Hinds was awarded 5,000 kilowatts of subsidized power; in return they agreed to retain all of its jobs and…
Read MoreMegan Twohey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel used university documents to show that “the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has paid four former administrators more than $600,000 in taxpayer dollars for yearlong leaves granted after their resignations.” The college does not track what officials granted such leaves do during that time, when typically they are preparing to…
Read MoreJohn W. Allman and Michael Fechter of The Tampa Tribune investigated the activities of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Sarasota/Tampa Bay, finding that: “For much of that time, it used money intended for sick children to pay for questionable expenses such as lavish dinners for chapter leaders and volunteers. It permitted and covered up a rogue…
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