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Worldwide freedom of information laws widely ignored
“A flurry of freedom of information laws adopted over the past decade has given more than 5.3 billion people worldwide the right, on paper, to know what their governments are doing behind closed doors. However, The Associated Press found in the first worldwide test of this promised freedom of information, that more than half the…
Read MoreTesting on new Bay Bridge could be flawed
“A Sacramento Bee investigation has found that the California Department of Transportation technician who conducted key testing on the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been discipilined for fabricating test results on other projects. The technician, Duane Wiles, also failed to verify that his testing gauge was operating properly, as required by Caltrans to ensure…
Read MoreHaitian deportees jailed without cause; face serious health risks
“The United States has deported more than 250 Haitians since January knowing that one in two will be jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks. An investigation by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that the Obama administration has not followed its own policy of seeking alternatives to deportation…
Read MoreIL governor wants to retain jobs; gives tax credits to big companies
“A Chicago Tribune analysis shows IL Governor Pat Quinn has pledged about half a billion dollars in tax credits over the next decade to create 5,709 jobs and retain 22,610 workers through the Economic Development for a Growing Economy program, or EDGE.” Quinn’s focus has shifted from job creation to job retention since he took…
Read MoreEPA adds seven Florida air polluters to Watch List
“The Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility is one of the nation’s largest waste-to-energy trash incinerators. The plant’s boilers consume 3,000 tons of garbage every day, creating saleable energy that allows the county facility to turn a $20 million annual profit.” However, in an investigation done by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, partnered with the…
Read MoreCrooks using SSA’s Death Master File to claim recently deceased children
“The Internal Revenue Service — citing data it is making public for the first time at the request of Scripps Howard News Service — estimates that tax filers improperly submitted 350,000 returns on dead Americans this tax season, improperly seeking $1.25 billion in refunds. Parents who recently lost a child are increasingly targeted by these…
Read MoreIn Tucson, one in eight homes vacant
“The number of vacant homes and rentals has exploded 52 percent in Pima County in the past 10 years, thwarting a housing market recovery and driving even some middle- and upper-income neighborhoods into decline. An Arizona Daily Star analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows the spike in unoccupied homes and apartments has pushed Pima…
Read MoreTo escape U.S. justice, just flee the country
“Chicago Tribune reporters found eight Chicago-area fugitives during an 18-day trip to Mexico — five wanted for murder, two for raping or molesting children and one for shooting a man. Growing numbers of criminal suspects flee the U.S. each year to evade trial for murder, rape and other serious felonies. Breakdowns in the criminal justice…
Read MoreBoston area markets caught mislabeling fish
After a five-month Boston Globe investigation into the mislabeling of fish, it was found that many upscale restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets advertise one type of fish but sell you another. The Globe hired a laboratory in Canada to conduct DNA testing on fish samples purchased from 134 shops across the Boston region. “Analyses…
Read More4 million cubic yards of radioactive waste in CO town’s backyard
“Cotter Corp.’s uranium mill near Cañon City, CO has the state’s backing to permanently dispose of radioactive waste in its tailings ponds, despite state and independent reports over a 30-year period showing the ponds’ liners leak.” However, the Denver Post reports that in “a 2004 internal state health department memo, it went so far as…
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