For InsideClimate News, Marcus Stern and Sebastian Jones report on possible reasons for recent explosions of oil transported by rail. An excerpt: The worry, according to a half-dozen industry experts who spoke with InsideClimate News, is that some producers are adjusting the pressure settings to leave in substantial amounts of natural gas liquids. “There is a strong suspicion that a number of ...
Author Nick Turse, who wrote Kill Anything that Moves with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, has shared in the 2014 I.F. Stone “Izzy” Award for his relentless investigations into civilian war deaths. The Award was established by the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. The award citation for Turse: In news pieces and a book published last year, Turse ...
Hella Winston, an independent journalist who has investigated sexual abuse cover-ups in the Ultra Orthodox Jewish communities of New York and New Jersey, reports that a Brooklyn criminal case against a whistleblower, the father of a sex abuse victim, has fallen apart. Winston has received two grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to look into cases that had been covered ...
From Diana Washington Valdez, in a special report for the El Paso Times, the frustrating search for clues to solve the murders of several women whose bodies were found, many years later, in shallow graves on the outskirts of Albuquerque. Families are upset that police have made so little progress. An excerpt: Relatives of several of the West Mesa murder victims, whose bodies were discovered in ...
For Daily Kos, the story of the continuing struggle for equality in insurance coverage and treatment for mental illnesses. As Mary Ann Swissler reports, federal law has required that insurance plans treat mental and medical coverage equally, since 2008. But the reality is quite different, according to her survey of patients. Excerpts: “In [a survey conducted by Swissler], 53 percent of the women ...
From Audrey Quinn, for Life of the Law, the story of mothers who give birth in prison. An excerpt: A Department of Corrections study found having a baby in a prison nursery makes a woman twice as likely to stay out of prison later. Byrne [Mary Byrne, a professor at Columbia University School of Nursing] decided to conduct her own research, following ...
The documentary “Private Violence,” directed by Cynthia Hill, has debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The film tells the story of two women, a domestic violence advocate who was victimized herself years ago, and a young mother who, with the advocate’s help, fought in court to keep her abusive ex-husband in prison. The documentary will air on HBO this fall. For ...
From Rong Xiaoqing, for Sing Tao Daily, translated into English for Voices of NY, a deeply reported story of the mental health consequences for some American students at one highly competitive high school in New York City. An excerpt: “For many academically competitive students, Stuyvesant is the ultimate goal. But once you get in, everyone is so competitive. You have to stay at ...
From Rocco Rorandelli for CNN World, the story of teens working in American tobacco fields. An excerpt: In many states, children as young as 12 can legally work on a farm as long as it’s after school and they have their parents’ permission. “It doesn’t specify whether the farm is producing corn or tobacco, but … the kid who works in ...
The Miami Herald has picked up BrowardBulldog.org’s investigation of lobbyists operating in the shadows of Florida government. The in-depth report found broad loopholes in otherwise tough requirements for lobbyist disclosure and registration in Florida. (An excerpt): .. Florida’s independent special districts are a separate class of government — a hodgepodge of obscure taxing and other authorities that, with few exceptions, offer the public ...