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In letter to Obama, chemical industry groups see no need for further regulation
The West fertilizer explosion killed 15 and injured hundreds more in April 2013. Sixteen chemical-industry groups told the White House on Monday that imposing new safety regulations is unnecessary and...
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Congressman asks state for better West blast health survey
An aerial photo taken the day after the West explosion shows the damaged nursing home at lower left and the fertilizer plant at upper right. The U.S. congressman who represents West has asked Texas’...
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Reading List: Good watchdog journalism from April
Front page of The Oklahoman's joint investigation with Oklahoma Watch into prescription drug use. In our monthly collection of good watchdog reporting, one frequent subject of investigation was...
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West injury report to be complete in June, health officials say
A survey of injuries from the West fertilizer plant explosion will be complete in June. A report on injuries from last year’s fertilizer plant explosion in West will be finished next month, health...
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Not so fast: indicted hospital owner fires lawyer after guilty plea is...
Mahmood is now seeking to upend a plea deal at the 11th hour by firing attorney Dan Cogdell and replacing him with a Los Angeles lawyer. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, the indicted Texas hospital-chain owner, has...
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Fugitive priest located by The News sentenced a 3rd time for molesting scores...
One of the most notorious figures from our 2004-2005 investigation about global transfers of predatory Catholic priests has been sentenced to 10½ years in jail. The judge choked up during a hearing...
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Child immigrants are a “human migration in process”
James Phelps, border and homeland security professor at Angelo State University in San Angelovisit site to read more]
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Reading List: Good watchdog journalism from May
The Boston's Globe new series "Shadow Campus" In our May collection of good watchdog journalism, several news organizations launched multi-day series, exploring issues from lax death investigations to...
View ArticleGovernment releases report on injuries from West fertilizer plant explosion
About one in five people who went to the hospital after the West fertilizer plant explosion suffered a traumatic brain injury or a concussion, according to a newly released report. The report is the...
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West fertilizer explosion injured 7% of town’s residents, government report...
A government survey of injuries found that 7% of residents were hurt in last year's fertilizer plant explosion. The first official report describing the injuries from last year’s fertilizer plant...
View ArticleDallas officials’ vision for Bexar Street, set to ‘Feeling Good’
Here’s the vision Dallas officials had for the Bexar Street redevelopment project, set to Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” If you’d rather it set to a finger-snapping jam, Wilonsky’s got you covered...
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Reading List: Good watchdog reporting from June
Front page of the Star-Tribune's investigation into home health care flaws. I really want you to read this month’s collection of good watchdog reporting. But I have to warn you. You will probably...
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Lawmakers seek investigation into Motorola radio sales tactics in Dallas and...
As the goliath of the U.S. public safety radio market, Motorola wields a playbook full of tactics for fending off challenges to its estimated 80 percent share. (Nader Khouri/MCT)visit site to read more]
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UPDATE: Jurors find Texas hospital chain owner guilty on all 15 counts
Dallas businessman Dr. Tariq Mahmood exits a pretrial hearing earlier this year. Update at 4 p.m.: Jurors have found Dr. Tariq Mahmood guilty on all 15 counts. Mahmood faces up to 20 years in prison...
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Trial of ex-CPRIT official expected after November election
AUSTIN – A former high-ranking official of Texas’ cancer-fighting agency is not expected to stand trial before the November general election. The trial of Jerald “Jerry” Cobbs, who faces a felony...
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Evidence of Vatican complicity in sex-abuse case highlights global pattern...
UPDATED: 10:02 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 26 The Vatican moved its top diplomat out of the Dominican Republic because of sex-abuse complaints, failed to tell criminal authorities and then harbored him in...
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Texas Democrats ask for federal probe of AG raid that targeted voter sign-up...
Attorney General Greg Abbott AUSTIN – Democratic congressmen from Texas have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a raid by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office that targeted a...
View ArticleDallas police and fire pension officials traveled to upscale Napa wine...
Dallas police and fire pension officials traveled to the Napa area 45 times to oversee a speculative real estate venture that lost $46 million. See my story in today’s paper for more on this. The Napa...
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Dallas police and fire pension chairman addresses $196M loss
Last week came the story of how the Dallas Police and … [visit site to read more]
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Group claims students at risk from chemicals
Center for Effective Government's analysis of North Texas chemical risks If a liberal advocacy group is right, every child in every school in Dallas County is within the danger zone of a facility...
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Congressman frustrated by problems with program for injured soldiers
Denton native Zackary Filip, who was named 2010 Soldier of the Year by Army Times, said he was harassed and belittled when he sought help with his post-traumatic stress disorder at the Fort Hood...
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Trial of ex-CPRIT official expected this summer
Jerry Cobbs AUSTIN – A former high-ranking official of Texas’ cancer-fighting agency is expected to stand trial this summer. At a hearing this morning, a Travis County judge said Jerald “Jerry” Cobbs...
View ArticleCongress questions Army over allegations of mistreatment of wounded soldiers...
Prompted by a recent joint investigation by The Dallas Morning News and KXAS-TV, a congressional committee questioned officials over how the military services care for wounded, injured and ill service...
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Out of state, out of luck? Restraint on ‘outside’ access to public info among...
Sen. John Whitmire, left, talks to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, center, and Sen. Kevin Eltife after new rules were adopted Jan. 21 in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Austin. Eltife authored changes that...
