Sen. Jackson’s bill designed to help local man avoid fines for lake development
A state senator and candidate for Congress last month tried to get special legislation passed to help a single constituent by undoing at least part of a legal agreement with the state designed to...
View ArticleCar buyers should question documentation fees
The State Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation suggests consumers demand an itemized list of fees on a contract before buying a car. The state surveyed over 180 car dealerships in 2011...
View ArticleHard to tell people to leave coastal homes
Beth Daley is in the midst of a hard look at coastal issues and climate change, especially along the thin ribbon of coast that separates rising seas from billions of dollars of property. She spoke...
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Mass. Legislature among states that pass the fewest bills
Massachusetts representatives met in this chamber as a full body for the equivalent of 69 8-hour days over the last three years. (Photo by Lauren Owens for NECIR) By: Rupa Shenoy New England Center...
View ArticlePregnant prisoners are losing their shackles
WHEN HER LABOR STARTED in the middle of the night, Benidalys Rivera’s contractions were painful and regularly three minutes apart. Correctional officers clamped on handcuffs for her ride from the...
View ArticleMaine responders need to be better prepared to fight Lac Mégantic-type...
Less than a year ago, a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed in Lac-Mégantic, a small Quebec town ten miles from the Maine border. Thousands of gallons of the highly flammable crude oil spilled...
View ArticleMany state boards undercut by vacancies
If you showed up for the Massachusetts Board of Respiratory Care’s January meeting in Boston, you might have found yourself alone. For a fifth straight month, the meeting was canceled. The problem? The...
View ArticleR.I. Pension Puzzle Series
In Providence, the first-year cost would be $1.2 million. In Cranston, it would be nearly $1 million. In Pawtucket, it would top $700,000. All told, Rhode Island’s cities and towns would pay an...
View ArticleCommunities plagued by abandoned properties
The downturn in the economy burst the local housing bubble and thousands of families lost their homes. Some of those houses still stand empty after years and the blighted properties are now a problem...
View ArticleI-Team investigation finds high earners living in public housing
The walk up to the third floor is precarious. The Kimballs' New Bedford apartment is tight, filled with toys and three kids all under the age of 3. Little Kennadee was born premature and uses a feeding...
View ArticleNew state report says DCF erred in returning two drug-exposed infants home
The state Department of Children and Families erred last year in returning a Lynn infant and his twin brother – born with drugs in their system -- back to their mother, a report released Friday said....
View ArticleOvercrowded and and at risk: A way of life and, sometimes, death for student...
The screams for help. The harrowing leaps from smoky rooftops. The young life lost. The nightmare fire on Linden Street that killed a promising young Boston University undergraduate, Binland Lee, was...
View ArticleMonsanto and Maine: A look at Maine’s sometimes fractious relationship with...
David Gustafson, a scientist with agricultural biotech giant Monsanto, was sweating a little. There he was on the stage at the 2014 Camden Conference, talking food policy for the future, but all the...
View ArticleFox represented both sides in loans
New building permits are taped to the window of 276 Westminster St. in downtown Providence. It's yet another business coming into a space that's been a revolving door of theaters, bars and cafes. Loans...
View ArticleLegal medical marijuana cards used for illegal drug ops
Row after row of pot plants fill every room of a home in Little Compton. It was set up, police said, by two men from Massachusetts. "Just about every single room in the house had some type of marijuana...
View ArticleFear Stifles Complaints of Wage Abuse
Karim Ameri decided to play hardball after learning that his Los Angeles recycling business was under investigation for allegedly failing to pay the minimum wage or overtime to workers putting in...
View ArticlePay Violations Rampant in Low-Wage Industries Despite Enforcement Efforts
For workers stuck on the bottom rung, living on poverty wages is hard enough. But many also are victims of wage theft, a catch-all term for payroll abuses that cheat workers of income they are...
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Mapping tool gives climate change an address
Saco, Maine, April 20, 2007 -- A home that succumbed to storm surge following the Patriots' Day Nor'easter. FEMA/Marty Bahamonde- Wikimedia Commons Coastal casualties have almost become routine:...
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Planner’s job eliminated for often flooded Conn. city
US Fish & Wildlife ServiceMilford, Connecticut is often hit by ocean storms Despite having some of the largest number of properties in New England repeatedly damaged by the sea, officials in...
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Acclaimed Olin College bleeds red ink in microcosm of college cost problem
A courtyard at Olin College. The college spent nearly $100 million more than it took in between 2008 and 2011. (Lauren Owens/NECIR) By Jon Marcus New England Center for Investigative Reporting This...
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