The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
Occupational disability claims an epidemic at L.I.R.R.
An investigation by The New York Times has uncovered an epidemic of occupational disability claims among retirees of the Long Island Rail Road. “Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The…
Read MoreSection 8 vouchers lead to suburban migration, new challenges
In an effort to break up large-scale public housing projects riddled by crime, Section 8 vouchers have created the opportunity for low-income families to move into suburbs, according to a report by Gregory Korte of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The opportunity for a more stable community is not without its challenges, and many Section 8 tenants…
Read MoreFEMA no longer provides ice in emergency situations
Megan Chuchmach of ABC.com reports that new FEMA rules stipulate that states must provide their own ice in emergency situations. FEMA changed its policy is due the high cost of storing ice and its high perishability. Many relief aid workers and state officials did not know about the change, causing problems in areas affected by…
Read MoreNashville council members enjoy generous health-care benefits
A report by Brad Schrade at The Tennessean showed how the Metro Council in Nashville had voted themselves generous life-time health care benefits that even city employees can’t get. The city pays 75% of annual health coverage costs for council members and their families for life, one of the most generous packages for elected officials…
Read MoreNY school cafeterias not meeting inspection requirements
“Nearly two-thirds of schools in New York state are not receiving the twice-yearly health inspections required by federal law to curb food poisoning, making the state among the nation’s worst offenders,” reports David Andreatta of the Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.). Inspection rates are lowest in Monroe County where nearly 80 percent of school cafeterias…
Read MoreLabor laws offer little protection to North Carolina workers
An investigation by Ames Alexander of the Charlotte Observer reveals that North Carolina has failed to protect employees who are fired in retaliation for filing workers compensation claims or blowing the whistle on unsafe practices. The newspaper found that few who seek help under the state’s anti-retaliation law wind up getting it. Of the roughly…
Read MoreRenegade Riders
All-terrain vehicles are rolling by the thousands into the Minnesota woods, offering motorized thrills but also causing long-term damage to public wildlands, the Star Tribune revealed in a multimedia investigative report. As the state Department of Natural Resources struggles to curb destructive off-trail riding, the agency is also mapping an immense trail network for ATVs…
Read MoreTreasury secretary issued ultimatum to Lehman Brothers
With Wall Street undergoing a major crisis, Deborah Solomon, Dennis K. Berman, Susanne Craig and Carrick Mollenkamp of the Wall Street Journal report that New York Federal Reserve Bank president Timothy Geithner, with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, told about thirty Wall Street executives with Lehman Brothers Holdings, “There is…
Read MoreCheney shielded Bush from surveillance program backlash
Continuing its ongoing series on the Cheney vice-presidency, Barton Gellman and the Washington Post have posted the second of a two-part article on how Vice President Dick Cheney handled a near-riot in the Justice Department over the domestic surveillance program. The articles are adapted from Gellman’s upcoming book “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency,” due out…
Read MoreBush secretly approved orders allowing raids in Pakistan
A report by Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times reveals that President Bush “secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allow American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government, according to senior American officials.”
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