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Local government pays employees thousands for accrued time
“While private employers are consolidating sick and vacation time and limiting the amount of leave workers can collect, governments continue to be more generous with such benefits, said Jeffrey Keefe, a Rutgers University professor.” The Virginian-Post reports that “since January 2010, South Hampton Roads cities collectively paid more than $7.7 million in such payments to…
Read MorePolice in Milwaukee circumvent the law
“At least 93 Milwaukee police officers – ranking from street cop to captain – have been disciplined for violating the laws and ordinances they were sworn to uphold, a Journal Sentinel investigation found. Their offenses range from sexual assault and domestic violence to drunken driving and shoplifting, according to internal affairs records. All still work…
Read MoreFormer student leader linked to murder/corruption in Mexico
The Gazette reports that “a former University of Iowa student leader believed to have fled the country after criminal charges in the early 1990s has been linked to murder and corruption in Mexico. Juan Jose Rojas-Cardona — known as Pepe in West Liberty, where he spent his youth — is accused in a U.S. Consulate…
Read MoreFEC-Cain used campaign money to buy autobiography from Co. he owns
“Jonathan D. Salant and Joshua Green of Bloomberg News reported that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain used campaign funds to buy books he wrote from his own company.” “’All candidates publish books and they offer them as premiums to donors, but most candidates aren’t buying them from their own companies’, Bill Allison, editorial director at…
Read MoreUndercover police in UK give false identities in court
In a report by The Guardian, it has been revealed that a covert unit of Scotland Yard has been posing as activists and taking part in various protest groups. Even after being arrested and prosecuted, the undercover officers maintained their false identity as an activist while under oath. “Revelations about the deployment of police spies…
Read MoreFor years, Dallas hospital has ranked low in patient safety
“Parkland Memorial Hospital, now under U.S. government monitoring because of systemic failures in patient care, has for years been one of the state’s worst-performing hospitals on a broad federal measure of patient safety, a Dallas Morning News analysis shows.” In an ongoing investigation, Dallas Morning News’ Ryan McNeil and Daniel Lathrop report on the disturbing…
Read MoreOhio schools rely heavily upon student fees to pay for sports programs
A report by The Plain Dealer reveals that Cleveland State University charges its students “about $600 a year for intercollegiate sports, even if you do not attend a single game.” However, the school is not the only university in Ohio to rely heavily upon student fees to support their sports program. “As students and parents…
Read MorePrivate EMS operators billed Medicare nearly $500 million since 2005
An investigation done by the Houston Chronicle found that private EMS operators are “making millions of dollars off the poor, the sick and the mentally vulnerable, whether they need a costly EMS lift or not.” Surprisingly, “many of the patients are neither physically debilitated nor confined to a sick bed. They are not headed to, or…
Read MorePhiladelphia school police need policing
An investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer identified “more than a dozen school police officers who have been arrested on drug, assault, theft, and other charges in recent years – either before they were employed by the district or while they were on active duty.” “In Philadelphia, officers undergo Federal Bureau of Investigation, child abuse, and…
Read MoreCA hospital chain’s bill to Medicare raises suspicion
“Prime Healthcare Services bills Medicare for a variety of unusual ailments – among them a brain disease and a condition causing eyes to bleed – that can generate lucrative payments to the chain. A California Watch analysis of newly released data shows that the chain’s Medicare billing for these disorders is far more aggressive than…
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