Rape in the Fields

"They harvest the produce and process the meat and eggs Americans eat every day. But many migrant women are paying a high price to put food on their families' tables," according to a Center for Investigative Reporting piece.

Sex Predators Unleashed | Sun-Sentinel
"Another child is dead. This time, a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, a year younger than Jimmy Ryce. A 1999 law passed after Jimmy was raped and murdered at age 9 is meant to protect Floridians from sex offenders by keeping the most dangerous locked up after they finish their prison sentences. But an eight-month Sun Sentinel investigation into the law named in Jimmy’s memory has uncovered shocking failures. Florida’s safeguards have broken down at every stage, setting hundreds of rapists and child molesters free to harm again."

Taken | The New Yorker
"The basic principle behind asset forfeiture is appealing. It enables authorities to confiscate cash or property obtained through illicit means, and, in many states, funnel the proceeds directly into the fight against crime. But the system has also given rise to corruption and violations of civil liberties. Over the past year, many have expressed concern that the state laws designed to go after high-flying crime lords are routinely targeting the workaday homes, cars, cash savings, and other belongings of innocent people who are never charged with a crime."

New York Promised Help for Mentally Ill Inmates – But Still Sticks Many in Solitary | WNYC/ProPublica
"In New York, inmates diagnosed with “serious” disorders should be protected from solitary confinement. But since that policy began, the number of inmates diagnosed with such disorders has dropped."

Costly perk forces DWP to shell out extra if it gives work to outside contractors | Los Angeles Times
"It's no secret Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees are paid well. But a little-known clause in their union contract ensures they can work extra hours and collect even higher wages when private contractors are hired to help them get the job done."

Locked in Terror | Fresno Bee
"The Fresno County Jail has been a place of terror and despair for mentally ill inmates who spiral deeper into madness because jail officials withhold their medication. About one in six jail inmates is sick enough to need antipsychotic drugs to control schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and other psychiatric conditions, but many sit for weeks in cells without medication previously prescribed by private doctors, say family members, lawyers and psychiatrists. If the inmates do get medication, it’s often at a lower dose or is a cheaper generic substitute that doesn’t work as well, they say."

Victims’ Dilemma: 911 Calls Can Bring Eviction | The New York Times
"Aiming to save neighborhoods from blight and to ease burdens on the police, municipalities have adopted ordinances requiring landlords to weed out disruptive tenants."

At DCF, an untold epidemic of abuse, neglect and death | Miami Herald
"A Miami Herald investigation — which included a review of hundreds of pages of agency emails, incident reports and other documents obtained through Florida’s public records law — shows the number of children who died is nearly four times what had been acknowledged."

Portland drug informant's cases fall apart after questions about his credibility, whereabouts | The Oregonian
"Police and prosecutors say checks-and-balances ensure the integrity of the system. But defense attorneys -- whose clients faced years in prison because of Jackson's work -- say police wasted thousands in taxpayer dollars putting so much faith in a dubious undercover source."

Truck company vehicles were taken out of service for maintenance problems | San Antonio Express-News
"Defective brakes, axle problems and cracked wheel rims were among the most serious maintenance problems state inspectors found on trucks owned by B&E Transport, the firm involved in last week's crash that damaged a bridge over U.S. 281."

Nevada chief justice orders courts review after potentially more than 2,400 ruled mentally ill not reported to gun database | Reno Gazette-Journal
"An RGJ report this week found that Washoe District Court in Reno did not send 179 names to the Department of Public Safety’s database of people prohibited from possessing a gun. When the RGJ asked the department how many reports it had received from other courts in the state, the director said only 13 in the past year: five from Lyon County; five from White Pine County and three from Reno Municipal Court."

Before Bakken well violation, a $22M fraud case in the Texas oil patch | EnergyWire
"A little-known company called Halek Operating ND LLC is facing the largest fine North Dakota has ever levied against an oil and gas producer -- $1.5 million -- for jeopardizing drinking water near Dickinson. But even before the company drilled its first well in North Dakota, federal officials say the man behind it had swindled $22 million out of 300 investors in a Texas oil and gas project."

Shortcomings seen in response to missing Iowans | Des Moines Register
"A Des Moines Register examination of missing-person cases revealed ongoing shortcomings in how Iowa responds when its residents vanish."

Woman says KCMO councilman’s sexting scandal connected to taxpayer money, shares story with FBI | 41 Action News (Kansas City)
"41 Action News has spoken exclusively with a woman who is convinced the taxpayer money was used to help keep a sexting scandal out of the public spotlight. And she’s shared her story with the FBI."

