The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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“Shame of the State” uncovers assisted-living horrors in Pennsylvania
Ken Dilanian of The Philadelphia Inquirer found a long list of health and safety violations, a history of substandard care, and a system of state oversight that, until recently, often allowed deficient operators to violate safety rules with virtual impunity in the assisted-living homes of Philadelphia. Since 2000, at least 55 assisted-living residents have died…
Read MoreBallooning cost of senior judges
Brandon Ortiz of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader analyzed court records to show that Kentucky’s judicial retirement system will pay out at least $1.57 million this year to compensate retired judges who work part-time to ease court backlogs. That’s far more than the $420,000 agreed to seven years ago. “That revelation raises questions about whether the…
Read MoreSelling innocence
Scott Zamost and Jeff Burnside of WTVJ-South Florida update the 2001 “Selling Innocence” investigation by interviewing Savannah Haile, now 12 years old. Pictures of Haile were posted on a so-called “child-modeling” Web site without her consent, and her story became part of the WTVJ stories. The report exposed the two men behind the Florida-based Web…
Read MoreSex offenders found in school safety zones
Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle used a computer analysis to locate more than 900 known child rapists and molesters living inside “school protection zones.” Using mapping software, KIRO Team 7 Investigators plotted addresses of every school and every registered sex offender convicted of violating a child. Despite the fact that last June, state lawmakers ruled that…
Read MoreHard lessons learned on the way to school
Jason Whitely of KHOU-Houston analyzed street-by-street crime data from the past two years to find out how close the city
Read MoreInvestigation launched, repairs started after report on Walter Reed
In their continued coverage of conditions at Walter Reed, Dana Priest and Anne Hull of The Washington Post report that while Michael J. Wagner directed the Medical Family Assistance Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he also was seeking funders and soliciting donations for his own new charity, based in Dallas, according to documents…
Read MoreUnpoliced use of force plagues Milwaukee police department
Reporter John Diedrich of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed the Milwaukee police department is inadequate in its tracking of the use of force. The article documented the record of an officer who was with the department for just three years but racked up a record of using force and attracted complaints far in excess of…
Read MoreDespite fire safety issues, apartment complex remained open
Sarah Okeson and John McCarthy of Florida Today (Brevard County, Fla.) report on Manor House, an apartment complex in Florida that did not have an adequate fire alarm system for two years. The county slapped it with the largest fine ever for a code enforcement violation. However, the complex was able to stay open because…
Read MoreMarines in Iraq angered by lack of proper equipment
A report by Richard Lardner of the Tampa Tribune indicates that “civilian casualties in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province would have been greatly reduced over the past 20 months if an inexpensive, hand-held laser system had been sent to the Marines operating there, according to a series of e-mail messages between troops in the field and…
Read More“The Other Walter Reed”
In a two part series, Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull uncover dismal conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 ½ years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution…
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