Billing puts psychiatrist in two places at once; Minnesota alleges false billing

"A highly paid psychiatrist working in state mental health hospitals engaged in a pattern of false billing claims while collecting more than $430,000 in payments beyond his base salary over three years, according to investigative documents obtained by the Star Tribune." Read the Star Tribune's full investigation here.

Faltering Courts, Mired in Delays | The New York Times
“The Bronx courts are failing. With criminal cases languishing for years, a plague of delays in the Bronx criminal courts is undermining one of the central ideals of the justice system, the promise of a speedy trial.”

The Curse of Fertilizer | National Geographic Magazine
"Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?"

Nuclear byproduct levels on Treasure Island higher than Navy disclosed | CIR
Land slated for development on Treasure Island contains elevated concentrations of cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission associated with an increased risk of cancer, according to an independent analysis commissioned by the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Nevada buses hundreds of mentally ill patients to cities around country | The Sacramento Bee
“Over the past five years, Nevada's primary state psychiatric hospital has put hundreds of mentally ill patients on Greyhound buses and sent them to cities and towns across America.”

A backlash against Minnesota's growing ranks of Level Three sex offenders | The Star Tribune
“Nearly 300 of Minnesota’s most dangerous sex offenders now live outside confinement, and more than half of them are residing in only a few neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul, a Star Tribune analysis of state records shows. That saturation is occurring despite a state law that requires authorities who supervise newly released sex offenders to avoid concentrating them in any community. Sidestepping the law, however, brings no penalties.”

The making of ‘K2’ | Lawrence Journal-World
“A trio of men, indicted last week for their role in selling and manufacturing the synthetic marijuana product, were warned about the murky legal territory of their multimillion-dollar K2 operation, as well as the potential health dangers of the substance. But the millions of dollars the sale of K2 raked in were too just too much to resist, according to federal court documents released last week.”

Granting of some bonds comes through backdoor practice, with no prosecutor input | Austin American-Statesman
In many instances, the decision is in direct contradiction to the recommendations of court workers who assess the defendant’s risk of fleeing or harming the public, an American-Statesman review has found.

Painkillers not always the solution for gymnasts | Salt Lake Tribune
“Young gymnasts battling physical discomfort to perform a sport they love is a common, almost clichéd storyline. However, more doctors and researchers now are not only paying attention to the high number of injuries gymnasts suffer but also to the increasing amounts of anti-inflammatory medication they take as a result.”

"Land slated for development on Treasure Island contains elevated concentrations of cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission associated with an increased risk of cancer, according to an independent analysis commissioned by the Center for Investigative Reporting." Read CIR's full investigation here.

"Over the past five years, Nevada's primary state psychiatric hospital has put hundreds of mentally ill patients on Greyhound buses and sent them to cities and towns across America," according to an investigation by The Sacramento Bee.

"Young gymnasts battling physical discomfort to perform a sport they love is a common, almost clichéd storyline. However, more doctors and researchers now are not only paying attention to the high number of injuries gymnasts suffer but also to the increasing amounts of anti-inflammatory medication they take as a result,” according to an investigation by the Salt Lake Tribune.

According to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a sharp rise in students diagnosed with major disabilities is forcing many Minnesota schools to take difficult and at times divisive new steps to tailor classrooms to the disabled students’ needs, no matter how expensive that gets. Even as overall school enrollment declined over the past decade, the number of disabled students rose 14 percent. Many of the state’s most psychologically troubled students also are being sent to school settings for the first time as mental health programs that once served them have been cut back or eliminated. By law, state and federal budgets are supposed to cover about 90 percent of the cost of educating students with special needs. But they are falling short, shifting much of the cost to local school districts. Spending on special education is soaring — it has risen 70 percent in Minnesota over the past decade to $1.8 billion this school year.

“UCLA's Medical School has an unusually close relationship with Herbalife, which constantly promotes its connection to doctors there. Where do sensible ideas end and the shilling for Herbalife begin?”

Parkland Memorial Hospital quietly amassed more than $1 billion in cash reserves even as deteriorating patient-care conditions brought it to the brink of closure, an analysis of financial records shows.

Center for Investigative Reporting/Esquire
The Shooter
"The man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden sat in a wicker chair in my backyard, wondering how he was going to feed his wife and kids or pay for their medical care."

The Tampa Bay Times
Public schools lose millions to crooks and cheaters
“Axson's case points to a larger problem with mandated tutoring in Florida: The program pays public money to people with criminal records, and to cheaters and profiteers who operate virtually unchecked by state regulators.”
Lobbying preserved millions for Florida tutoring companies
"Every year for nearly a decade, private tutoring companies have made millions in Florida because the federal government required school districts to hire them. That was in danger of changing last February, when the state won freedom from mandated private instruction for poor children in the state's worst schools.But the tutoring industry wasn't letting go without a fight."

KPNX 12 Phoenix
Raked Over the Coals
Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran exposed unethical conduct by members of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Fire Investigations Unit. Arson investigators are caught trying to manipulate the arson dog while investigating a house fire. The Phoenix Fire Department boasts the highest arson clearance rates in the country. Did they arrest a woman for arson with faked evidence? Arson investigators, under oath, testified the arson dog is far superior than any crime lab. But they never showed this video to the Grand Jury. And the City of Phoenix refuses to talk about it. Barbara Sloan says they’re trying to railroad innocent people into prison.

The Center for Public Integrity
Current gun debate may not help beleaguered ATF
"So for now, the bureau remains systematically hobbled by purposeful restrictions, flimsy laws, impotent leadership and paltry budgets. And it’s not at all clear there’s anything on the horizon that would change that situation."

Milwaukee Journal Constitution
ATF's Milwaukee 'Fearless' storefront had little to ward off burglars
“Who would imagine the thieves would have unfettered access to the place for three days, propping open the door with a shoe and returning the next day with a moving truck to finish the job?”

USA Today
Ex-House members spend campaign money after they depart
"Former House members are spending their leftover money to pay for everything from luxury cars to foundations that bear their names, a USA TODAY review of new campaign-finance reports shows. The practice is legal but raises questions among government watchdogs about whether these accounts are used as political slush funds."

The News Tribune
Army won't release details of report on Madigan hospital
"Army leaders insist they have fixed flaws in Madigan Army Medical Center’s behavioral-health department that resulted in the misdiagnoses of hundreds of patients. But they have refused to release reports that could substantiate their findings and shed light on what happened at the Army hospital last year."

The Star Tribune
Minnesota is a hotbed for radioactive gas radon
"More than 40 percent of Minnesota home radon tests conducted in the past 13 years show unsafe levels of the radioactive gas, according to a Star Tribune analysis of state records. Yet Minnesota has no mandatory radon testing of homes, schools or day care centers; no requirement that homeowners test for radon before selling a house; and weaker real estate disclosure rules than some leading states."

ProPublica
Will Democrats sell your political opinions to credit card companies?
"For years, state Democratic parties have been gathering information about individual voters' political leanings. They have noted down the opinions voters shared with canvassers — which candidates they said they supported or their positions on policy issues. Now, the record of what people told Democratic volunteers may go up for sale — and not just to political groups.