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For special education students, diplomas, jobs increasingly elusive
Mississippi is one of three states where more students with a learning disability graduate with an alternate diploma than a regular one. That poses a serious problem for many students leaving the state’s special education programs. According to the Hechinger Report, many colleges and employers don’t recognize the alternative diplomas. “As a result, thousands of…
Read MoreWest Virginia officials never reviewed pollution prevention plans from Freedom Industries
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection officials never reviewed two key pollution-prevention plans for the Freedom Industries tank farm before the Jan. 9 chemical leak that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents, according to interviews and documents obtained under the state’s public-records law.
Read MoreWisconsin releasing sex offenders at higher rate
Wisconsin officials have nearly quadrupled the number of offenders released from state custody after they were committed as sexually violent persons. The risks to residents are reasonable, officials say, because the state’s treatment programs are working and new data suggest these offenders are less likely to reoffend than previously thought. The story is the first…
Read MoreSalary loophole allows staff members and aids to defy law, become lobbyists
The experiences of the three Capitol Hill aides-turned-lobbyists — traced through interviews with political operatives and a review of public records — illustrate in new detail the gaping holes in rules governing Washington’s revolving door. Federal ethics rules are intended to limit lobbying by former senior officials within one year after they leave the government.…
Read MoreTwo Navy divers perish in training exercise
A Navy jury last month found that a master diver failed to make sure proper safety procedures were followed during a training exercise that left two men dead. The Pilot pieced together an account of the dive using court testimony, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with unit members, witnesses and…
Read MoreErnest Lacy law goes unused in Wisconsin police custody deaths
Of the 18 deaths in law enforcement custody from 2008 through 2012 in Milwaukee County, 12 were classified as suicide or natural. Officials at every level have used those rulings to absolve themselves of responsibility for prisoners’ deaths, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found. In many cases, officials did not evaluate all of the circumstances…
Read MoreFired Honolulu cop’s file illustrates lack of public insight into misconduct
It took the Honolulu-based Civil Beat almost one year and $935 to get access to files on three discharged police officers. The records, which were heavily redacted, provide new insight into the case of an officer accused of raping a woman on the hood of his patrol car. The officer’s case “illustrates how difficult it…
Read MoreIRE, SPJ, NECIR join for free training program
Do you have reporters or editors on your staff who would benefit from training to help them produce enterprise and investigative stories? Thanks to a grant from Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) is working with Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) to offer…
Read MoreHelp us plan the 2014 IRE Conference
IRE is looking to you for input on sessions for the upcoming IRE Conference, June 26-29, 2014 in San Francisco, CA. Proposals for sessions will be accepted from Jan. 27-Feb. 21, 2014. It will not be possible to include every panel submitted in the program. If your panel is selected, you will be notified no later than mid-April.…
Read More18 Chris Christie investigations coming to a publication near you
WNYC today compiled a clever list of “18 ways Christie and his officials have blocked access to information.” The release of the subpoenaed documents “exposed the Christie Administration’s involvement in Bridgegate show how the Governor’s Office has been keeping its decisions and expenditures quiet despite laws that require official business to be made public.” The…
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