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Toxic aftermath: Decades later, PBB contamination suspected in illnesses and deaths
The Detroit Free Press has found that four decades after an agricultural disaster allowed the chemical polybrominated biphenyl into the food and water of nine out of 10 Michigan residents –as the state scales back monitoring of the sites and the Environmental Protection Agency gears for a multi-million dollar cleanup, many of the health risks…
Read MoreOversight board had little say in History Museum land purchase
After the Missouri History Museum spent $875,000 of its $10 million in tax dollars to purchase “a shuttered restaurant site from a former mayor,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found, via documents and museum officials, that the museum commissioners, appointed by area officials to approve spending, never see purchases until after they’ve been made and never…
Read MoreMedical examiner revises suspect’s death ruling to homicide
After a 10-month effort for records following the death of Derek Williams in Milwaukee police custody, the Journal-Sentinel alerted an assistant medical examiner with the county, who changed the ruling of the death from natural to homicide. The records include a vidoe of Williams suffocating and pleading for help from the back of a squad…
Read MoreIowa sees $29.6 million TV ad inundation
The Des Moines Register and eight other newspapers joined forces to gather and analyze TV political advertising spending data statewide in the 2012 presidential race. The effort revealed an unprecedented $30 million TV ad blitz that began last spring, continued through August and will pick up momentum heading into the final weeks of the race.…
Read MoreIRE, CIR launch campaign finance data mining challenge
If you’re plugged into the tech scene these days — or even, really, if you’re not — it’s almost impossible to escape the exuberance surrounding the ad hoc field known as data science. A combination of math, data munging, visualization and computer programming, data science experts are among the most in-demand hires in the tech…
Read MoreUsing grade data to show trends in universities
“Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press higher education reporter Brian McVicar used a decade’s worth of electronic grade reports to examine what classes at Grand Valley State University students struggle with the most, what academic areas students perform well in, and how grading at the university has changed over time.” “McVicar, an IRE CAR boot camp alum,…
Read MoreBoy Scout officials often helped cover tracks of alleged child molesters
“Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”“A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many…
Read MoreFollow the money with IRE’s election coverage webinar
There are several ways that political funds can play a role in key states, especially during an election year. In IRE’s 2012 election coverage webinar from Derek Willis of The New York Times, you’ll see how to trace money that comes from outside sources to state-based political groups, and how to follow the path of…
Read MoreWisconsin forestry tax break program gives taxpayers bill, landowners benefit
There are more than 1 million acres in Wisconsin open to the public through a forestry tax break program. Good news for hunters and hikers … if only they could find it. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge found while taxpayers pick up the tab, it can be nearly impossible for anyone other than the landowner to…
Read MoreUniversity of New Orleans WWNO newsroom, The Lens announce revised collaboration
The University of New Orleans announced Thursday revised plans for a multimedia news collaboration between NPR affiliate WWNO-FM and the independent nonprofit news site, The Lens. The partnership moves WWNO away from the creation of its new platform, neworleansreporter.org. The university-operated WWNO will instead produce content under the existing brand of The Lens. “In this way, we will be…
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