The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Government (federal/state/local)
Despite reports of abuse, DHS fails to protect child welfare
An investigation by Ken Dilanian and John Sullivan of The Philadelphia Inquirer shows gross failures by the Department of Human Services (DHS) led to the brutal deaths of children at the hands of their parents – parents who had been referred to DHS for abusive behavior. “Three years after a string of blunders by DHS…
Read MoreLein sales a quick fix with dire consequences
Over several months, Tom Meagher of the Herald News examined the records of a bulk sale of property tax liens that the city of Paterson, N.J., conducted to raise the revenue needed to balance its budget. While this resulted in a quick influx of cash for the city, the short-sighted plan cost the city millions…
Read More“Caltrans: Road to Nowhere”
A watchdog report by Kimberly Kindy and Natalya Shulyakovskaya of The Orange County Register looks at how the California Department of Transportation “has repeatedly displaced property owners for highway projects that went nowhere — from the abandoned widening of Pacific Coast Highway through Orange County to Hayward
Read MoreNonprofits helped Abramoff clients for cash
James Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt of The Washington Post present details from a new Senate committee report that says former power lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid conservative nonprofit groups to use their influence to benefit his clients. “The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff…
Read MoreSpecial benefits for religious groups
Diana B. Henriques of The New York Times, with computer analysis by Andy Lehren and research by Donna Anderson, examined the quiet expansion of special benefits for religious groups. “In recent years, many politicians and commentators have cited what they consider a nationwide ‘war on religion’ that exposes religious organizations to hostility and discrimination. But…
Read MorePolk County supervisors play favorites with grant money
Bert Dalmer of the Des Moines Register has written about a grant program in Polk County, Iowa that “smacks of vote-buying, according to one government watchdog group…The money - $1.5 million, given from the beginning of 2004 to the present — originates from gambling profits at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona.” Regulations controlling…
Read MoreDallas school credit card abuse includes misuse of federal grant funds
In a follow-up to an earlier story on credit card abuse within the Dallas Independent School District, Kent Fischer and Molly Motley Blythe of The Dallas Morning News report that the money used to pay for many of the questionable purchases came from federal grants. “The Dallas Independent School District, already battered by a spate…
Read MoreLA County Board of Supervisors – and their staff – handsomely compensated
Troy Anderson of the LA Daily News reports on the Los Angeles County “Fab Five” – the five members of the county Board of Supervisiors. “With salaries and benefits that can reach $185,232 a year, each of the five members of the county Board of Supervisors also controls a $3.2 million annual operating budget and…
Read MoreRecords reveal extensive White House access to some of Abramoff’s cronies
Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press reports that recently released Secret Service visitor logs reveal extensive “inside access” to presidential aides by Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, both of whom are linked to Jack Abramoff. The records indicate at least 115 appointments since 2001, some lasting upwards of 12 hours. The release of the records…
Read More“Capitol Crime”
Chitra Ragavan, Chief Legal Correspondent for U.S.News & World Report, has written “Capitol Crime,” a detailed piece about MZM, a defense contractor implicated in the Rep. “Duke” Cunningham briberies. “Based on a review of hundreds of pages of court documents, private internal MZM records, and detailed interviews with a dozen key officials, shows how [Mitchell]…
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