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Residential areas grow in wildfire risk zones
According to a USA Today report by Brad Heath, “Since 2000, roughly 450,000 people — enough to populate a city the size of Atlanta — moved to Western areas endangered by wildfires.” Heath’s analysis combined historical fire data from the USGS Forest Service, Census population data, fire modeling software used by researchers and a wild…
Read MoreTeachers cheat on California achievement tests
Teachers cheat to improve their students’ scores on the high stakes achievement tests, a review of documents by the San Francisco Chronicle found. Although “schools admitted outright cheating in about two-thirds of the cases,” cheating is likely more widespread than the numbers indicate, since the California Department of Education currently relies on schools to investigate…
Read MoreBomb factory workers seek cancer compensation
Nuclear bomb factory workers face steep hurdles getting compensation from the government after contracting cancer. As the U.S. closes many nuclear weapons sites, a growing number of those who helped build bombs are turning to lawyers and legislators to argue they are being treated unfairly, The Washington Post‘s Michael Alison Chandler and Joby Warrick report.
Read MoreEurasian crime syndicates set up shop in U.S.
Los Angeles Daily News staff writer Troy Anderson reports that Eurasian crime syndicates have continued to scam the government since the 1970’s. The crime syndicates, which come from a dozen republics in the former Soviet Union as well as Eastern and Central Europe, systematically exploit government funded programs for personal gain. “A recent report by…
Read MoreMichigan schools face economic time bomb
According to a report by Ron French of The Detroit News “Michigan’s school retirement system is riddled with loopholes and slipshod policies costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and driving the state’s public education system toward financial crisis.” In the 2006-07 school year, the cost of retirement benefits per student was $1,015 — more…
Read MoreCitizen Watchdog
Jennifer LeFleur, computer-assisted reporting editor for The Dallas Morning News writes a online column every other week that helps readers understand how they can access, and benefit from, public records. An archive of her past columns can be found here.
Read MoreSex offenders dwell near St. Louis area schools
Leisa Zigman of KSDK-St. Louis reports on sex offenders living near schools in the St. Louis metro area. KSDK’s investigation found that, despite stringent laws, more than 100 sex offenders were living within 1,000 feet of schools because of failure to enforce existing laws. “According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, from 2004 through 2006,…
Read MoreViolence increases in Milwaukee schools
A four-part series by Sarah Carr of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel indicates that violence in the Milwaukee Public Schools system is “intensifying.” The stories show that gun seizures have doubled, and a quarter of the 300 teachers attacked every year go on to file worker’s compensation claims against the district. A review of daily police…
Read MoreMedical research group’s conflicts of interest revealed
Reporters Susanne Rust and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed conflicts of interest involving the Constella Group, a private health research company that performs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for the federal government while also representing major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. The reporters analyzed federal…
Read MoreNFL arrests consistent with general population rates
Brent Schrotenboer of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on an investigation into hundreds of news reports and public records since 2000 to compile an unofficial list of 308 arrests and citations involving NFL players for all offenses except speeding tickets. The paper “found that the league’s biggest problems with the law are in many ways…
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