Economy
Wilkes-Barre mayor used used summer jobs program to hire family, friends
Citizens Voice reporter, Andrew Staub, uses DocumentCloud to publish documents showing Mayor Tom Leighton has been hiring his kids and relatives for summer jobs. Over the past 8 years, Leighton hired his children for over a dozen different positions. However, it’s not just his children he’s hiring, but also affluent children from his neighborhood. “The hires have clouded…
Read MoreBailed-out banks that agreed to help struggling homeowners are caught praticing the opposite
Rob O’Dell, of the Arizona Daily Star, reports on the shameful acts of three of the largest banks in Arizona. “Banks that took bailout money were supposed to use part of the taxpayer-provided cash infusion to help customers avoid foreclosure, but instead, many of them are buying up struggling homeowners’ tax debt. The tax liens…
Read MoreFannie Mae pressures banks to foreclose, despite their own policy
“Detroit Free Press investigative reporter Jennifer Dixon reports Sunday that Fannie Mae is privately telling banks to foreclose on homeowners who are more than a year deliquent even if the borrowers are seeking a federal loan modification. The policy, uncovered in confidential Fannie Mae records, is contrary to Fannie Mae’s public assurances that homeowners will be…
Read MoreColorado farmers face losing water rights during nine-year legal struggle
In 2002, farmers in two Colorado counties experienced a devastating drought but because of shares held in a “century-old irrigation company,” were told they would be able to “keep their coveted their irrigation water.” However, nine years later, the farmers are still facing dry land and looming financial ruin. In this investigation by theDenver Post, reporters…
Read MoreDetroit’s Human Services Department spends $200k+ on new furnishings instead of feeding and clothing low-income families
Steve Neavling and Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press uncover, that despite a third of Detroit’s population living below the federal poverty line, their Human Services Department spent “$182,000 in furniture purchases destined for the department offices at 5031 Grandy, near Warren and Mt. Elliott.” City officials said the purchases were especially egregious because…
Read MoreDespite transparency laws, many New Orleans court officials spend millions behind the public’s back.
“At least $26 million a year – and likely much more – is being spent on judiciary-related offices without the public involvement required by state law, The Lens has determined after a six-month analysis of records involving 11 agencies or offices. The review included five court systems, the Public Defender’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office…
Read MoreSome investors in PA still waiting after 20 years.
“The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa. showed how the leadership of Lehigh Valley International Airport followed a risky strategy of buying land around the airport in the mid-1990s. That strategy led to an inverse condemnation and court fight pitting the airport against a group of investors who had hoped to build on the land. Despite…
Read MoreThe U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development fails to use common-sense oversight.
In “Million-Dollar Wasteland,” The Washington Post’s Debbie Cenziper reports that the federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or the local housing agencies that funded them. Nationwide, nearly 700 projects awarded $400…
Read MoreThe NJ Casino Reinvestment Development Authority forced by former admin. to make bad loan.
The Press of Atlantic City reports that the former governor of New Jersey pressured the CRDA to make a $4 million loan to another state agency. Corzine’s administration pressed the agency responsible for reinvesting casino dollars to make the loan, former Executive Director Tom Carver said. The loan helped a Democratic Party contributor and Corzine…
Read MoreFinancial institutions profit from role as tax collector
Wall Street titans have a new sweet spot — as surrogate tax collectors. Huffington Post Investigative Fund reporters Fred Schulte and Ben Protess describe how big financial institutions see profits in tacking on fees and threatening to foreclose when homeowners fall behind on property taxes. Some of the big financial institutions are operating quietly, setting…
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