The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Stimulus funds go to troubled corporations
Will Evans of California Watch found large corporations in California are getting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus dollars despite a history of environmental violations and a host of other legal problems.
Read MoreLegislation proposed to help protect young runaways
Ian Urbina of The New York Times reports that “state and federal lawmakers from around the country are pressing a variety of new laws that would make sweeping changes in the way runaways and prostituted children are handled by police officers and social workers.” Much of the new legislation was prompted by a Times series…
Read MoreSafety inspectors nearly hit by train during Metro inspection
In The Washington Post’s continuing investigative series on lapses in subway safety, the paper reported that independent safety inspectors — banned from Metro tracks until a Post exposé in November — returned to the rails in December to assess whether the transit agency was following rules meant to protect its own workers. During the inspection,…
Read MoreWhen Drugs Stop Working series
A five day series by Martha Mendoza and Margie Mason of The Associated Press explores the global issue of drug resistance, looking at where and how it has emerged and what can be done. The series examines the overuse and misuse of drugs, leading to drug-resistant strains of diseases, highlighted by the first case in…
Read MoreBank collapse exposed oversight and inspection problems
A two-part report by The Denver Post examines how the federal and state bank regulatory system collapsed in the last decade, failing to catch fraud at New Frontier Bank, one of the costliest bank failures in the country in 2009. A graphic depicts the red flags at New Frontier Bank, comparing performance data with other…
Read MoreOvertime inflates deputies’ pay and pensions
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) used payroll records to show that two trainers at a police academy run by the sheriff have far more than doubled their pay through staggering amounts of overtime. The father of one of the trainers runs the academy. The marathon shifts have inflated the state pension the trainers will receive for…
Read MoreChange in ownership allowed controversial gun store to remain open
For two years, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter John Diedrich has been seeking documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on a local gun store that has been the subject of controversy. Despite heavy redactions by the agency, and differing responses to various FOIA requests, Diedrich was able to confirm the ATF…
Read MoreReview finds housing nonprofit misspent nearly $2 million
A Tacoma, WA affordable housing nonprofit misspent nearly $2 million in state funds meant to build a lavish business center in central Tacoma, an accountant’s review for the state’s commerce department has found. Lewis Kamb of The News Tribune reports about the review’s findings, prompted by his ongoing coverage of mismanagement allegations and financial turmoil…
Read MoreLocal parties in California avoid campaign contribution limits
Politicians and their supporters in California have routinely funneled money through county-level political party committees around the state, avoiding strict limits on campaign giving and hiding the source of millions in donations, a California Watch analysis shows. By using county parties as middlemen, both Democrat and Republican donors can contribute far more money than the…
Read MoreDisabled workers paid cents-per-hour for work at state-run homes
Clark Kauffman of the Des Moines Register reports that more than 300 mentally retarded wards of the state are being paid less than the minimum wage for work performed at two state-run homes for the disabled. Seventy-four of the workers are paid an average hourly wage of 60 cents or less, and some of the…
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