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DCS chief James Payne fought his own agency over family matter
The Indiana Department of Child Services director, James W. Payne, fought to discredit and derail his agency’s recommendations in a child neglect case involving his own grandchildren, the Indianapolis Star reported. The story is based on the newspaper’s review of hundreds of pages of documents from DCS legal filings, investigation reports, monthly status reports submitted…
Read MoreOSU president expenses in the millions
Daily News reporter Laura A. Bischoff fought a year-long FOIA battle to get hold of Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee’s expense reports, which ultimately revealed that the unviersity spends $7.7 million on Gee’s expenses — almost has much as his $8.6 million salary. The expenses include travel, parties and $64,000 on the president’s signature…
Read MoreNew Jersey’s Campaign Cash: Where it comes from, which towns give the most, and the crazy difference in how they raise their millions in donations
The paper analyzed campaign finance data and found a striking disparity between the two presidential candidates, despite being nearly identical in money raised (Barack Obama has raised $5.3 million in New Jersey and Mitt Romney has raised $5.1 million. But Obama only makes $149 off of each contribution from a total of 35,565 contributors. Romney…
Read MoreState of sexual harassment payouts
The Asbury Park Press reports that although New Jersey has paid millions in sexual harassment cases, little has been done to change the culture in some agencies.
Read MoreToxic aftermath: Decades later, PBB contamination suspected in illnesses and deaths
The Detroit Free Press has found that four decades after an agricultural disaster allowed the chemical polybrominated biphenyl into the food and water of nine out of 10 Michigan residents –as the state scales back monitoring of the sites and the Environmental Protection Agency gears for a multi-million dollar cleanup, many of the health risks…
Read MoreOversight board had little say in History Museum land purchase
After the Missouri History Museum spent $875,000 of its $10 million in tax dollars to purchase “a shuttered restaurant site from a former mayor,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found, via documents and museum officials, that the museum commissioners, appointed by area officials to approve spending, never see purchases until after they’ve been made and never…
Read MoreMedical examiner revises suspect’s death ruling to homicide
After a 10-month effort for records following the death of Derek Williams in Milwaukee police custody, the Journal-Sentinel alerted an assistant medical examiner with the county, who changed the ruling of the death from natural to homicide. The records include a vidoe of Williams suffocating and pleading for help from the back of a squad…
Read MoreIowa sees $29.6 million TV ad inundation
The Des Moines Register and eight other newspapers joined forces to gather and analyze TV political advertising spending data statewide in the 2012 presidential race. The effort revealed an unprecedented $30 million TV ad blitz that began last spring, continued through August and will pick up momentum heading into the final weeks of the race.…
Read MoreUsing grade data to show trends in universities
“Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press higher education reporter Brian McVicar used a decade’s worth of electronic grade reports to examine what classes at Grand Valley State University students struggle with the most, what academic areas students perform well in, and how grading at the university has changed over time.” “McVicar, an IRE CAR boot camp alum,…
Read MoreBoy Scout officials often helped cover tracks of alleged child molesters
“Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”“A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many…
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