Search results for:
Monitoring contractors’ misconduct
The Project on Government Oversight unveiled a new version of its online Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. “The new database, which covers instances of misconduct from 1995 to the present, includes the source documents for each instance, drawing primarily from government documents,” noted a POGO press release. The site reports that the top 50 firms took…
Read MoreRevisiting a conviction
Denver Post reporter Miles Moffeit investigated the “the largely unnoticed months-long battle over DNA testing and evidence preservation” created by efforts to overturn the murder conviction of Tim Masters. The Post will follow up with a four-part series on the loss and destruction of DNA evidence by authorities nationwide and how it’s undermined justice for…
Read MoreState pensions profit from nuclear waste, rogue states
Nevada’s pension fund for state workers, legislators and judges holds investments in companies that have pushed to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain— even though the state has fought to keep the shipments out. Steve Kanigher and Alex Richards of Las Vegas Sun discovered that the $23 billion portfolio, run by independent fund managers, holds…
Read MoreProminent trainers cited for horse doping
All seven of the top horse trainers leading the national earnings list faced penalties for horses testing positive for ephedrine, bicarbonate loading or powerful painkillers in the past decade, a San Diego Union-Tribune investigation found. Reporter Brent Schrotenboer checked records for 20 successful trainers in Southern California; 12 had violations, including some in 2006. Trainers…
Read MoreLawmakers try to save earmarks despite new spending bill
Earlier this year, Congress passed a major spending bill that it promoted as being stripped of all earmarks and a strike against pork-barrel spending. But even as the bill passed, a joint investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Times reveals top Democrats and members of both parties deluged government agencies…
Read MoreContractors’ murders blamed on Blackwater manager
The gruesome 2004 massacre of four Blackwater USA security guards is being blamed on their Baghdad site manager, Tom Powell, accoring to documents obtained by The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer. Joseph Neff reports that memos reveal the Bravo 2 and November 1 squads were commanded by Powell to go on a mission despite being…
Read MoreBoy Scouts executives splurge on conference
Tony Saavedra and Teri Sforza of The Orange County Register report on internal travel records showing that executives of the Boy Scouts ran up a tab of over $27,000 at a four-day conference in Key West, Fla. held last January. The Orange County Boy Scouts chapter picked up most of the tab, although they were…
Read MoreTaser use on the rise in Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune‘s Jeremiah Stettler looked at the rise in use of Tasers by Utah’s police force and found that they are increasingly becoming the weapon of choice to subdue aggressive suspects. More than 4,200 Tasers have been distributed to officers in Utah’s law enforcement agencies. Anaylsis of 180 cases where Tasers were deployed,…
Read MoreNonprofit subsidizes Schwartenegger’s lavish travel
Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Time reports that much of Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger’s travel is billed to “an obscure nonprofit group that can qualify its secret donors for full tax deductions.” Not only do watchdogs claim these write-offs are “abuse of tax codes,” but they also create a loophole to limits on campaign finance…
Read MoreEquity stripping preys on desperate homeowners
With the housing market on the decline and foreclosures on the rise, a scheme known as equity stripping is taking advantage of vulnerable homeowners, The New York Times’ Gretchen Morgenson and Vikas Bijaj report. Companies offer relief to those behind in their mortgage by offering “cash upfront, free monthly rent and a chance to retain…
Read More