Government (federal/state/local)
Costly perk forces DWP to shell out extra if it gives work to outside contractors
The Los Angeles Times reports: “It’s no secret Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees are paid well. But a little-known clause in their union contract ensures they can work extra hours and collect even higher wages when private contractors are hired to help them get the job done.”
Read MoreLocked in Terror
The Fresno Bee reports: “The Fresno County Jail has been a place of terror and despair for mentally ill inmates who spiral deeper into madness because jail officials withhold their medication. About one in six jail inmates is sick enough to need antipsychotic drugs to control schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and other psychiatric conditions, but many…
Read MoreNevada chief justice orders courts review after potentially more than 2,400 ruled mentally ill not reported to gun database
“(A Reno Gazette-Journal) report this week found that Washoe District Court in Reno did not send 179 names to the Department of Public Safety’s database of people prohibited from possessing a gun. When the RGJ asked the department how many reports it had received from other courts in the state, the director said only 13…
Read MoreWoman says KCMO councilman’s sexting scandal connected to taxpayer money, shares story with FBI
“41 Action News has spoken exclusively with a woman who is convinced the taxpayer money was used to help keep a sexting scandal out of the public spotlight. And she’s shared her story with the FBI.”
Read MoreDocuments show NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year
The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to a report from The Washington Post. Based on an internal audi and other top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, The Washington Post…
Read MoreInspection, enforcement of Pennsylvania amusement parks fall short
Pennsylvania has more amusement park rides than any other state, and its governer has stated its rides are unmatched in safety because of the state’s rigorous inspection program. But an investigation by PublicSource shows that the state agency that oversees amusement parks does not track the safety inspection reports that parks are required to file…
Read MoreU.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans
A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans, according to a Reuters report.
Read MoreFBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes
A USA Today report states that the FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in a single year, according to newly disclosed documents that show just how often the nation’s top law enforcement agency enlists criminals to help it battle crime.
Read MoreSyria’s Unspoken Crimes
There have been reports that in war-torn Syria, rape has become an epidemic as both sides seek to destabilize, frighten and ruin the other. But unearthing the stories of these widespread atrocities is difficult, and often impossible. Women in Syria face dire political, personal and familiar consequences if they admit to being victims — no…
Read MoreTop drone supporter, beneficiary now looks to uses closer to home
The strikes are deeply unpopular in South Asia and in other parts of the world, reports the Investigative Reporting Workshop. The Taliban killed 10 foreign mountaineers in Pakistan in June — in retaliation, the Taliban said, for the U.S. drone strikes. Many of the drones that were used in Pakistan, along with those sent to…
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