The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries deny, delay asbestos, hazard claims, suits, insiders allege
“Scripps interviewed more than 20 sources — some confidential — reviewed dozens of lawsuits and spoke with former insiders, who all allege the Berkshire-owned companies that handle its asbestos and pollution policies — National Indemnity Co. and Resolute Management Inc. — wrongfully delay or deny compensation to cancer victims and others to boost Berkshire’s profits.…
Read MoreHidden cash fueled Warren campaign
“Long before the term “Super PAC” entered the national lexicon of campaign finance, unauthorized committees — those acting in support of but without the expressed approval of candidates — gave donors a means to skirt limits that New York places on those donating directly to candidates.”
Read MoreCongressional budget crisis was months in the planning
“The stand by conservatives that led to the current crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort, waged by a galaxy of well-funded groups, to undo President Obama’s health care law,” the New York Times reports. Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General…
Read MoreCity gives felon six figure grant to open liquor store
TIF rules prohibit liquor stores from getting small business grants, and state and local laws bar felons from holding a stake in a liquor store except under rare circumstances, the Chicago Tribune reported. But a new outlet was funded and approved by City Hall agencies that exercised little oversight. The new liquor store was bankrolled…
Read MoreSex offenders in Oregon: State fails to track hundreds
Oregon has some of the worst records in the country at following federal standards intended to thwart roaming sex offenders, the Oregonian reports. It has become a haven for offenders who want to escape much stricter rules in other states. The state is two years behind entering names into its electronic database of registered sex…
Read More‘They Ordered Us To Kill All The People’
The trial of commanding officer Lt. Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes began last week, ProPublic reports. It is the first trial in the United States involving an atrocity from Guatemala’s 30-year civil war. It is also the first full airing of the Dos Erres case in a U.S. court. Sosa played a lead role in one of the…
Read More‘We Felt Like We Were Above the Law’: How the NCAA Endangers Women
A new report on Oklahoma State’s use of “hostesses” to lure in recruits reveals yet another instance of the NCAA normalizing sexism, the Atlantic reports. The protective culture of men’s college athletics in Division I can be harmful to women. Perhaps the best example is that of Nigel Clay, one of two Oklahoma football players…
Read MoreDeaths Linked to Cardiac Stents Rise as Overuse Seen
“When stents are used to restore blood flow in heart attack patients, few dispute they are beneficial. These and other acute cases account for about half of the 700,000 stent procedures in the U.S. annually. Among the other half — elective-surgery patients in stable condition — overuse, death, injury and fraud have accompanied the devices’…
Read MoreCampus crime reports not painting accurate picture of safety around USF, Univ. of Tampa, elsewhere
Following a rash of violent crimes around the USF campus, WTSP’s investigative team digs into federal Clery Act reporting to expose the hidden dangers around many college campuses. Most students will never know their off-campus apartments are often in the most dangerous parts of town – and most universities do little to prepare them for…
Read MoreVA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the agency charged with helping veterans recover from war instead masks their pain with potent drugs, feeding addictions and contributing to a fatal overdose rate among VA patients that is nearly double the national average.
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