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Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries deny, delay asbestos, hazard claims, suits, insiders allege
“Scripps interviewed more than 20 sources — some confidential — reviewed dozens of lawsuits and spoke with former insiders, who all allege the Berkshire-owned companies that handle its asbestos and pollution policies — National Indemnity Co. and Resolute Management Inc. — wrongfully delay or deny compensation to cancer victims and others to boost Berkshire’s profits.…
Read MoreHidden cash fueled Warren campaign
“Long before the term “Super PAC” entered the national lexicon of campaign finance, unauthorized committees — those acting in support of but without the expressed approval of candidates — gave donors a means to skirt limits that New York places on those donating directly to candidates.”
Read MoreCongressional budget crisis was 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,” the New York Times reports. Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General…
Read MoreCity gives felon six figure grant to open liquor store
TIF rules prohibit liquor stores from getting small business grants, and state and local laws bar felons from holding a stake in a liquor store except under rare circumstances, the Chicago Tribune reported. But a new outlet was funded and approved by City Hall agencies that exercised little oversight. The new liquor store was bankrolled…
Read MoreTracking what data are available and where during the government shutdown
We reported yesterday that many government agencies had shut off access to their online data services, and that the NICAR database library was a good source for finding government data during the shutdown. Poynter today has an interesting post on the challenges the shutdown has caused for data journalists. If you want more background, the…
Read MoreSex offenders in Oregon: State fails to track hundreds
Oregon has some of the worst records in the country at following federal standards intended to thwart roaming sex offenders, the Oregonian reports. It has become a haven for offenders who want to escape much stricter rules in other states. The state is two years behind entering names into its electronic database of registered sex…
Read MoreIRE members win Barlett and Steele Awards from Reynolds Center
Four IRE members were among journalists honored in the seventh annual Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism, announced today by the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business Journalism. The awards are named for the investigative team of Don Barlett and James Steele, they are funded by the Reynolds Center and celebrate the best…
Read MoreIRE to keep Data Library OPEN during Government Shutdown
The government has shut down; national parks and museums are closed. Some million federal workers stayed home. Even some government data portals, such as data.gov and census.gov, have been shuttered. But don’t fret. The NICAR database library provides access to dozens of government databases at a time when federal agencies across the world wide web…
Read MoreReporter finds hundreds of unpunished water violations in Minnesota
By Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio I’ve always enjoyed looking through large piles of data in my job as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. My primary beats are the agriculture and energy sectors. I’ve been on the job 35 years now, and for most of that time a document hunt generally meant one thing:…
Read More‘They Ordered Us To Kill All The People’
The trial of commanding officer Lt. Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes began last week, ProPublic reports. It is the first trial in the United States involving an atrocity from Guatemala’s 30-year civil war. It is also the first full airing of the Dos Erres case in a U.S. court. Sosa played a lead role in one of the…
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