Government (federal/state/local)
Dismissal of caregiver abuse puts California patients at risk
Ryan Gabrielson of The Center for Investigative Reporting reports that “California regulators routinely have conducted cursory and indifferent investigations into suspected violence and misconduct committed by hundreds of nursing assistants and in-home health aides – putting the elderly, sick and disabled at risk over the past decade.” In two stories published yesterday, Gabrielson’s examines how…
Read MoreR.I. DMV computer project is years behind schedule / Poll
“The state government started trying to replace the Division of Motor Vehicles’ antiquated computer system in 2006, with the new system ostensibly to be working in mid-2010.”
Read MorePrivacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data
“The United States’ National Security Agency intelligence-gathering operation is capable of accessing user data from smart phones from all leading manufacturers. Top secret NSA documents that SPIEGEL has seen explicitly note that the NSA can tap into such information on Apple iPhones, BlackBerry devices and Google’s Android mobile operating system.”
Read MoreGoliad’s $1 million mess
“An extensive Victoria Advocate investigation reveals a program started to promote economic development has instead been riddled with poor record-keeping, questionable loan practices, missing documents and virtually no accountability.”
Read MoreEarmarks on rise again in Olympia
“Legislators steered more than $170 million in the state’s capital budget toward special projects that largely sidestep public debate and detailed documentation. The list ranges from a college radio station to a monument commemorating a stranded ship.”
Read MoreForgotten Era: DA contenders Spota and Perini: Ties to ’80s probes of Suffolk law enforcement
“In the late 1980s, state and local investigators probed widespread misconduct in Suffolk County, much of it criminal, in the district attorney’s office and county police department. The scrutiny culminated in a controversial 1989 report by the now-defunct State Commission of Investigation. The report presented a disturbing portrait of a broken county law enforcement system.…
Read MoreAs OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester
“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency that many Americans love to hate and industry calls overzealous, has largely ignored the slow, silent killers that claim the most lives.”
Read MoreThe NYPD Division of Un-American Activities
After 9/11, the New York Police Department built in effect its own CIA — and its Demographics Unit delved deeper into the lives of citizens than did the NSA. The appointments of David Cohen, a former senior CIA officer, and Larry Sanchez, a CIA analyst, represented a major shift in mind-set at the NYPD. Cohen and Sanchez’s guiding idea was…
Read More12 years after reporters help prove man’s innocence, prosecutors finally dismiss conviction
In December 2001, the Chicago Tribune published a five-part series, “Cops and Confessions,” with one of the installments highlighting the case of Daniel Taylor, an inmate serving a life sentence without parole for a double murder he didn’t commit. Nearly 12 years later, on June 28th, 2013, Cook County prosecutors would admit the truth and…
Read MoreA closer look at the black budget
The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at the “black budget” which spans over a dozen agencies to make up the National Intelligence Program. Wilson Andrews and Todd Lindeman use data visualizations to lay out what the $52.6 billion is spent on.
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