Workers exposed to dangerous levels of chemical at candy plant

When officials from Sensient Flavors explain their work, they sometimes compare it to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. But working at the food and beverage flavor manufacturer on Indianapolis' Southwestside is no child fantasy. Some workers were exposed to more than 400 times the generally recognized safe level for a chemical associated with a life-threatening lung condition, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star. In its report, the Star details problems at the plant, integrating documents throughout the story.

Ken Bensinger and Elizabeth Frank of the Los Angeles Times have found that "from mid-2008 to this April, 862 licensed used-car dealers in California — about 1 in 8 — sold at least one vehicle three or more times", a practice that is known as churning.

Bensinger and Frank used DocumentCloud to display their findings.

"As part of an ongoing investigation, California Watch has detailed how California's state-run board-and-care institutions' internal police force, created by the state to protect the vulnerable residents at these state homes, often fails to conduct basic police work when patients are abused and harmed."

"In case after case, detectives and officers have delayed interviews with witnesses or suspects – if they have conducted interviews at all. The force also has waited too long to collect evidence or secure crime scenes and has been accused of going easy on co-workers who care for the disabled."

"A Journal Sentinel investigation has found that even though the Milwaukee Police Department have been touting a fall in crime for four years, hundreds of beatings, stabbings and child abuse cases were missing from the count."

"More than 500 incidents since 2009 were misreported to the FBI as minor assaults and not included in the city's violent crime rate, the investigation found. That tally is based on a review of cases that resulted in charges - only about one-fifth of all reported crimes."

A Chicago Tribune investigation has found that the flame retardants that are packed into couches, chairs and many other products are not working as promised. Furthermore, two powerful industries--Big Tobacco and chemical manufacturers have waged a deceptive campaign that led to the proliferation of these chemicals.

Sam Roe, Patricia Callahan and Michael Hawthorne utilized DocumentCloud to provide proof of the deception and its' widespread effect.

"USA Today’s investigative team found the EPA failed to tell people about or take action on hundreds of former lead smelting sites they’d known about for years. Alison Young and Pete Eisler tested the soil around former plants in 13 states and found potentially dangerous levels of lead remain in people’s yards and in parks."

This multi-part look into long-forgotten lead factories includes nearly 370 site-related documents, using DocumentCloud; video interviews with parents whose children play in their lead contaminated back yards; an interactive map telling you where smelters once were in your area; tips on how to make your home and yard safer and much more.

Through a public information request The Monitor has found that a municipal judge, in Hidalgo, Texas, doesn't mind handing out favors. From January 2010 to April 2011 839 citations were submitted by local politicians and city employees, mostly traffic tickets, to the judge for special consideration. The list obtained, kept by the court administration, revealed all but a handful were dismissed.

Six years ago, the federal government set out to indefinitely detain some of the nation's most dangerous sex offenders, keeping them locked up even after their prison sentences had ended.

But despite years of effort, the government has so far won court approval for detaining just 15 men.

Far more often, men the U.S.Justice Department branded as "sexually dangerous" predators, remained imprisoned here for years without a mandatory court hearing before the government was forced to let them go, a USA TODAY investigation has found. The Justice Department has either lost or dropped its cases against 61 of the 136 men it sought to detain. Some were imprisoned for more than four years without a trial before they were freed.

"A WVUE-TV investigation reveals a timeline that a government watchdog says needs to be probed by the FBI.  Lee Zurik, the station's chief investigative reporter, requested and received emails that show a questionable relationship between a disgraced sheriff and a former FBI agent turned businessman.  WVUE-TV uploaded all source documents to DocumentCloud."