The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Business
Many businesses not inspected, study shows
Reporter Christina Murphy and Assistant City Editor Jennie Coughlin of The Daily News Leader analyzed five years’ worth of Department of Labor and Industry inspections obtained from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration. They found that “many businesses are not inspected each year. In fact, the labor department performed too few safety inspections between…
Read MoreEx-aides use connections to make money
James Drew and Steve Eder of The (Toledo) Blade traced the path of former Ohio state aides-turned-lobbyists who “have traded their official titles for personal riches and the influence that comes with helping select a U.S. president.” Some of Gov. Bob Taft’s closest aides have gone onto lucrative lobbying and consulting businesses; one “has raked…
Read MoreUtah residents use border cities for gambling, lottery
As part of a series on gambling in Utah, Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used Idaho state data to show that “the top six Idaho lottery sales sites are on the Utah border – and they sell up to 27 times as many tickets as the average Idaho lottery site.” One store just…
Read MoreLoophole endangers drivers in Canada
Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star used federal and provincial records to show that “if you rent a U-Haul, you’ve got a 50-50 chance of getting a truck that won’t pass a road safety check.” Ontario police failed nearly half of such vehicles during road examinations between 2002 and 2004, and Ministry of Transportation data…
Read MoreDrug industry’s influence drives doctors’ diagnoses
Susan Kelleher and Duff Wilson interviewed more than 160 doctors, patients, medical analysts, regulatory officials and other experts for a Seattle Times series about the health care industry and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. “Suddenly Sick” reveals that perviously healthy people go to the doctor only to be diagnosed with an illness because the…
Read MoreCompanies tied to bureau donate heavily to Republicans
Mark Naymik and Joseph L. Wagner of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer analyzed state campaign contributions to show that “top Ohio Republican officials and political committees have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions from companies managing money for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Almost two-thirds of the 212 companies hired by the bureau to invest…
Read MoreRestaurant prices outpace inflation in NYC
Jennifer Steinhauer and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times used restaurant price information from Zagat Guides and the paper’s own reviews to show that “in 1994, the average one-star meal cost $33; it now costs a little more than $50, pushing it outside many people’s weekend budgets. That is a 51 percent increase,…
Read MoreNumber of highly paid transit employees triples
Mike Adamick of the Contra Costa Times used salary data obtained after a legal battle to show that “the number of BART employees making at least $100,000 nearly tripled since 2000. During the same time period, overtime payments surged by 147 percent for the transit district’s highest paid employees.” The transit agency originally resisted the…
Read MoreContribution through multiple companies help corporate donors elude limit
Ben Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed campaign contributions to Gwinnett County commission races in the past two years, finding that “thousands of dollars in donations from companies sharing common addresses and company executives that appear to violate campaign contribution limits. Among them: nine companies headed by two developers whose firms gave to former Commission…
Read MoreDevelopers have big plans for rural areas
John McCarthy of the Florida Today analyzed and mapped data from the Brevard County Property Appraiser’s database to report on growth and development in Brevard County, Fla. McCarthy found that land developers in the county “plan to turn agricultural land in the far reaches of the county into upscale housing developments …” The project includes…
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