The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
Maricopa County employees shuttled in luxury buses
During the past three years, Maricopa County has paid more than $1.2 million to two private companies that shuttle county employees from parking lots to their office buildings in luxury buses, according to a three-month investigation by KNXV-Phoenix. Four 80-passenger tour buses run their routes every 15 minutes for 8 hours a day. “A review…
Read MoreProblems plague Georgia’s foster care system
An investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed widespread problems in Georgia’s foster care system. “The newspaper reviewed more than 1,500 reports of state inspections and investigations, which provide an astonishing narrative of stark conditions and inadequate oversight in small foster homes and large group facilities alike. ” In one case, an 17-year-old with a history…
Read MoreNursing homes collected million yet cut staff, wages
An investigation by Christina Jewett and Agustin Armendariz of California Watch shows that 232 nursing homes in California “either cut staff, paid lower wages or let caregiver levels slip below a state-mandated minimum” despite collecting about $236 million in additional funding intended to hire more caregivers and increase wages. “Many nursing homes appeared to use…
Read MorePersonality disorder used to discharge soldiers, strip them of benefits
A report by Joshua Kors in The Nation explores the Army’s fraudulent use of personality disorder diagnoses to discharge soldiers, thus stripping them of their disability benefits and long term medical care. The article details the case of Chuck Luther who suffered a concussion during a mortar attack in May 2007. After reporting his symptoms,…
Read MorePension obligations strain budgets throughout California
A collaboration by the five McClatchy newspapers in California examines how pension obligations are hurting local governments at a time of diminished resources throughout the state. “The initial logic of increasing retirement benefits to retain quality employees has been turned on its head: Paying for those benefits is forcing local governments to lay off employees…
Read MorePolitically-connected subcontractor profits at the District’s expense
Hunter L. Gorinson, of The Hill Rag (Washington, D.C.), exposed how Sinclair Skinner, a politically connected subcontractor, bilked the city out hundreds of thousands of dollars in overcharges for contract work as a surveyor for a D.C. park renovation project. Skinner’s company, Liberty Engineering & Design (LEAD), is not even licensed to survey in the…
Read MoreDevelopers abuse loopholes in Brownfield Cleanup Program
Rick Moriarty of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) reports on abuses of loopholes in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, a law meant to encourage development on contaminated property through tax credits for environmental cleanup. The developer of Destiny USA, a stalled shopping mall expansion project, could collect up to $54 million in tax breaks despite insignificant…
Read MoreHawaii’s long-term-care system for elderly fraught with problems
In a four-part series, Rob Perez of the Honolulu Advertiser found Hawaii’s long-term-care system for the elderly is fraught with problems, including a placement system tainted by kickbacks and fraud. He also found that Hawaii nursing homes are the least sanctioned in the country, that reforms at the state Legislature are consistently blocked by care-home…
Read MoreOver 51,000 hired after state imposed hiring freeze
Using electronic payroll records, Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y) reporter Delen Goldberg found that New York state officials hired 51,000 people at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion in salaries since Gov. David Paterson ordered a “hard” hiring freeze in state government nearly two years ago. Former Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll earns $155,000 annually…
Read MoreIdentity revealed in fatality at CIA secret prison
The name of the only known fatality from a secret prison network that the CIA operated overseas after the 9/11 attacks is finally known, due to an Associated Press investigation of his imprisonment and death. Gul Rahman, a suspected militant imprisoned in a CIA compound code-named the Salt Pit near Kabul, was found dead in…
Read More