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An in-depth look at Las Vegas police shootings
“In the wake of two controversial officer-involved shooting deaths in the summer of 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal analyzed two decades of shootings by officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The newspaper found an insular police department that is slow to weed out problem cops and slower still to adopt policies and procedures…
Read MoreBusinesses benefit from Florida environmental fund
An elderly couple was forced to move from their home after petroleum from an old gas station leaked into the ground and contaminated their well water. The couple was unaware of the Inland Protection Trust Fund, which was created by the state of Florida in 1986 “to respond to leaking petroleum storage tanks … which…
Read MoreCompanies cheating vets out of business
‘The Dayton Daily News reports that the U.S. Veterans Affairs inspector general’s office has estimated $500 million worth of VA contracts through the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program go to ineligible businesses each year. After the VA beefed up its review process over whether firms actually are headed by disabled veterans, it found 1,800 companies…
Read MoreMedal of Honor recipient’s deeds were embellished
“After an exhaustive assessment by a McClatchy correspondent who was embedded with the unit and survived the ambush found that the Marines’ official accounts of Dakota Meyer’s, the latest Medal of Honor recipient, deeds were embellished. They’re marred by errors and inconsistencies, ascribe actions to Meyer that are unverified or didn’t happen and create precise,…
Read MoreLA Deputies working off-duty pay into “detail fund”
“The Lens reports that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office runs a lucrative program hiring out deputies for private security work frequently at far higher pay than their commissioned duties – but it’s not just the deputies who are bringing in a tidy sum. The program provides Sheriff Marlin Gusman with a regular supply of discretionary…
Read MorePipeline stretching 100’s of miles has little oversight
“In Pennsylvania’s shale fields, where the giant Marcellus strike has unleashed a furious surge of development, many natural gas pipelines today get less safety regulation than in any other state in America, a Philidelphia Inquirer review shows. Hundreds of miles of high-pressure pipelines already have been installed in the shale fields with no government safety…
Read MoreSuspicious suicide raises questions about what the deceased knew
After spending some time in the Delaware County jail, Edwina King was approached by other female inmates, they needed her help. “According to a federal civil rights suit, employees of the Delaware Country Sheriff’s Office were abusing the inmates, including rape, sodomy, sexual battery and blackmail. County officials recently settled the lawsuit for $13.5 million.”…
Read MoreFormer criminals caring for elderly and others, despite state law
“During the past six years, Minnesota has granted more than 15,000 waivers to people with criminal records seeking employment in nursing homes and other state-regulated care programs, state records show.“ However, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports that “under state law, people are automatically rejected for those jobs if background checks reveal they have committed any…
Read MoreCA vocational schools lack oversight
“An examination by Jennifer Gollan of The Bay Citizen found that over the last two years, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education had not met many of its core responsibilities, like swiftly investigating complaints, monitoring the quality of educational programs and rooting out unlicensed schools. It found that the bureau has provided little enforcement…
Read MoreExam boards, teachers help students pass
Reporters for The Telegraph went undercover to reveal that exam boards are advising teachers on how to word questions and arrange exams so that students are more likely to obtain higher marks. “The advice appears to go far beyond the standard “guidance” and opens exam boards to accusations that they are undermining the purpose of…
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