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Parolee GPS ankle monitors: Major flaws found in vendor’s system
“The electronic ankle monitors California used for several years to monitor more than 4,000 high-risk sex offenders and gang members were so inaccurate and unreliable that corrections officials said that the public was ‘in imminent danger,’” according to the Los Angeles Times’ investigation.
Read MoreMany Low-Income Students May Fail Because of Reading Law
“Among thousands of Oklahoma students who could be held back in third grade for failing a state reading test next year, a disproportionate share will likely be low-income children, anOklahoma Watch analysis of state data found.” Read Oklahoma Watch’s story here,
Read MoreAthlete charities often lack standards
“An ‘Outside the Lines’ investigation of 115 charities founded by high-profile, top-earning male and female athletes has found that most of their charities don’t measure up to what charity experts would say is an efficient, effective use of money,” according to ESPN’s story.
Read MoreSanta Clara County workers ignored red flags in Shirakawa case
“A trail of embarrassing inaction at numerous levels of county government enabled the years-long crime spree of disgraced former Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr., who will be sentenced in the coming weeks for perjury and misuse of public funds,” according to an investigation by the San Jose Mercury News.
Read MoreMaking the grade: Inside the college admissions process
“During the last month, on two occasions, The Inquirer has spent a total of about eight hours in the room with Lehigh staff members as they made sometimes difficult and agonizing decisions. It was a window into a highly competitive, emotionally charged process, often kept secret. The Inquirer agreed not to identify applicants.” Read the…
Read MoreMaker of popular tax software fights free, simple tax filing
Collaborative reporting between ProPublica and NPR reveals that Intuit, the company behind America’s most popular tax software, TurboTax, has long fought efforts to establish an easier, free tax filing system in the U.S. Similar systems already exist in Denmwark, Spain and Sweden, and advocates for such a system say it could save millions of taxpayers…
Read MorePenalties and prosecution light as illegal gun market thrives in Minnesota
Over the last decade, federal prosecutors pursued only eight domestic gun-trafficking cases in Minnesota, according to court records examined by the Star Tribune. Federal law enforcement officials say their limited presence in the state and significant constraints in federal law present serious obstacles to cracking down on illegal gun trafficking. Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd…
Read MoreFour of five drug busts by Border Patrol involve U.S. citizens
There’s no argument that Mexico-based crime organizations dominate drug smuggling into the United States. But the public message that the Border Patrol has trumpeted for much of the last decade, mainly through press releases about its seizures, has emphasized Mexican drug couriers, or mules, as those largely responsible for transporting drugs. It turns out that…
Read MoreStory of stolen semi-automatic reveals shadowy circulation of handguns
The Star Tribune tells the story of how one cheap semi-automatic handgun was stolen, and then used in three violent crimes in Minneapolis. The long and shadowy circulation of handguns like the Hi-Point often confounds police and can elude gun control laws.
Read MoreConsultant’s report kept secret over ’embarrassing’ criticism
The Charleston Gazette reports that “a state agency paid a Virginia-based company an estimated $118,000 to review West Virginia’s use of $126.3 million in federal stimulus funds to expand high-speed Internet, but Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s administration won’t release the consultant’s findings to the public.” The reason, Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette told the Gazette, is that at…
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