The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Maryland hospitals sue over unpaid bills while collecting surplus funds
An eight-month investigation by Fred Schulte and James Drew of The Baltimore Sun found that over the past five years some of Maryland’s 46 nonprofit hospitals have received millions of surplus dollars from the government even as they sued tens of thousands of patients over unpaid bills. Many of these suits have been filed against patients in…
Read MoreEPA allows companies to keep chemical information secret
In the latest installment of their ongoing 18-month investigation, Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency routinely allows companies to keep new information about their chemicals secret, including compounds that have been shown to cause cancer and respiratory problems. The newspaper examined more than 2,000…
Read MoreMayors’ requests laden with pork
CNN’s Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost found more than $300 million in questionable projects submitted to Congress by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Boudreau and Zamost examined each item in the 800-page report. The proposals included a water park ride in Miami, a plan to help prostitutes in Dayton, Ohio, and a baseball museum in…
Read MoreLosing Louisiana series
A project by The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.) looks at the precarious nature of southern Louisiana as land sinks due to subsidence while the waters of the Gulf are rising. Over the next 100 years, the region could see a 2- to 6-foot rise in sea level, leaving cities like New Orleans dependent on levees…
Read MoreSmoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA
A four-part series in The Philadelphia Inquirer looks into the Environmental Protection Agency’s management under the Bush administration. Stephen L. Johnson, Bush’s appointment for EPA Administrator, has been accused by many in the scientific community for valuing the president’s politics over human health and environmental welfare.
Read MoreFed refuses FOIA request for recipients of $2 trillion
Mark Pittman of Bloomberg.com reports that the Federal Reserve has refused their request to “disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.” Bloomberg filed suit against the Federal Reserve System in November for the release of bailout documents.
Read MoreDelayed police raid may have cost editor his life
A report by Thomas Peele and Bob Butler of The Chauncey Bailey Project states that a delayed raid of Your Black Muslim Bakery likely cost Bailey his life. Sources have asserted that the raid was delayed for two days due to the vacation schedules of two senior SWAT commanders. “Officers familiar with the raid’s planning…
Read MoreDramatic improvements in test scores raise questions
Some Georgia schools made astonishing improvements when their failing students were re-tested, according to an analysis of testing data by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The highly unusual turnarounds raise questions about the integrity of the testing and the accuracy of the scores, experts said. The state is now investigating.
Read MoreDisability readily approved by Railroad Retirement Board
A investigation by Walt Bogdanich and Nicholas Phillips of The New York Times found that the federal Railroad Retirement Board has not held a formal meeting in over two years. The board oversees the retirement and disability benefits for railroad workers. “Operating out of public view, with little scrutiny from Congress and even from its…
Read MoreFixing D.C.’s Schools: The Charter Experiment
A series by The Washington Post takes a hard look at charter schools in Washington, D.C. Approximately one-third of city’s children attend these independent, nonprofit schools. The investigation shows that much of the $1.6 billion in local and federal money spent on charter school over the past 12 years has gone to the purchase and…
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