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Repeat drunk drivers still able to get plea deals
Eleven years of data analyzed by the Columbus Dispatch showed that those charged multiple times with operating a vehicle while impaired were able to get their charges reduced through a plea deal almost as often as those who had no recent drunk driving charges. Some say repeat offenders know how to beat the system. Drivers can…
Read MoreStudents without legal representation jailed in Knox County, Tenn.
In Knox County, Tennessee some students are ending up in jail even though they haven’t committed any crimes. Federal and state laws are supposed to keep juveniles who have committed status offenses – like truancy or running away – out of jail. An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity has found evidence that Knox…
Read MoreHow to investigate subsidized tutoring
Florida’s mandated tutoring program used taxpayer dollars to hire firms run by criminals, cheaters and profiteers. Last year Tampa Bay Times reporter Michael LaForgia used invoice records, complaint reports, audits and interviews to report on the industry, which goes virtually unchecked by state regulators. In this series of clips LaForgia walks through how to investigate…
Read MoreIRE Preview: Improve your data skills with our hands-on classes
Erica Proffer, KRGV-TV, listens during a hands-on class at the 2013 IRE Conference. Get skills to help you dig into your next story with hands-on classes at IRE in San Francisco. If you’re looking to get your feet wet with spreadsheets or level up to mapping, we’ve got you covered. You’ll find classes at the…
Read MoreIRE announces winners of Freelance Fellowship competition
Projects investigating segregation, health care and cold cases have been awarded IRE Freelance Fellowships this year. Winners of the 2014 competition are: Maya Dukmasova, for her work on segregation and public housing in Chicago. Arthur Kane, for his work investigating the Affordable Care Act as well as marijuana legalization in Colorado. Lee van der…
Read MoreThe cost of not caring: Inside a mental health system drowning from neglect
States have been reducing hospital beds for decades, because of insurance pressures as well as a desire to provide more care outside institutions, USA TODAY reports. Tight budgets during the recession forced some of the most devastating cuts in recent memory, says Robert Glover, executive director of the National Association of State Mental Health Program…
Read MoreDrunk behind the wheel again: For one man, 12 DUI arrests
“Despite a series of laws over the years that criminalized drunken driving for repeat offenders and made prison time mandatory, James R. Fisher has been arrested 12 times for driving under the influence since 1991,” The Wilmington News Journal reported. “The 55-year-old’s latest arrest, number 12, came in March, about a year after his release…
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Segregated schools, the long wait for death certificates, new details in botched Okla. execution
Drunk behind the wheel again: For one man, 12 DUI arrests | The News Journal (Wilmington, DE) Despite a series of laws over the years that criminalized drunken driving for repeat offenders and made prison time mandatory, James R. Fisher has been arrested 12 times for driving under the influence since 1991. The 55-year-old’s latest arrest,…
Read MoreLargely invisible tank cleaning industry awash in risk
“If rivers, rails and roads are the arteries of America’s surging petrochemicals industry, tank and barge cleaners are its kidneys, purifying containers so they can return to refineries and to energy and chemical companies across the nation to be refilled,” the Houston Chronicle reported. “But government health and safety experts don’t know much about these…
Read MoreLong wait for death certificates makes tracking overdose deaths difficult
“A death isn’t officially ruled an overdose until the state medical examiner’s office says so, usually after an autopsy and tests to confirm the presence of drugs in the person’s body. And getting those results can take months or even years, a Patriot Ledger review of death certificates on file in Quincy, Weymouth and Braintree…
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