The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
Wisconsin partnership tracks unsolved murders
Gannett Wisconsin Media began publishing a four-week series called Cold Cases: Tracking Wisconsin’s unsolved murders. According to Gannett Wisconsin Media, the project is the most comprehensive look into unsovled murders ever assembled in the region. The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism also partnered with Gannett Wisconsin Media on this project, which includes a searchable database…
Read MoreSmall-town Texas patients died amid federal, state regulatory inaction
The Dallas Morning News investigation shows how Dr. Tariq Mahmood operated a chain of dangerous small-town Texas hospitals for more than four years until regulators finally started to crack down. Before they acted, repeated warnings about grave risks to patients and potential fraud reached multiple agencies. At least four patients died. The project details how federal…
Read MoreNew $34 million military headquarters in Afghanistan will sit unused
The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters in Afghanistan at a cost of $34 million, but has no plans to use it. Senior military officials told The Washington Post that they insisted they did not need the facility and see no point to moving into it as they withdraw forces from the area. Military…
Read MoreDefense Department accounting errors leave some soldiers struggling to get by
A Reuters investigation has found that “pay errors in the military are widespread” and as many have found, including U.S. Army medic Shawn Aiken whose story Reuters has highlighted, “once mistakes are detected, getting them corrected – or just explained – can test even the most persistent soldiers.” “A review of individuals’ military pay records,…
Read MoreU.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement
“As the world focuses on the high-tech spying of the National Security Agency, (Leslie James Pickering’s) misplaced card offers a rare glimpse inside the seemingly low-tech but prevalent snooping of the United States Postal Service,” a New York Times report states.
Read MoreLandlords, self-employed get state aid on honor system
“A (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel investigation found property owners with major sources of rental income who did not reveal it in applications for public assistance. The cases reveal a gap in regulation that affects every public assistance program in the state. Local and state regulators fail to verify actual income when applicants report that they make…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Payday fees, ATF stings, inpatient bills and unpaid attorneys
The Koch Club | Investigative Reporting WorkshopKoch foundations gave more than $41 million to 89 nonprofits from 2007-2011, part of a wide effort at funding organizations with public policy, education and political interests that align with those of Koch Industries, run by Charles and David Koch. The Investigative Reporting Workshop examined Internal Revenue Service documents…
Read MoreATF uses fake drugs, big bucks to snare suspects
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has locked up more than 1,000 people using controversial sting operations that entice suspects to rob nonexistent drug stash houses. See how the stings work and who they target in this USA Today report.
Read MoreOregon Employment Department shake-up casts spotlight on accusations of nepotism
An ongoing investigation by The Oregonian into the Employment Department shake-up shows that familial relationships figured prominently as the agency’s top tier unraveled. The director is retiring after a state probe, the deputy abruptly departed for a lower-paying state job, and the No. 3 was fired as Gov. John Kitzhaber’s administration cleaned house.
Read MoreNearly One in Five Members of Congress Gets Paid Twice
About 90 members from both chambers collected a government pension atop their taxpayer-financed $174,000 salary in 2012, National Journal found in an examination of recent financial records. The practice is called “double-dipping.”
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