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Texas legislators get pay raise through hike in daily expense payments
Paul Hobby, chairman of the Texas Ethics Commission AUSTIN – Texas legislators will receive a pay raise for the first time since 2009. The state Ethics Commission voted Friday to increase the amount...
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House bill: Government officials may be sued to release public info on...
A tray of blank open records requests sits on a table at Dallas City Hall on Nov. 5. A bill by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, would open up government officials to lawsuits if they fail to...
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Texas ‘pick-a-pal’ grand jury system would be canned under new bill
Texas Sen. John Whitmire, center, speaks with Sen. Kel Seliger, left, and Sen. Kirk Watson during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Feb. 23 at the state Capitol in Austin. Whitmire has proposed a...
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Boxer: Two years after West explosion, ‘very little progress has been made’
Sen. … [visit site to read more]
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Texas Senate approves bill to make regional mobility authorities subject to...
Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas AUSTIN — Local transportation agencies would be subject to state audit under a bill that the Texas Senate approved Monday. Sen. Don Huffines, a Dallas Republican who...
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Texas Senate restores diversity requirement to grand jury overhaul bill after...
State Sen. John Whitmire, D- Houston, has restored a diversity provision in his grand jury overhaul legislation after it returned from the House upon final passage. (AP Photo/Austin...
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Update: Abbott signs Texas law to fortify reporters’ defense against libel suits
In this 2013 photo, state Sen. Joan Huffman, right, talks with state Sen. John Whitmire during the Sunday session for the 83rd Texas legislature at the State Capitol. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning...
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Death knell for ‘pick-a-pal’ grand juror selection in Texas as overhaul bill...
State Sen. John Whitmire, D- Houston, left, looks on as Sen. Royce West, D- Dallas, center, raises two fingers signaling a no vote during the final vote of an open carry bill May 17. Whitmire’s...
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Top administrator of rural Texas hospital chain gets 23 months for defrauding...
Joe White, left, outside the courthouse Wednesday in Tyler. This from reporter Miles Moffeit in … [visit site to read more]
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Justice Department inspector general report discloses massive unpaid criminal...
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Congressman cites News’ report in proposal to help prevent rural hospital...
Feliciano Gonzalez and his wife, Judith Contreras Gonzalez, rushed their daughter to a rural hospital ER that had been closed weeks earlier. In making his pitch this week for a new law … [visit site...
View ArticleWhen it comes same-sex marriage, justices are speaking different languages
The Supreme Court opinions in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case don’t just differ in substance — they differ in language. A quick analysis of the majority opinions and each of the dissents shows...
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Dallas psych hospital under scrutiny for lax safety asks court to save its...
Regulators have sought to strip Timberlawn Mental Health System in Dallas of its government funding as punishment for repeated safety failures following a patient’s death in December. (Ron...
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Regulators to halt Timberlawn psych hospital's funding after judge's ruling
Regulators have sought to strip Timberlawn Mental Health System in Dallas of its government funding as punishment for repeated safety failures following a patient’s death in December. (Ron...
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Hours after judge's ruling, feds officially axe Timberlawn psych hospital...
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Behind the press release: Timberlawn faces funding loss of millions, safety...
Timberlawn Mental Health System disclosed late yesterday that it had visit site to read more]
View ArticleFeds indict 12 in latest effort to root out Texas' entrenched home health...
Federal authorities, in their latest clampdown on rampant home-health care fraud in Texas, have indicted 12 East Texas residents they say were part of yet another sprawling scheme. The dozen worked as...
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Clinic that spun vets in chair to treat PTSD has changed its name
The … [visit site to read more]
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State representative asks funding agency for more information about $2.2...
Cerebrum Health Centers is an Irving chiropractic clinic that received more than $2 million in state funds to conduct PTSD research on veterans. A member of a Texas House investigations committee has...
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Federal court says Parkland officials can't be held liable in psych patient's...
Psych patient George Cornell’s death in February 2011 led to a crackdown on safety problems at Parkland Memorial Hospital. A federal appeals court has ruled that Parkland … [visit site to read more]
View ArticleWatchdog for President Campaign Video
And so, the fun begins …. He wants to “Take the CON out of consumer.” That’s why Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber is launching a symbolic campaign for the U.S. presidency. He wants to...
View ArticleFirst TV interview for Watchdog for President
Dallas Morning News Watchdog Dave Lieber discusses his satirical presidential campaign with NBC5 news anchor Kristi Nelson. This fun interview took place on Jan. 11, 2016 on KXAS-TV. visit site to read...
View ArticleWatchdog analyzes Trump's speaking style (and it's not pretty)
The #WatchdogforPresident campaign entered a new realm in January, when The Watchdog published a piece analyzing Donald Trump’s campaign speaking style. Read the story - “Even Watchdog for President...
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#WatchdogForPresident support showing up in North Texas
The #WatchdogForPresident campaign is growing. You can see it everywhere (almost, if you look hard enough and have, perhaps, a magnifying glass). visit site to read more]
View ArticleReal Watchdogs of Dallas Love Housewives
We can’t wait to see Bravo’s Real Housewives portray the real Dallas (not oil derricks and tumble weeds), but the Watchdog desk loves every Dallas housewife fighting the good fight, seven days a week....
View ArticleWhat AT&T employees think of their company
While AT&T’s brass is away, the mice will play. While top officials of AT&T are holed up in out-of-the-way Billings, Mont., for AT&T’s annual stockholders meeting (why Montana?) hundreds of...
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