The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Extra Extra
Database of dangerous caregivers incomplete
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein of ProPublica reported on big gaps in a federal database that is supposed to alert hospitals to disciplinary actions against health care providers across the country. Over two decades ago, Congress “ordered up a national database allowing hospitals to check for disciplinary actions taken anywhere in the country against nurses,…
Read MoreCheating on standardized tests suspected in one in five Georgia schools
Hundreds of Georgia schools are under investigation for cheating on state standardized tests. This week’s release of a state probe of erasure marks followed more than a year of stories by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Heather Vogell and data analyst John Perry about suspect test scores.
Read MoreSecretive corporate culture contributed to Toyota’s woes
A report by Kate Linebaugh, Dionne Searcey and Norihiko Shirouzu of The Wall Street Journal reveals that a “secretive corporate culture” at Toyota kept the company from reporting and addressing safety issues in a timely manner with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Its silence with U.S. regulators, and other newly uncovered details from the…
Read MoreStimulus funds for renewable energy continue to flow overseas
Money from the 2009 stimulus bill to help support the renewable energy industry continues to flow overseas, despite Congressional criticism and calls for change, according to a new analysis of the program by the Investigative Reporting Workshop. The Workshop was the first to report last October that more than 80 percent of the first $1…
Read MorePalin e-mails reveal a powerful ‘first dude’
MSNBC.com investigative reporter Bill Dedman revealed the influence of Todd Palin, the husband of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, during Palin’s time as governor. MSNBC.com staff combed through nearly 3,000 pages of e-mails to show Todd Palin involved in a judicial appointment, monitoring contract negotiations with a public employee union and passing “financial information marked…
Read MoreClaims by China-based stem cell broker misleading
In a pair of reports, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Mark Johnson and Meg Kissinger examined the overblown medical claims and misleading marketing strategies of China-based Beike Biotechnology, one of many overseas operations marketing experimental stem cell treatments to desperate American families. The two interviewed dozens of the top doctors and scientists in their respective fields…
Read MoreSeniors exploited in care facilities
“Seniors for Sale“, a Seattle Times investigation, found that inside the state’s 2,843 adult family homes, thousands of vulnerable adults have been exploited by profiteers or harmed by amateur caregivers. With videos and searchable database, the three-day series by reporter Michael J. Berens also reveals how Washington has pushed out the poor from nursing homes…
Read MoreDoubts cast on justification of ’04 police shooting
A joint investigation by the Chicago Tribune and journalism students at Columbia College Chicago casts doubts on a 2004 Chicago police shooting in which the officers were cleared just 10 hours after seriously wounding a man and a 13-year-old girl. Students dissected the crime scene and discovered that one of the shooters couldn’t have possibly…
Read MoreNFL has ramped up campaign donations, lobbying efforts
An investigation by Scripps Howard News Service sports editor John Lindsay found the National Football League has ramped up its campaign contributions and lobbying efforts, mainly trying to affect legislation on broadcasting rights and trying to preempt any move by Congress to intervene in a potential player lockout in 2011. The $3.148 million in lobbying…
Read MoreSan Diego County’s social welfare programs lacking
San Diego County’s social welfare safety net is riddled with gaps. A voiceofsandiego.org investigation has found that the county government’s historical resistance to provide social welfare programs has left a wide chasm between last-resort aid and those on the bottom rungs of economic survival.
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