The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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InvestigateWest:Cruise Ships Dump Waste To Dodge Laws
An InvestigateWest report on the billion dollar cruise ship industry in the Washington-Alaska cruise market found that most ships avoid tougher state regulations and dump their waste in Canadian waters between the two states, despite state efforts to adopt stricter standards for sewage and wastewater discharge.
Read MoreMortgage Fraud Spawning New Scams
Mortgage fraud is a crime that cost an estimated $14 billion in 2009, prompting the FBI to assemble its largest ever team to fight it. But the tsunami of foreclosures is making classic scams easier and spawning new ones to boot. Reuters correspondent Nick Carey reports from Chicago.
Read MoreBrevard (FL) Students Frequently Held Back
Mackenzie Ryan reports that struggling students in Brevard’s public schools have a greater chance of repeating a grade than their peers in other parts of the state. In 2009, 7.1 percent of Brevard students were held back, compared with 4.6 percent statewide, a FLORIDA TODAY analysis of education data shows.
Read MoreTrouble plagues N.C. State Bureau of Investigation
A 4-part series by The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) reveals deep trouble at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The series finds an agency in line with prosecutors wishes, agents and analysts who ignore or twist the truth, and reliance on junk science. The director of the SBI was removed from her post…
Read MoreOneUnited bank was weakest to receive TARP support
A report on Bank Tracker, a project of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, shows that OneUnited Bank, the bank at the center of the allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was the weakest TARP bank at the time of its rescue. “When then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced creation of the so-called “Capital…
Read MoreNo recalls on van despite cracking axles
Tim Darragh of The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) reports that Ford Windstars from 1999-2003 are under investigation due to rear axles breaking while the car is being driven at high speeds – but no recall has been ordered. Hundreds of drivers have already complained to the federal government, but recalls on older vehicles are hard…
Read MoreMedicare billing fraud points to double-standard in care
The Dallas Morning News published a two-day installment in its ongoing investigation into allegations of Medicare billing fraud and poor patient care at one of the nation’s leading medical schools and its teaching hospital in Dallas. Among The News‘ findings: Faculty at UT Southwestern were letting resident doctors-in-training treat the hospital’s mostly poor, minority patients with little…
Read MoreSewage has polluted fishery for over a decade
A review of state and federal environmental records by reporters Christopher Baxter, Patrick Lester and Jarrett Renshaw, of The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), uncovered that for more than a decade, Allentown and other communities have allowed more than 33 million gallons of raw sewage into a prized local trout fishery. The pollution equates to someone…
Read MoreVacant homes running up inflated water bills
An investigation by David Andreatta of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) found hundreds of vacant, boarded-up homes in Rochester are accruing huge water bills because the city Water Bureau does not turn off the water at many homes, and continues to bill the homes based on estimated water use when it does turn off the…
Read MoreInsurers profit on policies of fallen soldiers
An investigation by David Evans of Bloomberg found that Prudential Insurance has been profiting on life insurance policies of deceased veterans. The funds are held in “Prudential’s general corporate account, earning investment income for the insurer.” According to regulatory filings from 2008, survivors were being paid 1 percent interest on their Alliance Accounts, while Prudential…
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