An investigation by The Christian Science Monitor and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting has found that individuals and businesses who are feeding a $700 million global market in offsets are often buying vague promises instead of the reductions in greenhouse gases they expect. Read More ->
Over the past decade, the Salvation Army of Massachusetts has bought at least $4 million dollars worth of spacious homes in some of the most sought after communities in the state to house its top officers, including paying $799,000 for a white Colonial in Needham for the charity’s state commander. Read More ->
The Massachusetts Highway Division has handed out millions in federal stimulus dollars for roadway construction to companies that have defrauded taxpayers, polluted the environment and have paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines for violating workplace safety laws... Read More ->The NECIR-BU Stimulus Project Gets National AttentionSee the story on CNN.com
NECIR-BU continues its "Taxpayer Watch" series updating its previous reporting on the mismanagement of the Massachusetts Division of Administrative Law Appeals to reveal that the former head of the agency, who was forced to resign, is still being paid $6300 each month to work from home. Read More ->
Check out our investigation into why the Massachusetts Division of Banks ranks dead last among New England states when it comes to disciplining mortgage brokers and lenders. Read More ->
Governor Deval Patrick’s appointee to run an agency that makes critical decisions about the status of licensed professionals and the pensions of state retirees abruptly resigned last week amid a massive backlog of cases and complaints about her management of the office. Read More ->
Barack Obama’s legal mentor publicly scolded the president this week for inserting the White House into a debate about the controversial arrest of Obama’s friend, African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., by a white police sergeant last year.
Obama “blackened himself” by commenting on the low-level municipal arrest, turning it into an “international story,” said Harvard [...]
Notable investigative stories from newspapers, websites and TV and radio newsrooms in the six New England states plus "Citizen Muckraker" reports. See all the Muckraker stories ->
The Boston Globe Spotlight Team’s in-depth series on the patronage-laden state Probation Department leads to the temporary suspension of Commissioner John O’Brien. Read series
Police [...]
Baldacci appointee still owes state thousands
James “Jimmy” Cook, the former UPS truck driver and Teamster organizer with friends in high places at the State House, got more than well-paying [...]
A year after Connecticut implemented stricter driving laws for teenagers, a study by the state Department of Motor Vehicles shows that multiple signs of reckless teen driving have decreased [...]