The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development fails to use common-sense oversight.
In “Million-Dollar Wasteland,” The Washington Post’s Debbie Cenziper reports that the federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or the local housing agencies that funded them. Nationwide, nearly 700 projects awarded $400…
Read MoreSocial and economic discrimination still rampant in Houston low-income housing.
Yang Wang reports on the disturbing low-income housing neighborhood conditions in Houston, TX that led to a teens death. Just weeks before 19-year-old Jamesha Floyd was pulled from her burning home, her aunt and uncle complained to their landlord about faulty electrical wiring in the four-room house they shared with Floyd on Sayers Street. And…
Read MoreThe foggy 13-year hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Caren Bohn, Mark Hoseball, Tabassum Zakaria, and Missy Ryan from Reuters report on the grueling, and sometimes questionable, plan to kill Osama bin Laden. The 13-year quest to find and eliminate bin Laden, from the November 1998 day he was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in the East Africa embassy bombings,…
Read MoreLax oversight in the Salt Lake City FBI office could be detrimental to national security.
After nearly a yearlong investigation, including interviews with FBI informants, Lori Prichard and Kelly Just report on the corruption inside the SLC FBI offices. These whistleblowers were interviewed as part of a yearlong investigation by KSL News, which was able to corroborate much of what each source reported by conducting individual interviews without the knowledge…
Read MoreThe NJ Casino Reinvestment Development Authority forced by former admin. to make bad loan.
The Press of Atlantic City reports that the former governor of New Jersey pressured the CRDA to make a $4 million loan to another state agency. Corzine’s administration pressed the agency responsible for reinvesting casino dollars to make the loan, former Executive Director Tom Carver said. The loan helped a Democratic Party contributor and Corzine…
Read MoreFlorida caretakers leave residents to suffer
In the series, Neglected to Death, Miami Herald reporters Michael Sallah, Rob Barry and Carol Marbin Miller revealed that “caretakers in assisted-living facilities across Florida” were neglecting patients of proper medical attention and basic care. The improper care has led to the deaths of dozens of residents. The Herald obtained “confidential records” from the Department…
Read MoreWashington state bans toxic asphalt sealants.
Washington state is now the largest government in the country to ban the cancer-causing industrial waste. The asphalt sealant is used on surfaces such as driveways, parking lots, and even playgrounds. One US Representative is seeking a nationwide ban. “The Washington state legislation and Doggett’s drive for a nationwide ban flowed from studies by…
Read MoreFormer SEDC officials accused of embezzlement
Two San Diego redevelopment officials were arrested and accused of “embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.” The voiceofsandiego.org investigation that began in 2008 culminated this week when the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.’s former president and former finance director were accused of “five criminal felony counts” each. Voiceofsandiego.org reported that the SEDC started paying “hundreds of…
Read MoreWisconsin’s FoodShare program a target of fraud
An investigation by the Journal Sentinel reveals that Wisconsin’s food assistance program, FoodShare, is being abused by the same people who are supposed to benefit from the program. Last year, almost 2,000 recipients of the program’s assistance “reported losing their Quest card six or more times.” The investigation reveals that many FoodShare recipients sell their…
Read More$140 million spent on faulty water projects
In this three-part series from The (Raleigh) News & Observer, reporters revealed about “$140 million has been spent on work that is failing, needs significant repair or is too far from distressed sources of drinking water.” The series discovered stream restoration projects that require “hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.” They also found numerous…
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