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Failed oversight helps surge in air ambulance crashes
Alan Levin and Robert Davis of USA Today reviewed hundreds of documents on air ambulance crashes and analyzed a database they created from the documents. They found that since “2000, 60 people have died in 84 crashes — more than double the number of crashes during the previous five years.” Despite this surge, air ambulance…
Read MoreMedicaid fraud plagued by lack of oversight
Clifford 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 MoreInspection data shows problems often found with pools
Michelle 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 MoreState, university employees’ salaries swell
Jane 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 MoreKentucky residents’ health plagued by bad habits, poverty
Laura Ungar of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal spent a year assessing the health of Kentucky’s residents, finding that “Kentucky is one of the sickest states in America, a place where too many people die too soon, and many who live endure decades of illness and pain.” Bad health habits ingrained in the state’s culture, including high…
Read MoreIllinois police pull over minorities at higher rate
Ryan Keith of the Associated Press analyzed the results of a state-mandated study on Illinois traffic stops, finding that “black and Hispanic drivers in large downstate cities are pulled over by police at a rate that far exceeds their share of the local population.” The state legislature had every police agency turn over data on…
Read MoreThousands of home permits issued for fire-prone areas
Jim Miller and Ben Goad of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise use mapping software to plot thousands of new home permits issued since the 2003 Southern California fires and then compared the points to state maps showing fire threat. “In the 18 months after the firestorms of 2003, Inland cities and counties issued permits for more…
Read MoreDisability program plagued with problems
Maxine Bernstein and Brent Walth of The Oregonian investigated Portland’s police and firefighter disability progam, finding that “the city’s system is an open checkbook, with rules that allow injured police and firefighters to collect checks until they retire, even if they can earn a living in another job.” One in nine Portland police officers and…
Read MoreMany 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 MorePaper finds inaccuracies in after-school claims
Paul Tosto of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on discrepancies the paper found in a report the state published claiming that Minnesota has more young children taking care of themselves after school than any other state in the country. They found that the “commission did not have statistics showing Minnesota with the nation’s highest…
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