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University of Wisconsin linked to ghostwritten articles
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters John Fauber and Meg Kissinger reviewed unsealed court records and found that at a time when fears were growing about the link between hormone therapy and breast cancer a drug company paid the University of Wisconsin Medical School to sponsor ghostwritten medical education articles that downplayed the risk. The article is…
Read MoreBacklog overwhelms U.S. Patent and Tradmark Office
John Schmid and Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office “has become overwhelmed by the growing volume and complexity of the applications it receives, creating a massive backlog that by its own reckoning could take at least six years to get under control.” The also found that…
Read MoreRecords show California lawmakers increased staff pay
Despite a huge budget deficit, an Associated Press review of legislative pay records showed that many California lawmakers had given pay raises to their staff in the first half of 2009. These pay increases came at a time when the state had to make “some $30 billion in cuts over a two-year period to education,…
Read MoreHealth care lobbyists number six per lawmaker
Jonathan D. Salant and Lizzie O’Leary of Bloomberg.com report that there are approximately 3,300 lobbyists currently working on the issue of health care. “That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense.” During the…
Read More2009 Fellowship Awards for Freelance Investigative Journalists
During an era when freelance investigative journalism is more vital than ever, IRE has awarded its second year of grants to freelancers. This year, IRE distributed $3,000 from the endowed fellowship fund. A panel of three judges, all experienced investigative reporters who freelance, reviewed applications and selected the fellows. The 2009 IRE Freelance Investigative Journalism…
Read MoreMany Dallas-Fort Worth graduates struggle in college
Holly Hacker of The Dallas Morning News looked at new data compiled by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that showed how Texas public school students from the Class of 2007 fared in their first year at Texas public universities. Analysis showed that “at some North Texas high schools, half or more of graduates who…
Read MoreAccused killer had history of arrests, parole violations
The accused killer of Los Angeles teenager Lily Burk “was set free in June 2009, despite failing to report to his parole agent for weeks, being a wanted fugitive on two different arrest warrants, and being arrested three times on drug charges and testing positive for cocaine — all in a matter of six months,…
Read MoreGovernor’s former staff skirt law through indirect lobbying
Jeremy Finley of WSMV-Nashville, Tenn. tracked the former staff of the governor’s office and found many of them active in “indirect lobbying” for special interests. A state law says no members of the governor’s staff can lobby for a year after they leave office.
Read MoreRon Campbell: Untangling a collapsing financial empire
By Ron Campbell, Orange County Register Orange County restaurant king John Gantes was a very wealthy man with 110 restaurants. And then, quite suddenly, he was bankrupt. His declared net worth sank from $215 million at the end of 2007 to a negative $374 million in mid-January 2009 – a $600 million reversal of fortune…
Read MoreMilitary suicides a mounting problem
An article by Erica Goode of The New York Times reports on the mounting number of soldiers committing suicide, detailing the stories of four soldiers from the 1451st Transportation Company. “The four suicides, in a unit of roughly 175 soldiers, make the company an extreme example of what experts see as an alarming trend in…
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