Former SEDC officials accused of embezzlement

Two San Diego redevelopment officials were arrested and accused of "embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds." The voiceofsandiego.org investigation that began in 2008 culminated this week when the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.'s former president and former finance director were accused of "five criminal felony counts" each. Voiceofsandiego.org reported that the SEDC started paying "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to its employees in the form of "secret bonuses." Employees were ordered not to discuss the extra payments and alleged violation of the policy was termination. The investigation tracks the secret scheme as it "built up and, eventually, collapsed."

An investigation by the Journal Sentinel reveals that Wisconsin's food assistance program, FoodShare, is being abused by the same people who are supposed to benefit from the program. Last year, almost 2,000 recipients of the program's assistance "reported losing their Quest card six or more times." The investigation reveals that many FoodShare recipients sell their cards for cash, while others trade for drugs. The report suggests the fraudulent behavior is allowed to occur due to "lax rules and oversight."

Food stamp fraud has been a problem in the business district of Seattle for years. The problem was so bad, in fact, that a three-year investigation by federal agents could not clean up the mess. Chris Ingalls and KING 5 News have uncovered new "information that may explain why: Our analysis of government data shows that federal investigations into food stamp fraud have not kept pace with the explosive growth of the food stamp program." The investigation has lead Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, who oversees the food stamp program, to question the United States Department of Agriculture about the potential widespread fraud.

"Secure Communities, a federal immigration-enforcement program designed to identify and deport violent illegal immigrants, has increasingly targeted and deported undocumented immigrants with no criminal backgrounds," reports Thomas Francis of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Nationally, 28 percent of the immigrants deported since the program began in 2008 have been "non-criminal" immigrants. In Florida, the rates are much higher.  Immigrant advocates have voiced concern that these numbers reflect racial profiling in some communities.

In light of the recent shooing in Tucson, David S. Fallis and James V. Grimaldi of the Washington Post investigate the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons with "high-capacity magazines" in Virginia. The ban ended in 2004 with the lowest rate the state has seen, however; the rate has increased each year since. Congress is considering reissuing the ban, which is strongly opposed by gun rights advocates.

A report by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald shows that human trafficking and sexual exploitation of Haitian children are on the rise in the Dominican Republic following January's devastating earthquake in Haiti. "Since the earthquake more than 7,300 boys and girls have been smuggled out of their homeland to the Dominican Republic by traffickers profiting on the hunger and desperation of Haitian children, and their families. In 2009, the figure was 950, according to one human rights group that monitors child trafficking at 10 border points."

A four-part series by Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register describes California’s extraordinary dependence on immigrant labor. Immigrants comprise a third of the state’s workforce a higher proportion than any other state and almost any developed economy. They dominate lower-paid jobs but also play huge roles in technology and health. The Register analyzed nearly 40 years of census data from the Public Use Microdata Series to report the story. The series continues through October 1 and will investigate the failure of the federal government’s 24-year campaign to deny illegal immigrants work; explain the costs and benefits of immigration to the larger public; and explore alternatives for fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.

The latest investigation from the New England Center for Investigation Reporting challenges the notion that race was a factor in the disorderly conduct arrest of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is black, by a white Cambridge, Mass., police officer last year. "Instead, the analysis...finds that the most common factor linking people who are arrested in Cambridge for disorderly conduct is that they were allegedly screaming or cursing in front of police."

In a four-part series, Rob Perez of the Honolulu Advertiser found Hawaii's long-term-care system for the elderly is fraught with problems, including a placement system tainted by kickbacks and fraud. He also found that Hawaii nursing homes are the least sanctioned in the country, that reforms at the state Legislature are consistently blocked by care-home lobbyists and that a blacklist for certified nurse aides deemed unfit to work in the industry is full of holes.

Times-Picayune reporters Brendan McCarthy and Laura Maggi and ProPublica's A.C. Thompson report that "a former New Orleans police officer is under investigation for shooting Henry Glover" four days after Hurricane Katrina.  Weeks after the storm, Glover's remains were found in a burned out car on the Algiers levee.  Investigators now believe that he was shot by David Warren who was an officer with the New Orleans Police Department at the time.  This story is part of "Law & Disorder", a continuing series looking at police shootings in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.