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Brian Meyer of The Buffalo News used city records to show that “the agency that runs public housing in Buffalo set aside nearly $124,000 last July for trips, credit card spending, cell phones, insurance and stipends for its seven volunteer commissioners for this fiscal year. … This is the same Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority that…
Read MoreTim Smith of The Greenville News used state records to show that “relatives of two South Carolina Department of Transportation commissioners have been hired at the agency, but the board members said there was nothing improper about their employment.” The two relatives are part-time employees, but one has worked for the agency since 1999 and…
Read MoreMarcia Gelbart of The Philadelphia Inquirer used city records to show that more than 1,000 seats in luxury suites at professional baseball and football games went “mostly to people with clout.” Among the top recipients were members of the city council, aides to Mayor John Street and members of his family. Street has distributed another…
Read MoreDavid Olinger and Jeffrey A. Roberts of The Denver Post examined reports of violent incidents in Colorado schools, finding that “disclosures of school violence vary wildly from one district to another. Some schools report every punch thrown on the playground. Others did not include assaults that police classified as felonies.” The state requires districts to…
Read MoreSydney P. Freedberg and Connie Humburg of the St. Petersburg Times wrote about Florida’s attempt to attract business by offering large incentives to help companies create jobs. The incentives were not working with some companies shipping jobs oversees instead of creating them. These economic efforts come at a big price with Florida’s economic development efforts…
Read MoreJason Method of the Asbury Park Press reported Sunday that a construction official charged in an FBI bribery sting also is under investigation by a state agency for failing to detect several potentially deadly defects at a townhouse complex, such as inadequate fire walls. Residents also complained about other serious defects, including carbon monoxide leaking…
Read MoreSally Kestin, Megan O’Matz and John Maines of the Sun-Sentinel used federal records to show that “the federal government has paid funeral expenses for at least 315 deaths” in the wake of hurricanes in South Florida last year, “including those of a man who shot himself and a stroke victim hospitalized more than a week…
Read MoreDiana Hefley and Scott North of The (Everett) Herald used state and local data to show that “the areas of Snohomish County with the highest potential for wildfires are home to more than 5,500 people, most relatively new arrivals. … Since 2000 an average of 100 new houses and mobile homes have sprouted in the…
Read MoreDina Cappiello and Anne Belli of the Houston Chronicle obtained OSHA data on the British Petroleum refinery that exploded March 23. They found that the refinery had been fined and warned about the ventilation stack and given ideas on how to make it safer in 1992. “To correct the problem, OSHA recommended that Amoco reconfigure…
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