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A star player accused, and a flawed rape investigation
Yet another university community has been accused of denying justice to a female sexual assault victim in order to protect a star male athlete. The New York Times today chronicled the shortcomings of an investigation by Tallahassee police into a reported sexual assault in which Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston was the alleged assailant. Police failed…
Read MoreTurboTax Maker Linked to Campaign Against Free Tax Filing
ProPublica recently reported that lobbyists for Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, reached out to community leaders and officials persuading them that pre-filled tax returns would essentially hurt low-income Americans. What community leaders and officials failed to realize was that the pre-filled tax returns, already endorsed by President Obama and President Reagan, would use information that…
Read MoreIowa state senator’s National Guard service not the only reason she missed votes
United States Senate candidate and state senator Joni Ernst has cited her National Guard duty to rebuff criticism for missing more than half of the votes in the Iowa Senate this year. In a WHO-TV interview posted on April 7, the Red Oak Republican acknowledged that National Guard service wasn’t the only reason she’s missed…
Read MoreMECA ticket perk has a bonus: free use of private suite
MECA board members used more than 270 free tickets to concerts and sporting events over the past 15 months, sometimes taking four or more guests to the organization’s private suite. Officials with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority say the access is crucial for board members, who need to know the ins and outs of…
Read MoreInmate suicides bring attention to South Carolina’s treatment of mentally ill prisoners
A class-action lawsuit could soon change the way an estimated 3,500 inmates with severe mental illnesses are treated in South Carolina’s prison system. The case exposed numerous stories of mentally ill inmates being gassed, locked in solitary confinement for years at a time, denied effective treatment and caged naked, alone and cold in makeshift crisis…
Read MoreSan Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge rusting in vital areas
Some of the most vulnerable and integral cable sections and rods on the new $6.5 billion Bay Bridge are rusting. A Sacramento Bee investigation found corroded cable strands and anchor rods inside supposedly sealed chambers that protect attachments for the main suspension span cable to the bridge deck girders. Experts said if corrosion worsens, it…
Read MoreDetained immigrant teen assaulted by registered sex offender in Sherburne County jail
An 18-year-old high school student being held for federal immigration authorities in the Sherburne County jail was repeatedly sexually assaulted last month by his cellmate, a registered sex offender serving time in the jail as a “boarder” from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The assault, detailed in a criminal complaint, occurred at the state’s largest…
Read MoreCalifornia’s $840-million medical prison beset by waste and mismanagement
California’s $840-million medical prison — the largest in the nation — was built to provide care to more than 1,800 inmates. When fully operational, it was supposed to help the state’s prison system emerge from a decade of federal oversight brought on by the persistent neglect and poor medical treatment of inmates. But since opening…
Read MoreSan Diego Opera officials sought government grants amid financial troubles
San Diego Opera officials seeking millions in government grants painted a picture of financial health over the past few years — a time during which financial troubles were well known inside the organization. In a 2012 application to the city of San Diego the opera noted — as it did in each year the company…
Read MoreColorado foster children regularly prescribed psychotropic drugs
About 4,300 of Colorado’s 16,800 foster children — more than a quarter — were prescribed psychotropics in 2012, according to a University of Colorado analysis released to The Denver Post under open-records laws. Among teens in foster care, 37 percent were prescribed psychotropic drugs.
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