Spoils of the sea elude many in an Alaska antipoverty plan

“Six nonprofit groups arose on the Bering Sea shore, and they have invested mightily in ships, real estate and processing plants. Over two decades, the groups amassed a combined net worth of $785 million. But the results on the ground, in rural community and economic development, have been deeply uneven, and nonexistent for many people who still gaze out to the blinking lights of the factory ships and wonder what happened," reports Investigate West.

Chains such as Rent-a-Wheel and Rimco are seeing business boom, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Many consumers pay double or triple the cost of buying tires and face aggressive repossession policies.

"Despite Minnesota’s crackdown on 'deceptive and dishonest' loan modification schemes, the state Commerce Department has allowed many of those involved to retain their real estate licenses a Star Tribune report has found."

"Since 2010, the department has taken enforcement action against 36 individuals for violating mortgage modification laws. Ten of them held some kind of license with the department that enabled them to engage in real estate activity. Five of them still have those licenses, including two of the former owners of a company handed a record $1 million for “scamming” 200 desperate homeowners."

"California's enterprise program was established to give tax breaks for companies that set up business or move to one of 40 zones within the state. The program gives companies tax credits of up to $37,440 per person hired in one of the zones, which are intended to create jobs and spark investment in economically distressed areas."

"Yet interviews and public documents reviewed by Frying Pan News reveal that some of these zones are located in relatively well-off areas, including San Francisco’s Financial District and the SoMa neighborhood, which is home to many software and technology firms. In Southern California, enterprise zone areas encompass parts of Hollywood and the corporate center of downtown Los Angeles."

“A journey across Pakistan’s crumbling railway presents a picture of the country’s troubles: natural disasters and hardened insurgencies, abject poverty and feudal kleptocrats, and an economy near meltdown.”

The Texas Observer reports that the s tate health department left approximately $2.3 million of its family planning funds unspent while clinics across the state closed because of lack of money. As a result, tens of thousands of women lost access to reproductive care. The unspent funds happened at a time when, according to previous Observer reporting, "146 family-planning clinics lost funds, and more than 60 clinics closed as a result following budget cuts instituted by the Texas Legislature in 2011."

The Center for Public Integrity reports that "Rep. Mel Watt, the North Carolina Democrat whom President Barack Obama has appointed to oversee mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has received more campaign money from financial interests than any other industry or special interest."

"Since he entered Congress in 1992, Watt has received $1.33 million in campaign contributions from the finance, real estate and insurance industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that tracks money in politics."

Collaborative reporting between ProPublica and NPR reveals that Intuit, the company behind America's most popular tax software, TurboTax, has long fought efforts to establish an easier, free tax filing system in the U.S. Similar systems already exist in Denmwark, Spain and Sweden, and advocates for such a system say it could save millions of taxpayers a collective $2 billion in tax peparation costs.

The idea, which has at times been endorsed by both Ronald Reagan and President Obama, has also "been opposed for years by the company behind the most popular consumer tax software — Intuit, maker of TurboTax. Conservative tax activist Grover Norquist and an influential computer industry group also have fought return-free filing."

The New York Times
Ruled a Threat to Family, but Allowed to Keep Guns
“Advocates for domestic violence victims have long called for stricter laws governing firearms and protective orders. Their argument is rooted in a grim statistic: when women die at the hand of an intimate partner, that hand is more often than not holding a gun.”

Bloomberg
OECD Enables Companies to Avoid $100 Billion in Taxes
“With little outside attention, it also plays a pivotal role enabling global corporations such as Google Inc. (GOOG), Hewlett- Packard Co. and Amazon.com Inc. to dodge taxes by shifting profits into offshore subsidiaries, costing the U.S. and Europe more than $100 billion a year.”

The Bay Citizen
Catch shares leave fishermen reeling
“Sweeping the globe is a system that steadily hands over a $400 billion ocean fishing industry to corporations.”

The Denver Post
Colorado system for investigating ski accidents raises concerns
“Despite having only informal accident-investigation training, as well as potential conflicts of interest, ski patrollers and their reports are often relied on by local law enforcement agencies when they respond to calls on the mountains, The Denver Post found after reviewing Colorado accidents and lawsuits.”

The Austin American Statesman
Texas all over the map when it comes to drones
“Even as both Texas senators in Washington were joining a filibuster that raised questions this month about the Obama administration’s policy on drone strikes on U.S. soil, the prevalence of the small unmanned aircraft in their own state was growing — and similarly fraught with political and privacy implications.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Botched signature on paratransit bid takes taxpayers for $8.6 million ride
“Taxpayers will shell out nearly $8.6 million more than they should on rides for Milwaukee County residents with disabilities over the next three years. The reason: a botched signature on a bid.”

The Salt Lake Tribune
Utah lawyers: Historic ruling’s legacy at risk
“On Monday, Gideon v. Wainwright — often heralded as one of the most important legal rulings in the history of the United States — turns 50. But its anniversary, experts say, is no cause for celebration. Gideon’s legacy has been battered and bruised nationwide, and certainly in Utah.”

The Oregonian
Medical marijuana: Pot-infused products gaining lucrative niche, but Oregon doesn't track businesses
“Pot-infused products are a growing, lucrative market in places where medical marijuana is legal, currently 18 states and Washington, D.C. Yet states often overlook cannabis-infused products in their medical marijuana programs, industry experts say. Oregon does not regulate or even track businesses that make or sell such products.”

The Star Tribune
A gun at 14, then a senseless killing
Two young lives are swept away in Minneapolis by a relentless flow of illegal firearms.

Reuters
A rural housing program city slickers just love
Reuters finds that from Ewa Beach, a comfy resort community just outside Honolulu, to Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., homebuyers are enjoying a strange perk: no-money-down home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  A USDA program was set up decades ago to ensure that low-income rural folk could get access to financing for a new home, but as Reuters found, tens of thousands of the loans have gone to homebuyers in areas deemed urban by the Census Bureau, and many more to people in “mixed” areas. Further, many of the loans have gone to borrowers who don’t meet eligibility requirements in terms of income and credit-worthiness. The upshot: This tiny program has ballooned in recent years as a sweet deal for homebuyers, homebuilders and lenders alike – and delinquencies are rising.