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Dead still hold parking spots
Eric Herman, Stephanie Zimmermann and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated a city program that allows residents to request handicapped parking spots near their homes. A computer-assisted analysis found at least 260 dead people on the list of 11,423 participants. “Throughout the summer and fall, the Sun-Times visited the sites of all 260 active…
Read MoreAuto execs’ flight costs questioned
Steve Wilson of WXYZ-Detroit looked into Big Three auto executives’ use of corporate jets for personal trips, despite cost-cutting pressures in the industry. The story estimated that non-business travel for a handful of top leaders costs in the neighborhood of $700,000 annually at both Ford and GM.
Read MoreGates Foundation investments scrutinized
Charles Piller, Edmund Sanders and Robyn Dixon of the Los Angeles Times explore the investments held by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and found that it “reaps vast profits every year from companies whose actions contradict its mission of improving society in the United States and around the world, particularly the lot of people…
Read MoreA Hidden Shame
Alan Judd and Andy Miller of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presented the first in a series of reports on Georgia’s system of state psychiatric hospitals. Reporters used state vital records and death data, autopsy reports and claims filed against the state to flag 115 suspicious deaths among patients in state custody in the past five years.…
Read MoreWatchdogs at Work
Leann Frola interviewed six award-winning investigative journalists for Poynter Online to find out how they continue to produce high-quality investigative journalism despite industry cut-backs. The interviewees include IRE Executive Director Brant Houston, former board president Deborah Nelson and former board member Stuart Watson.
Read MoreCampaign Consultants: The Price of Democracy
The Center for Public Integrity investigated campaign spending for the 2003-2004 federal elections and found that the majority of the money being spent on campaigns is going to campaign consultants. In the 2003-2004 election cycle, approximately 600 consultants were paid $1.85 billion, with 65% of that money going to media consultants.
Read MoreTaxpayers foot bill to insure contractors in Iraq
Joseph Neff of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., that the U.S. government is responsible for paying insurance premiums and benefits for all private contractors working in Iraq. “These insurance policies differ from conventional workers’ comp in one major way: Domestic workers’ comp is heavily regulated and analyzed, but the contractors’ insurance is not.…
Read MoreDurham, N.C. fails to report lead detected in tap water
Michael Biesecker of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reports that the city of Durham failed to inform state regulators that there was tainted drinking water in the area. A report submitted in October claimed that the city’s drinking water met federal standards despite the fact that several tests detected lead in the tap…
Read MorePaper trail of questionable management plagues New Jersey medical school
An article by Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman of The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger uncover new scandals at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). After a long legal battle with the University, the Star-Ledger obtained documents which “paint a picture of a state institution in which high-paid administrators chased state grants they…
Read MoreSago Anniversary
On the anniversary of the Sago Mine explosion, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette continues to probe safety issues behind the blast that killed 12 miners. Ken Ward Jr. reports that “the Sago disaster might not have happened if regulators and the coal industry had heeded the warnings… from a series of other lightning-induced explosions in the…
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