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Polluters stick taxpayers with multimillion dollar clean-up bill

“State officials in Missouri talked tough with previous owners of a polluted site, but when it came time to do the cleanup, Missouri taxpayers were stuck with almost the entire bill–$12 million–, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigation has found.” “In addition to not holding the polluters to account, the state and city allowed a single…

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Is food-safety oversight keeping up with the surge in farmers markets?

“As the number of farmers markets has surged questions arise about whether food-safety oversight has kept pace. The USDA and the FDA set federal guidelines, wbut jurisdiction over farmers markets falls to a dizzying welter of state or local health or agriculture departments” “In a spot check of 29 markets scattered among 10 states and…

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2012 IRE Conference audio now available

You can now purchase a DVD with over 100 hours of recorded panels from the 2012 IRE Conference in Boston. Please go here to place your order today. Conference attendees can obtain a copy for $5 (to cover shipping/handling) by using the discount code received via email. Additional copies can be ordered for $25 each.…

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Gaming boom now a bust for small town

“As a tough economy wrecked municipal budgets across the country, North Kansas City seemed to be above it all, able to afford well-kept parks, a modern community center and even a community fiberoptic network.” However, a Kansas City Star report has revealed that the once affluent community of about 4,000 residents is now facing a…

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Behind the Story: The benefits of sticking with a story

Photo credit:WUSA 9 It’s hard to keep saying everything is fine when documents prove otherwise. Although the General Services Administration continually denied knowledge of a “death list,” investigative reporter Russ Ptacek discovered the list while working for Kansas City’s KSHB-TV. He continued the investigation at WUSA 9, in Washington, D.C. A GSA employee created the “death list” to…

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Investigating Texas’ public pension fund investments

“As part of its ongoing examination of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, The Dallas Morning News investigated the shadowy world of pension fund placement agents — the middlemen hired by private firms to solicit public capital.” “The article focused on one man, a politically connected Houston investment manager, and how his work as a…

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Reviews of child abuse deaths not always completed in KY

“A Herald-Leader analysis of 41 child fatalities in 2009 and 2010 found at least six cases where the Cabinet for Health and Family Services did not do an internal review even though there were previous reports involving the family before the child died.” “The reviews are supposed to examine the cabinet’s actions in a case…

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Data used to break down deaths following police contact

A Guardian investigation has found that “over 1,400 people in England and Wales have died either in police custody or following other police contact since 1990.“ With the use of graphs and charts John Burn-Murdoch displays the data broken down by circumstances, police force and ethnicity.

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The 2012 IRE Conference tiphseet and presentation CD now available

Even though the IRE Conference has come and gone, you can still access all that valuable information from the tipsheets and presentations we compiled. With over 100 files available you’ll have all the tips and tools you need for not only your daily reporting but also long-term projects. Available on one handy CD, you can…

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