Even Small Amounts of Precipitation Dump Raw Sewage into Potomac River | Alexandria Gazette Packet
Don't believe the signs city officials have posted at the four outfall spots that dump raw sewage into the Potomac River. The truth is much worse.

In Afghanistan, redeployed U.S. soldiers still coping with demons of post-traumatic stress | The Washington Post
"A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder is not a barrier to being redeployed. Not when the Army needs its most experienced soldiers to wrap up the war. Instead, the Army is trying to answer a new question: Who is resilient enough to return to Afghanistan, in spite of the demons they are still fighting?" 

Poway schools rely on Mello-Roos tax machine – For lunches, signs and old school repair | inewsource
There is no legal limit and no standardized formula for calculating Mello-Roos Taxes. In some cases, the formulas are so convoluted that homeowners have virtually no way of knowing whether they’re paying the correct amount. What’s more there is no state oversight over the funds: at a minimum, the system is far from transparent to those who are footing the bill. Some are asking whether it’s even legal.

Even Odds | The San Francisco Chronicle
Being male and black in Oakland means being about as likely to be killed as to graduate from high school ready for college

Know of a story we should add to the list? Send it to extraextra@ire.org

There have been reports that in war-torn Syria, rape has become an epidemic as both sides seek to destabilize, 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. Vanity Fair contributor 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.

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.

A New York Times article states that in a debate that has focused largely on women, this fact is often overlooked: The majority of service members who are sexually assaulted each year are men.

According to a Center for Investigative Reporting article, hundreds of female agricultural workers have complained to the federal government about being raped, assaulted and verbally and physically harassed on the job, while law enforcement has done almost nothing to prosecute potential crimes.

Unjustified | Newsday
“Report reveals how cop shot unarmed man - and kept his job.”

Secret files reveal how pay-to-play works in N.J. | The Star-Ledger
“A special report by The Star-Ledger exposes how one politically connected engineering firm parlayed campaign donations into millions of dollars in public contracts, all the while keeping the scheme hidden from the public. An analysis of the records, meticulously kept and numbering 137 pages, found Birdsall made more than 1,000 secret campaign contributions worth in excess of $1 million to politicians of all stripes and in all corners of New Jersey. At the same time, the company cashed in on more than $84 million in public contracts.”

Female workers face rape, harassment in US agriculture industry | The Center for Investigative Reporting
“Hundreds of female agricultural workers have complained to the federal government about being raped and assaulted, verbally and physically harassed on the job, while law enforcement has done almost nothing to prosecute potential crimes.”

Under the Curse of Cartels | The Oregonian
“In a nine-month investigation, The Oregonian has learned that Mexican cartels, including the powerful Sinaloa and the brutal Los Zetas, have infiltrated almost every corner of Oregon. At last count, authorities were aware of no fewer than 69 drug trafficking organizations selling drugs in the state, nearly all supplied by cartels.”

Computer Industry, Unions Big Donors to Immigration Bill Supporters | OpenSecrets.org
“The 27 senators who voted against the amendment, which strengthens border security but is also a step towards passing the overall immigration package, on average received very little money from those three types of groups, but did receive heavy support from donors in the agribusiness industry.”

Top Medicare prescribers rake in spending fees from drug makers | ProPublica
“Data obtained and analyzed by ProPublica suggest another factor in the drug Bystolic's rapid success: Many of the drug's top prescribers have financial ties to Forest Laboratories, its maker.”

Sodomy Hazing Leaves 13-Year-Old Victim Outcast in Colorado Town | Bloomberg News
“High-school hazing and bullying used to involve name-calling, towel-snapping and stuffing boys into lockers. Now, boys sexually abusing other boys is part of the ritual. More than 40 high school boys were sodomized with foreign objects by their teammates in over a dozen alleged incidents reported in the past year, compared with about three incidents a decade ago, according to a Bloomberg review of court documents and news accounts.”

In Debate Over Military Sexual Assault, Men Are Overlooked Victims | The New York Times
“In a debate that has focused largely on women, this fact is often overlooked: the majority of service members who are sexually assaulted each year are men.”

"A seven-month San Antonio Express-News investigation into the pervasive and long-standing problem of sex assaults in the military shows victims who report the incidents often are retaliated against and discharged on false claims that they have mental disorders. Offenders, meanwhile, are rarely punished, and most are allowed to stay in the armed forces."

“A seven-month San Antonio Express-News investigation into the pervasive and long-standing problem of sex assaults in the military shows victims who report the incidents often are retaliated against and discharged on false claims that they have mental disorders. Offenders, meanwhile, are rarely punished, and most are allowed to stay in the armed forces.”

"Despite a state law, many Level Three sex offenders are ending up in the same few neighborhoods," the Minneapolis Star-Tribune found from its investigation.