The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Medicaid fraud plagued by lack of oversight
Clifford J. Levy and Michael Luo of The New York Times used state Medicaid data to find that “the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse…
Read MoreInspection data shows problems often found with pools
Michelle Keller and Kevin Spear of The Orlando Sentinel used county pool inspection data to show that “at least one in eight failed tests for chlorine, meaning they could pose a health risk for swimmers who use them.” The findings roughly mirror an early federal study and the paper’s previous surveys of inspection reports. “This…
Read MoreState, university employees’ salaries swell
Jane Stancill and David Raynor of The (Raleigh/Durham) News & Observer analyzed state payroll data to find that “there are already more than 2,200 state and University of North Carolina system employees who are paid more than $100,000 in state money a year; more than two-thirds of them work at the universities.” Pay for university…
Read MorePower for Jobs program flawed
Mike McAndrew of The (Syracuse) Post-Standard investigates the “Power for Jobs” program, finding that more than a third of the businesses receiving state-subsidized electrical power in the program failed to deliver the jobs they promised. Cooper Crouse-Hinds was awarded 5,000 kilowatts of subsidized power; in return they agreed to retain all of its jobs and…
Read MoreHospital faces deep problems
Julie Bell of The (Baltimore) Sun reviewed documents on the performance of Maryland General Hospital, finding that “from at least the mid-1990s until spring 2004, the hospital’s board and a changing cast of top executives failed to act quickly as oversight systems designed to protect patients failed.” Breakdowns at the hospital’s laboratory in early 2004…
Read MoreSchool administrators paid big during yearlong leaves
Megan Twohey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel used university documents to show that “the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has paid four former administrators more than $600,000 in taxpayer dollars for yearlong leaves granted after their resignations.” The college does not track what officials granted such leaves do during that time, when typically they are preparing to…
Read MoreKentucky residents’ health plagued by bad habits, poverty
Laura Ungar of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal spent a year assessing the health of Kentucky’s residents, finding that “Kentucky is one of the sickest states in America, a place where too many people die too soon, and many who live endure decades of illness and pain.” Bad health habits ingrained in the state’s culture, including high…
Read MoreIllinois police pull over minorities at higher rate
Ryan Keith of the Associated Press analyzed the results of a state-mandated study on Illinois traffic stops, finding that “black and Hispanic drivers in large downstate cities are pulled over by police at a rate that far exceeds their share of the local population.” The state legislature had every police agency turn over data on…
Read MoreThousands of home permits issued for fire-prone areas
Jim Miller and Ben Goad of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise use mapping software to plot thousands of new home permits issued since the 2003 Southern California fires and then compared the points to state maps showing fire threat. “In the 18 months after the firestorms of 2003, Inland cities and counties issued permits for more…
Read MoreCompany builds silo within 300 feet of school
Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette investigates a coal company, which has built and begun to build silos outside the companies permit area, within 300 feet of a school. The Gazette used color overlays of hard-copy mine maps produced by a local blueprint shop, so that maps dating back to 1982 could be easily…
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