The Obama Administration and the Press

U.S. President Barack Obama came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise, according to a Committee to Protect Journalists story. Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press. Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists.

How Sunrise police make millions selling drugs | Sun Sentinel
"Police in this suburban town best known for its sprawling outlet mall have hit upon a surefire way to make millions. They sell cocaine."

How safe are Indiana day cares? | Indianapolis Star
"Indiana spends about $2.5 million inspecting and licensing more than 4,000 day cares that serve more than 150,000 children every year. Yet an Indianapolis Star investigation found that the system fails to hold many day cares accountable — even if they jeopardize the safety of children. In fact, at least 21 children have died in Indiana day cares since 2009, nine in 2012 alone, records show. And 15 of them were in unlicensed or illegal homes or centers."

Faking the Grade | Texas Tribune
A Texas Tribune investigation of a No Child Left Behind tutoring program has uncovered years of inaction by state officials while money flowed to tutoring companies, delivering few academic results.

Mugged by a Mug Shot Online | The New York Times
“Web sites are publishing arrest photos of millions of Americans and often charging fees to remove the pictures.”

Pharmaceutical firms paid to attend meetings of panel that advises FDA | The Washington Post
“A scientific panel that shaped the federal government’s policy for testing the safety and effectiveness of painkillers was funded by major pharmaceutical companies that paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the chance to affect the thinking of the Food and Drug Administration, according to hundreds of e-mails obtained by a public records request.”

Congressional budget crisis was months in the planning | The New York Times
“The stand by conservatives that led to the current crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort, waged by a galaxy of well-funded groups, to undo President Obama’s health care law.”

There was time to help Paul Schmidt, but county politics got in the way | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“At the time, Paul Schmidt — PJ, as he was known then — was 5, an easygoing tow-headed boy who lived less than a mile from the land where the new hospital would be built. In the years to come, he would climb apple trees and play "Ghosts in the Graveyard" there with the kids down the block. It would be years before he would begin to withdraw and make plans to kill himself. There was plenty of time to build a system that could help him.”

In Minnesota, nurses in trouble get second chances | Star Tribune
“Records examined by the Star Tribune of more than 1,000 disciplinary actions by the Minnesota Board of Nursing over the past four years show that it tolerates or forgives misconduct that would end nursing careers in other states. The board actively licenses more than 260 nurses since 2010 who have records of unsafe practice, including botched care that led to patient harm or even death. Eighty-eight nurses are allowed to practice despite having been charged or convicted of crimes such as physical or sexual assault and drug thefts — some against their own patients. The board gives nurses who admit misconduct second, third and sometimes more chances to keep practicing. Getting fired for incompetence, even multiple times, rarely means Minnesota nurses lose their licenses.”

Large hospitals enjoy revenue, borrowing advantage | CentralOhio.com
“Hospitals are confronting declining revenues and continuing investment demands from their patients and the government. These twin pressures are bringing into focus the advantages that large hospital operators hold over smaller independent ones, and why the latter might want to align with the former.” 

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries deny, delay asbestos, hazard claims, suits, insiders allege | Scripps News
“Scripps interviewed more than 20 sources -- some confidential -- reviewed dozens of lawsuits and spoke with former insiders, who all allege the Berkshire-owned companies that handle its asbestos and pollution policies -- National Indemnity Co. and Resolute Management Inc. -- wrongfully delay or deny compensation to cancer victims and others to boost Berkshire’s profits. In multiple cases, courts and arbitrators have ruled that the Berkshire subsidiaries’ tactics have been in “bad faith” or intentional.”

Hidden cash fueled Warren campaign | Democrat & Chronicle
“Long before the term "Super PAC" entered the national lexicon of campaign finance, unauthorized committees — those acting in support of but without the expressed approval of candidates — gave donors a means to skirt limits that New York places on those donating directly to candidates.”

Drugged Driving Tough to Detect, Convict | NBC Bay Area
“An investigation into current law governing impaired driving by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit discovered large holes when it comes to regulating and determining who is legally impaired due to drug use.”

“At the time, Paul Schmidt — PJ, as he was known then — was 5, an easygoing tow-headed boy who lived less than a mile from the land where the new hospital would be built. In the years to come, he would climb apple trees and play "Ghosts in the Graveyard" there with the kids down the block. It would be years before he would begin to withdraw and make plans to kill himself. There was plenty of time to build a system that could help him.”

“The stand by conservatives that led to the current crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort, waged by a galaxy of well-funded groups, to undo President Obama’s health care law," the New York Times reports.

Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan. Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Mr. Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: "If candidates for mayor of Minneapolis were running in Boston, they would file a report online of their campaign contributions every two weeks for six months before the election. If they were running in Seattle? Once a week. And in a range of other cities with a mayoral election this fall, they would have shared their donor lists at least four months before voters go to the polls. Instead, contenders in the first open-seat race for Minneapolis mayor in 20 years have received contributions for as long as eight months without having to disclose a single detail to the public, and they won’t release their first campaign finance reports until Sept. 3. Campaign-reform advocates and some candidates say that the system is outdated and that it lags the rest of the country, creating “data dumps” that hinder the public from learning the information in a meaningful, timely way."

UCLA officials bend travel rules with first-class flights, luxury hotels | The Center for Investigative Reporting
Over the past several years, six of 17 academic deans at the Westwood campus routinely have submitted doctors’ notes stating they have a medical need to fly in a class other than economy, costing the university $234,000 more than it would have for coach-class flights, expense records show.

U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans | Reuters
A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

FBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes | USA Today
The FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in a single year, according to newly disclosed documents that show just how often the nation's top law enforcement agency enlists criminals to help it battle crime.

Cracks in the System: Salmonella proves to be a problem in beef too | Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
As recently as March of 2013, Salmonella Typhimurium in ground beef was linked to more than 20 human illnesses in six states. In September 2012 nearly 50 people in nine states became ill from eating ground beef tainted with Salmonella Enteritidis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Top drone supporter, beneficiary now looks to uses closer to home | Investigative Reporting Workshop
The strikes are deeply unpopular in South Asia and in other parts of the world. The Taliban killed 10 foreign mountaineers in Pakistan in June — in retaliation, the Taliban said, for the U.S. drone strikes. Many of the drones that were used in Pakistan, along with those sent to Afghanistan, will soon have a permanent home here in the U.S.

Syria’s unspoken crimes | Vanity Fair
There have been reports that in war-torn Syria, rape has become an epidemic as both sides seek to de-stabilize, frighten, and ruin the other. But unearthing the stories of these widespread atrocities is difficult, and often impossible. Women in Syria face dire political, personal, and familiar consequences if they admit to being victims—no matter how awful the tale. Janine Di Giovanni traveled into the country and through the surrounding refugee camps to trace the few stories that rape survivors dared to speak aloud.

Mexican journalists targeted | Al Jazeera
Amid the recent fanfare surrounding big arrests in Mexico's drug war, those journalists still daring to shed light on the cartels and corrupt state officials keep on dying, and the killers, they just keep on getting away with it.

No accountability in police custody death | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Gina Barton exposes the lack of accountability in a death in police custody. After James Perry died, each agency that handled a piece of the case -- police, sheriff, local hospital -- cited the other in excusing its own actions. Perry, an epileptic, died on the floor of the jail six hours after suffering a seizure.

Industry muscle targets federal 'Report on Carcinogens' | Center for Public Integrity
Increasingly, industry is targeting Huff’s former employer and its parent, the Department of Health and Human Services — in particular, HHS’sReport on Carcinogens. Two lobby groups sued the agency after two widely used chemicals were listed in the report. In a victory for industry, lawmakers mandated additional, ongoing scientific reviews of the document. And, a trade association representing makers of fiber-reinforced plastics claimed credit for a congressional hearing last year that evolved into an open airing of industry grievances.

The Sunlight Foundation reports that in the wake of Citizens United, tax-exempt social welfare groups, 501(c)4 organizations, have becoming increasingly popular as conduits for big, anonymous campaign donations. A survey by the Sunlight Foundation found dozens of groups in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia that appear to benefit Republican and Democratic politicians, despite being set up as social welfare nonprofits that according to tax code most benefit whole communities. The Sunlight Foundation also reports "plenty of evidence that a group's ability to operate as a tax exempt organization has less to do with its political persuasion than its budget and political connections."

“A major defense contractor used campaign donations and insider access on Capitol Hill to defy the Air Force and keep a troubled drone aloft at a cost to taxpayers of billions of dollars,” according to a Center for Public Integrity report.

An ongoing investigation by The Oregonian into the Employment Department shake-up shows that familial relationships figured prominently as the agency's top tier unraveled. The director is retiring after a state probe, the deputy abruptly departed for a lower-paying state job, and the No. 3 was fired as Gov. John Kitzhaber's administration cleaned house.

About 90 members from both chambers collected a government pension atop their taxpayer-financed $174,000 salary in 2012, National Journal found in an examination of recent financial records. The practice is called “double-dipping.”