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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wrong-Way River
“Biologists predict the number of unwanted organisms moving on the Chicago canal will only grow until the waterway is somehow plugged. And it is much more than a Great Lakes problem because biological pollution travels both directions on this invasive species superhighway.”
The Morning Call
Amazon warehouse workers fight for unemployment benefits
“Its relationship with Amazon has made Integrity Staffing Solutions the biggest temporary-employment firm in the Lehigh Valley and one of the fastest-growing agencies of its kind in the country. Part of its role is fighting to keep its workers from collecting unemployment benefits after they have lost a job at Amazon.”
The Atlantic
In Southern Towns, 'Segregation Academies' Are Still Going Strong
“In the 1960s and '70s, towns across the South created inexpensive private schools to keep white students from having to mix with black. Many remain open, the communities around them as divided as ever.”
The Indianapolis Star
The China Letter
“Now the one person who knew the whole truth was dead, leaving a trail of documents and stories on two continents. They provide a few answers. But they raise plenty of questions, not least of which is why a state agency hired a highly persuasive but not particularly accomplished interpreter for the delicate task of luring international investment and jobs to Indiana.”
The Orange County Register
Universities with connections win most stem cell money
Repeated independent reviews of the agency, including one by the Institute of Medicine released this month, have found that its board is rife with conflicts of interest. In fact, of the $1.7 billion that the agency has awarded so far, about 90 percent has gone to research institutions with ties to people sitting on the board, according to an analysis by David Jensen at the California Stem Cell Report, which closely follows the agency's operations.
PublicSource
Shale drillers eager to move wastewater on barges
The shale gas drilling industry wants to move its wastewater by barge on rivers and lakes across the country. But the U.S. Coast Guard, which regulates the nation’s waterways, must first decide whether it’s safe.
Bloomberg
BP’s U.S. Suspension Allows Airport-Fuel Exception for Pentagon
“BP Plc (BP/)’s temporary ban from new U.S. government work now includes a bit of wiggle room for the Defense Department.
ProPublica
Karl Rove’s Dark Money Group Promised IRS It Would Spend ‘Limited’ Money on Elections
“In a confidential 2010 filing, Crossroads GPS — the dark money group that spent more than $70 million from anonymous donors on the 2012 election — told the Internal Revenue Service that its efforts would focus on public education, research and shaping legislation and policy.”
The Dallas Morning News
The Burden of Lead: West Dallas deals with contamination decades later
“The low-income neighborhood of older wood-frame homes in West Dallas is a far cry from the suburb of newly built brick houses in Frisco 30 miles to the north. But the two North Texas communities share a bond: Both were contaminated by industrial lead for nearly half a century.”
The Statesman Journal
When politicians gamble on developers with taxpayer money, who ends up paying?
“Public agencies often use tax-based resources to partner with private developers. Those deals can help transform blighted areas, but they also can become costly projects with dubious results. In a two-day series, the Statesman Journal explores local examples of how public-private partnerships have worked.”
The Columbus Dispatch
Federal student loans become constant burden
“But millions of others also are in default, and some have been there for years. To gauge the lingering consequences, The Dispatch collected and analyzed a random sample of 394 cases from the nearly 16,000 lawsuits that the U.S. government has filed against defaulted student-loan debtors since 2007.”
The Pioneer Press
Hooked on Opiates: More legal use leads to more addiction, crimes, deaths
“Last year, enough of the two leading painkillers -- oxycodone and hydrocodone -- was distributed in the state to provide 18 pills for every man, woman and child. That's up from two pills per person in 1997.”
Doctors face quandary of relieving pain, without feeding addiction
A growing number of health care groups in the Twin Cities are investing in strategies to make sure doctors don't serve as unwitting spigots of medications for addicts. But there's also concern that increased regulation could prompt physicians to stop prescribing medications to patients with legitimate pain-control needs.
The Charlotte Observer and the (Raleigh) News & Observer
Prognosis: Profits, The rising fortunes of Charlotte hospitals haven't always helped patients
"In the latest installment of their ongoing investigation into nonprofit hospitals, the Charlotte Observer and News & Observer of Raleigh reported Sunday that N.C. patients are likely to pay more for routine health care if their doctors are employed by a hospital."
You can find Charlotte's stories here and Raleigh's stories here.
"The billions that the drug companies invest in such experiments help fund the world’s quest for cures. But their aim is not just public health. That money is also part of a high-risk quest for profits, and over the past decade corporate interference has repeatedly muddled the nation’s drug science, sometimes with potentially lethal consequences."
New Jersey Transit placed much of its equipment in rail yards that forecasters predicted would flood after Hurricane Sandy, a move that damaged one third of its locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars, according to a report from Reuters. The damage could cost tens of millions of dollars to repair, according to Reuters.
