The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Extra Extra
Housing association under scrutiny after newpaper exposes problems
Lewis Kamb of The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash) writes that Washington state commerce officials have launched an investigation of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association. The probe follows News Tribune reports that exposed financial mismanagement and other problems at the nonprofit affordable housing agency.
Read MoreSome of the worst roads bypassed by stimulus funds
Brad Heath of USA Today reports that “nearly $10 billion in stimulus aid to repair the nation’s tattered highways has largely bypassed dozens of metropolitan areas where roads are in the worst shape.” Stimulus funds are intended to be spent quickly and repairs to many of the worst roads would take too much time and…
Read MoreTrust Betrayed series
A sixth-month, statewide investigation into Florida’s child care centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities by Sally Kestin, Peter Franceschina and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that Florida laws have often placed children and the elderly in the hands of habitual criminals. The first of a three-part series includes a database of…
Read MoreMajority of health care lobbyists are federal government veterans
“Of 2,737 lobbyists hired to promote the interests of drug companies, insurers, hospitals, health professionals, industry groups and business organizations, 1,418 — or 52 percent — have worked for Congress, the White House or federal agencies. That includes 55 former members of Congress.” reports Jonathan D. Salant and Lizzie O’Leary of Bloomberg.com.
Read MoreFour Wisconsin in-home child care providers match sex offender addresses
“An audit of the Wisconsin Shares program released Wednesday found four cases where the addresses of in-home child-care providers matched those of registered sex offenders,” according to a report by Raquel Rutledge and Stacy Forster of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The audit was launched in response to an earlier Journal Sentinel story that showed nearly…
Read MoreRetired state workers collect pension, paycheck
An investigation by The Hartford (Conn.) Courant shows that more than 500 of the 3,856 state employees who participated in the state’s Retirement Incentive Program are receiving bi-weekly paychecks in addition to their pension. The retirement incentive was intended to cut annual salary costs, but the state has rehired over 500 retirees for “temporary” work. …
Read MoreSubcontractor unpaid after Army contract job
Reporter Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported than MLDC Inc., an Idaho company, landed a multiyear, six-figure contract for work at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin last summer, but failed to pay the Oconomowoc company it hired to do the job. The Army’s lead contact on the contract was a felon on probation. To…
Read MorePrivate security firm bought weapons on Iraqi black market
An investigation by T. Christian Miller and Aram Roston for ProPublica shows that Triple Canopy, the top private security contractor in Iraq, “swapped booze for weapons and supplies from the U.S. military” and purchased arms on the Iraqi black market. Previously undisclosed documents reviewed by ProPublica point to continued difficulties for the by the U.S…
Read MoreWater tainted with mercury ignored by government
Abandoned mercury mines in California are contaminating many of the state’s waterways, reports Jason Dearen. An investigation by the Associated Press found that “the federal government has tried to clean up fewer than a dozen of the hundreds of mines – and most cleanups have failed to stem the contamination.”
Read More“The Informant!” opens tonight
The movie “The Informant!,” which opens at theaters tonight, is based upon the IRE-honored book by Kurt Eichenwald. The book was a finalist in the book category in the 2000 IRE Awards.
Read More