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Common rail tankers dangerously flawed, AP analysis finds
The Associated Press reports that one of the most common rail tankers allowed to haul hazardous liquids across the country is dangerously flawed (link comes via Fair Warning and NPR), and industry groups have been fighting pushes to increase safety standards.
Read MoreWashington state’s price of public office
The Skagit Valley Herald reports that even though “Skagit County has just two full-time mayors, both earn more than the mayors of Tacoma, Vancouver, Yakima and Olympia.” An interactive map was created to compares the salaries with other mayors across the state.
Read MoreImmunization rates fall in Bay Area kindergartners
“In recent years, the number of Bay Area kindergartners who have been immunized against diseases like whooping cough and measles has declined. With the 2011-12 school year beginning, The Bay Citizen collected the latest data covering last year from the California Department of Health, so you can see which schools are most susceptible to an…
Read More“Churning” is more common than thought, report finds
Ken Bensinger and Elizabeth Frank of the Los Angeles Times have found that “from mid-2008 to this April, 862 licensed used-car dealers in California — about 1 in 8 — sold at least one vehicle three or more times“, a practice that is known as churning. Bensinger and Frank used DocumentCloud to display their findings.
Read MoreIncrease in prescriptions from docs could mean increase in perks for them
Lisa Chedekel of the Connecticut Health I-Team has found that in some cases “practitioners who wrote out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of prescriptions were also receiving thousands in compensation from the drug-makers.”
Read MoreGaming boom now a bust for small town
“As a tough economy wrecked municipal budgets across the country, North Kansas City seemed to be above it all, able to afford well-kept parks, a modern community center and even a community fiberoptic network.” However, a Kansas City Star report has revealed that the once affluent community of about 4,000 residents is now facing a…
Read MoreReviews of child abuse deaths not always completed in KY
“A Herald-Leader analysis of 41 child fatalities in 2009 and 2010 found at least six cases where the Cabinet for Health and Family Services did not do an internal review even though there were previous reports involving the family before the child died.” “The reviews are supposed to examine the cabinet’s actions in a case…
Read MoreTaking a look at how foreign-trained doctors impact a community
In a three-part series The Bakersfield Californian examines Kern County, California’s high number of foreign-trained doctors and the impact it has on patient care. Using the training she learned at an IRE Boot Camp, Christine Bedell, along with her colleague Kellie Schmitt, were able to make their own database to look at how many foreign-trained…
Read MoreCommunity college football players caught up in criminal activity
“After a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a local community college football player during a struggle at a burglary scene Feb. 23, The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., compared recent years’ football rosters at College of the Desert to county court databases.” “Reporters Keith Matheny and Kate McGinty found far more criminal activity by…
Read MoreAn in-depth look at Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law
“In light of the Trayvon Martin case, the Tampa Bay Times spent two months identifying and analyzing self-defense cases in which defendants invoked Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law.” The paper collected photos of victims and defendants and built nearly 200 case studies into an interactive database. The Times used public records to identify victim…
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