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Data shows car accidents spike when sun aligns with Toronto street grid
Global News obtained 11 years of collision data and found that “Torontohenge,” when the setting sun aligns with Toronto’s east-west street grid and forces drivers to squint through salt-crusted windshields, coincides with the third-worst day of the year for car accidents. Get the full story and graphic.
Read MoreIn New York, a Heart Surgery Factory With ‘Obscene Levels’ of Pay
Reports of scheduled ER visits raised a concern internally that some cardiologists might be using the emergency department to get the costs of uninsured patients’ procedures covered, according to hospital correspondence. In some cases, the government’s Medicaid program and private insurers will pay for procedures done via an emergency-room visit that wouldn’t be covered otherwise,…
Read MorePentagon slow to identify remains of missing service members
The Pentagon spends about $100 million a year to find men like World War II POW Arthur “Bud” Kelder, following the ethos of “leave no man behind,” ProPublica reports. Yet it solves surprisingly few cases, hobbled by overlapping bureaucracy and a stubborn refusal to seize the full potential of modern forensic science. Last year, the military identified just…
Read MoreBorder Patrol agents criticized in report for ‘lack of diligence’
The LA Times obtained a report criticizing the U.S. Border Patrol for a “lack of diligence” and its use of tactics that may give officers an excuse to open fire. The report by law enforcement experts was the result of a review commissioned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Of 67 cases involving border patrol officers…
Read MoreUniversity of California losing millions of dollars on interest-rate bets
The University of California has lost tens of millions of dollars, and is set to lose far more, after making risky bets on interest rates on the advice of Wall Street bankers. University officials agreed to the financial deals – complex contracts known as interest-rate swaps – because they believed they could save money in…
Read MoreMembers of Mesa Police Department pose as Nazi stormtroopers, Hispanic males, gang members
The hearing was kept quiet. Officers with the Dobson Bike Patrol displayed a lack of respect to the homeless and immigrants in their community, keeping bulletin boards of mocking photos and signs. One officer even posed for a photo as a Nazi stormtrooper. The hearing resulted in disciplinary action against the officers, but the department…
Read MoreCalifornia clears daycare, nursing home workers before conducting background checks
The California Department of Social Services cleared workers without the proper background checks, a KCRA 3 investigation found. The department allowed some with felony arrest records for crimes like elder and child abuse to work in nursing facilities, foster homes and daycares. The state said officials have been issuing “criminal records clearance” letters to workers…
Read MoreGeneral Motors recalls Cobalts after series of fatal crashes
The death of 16-year-old Amber Marie, who died when her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt crashed the air bag failed to deploy, was an early warning in what would become a decade-long failure by G.M. and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to address a problem that engineers and regulators had been alerted to years ago. For…
Read MoreAir pollution in Utah may contribute to school absences
Health problems are a known contributor to absenteeism, and Wasatch Front students miss class at soaring rates when pollution levels are at their highest. That’s according to an analysis of attendance records by The Salt Lake Tribune in collaboration with Brigham Young University economist Arden Pope, one of the world’s leading pollution scientists. The Tribune…
Read MoreSuicide rates increasing in region of New York
Craig Russell Wishnick is one of 238 residents of Dutchess and Ulster counties to die by suicide in the five years ending in 2011, 73 more than in the five years ending in 2003, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal analysis of death certificates over a 13-year period. That is an increase in harder-hit Dutchess of…
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