A USA TODAY examination shows that thousands of "green" builders win tax breaks, exceed local restrictions and get expedited permitting under a system that often rewards minor, low-cost steps.
Chesapeake Energy has become the principal player in the largest land boom in America since the 1850s California Gold Rush, amassing acreage positions that rival those of any U.S. energy company. Its strategy is clearly spelled out in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: “We believed that the winner of these land grabs would enjoy competitive advantages for decades to come.” Chesapeake isn’t nearly as transparent about its methods, however. Reuters reviewed hundreds of internal Chesapeake emails, thousands of pages of documents and dozens of lawsuits in seven states, and interviewed contractors who cut deals for the company. What emerged were tough tactics in acquiring land that some analysts say push ethical and legal limits -- and that even some of the company’s own contractors considered dubious. Features detailed examples from Texas, Ohio and Michigan.
Welcome to IRE's roundup of the weekend’s many enterprise stories from around the country. We’ll highlight the document digging, field work and data
analysis that made their way into centerpieces in print, broadcast and online from coast to coast.
Did we miss some? Let us know. Send us an email at web@ire.org or tweet to @IRE_NICAR. We’ll add it to the list and spread the word.
Uncounted Casualties
The Austin American-Statesman
Scores of recent Texas war veterans have died of overdoses, suicide and vehicle crashes, a six-month Statesman investigation finds.
Majority of third-strike inmates are addicts, records show
Center for Investigative Reporting
Convicts imprisoned under California’s three strikes law are no more inclined to high-risk "criminal thinking” than other inmates, but are far more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to data from the state prisons department.
A Betryal of Trust
The Arizona Republic
In more than 400 instances, victims of sexual assault turned to the Maricopa County Sherriff's Office, trusting detectives with wrenching details in pursuit of protection and justice. In some cases, the Sherriff's Office did little or nothing. Only now is the full impact of that inaction coming to light, as The Republic reveals what victims characterize as a betrayal of trust.
Port Authority: What's a port authority, anyway?
Investigative Newsource
Developers have drooled for years over the Port of San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. But each new idea — most with a football stadium attached — has been beaten back by those who believe a rare, deep water port should remain — just that.Today, Port Authority, the latest I-Newsource/KPBS investigation, tackles the question: Are we getting the biggest bang for our considerable bucks at that terminal?
Lax controls leave Michigan's ex-cons free to kill
The Detroit Free Press
As the Michigan Department of Corrections searches for ways to manage its nearly $2-billion budget, it is releasing ex-cons into the community who are
committing a growing number of violent crimes, a Free Press investigation found.
Joseph Merlino: The mobster next door
The Miami Herald
A Mafia icon from Philadelphia has settled in Boca Raton, fresh out of prison. Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown examines what he might be up to now.
High-stakes tests, low-level security
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The latest installment of the paper’s coverage of school’s reveals that more cheating scandals are most likely inevitable, because states cannot ensure the integrity of their tests.
How clout keeps court cases secret
The Chicago Tribune
Cook County judges routinely have hidden hundreds of cases from public view since 2000, sealing lawsuits involving a famous chef, millionaire businessmen and even other judges
Blue Line protects off-duty cops behind the wheel
Buffalo News
Police also call it ‘professional courtesy’ - forgiving the infractions committed by one of their own. It typically involves speeding, but officers can get a pass for erratic or impaired driving as well. Professional courtesy can extend to the close relatives of police officers, and to the prosecutors, judges and politicians who are part of the system.
Agent Orange’s Lasting Effects
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Chemical still damaging lives of those exposed, their families
Home, Foreclosed Home
Salem Statesman Journal
The ripple effect in our community from the housing market collapse affects local residents in traditional and unexpected ways that will linger for years. The Statesman Journal examines those effects in a five-part series.
Elusive Evergreen State Professor Found In Chile
KUOW Puget Sound
A former Evergreen State College professor in Washington State has evaded efforts to collect the $120,000 fine against him. KUOW found the man, Jorge Gilbert, working for Universidad ARCIS in Santiago, Chile.
Lisa Song, an InsideClimate News reporter, has analyzed a decade worth of federal data that shows that the general public has detected far more oil pipeline spills than leak detection technology."
Several senior engineers cited design problems that could bring the treatment plant's operations to a halt before much of the waste is treated."
Accounting by the Journal Sentinel and MedPage Today shows that a University of Wisconsin-Madison chairman has received more than $25 million in royalties from Medtronic, a medical device firm, since 2003.
John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/JS Online uncovers more unsettling truths about our nations tug-of-war with scientific evidence versus greed.
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