The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
“Retired” NJ budget guru collecting thousands in pension payments
NJ Governor Chris Christie hired Louis C. Goetting in 2010 as a budget guru to help trim the cost of government. But Goetting resembles a problem, not a solution, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of his employment history. Despite the fact that Goetting was hired to help with the budget, he has raked in…
Read MoreHaitian deportees jailed without cause; face serious health risks
“The United States has deported more than 250 Haitians since January knowing that one in two will be jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks. An investigation by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that the Obama administration has not followed its own policy of seeking alternatives to deportation…
Read MoreIL governor wants to retain jobs; gives tax credits to big companies
“A Chicago Tribune analysis shows IL Governor Pat Quinn has pledged about half a billion dollars in tax credits over the next decade to create 5,709 jobs and retain 22,610 workers through the Economic Development for a Growing Economy program, or EDGE.” Quinn’s focus has shifted from job creation to job retention since he took…
Read MoreEPA adds seven Florida air polluters to Watch List
“The Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility is one of the nation’s largest waste-to-energy trash incinerators. The plant’s boilers consume 3,000 tons of garbage every day, creating saleable energy that allows the county facility to turn a $20 million annual profit.” However, in an investigation done by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, partnered with the…
Read MoreTo escape U.S. justice, just flee the country
“Chicago Tribune reporters found eight Chicago-area fugitives during an 18-day trip to Mexico — five wanted for murder, two for raping or molesting children and one for shooting a man. Growing numbers of criminal suspects flee the U.S. each year to evade trial for murder, rape and other serious felonies. Breakdowns in the criminal justice…
Read More4 million cubic yards of radioactive waste in CO town’s backyard
“Cotter Corp.’s uranium mill near Cañon City, CO has the state’s backing to permanently dispose of radioactive waste in its tailings ponds, despite state and independent reports over a 30-year period showing the ponds’ liners leak.” However, the Denver Post reports that in “a 2004 internal state health department memo, it went so far as…
Read MoreLocal government pays employees thousands for accrued time
“While private employers are consolidating sick and vacation time and limiting the amount of leave workers can collect, governments continue to be more generous with such benefits, said Jeffrey Keefe, a Rutgers University professor.” The Virginian-Post reports that “since January 2010, South Hampton Roads cities collectively paid more than $7.7 million in such payments to…
Read MorePrivate EMS operators billed Medicare nearly $500 million since 2005
An investigation done by the Houston Chronicle found that private EMS operators are “making millions of dollars off the poor, the sick and the mentally vulnerable, whether they need a costly EMS lift or not.” Surprisingly, “many of the patients are neither physically debilitated nor confined to a sick bed. They are not headed to, or…
Read MoreDisaster looms as fire department is stretched too thin
“Nowhere are the challenges facing the Alexandria Fire Department more stark than at Station 206, the Seminary Road facility built in 1958. Standing on the front ramp looking west, Fire Chief Adam Thiel can see the massive Washington Headquarters Service — the new Department of Defense building where more than 6,000 people will work early…
Read MoreCA fires won’t deter 150-home development, despite high-risk area
“Following the deadly Esperanza wildfire in Southern California in October 2006, in which five U.S. Forest Service firefighters were killed, a task force recommended tougher zoning and code enforcement to limit development in the mountain forests considered high fire hazard zones. Yet within a year of those recommendations, Riverside County supervisors gave the go-ahead to…
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