The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
District’s travel practices prove costly
A Texas Watchdog review of three years of the Houston Independent School District’s travel records shows a penchant for pricey, last-minute tickets, and a toothless travel policy that allows teachers and staff broad discretion over travel spending. Reporters also spotlighted the school district’s use of a travel agency that adds $30 to every ticket issued by the…
Read MoreRegulatory issues on the rise with TARP banks
According to an investigation by Ryan Holeywell of BailoutSleuth.com, “At least one of every nine banks that got taxpayer investment through the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program was later cited by federal regulators for violating rules or failing to meet operating or financial standards.” This is in contradiction to Treasury Department statements claiming TARP funds…
Read MorePsychiatric hospital strained by patient needs, funding shortfalls
An investigation by The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer found that some dangerously ill patients who visit Charlotte’s psychiatric hospital are instead given medicine and sent home – sometimes with disastrous results. With perennial overcrowding at the county’s 66-bed psychiatric facility, few who visit the hospital’s emergency department are admitted. The result: patients like Kenny Chapman don’t…
Read MoreAssemblyman cashes in on disability pension
Mark Lagerkvist launches New Jersey Watchdog with an investigation of a state assemblyman who collected $570,000 in disability payments after retiring as a police officer with a bad back at age 31. Assemblyman David Rible, now 42, competes in five-mile runs, dances as a celebrity and hauls trash to the curb. In addition to his…
Read MoreData shows little violence at U.S.-Mexican border
The Associated Press reported that the US-Mexico border is one of the safest parts of America, and getting safer even as politicians say more federal troops are needed to fight rising violence. The top four big cities in America with the lowest rates of violent crime are all in border states: San Diego, Phoenix, El…
Read More24-plus hour days billed by home health workers
Glenn Howatt and Pam Louwagie of the Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) revealed that the state paid a home health care worker who billed for three 32 hour work days. The Star Tribune investigation found that in at least 21 cases last summer, “the state Department of Human Services paid agencies where care attendants supposedly worked…
Read MoreGun-rental loophole for felons, others
Felons may be prohibited from buying, owning or carrying guns, but a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation by reporter John Diedrich revealed a loophole in the law allows them to rent guns at gun stores and use them for target practice on indoor ranges. Indeed, gun stores are prohibited from running background checks on those wanting…
Read MoreWayne County, Mich. evasive with public records
This WXYZ-Detroit report exposed the tactics employed by officials in Wayne County, Michigan’s largest county to avoid releasing public information. The story featured a 20-year Wayne County official whose own requests for routine salary information were stonewalled, as well as unions whose requests were simply ignored, causing them to file suit. Legal fees for these requests are…
Read MoreDrilling in Gulf of Mexico allowed without requisite permits
Ian Urbina, of The New York Times, reports that the “federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the…
Read MoreStimulus jobs in New Jersey fewer than projected
Juliet Fletcher of the Press of Atlantic City (N.J.) reports that the number of reported stimulus-funded jobs have dropped in the state of New Jersey since they have stopped using estimates and are only reporting “jobs based on the actual employee hours paid for with recovery funds during each quarter.“
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