Government (federal/state/local)
N.Y. tax checkoff funds for cancer research sit idle
Since 2005, New York taxpayers have donated $1.8 million through their income tax returns to aid the fight against prostate cancer, but researchers have yet to see a dime.
Read MoreAmmonium nitrate sold by ton as U.S. regulation is stymied
Despite being banned in countries such as Afghanistan, China, Colombia, Germany, Ireland and the Philippines, the potentially explosive fertilizer ammonium nitrate can be purchased pure and by the ton in the United States, according to the Dallas Morning News. An investigation by the newspaper found that “for more than a decade, U.S. efforts to tighten controls over…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Faking the grade, mug shots online, pharma payments and the politics of mental health care
How Sunrise police make millions selling drugs | Sun Sentinel“Police in this suburban town best known for its sprawling outlet mall have hit upon a surefire way to make millions. They sell cocaine.” How safe are Indiana day cares? | Indianapolis Star“Indiana spends about $2.5 million inspecting and licensing more than 4,000 day cares that…
Read MoreA Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning
“The stand by conservatives that led to the current crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort, waged by a galaxy of well-funded groups, to undo President Obama’s health care law.”
Read MoreStimulus Funds Paid For Trees For Wealthy Homeowners
“Stimulus funds aimed at jump starting the economy paid for about 4,000 trees in Denver, with many ending up at million dollar homes in Denver’s priciest neighborhoods where residents acknowledge they could have paid for their own trees, but the government was giving them out for free, so why bother?”
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Overdoses, background checks, housing markets, midwifery and fraudulent accounting
Use only as directed | ProPublica and This American Life “About 150 Americans a year die by accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The toll does not have to be so high.” Read the stories from ProPublica. Company Behind Snowden Vetting Did Check on D.C. Shooter | Bloomberg “The U.S. government…
Read MoreJustice Dept. watchdog never probed judges’ NSA concerns
“In response to a FOIA request from USA TODAY, the Justice Department said its ethics office never looked into complaints from two federal judges that they had been misled about NSA surveillance.”
Read MoreDWP says it can’t track millions in ratepayer money
“DWP ratepayer funds flow to two groups run by agency managers and union leaders, with little accountability.”
Read MorePretrial detainees on the rise in New York
WNYC News reports that “over the past decade, as New York City’s backlog of felony cases has grown, so too has the time defendants are spending behind bars before trial. The average pretrial detention in a felony case was 95 days in 2012.”
Read More$45 cost one woman her home
“In part three of Homes for the Taking, The Washington Post’s Debbie Cenziper, Mike Sallah and Steven Rich found the District’s tax office has risked 1,900 houses to foreclosure by mistakenly counting property owners as delinquent even after they paid their taxes, forcing them to fight for their homes in grueling legal battles that persisted…
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