The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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California dependent on immigrant labor
A four-part series by Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register describes California’s extraordinary dependence on immigrant labor. Immigrants comprise a third of the state’s workforce a higher proportion than any other state and almost any developed economy. They dominate lower-paid jobs but also play huge roles in technology and health. The Register analyzed nearly…
Read MoreMajority of sexual abuses charges linked to women employees at juvenile facilities
An investigation by Laura Burke of the Texas Observer revealed that female employees account for most of the perpetrators of sexual abuse in Texas’ juvenile facilities. Relatively few investigations and convictions have been made, and some attribute this to the perception that sexual abuse perpetrated by women is considered relatively harmless, and often consensual. As…
Read MoreYouth sports fraught with risks
A five-day series by The Columbus Dispatch explored the dangers of youth sports. “Little Leagues, Big Costs” found that youth sports are fraught with dangers because they lack uniform standards and oversight. Children are more susceptible than ever to injury, families spend thousands of dollars chasing elusive scholarships, and adults sometimes mar the experience with…
Read MoreEfforts of USDA egg graders called into question following recall
Alison Young of USA Today reports that food safety watchdogs are critical of the U.S Department of Agriculture staff on site at the two Iowa egg processors linked to the recent egg recall. They “question whether USDA egg graders should have noticed the vermin problems cited by the FDA, potentially preventing the recall of a…
Read MoreCollateralized debt obligations fueled financial crisis
A report by ProPublica’s Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger “shows for the first time the extent to which banks — primarily Merrill Lynch, but also Citigroup, UBS and others — bought their own products and cranked up an assembly line that otherwise should have flagged.” These banks dealt in collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. A…
Read MoreNightclubs linked to sex trafficking continue to flourish
An investigation by The Palm Beach Post found that operators of nightclubs linked to sex trafficking by the FBI not only still are in business in Palm Beach County — they are expanding. The Post also found one of the clubs was issued a Florida liquor license only because regulators failed to identify its operator…
Read MoreCorrosion could threaten structure of Gateway Arch
A report in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reveals that the iconic stainless steel Gateway Arch is corroding. Reporter Nick Pistor reviewed engineering documents, which indicated corrosion, some of it feared aggressive, and severe discoloration of the stainless steel skin have long been present. The National Park Service allowed the newspaper to inspect a corrosion investigative…
Read MoreSmall Business Administration failed hurricane victims in Gulf
The Associated Press investigated how the Small Business Administration responded to the hurricanes of 2005, and the impact on the Gulf Coast five year later. The yearlong investigation by Mitch Weiss, Michael Kunzelman, Holbrook Mohr and Cain Burdeau found that loan officers rejected loans they should have approved, deleted loan applications for no valid reason,…
Read MorePatients in Peril series
From a violent patient allowed to roam free to a pregnancy case that violated policy at every turn and nurses who falsified documents to cover their mistakes, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation exposed a raft of problems at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex, home to the county’s most vulnerable residents. Reporters Meg Kissinger and…
Read MoreThai Workers Victims of Human Trafficking In Utah
Lee Davidson reported how Thai workers recruited to work on Utah pig and chicken farms were victims of human trafficking. Read “A Story of Modern Slavery in Utah.”
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