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Rising Arizona public safety pensions strain budget
“The cost of funding retirement for Arizona’s first responders has risen 500 percent during the past decade, inflated by enhanced benefits and battered by investment losses, forcing some communities to curb their hiring of police officers and firefighters, The Arizona Republic has found.” Read The Republic’s full investigation here.
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Texas plants lack safety inspections, pensions strain AZ state budget, high-risk health providers stay in business
Many Texas plants lack safety inspections despite risks | Dallas Morning News “Twenty-two percent of plants in Texas that regulators say pose a risk of explosion or toxic release have never have been inspected for emergency preparedness, federal data shows. Another 10 percent were inspected, but not by federal, state or even local governments. Instead,…
Read MoreMany Texas plants lack safety inspections despite risks
“Twenty-two percent of plants in Texas that regulators say pose a risk of explosion or toxic release have never have been inspected for emergency preparedness, federal data shows. Another 10 percent were inspected, but not by federal, state or even local governments. Instead, those facilities reported inspections by their own contractors, insurance companies or employees,…
Read MoreProp. 13 loophole gives edge to big players
“Change of ownership, key to reassessment, is cut-and-dried for homeowners but not businesses. It means a loss of tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue,” according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times.
Read MoreFish die-off in Brown Slough a mystery
“The next day, hundreds of shiner perch were found dead on the banks of Browns Slough. A week later, the state Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish and Wildlife say they are no closer to finding a cause. No samples were tested and no cause has been established — just a lot of…
Read MoreGive Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses—We Have Private Prisons to Fill
“Since 2005, immigration has been criminalized as never before. In 2000, when George W. Bush came into office, there were about 10,000 convictions for illegal entry and re-entry—essentially crossing the border illegally; in 2011, even as the number of people crossing the border had plummeted during the Obama administration, there were more than 71,000 such…
Read MoreHigh-risk health providers stay in business thanks to state insurance
“Maple Grove surgeon Joseph Pietrafitta has been sued at least six times for malpractice, leading to $1.2 million in settlements for former patients. The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice also has cited some of the lawsuits in ordering Pietrafitta to take corrective action for “inappropriate” conduct. In 2010, no conventional insurance carrier would give him…
Read MoreOakland police quick to fire, slow to investigate questionable shootings
Oakland police have been questioned for years by court-appointed watchdogs for questionable shootings and a failure to investigate them, The Bay Area News Group reports. A review by the news group finds that police can’t account for all shootings since 2000 and that an alarming pattern has persisted in the face of warnings. The news…
Read MoreBig costs and lack of oversight for southern California transit agency
Investigative Newsource in San Diego reports on the North County Transit District, which was overhauled and largely outsourced four years ago with significant consequences. Newsource reports that the “the turnover among upper management at North County Transit District has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and has, at times, put riders at risk.”
Read MoreObama’s choice for Federal Housing Finance Agency head under fire
The Center for Public Integrity reports that “Rep. Mel Watt, the North Carolina Democrat whom President Barack Obama has appointed to oversee mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has received more campaign money from financial interests than any other industry or special interest.” “Since he entered Congress in 1992, Watt has received $1.33 million…
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