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Extra Extra Monday: Child deaths, drug-addicted babies, veterans center doctors, broken FOI laws
Miami Herald Innocents Lost | The Miami Herald Fraternal twins Tariji and Tavont’ae Gordon joined a sad procession of children who died, often violently, after the Florida Department of Children & Families had been warned, often repeatedly, that they or their siblings could be in danger. The children were not just casualties of bad parenting,…
Read MoreMothers in Kentucky passing drug addictions to fetuses during pregnancy
Trinity is part of a heartbreaking surge in babies born dependent on drugs because of their mothers’ addictions — which continues to escalate unabated despite Kentucky’s crackdown on prescription-drug abuse. The state has seen hospitalizations for drug-dependent newborns soar nearly 30 fold in a little more than a decade — from 28 in 2000 to…
Read MoreWelder’s torch may have caused fire at Fort Detrick
A welder’s torch may have sparked a fire that caused $10 million in damage at the world’s largest high-security research lab, still under construction at Fort Detrick, according to a report prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Read MoreColorado cracking down on parolees after murder of prison chief
One year after a parolee killed state prisons director Tom Clements, life behind bars — and beyond — is far different for Colorado convicts. After years of declining prison populations — reductions that Clements had trumpeted — the number of inmates has risen in the past year as a direct result of his slaying.
Read MoreAlabama State audit shrouded in secrecy and confusion
As the cost of a forensic audit of Alabama State University nears $1 million, the investigation into the potential fraud it has uncovered is shrouded in secrecy and confusion.
Read MoreBaltimore defendants can spend weeks in jail before given the opportunity to post bail
Shykill Brewer, who was arrested on a misdemeanor drug charge days before Christmas, is among dozens of Baltimore suspects who have been detained for days with no chance at release, after being charged directly by prosecutors instead of by police. Officials say the unusual strategy is key to taking down major criminal organizations, but they…
Read MoreNew York state offices ignore Freedom of Information Laws
Part of New York’s Freedom of Information Law requires each state agency to maintain up-to-date “subject matter lists” — indexes of all records maintained by the agency — and to post them on the Internet. But a study of 86 New York state agencies by the Press & Sun-Bulletin found 9 in 10 were not…
Read More$163 million spent on injured public safety employees in three New York counties
Police officers and firefighters who file injury claims in the Lower Hudson Valley often collect tax-free salaries for years while local municipalities and the state wrangle over who ultimately picks up the tab. More than 15 percent of the state’s first responders end up retiring on a state-funded disability pension. That number is even higher…
Read MoreOklahoma veteran center doctors have records, substance abuse problems
Veterans centers in Oklahoma routinely hire doctors and other licensed medical personnel with a record of problems to treat the state’s sickest, most vulnerable veterans. Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs say money is the culprit, claiming it’s difficult to find suitable applicants with clean records to work at the state’s seven veterans…
Read MoreOil shipped by rail through Northwestern U.S. unusually volatile
Oil moving through Oregon has contained six times more propane – the same stuff in backyard gas grills – than comparable types of crude. Despite the risks, the oil isn’t required to go through simple steps to stabilize it when it’s extracted from the ground. Producers can flare off the propane and other gases in…
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