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Iowa hospital sends $180,000 in food waste to landfill
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics threw away 355,000 servings of food worth $181,600 last year, according to The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The hospital prepared roughly 3 million total servings of food in 2012, not counting patient meals. The Gazette found that the hospital’s dining room serving doctors and nurses from operating rooms threw away…
Read MoreATF storefront sting led to thousands of dollars stolen and a machine gun on the streets
In an attempt to bust criminal operations in Milwaukee by purchasing drugs and guns from felons the ATF set up a storefront sting. However, “the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun…
Read MoreAnother free pass for Ivan the Incorrigible
“This long-running spree of crime has led US immigration officials to try, at least three times in the past 12 years, to detain and deport Vaclavik. But each time he has challenged the effort with a lawsuit — and each time immigration has backed off and set him free,” according to The Boston Globe’s story.
Read More“Star” El Diario reporter’s murder case remains unsolved
“Choco was the first journalist to fall victim to the turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels that engulfed the state of Chihuahua from 2007 to 2011. He was not the last. In July, the special prosecutor for crimes against journalists in Mexico testified that 67 journalists had been killed in that country since 2006.…
Read MoreNew measure drops Pennsylvania charter school ratings
Analyzing state education data, The Morning Call found that only 28 percent of Pennsylvania charter schools met an adequate yearly progress rating, compared to 49 percent using a more lenient calculation implemented by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and later rejected by the U.S. Department of Education.
Read MoreGun laws, state by state
“President Obama has indicated a move towards strengthening federal gun control measures, but the reality is that the majority of gun legislation in the US is enacted at the state level. That has brought broad variations across the country, with states taking different approaches to issues ranging from sales, permits, licensing, self-defense and carry laws.”…
Read MoreBloomberg Administration Proposed, then Dropped, Database of Residents Needing Evacuation and Aid
WNYC reports that “in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a registry that would allow disaster responders to know where to find people most urgently in need of aid. But he does not appear to have followed through.”
Read MoreWhere Congress stands on gun control
In the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy, President Obama on Wednesday will announce new national gun control measures. He has already urged members of Congress to do the same. ProPublica has created an app that lets you take a comprehensive look at where lawmakers stand on guns, as well as political spending and voting history.
Read MoreMenlo Park cop caught with prostitute keeps job
The Almanac looks at how binding arbitration, written into contracts with California police unions statewide, makes it nearly impossible for cities to fire problem officers. In this case, a Menlo Park police officer was caught with a prostitute and subject to internal investigation, but ultimately kept is badge.
Read MoreDuring federal gun ban, data show drop in high-capacity magazines
According to a Washington Post analysis, during the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons, the percentage of firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines seized by police agencies in Virginia dropped, only to rise sharply once the restrictions were lifted in 2004. In Virginia, the Post found that the rate at which police recovered firearms with high-capacity…
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