Social issues
Former SEDC officials accused of embezzlement
Two San Diego redevelopment officials were arrested and accused of “embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.” The voiceofsandiego.org investigation that began in 2008 culminated this week when the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.’s former president and former finance director were accused of “five criminal felony counts” each. Voiceofsandiego.org reported that the SEDC started paying “hundreds of…
Read MoreWisconsin’s FoodShare program a target of fraud
An investigation by the Journal Sentinel reveals that Wisconsin’s food assistance program, FoodShare, is being abused by the same people who are supposed to benefit from the program. Last year, almost 2,000 recipients of the program’s assistance “reported losing their Quest card six or more times.” The investigation reveals that many FoodShare recipients sell their…
Read MoreFood stamp fraud runs rampant in King County
Food stamp fraud has been a problem in the business district of Seattle for years. The problem was so bad, in fact, that a three-year investigation by federal agents could not clean up the mess. Chris Ingalls and KING 5 News have uncovered new “information that may explain why: Our analysis of government data shows…
Read MoreProgram for violent offenders deporting non-criminal immigrants
“Secure Communities, a federal immigration-enforcement program designed to identify and deport violent illegal immigrants, has increasingly targeted and deported undocumented immigrants with no criminal backgrounds,” reports Thomas Francis of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Nationally, 28 percent of the immigrants deported since the program began in 2008 have been “non-criminal” immigrants. In Florida, the…
Read MoreDecade-long gun ban in Virginia saw results
In light of the recent shooing in Tucson, David S. Fallis and James V. Grimaldi of the Washington Post investigate the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons with “high-capacity magazines” in Virginia. The ban ended in 2004 with the lowest rate the state has seen, however; the rate has increased each year since. Congress is…
Read MoreTrafficking, sexual exploitation of Haitian children on the rise
A report by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald shows that human trafficking and sexual exploitation of Haitian children are on the rise in the Dominican Republic following January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. “Since the earthquake more than 7,300 boys and girls have been smuggled out of their homeland to the Dominican Republic by…
Read MoreCalifornia dependent on immigrant labor
A four-part series by Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register describes California’s extraordinary dependence on immigrant labor. Immigrants comprise a third of the state’s workforce a higher proportion than any other state and almost any developed economy. They dominate lower-paid jobs but also play huge roles in technology and health. The Register analyzed nearly…
Read MoreAnalysis shows no pattern of racial profiling in Gates’ arrest
The latest investigation from the New England Center for Investigation Reporting challenges the notion that race was a factor in the disorderly conduct arrest of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is black, by a white Cambridge, Mass., police officer last year. “Instead, the analysis…finds that the most common factor linking people who…
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 MorePolice under investigation for fatal shooting days after Katrina
Times-Picayune reporters Brendan McCarthy and Laura Maggi and ProPublica’s A.C. Thompson report that “a former New Orleans police officer is under investigation for shooting Henry Glover” four days after Hurricane Katrina. Weeks after the storm, Glover’s remains were found in a burned out car on the Algiers levee. Investigators now believe that he was shot…
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