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Many businesses not inspected, study shows
Reporter Christina Murphy and Assistant City Editor Jennie Coughlin of The Daily News Leader analyzed five years’ worth of Department of Labor and Industry inspections obtained from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration. They found that “many businesses are not inspected each year. In fact, the labor department performed too few safety inspections between…
Read MorePaper finds inaccuracies in after-school claims
Paul Tosto of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on discrepancies the paper found in a report the state published claiming that Minnesota has more young children taking care of themselves after school than any other state in the country. They found that the “commission did not have statistics showing Minnesota with the nation’s highest…
Read MoreSchool district loses big by investing locally
Joel Rutchick of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer used local school financial records to show that “the Cleveland Municipal School District has lost out on as much as $14 million in potential investment income over the last three years by investing most of its idle cash through local banks – which have paid lower interest rates…
Read MoreState wastes millions to acquire land
R.G. Dunlop of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal has a series on the state’s land condemnation system, finding that “Kentucky has squandered millions of tax dollars buying land for highway construction because of an outdated condemnation system that it has refused to fix for decades.” In some cases, the state paid owners much more than their land…
Read MoreHigh benefit payouts hurt Oregon schools
Betsy Hammond of The (Portland) Oregonian analyzed state education data to find that “for each teacher, secretary, principal, janitor and other worker, Oregon schools paid an average of $18,300 for health insurance and retirement pay in 2002-03. That was 55 percent more than schools across the nation.” Matching the national rate of benefits would save…
Read MoreEx-aides use connections to make money
James Drew and Steve Eder of The (Toledo) Blade traced the path of former Ohio state aides-turned-lobbyists who “have traded their official titles for personal riches and the influence that comes with helping select a U.S. president.” Some of Gov. Bob Taft’s closest aides have gone onto lucrative lobbying and consulting businesses; one “has raked…
Read MorePossible conflicts abound in South Carolina legislature
Jeff Stensland of The State reviewed financial disclosure forms from South Carolina state legislators to find that “about 20 lawmakers raked in more than $2.4 million in attorney fees by representing clients in front of state boards and commissions last year.” Many of the cases involved worker’s compensation claims but others were before the state’s…
Read MoreHuman smuggling networks linked to terrorist groups
Pauline Arrillaga and Olga R. Rodriguez of the Associated Press reviewed court records from Mexico and the United States as part of an investigation into “the many pipelines in Central and South America, Mexico and Canada that have illegally channeled thousands of people into the United States from so-called ‘special-interest’ countries – those identified by…
Read MoreUtah residents use border cities for gambling, lottery
As part of a series on gambling in Utah, Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used Idaho state data to show that “the top six Idaho lottery sales sites are on the Utah border – and they sell up to 27 times as many tickets as the average Idaho lottery site.” One store just…
Read MoreCable barriers fail to prevent deaths
Scott North, Diana Hefley and Lukas Velush of The (Everett, Wash.) Herald used Washington state transportation data to show that a stretch of I-5 where a cable barrier separates the opposing lanes of traffic may not be preventing as many accidents as other areas. In one three-mile section, “vehicles went over, under or through the…
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