Attorney Tai Vokins told CNN that the government-hired collectors are “preying on the absolute poorest people” who can’t pay their bills, let alone old debts. Consequently, some have been jailed for not paying overdue speeding tickets, while others have had entire paychecks garnished to cover back taxes. Others targeted by the debt collectors never owed the debt, and had documentation to prove it, but still have been harassed by collection agencies.   read more

The NRDC wants the EPA to review the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, a commonly used herbicide that has wiped out the milkweed plant in many parts of the country. Monarch butterflies rely on the milkweed for their survival. The NRDC says the “distinctive butterfly” is “in peril,” and faces the risk of completely dying off. “The remaining population is so small that a single severe weather event could eradicate it,” the group wrote.   read more

The case was filed by Leah Metcalf, who played women’s basketball for North Carolina from 2001 to 2005, and James Arnold, who played football from 2005 to 2009. Metcalf had dreams of becoming a doctor, while Arnold said he wanted to study computer science. But both say school officials told them to take easier courses in the university’s School of African and Afro-American Studies. Both graduated from college, but found they couldn’t get professional jobs usually offered to college graduates.   read more

In his apology, Mayor Jackson said blaming the child for his own death was "an attempt to protect all of our defenses." A Rice family attorney responded, “I don’t want him just to apologize for the poor word use. I want him to apologize for the death of this 12-year-old child.” Another Rice attorney said, “I do believe that a...child died unnecessarily at the hands of Cleveland police officers and I do believe that certain officers shouldn’t have been entitled to wear the uniform.”   read more

A military judge, Navy Captain J.K. Waits, issued a restraining order last year barring female guards from touching Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, who cited religious reasons for his request that only male jailers handle him. Hadi had refused to leave his cell because of the presence of women. After a wave of protests erupted from prosecutors and prison staff, Waits relented and lifted his restraining order.   read more

Using the National Violent Death Reporting System, which collects data from 16 states, Hempstead and Phillips found that the suicide rate per 100,000 among the targeted age group went from 15.5 in 2005 to 18.2 in 2010. The unemployment rate in those states increased as well, from 5.1% to 9.6%. The rise was most dramatic in Rhode Island, where the unemployment rate more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, as did the suicide rate for those aged 40 to 64.   read more

The blaze, the plaintiffs say, was caused by the Colorado Army National Guard at Camp Guernsey using ammunition and explosives during dry conditions. The 22-square-mile fire consumed 1,000 acres of prime timberland and destroyed more than 1,000 acres of prime grazing land, according to the Rothschilds. The estimated monetary loss to their property was $6,773,703.   read more

A new report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found a stronger association in some cases between heart disease deaths and long-term exposure to UFPs than with fine particles, which are subject to both federal and state emissions regulations. Some particulate constituents, including copper, iron, other metals and elemental carbon (soot), were strongly associated with death from heart attacks.   read more

The IG’s office received information that the Coast Guard was authorizing unnecessary healthcare travel. An audit found 94% of the records it reviewed for the Travel to Obtain Health Care program lacked documentation, such as doctors’ referrals and cost estimates, to justify trips. The Coast Guard in Alaska, for example, sent personnel or their relatives to such destinations as Vail, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Scottsdale, Arizona.   read more

In 2010, Algeria, which has been accused human rights violations, gave the foundation $500,000, which went to earthquake relief in Haiti. Clinton foundation officials now concede that they should have first gotten the approval of the State Department ethics office before accepting the funds. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia donated to the foundation only after Clinton resigned as secretary of state.   read more

If the Supreme Court sides with a conservative attack aimed at crippling Obamacare, the insurance industry could find itself drowning in red ink, while millions of Americans could lose their health coverage. "More healthy people are likely to drop out of the market. Which will cause premiums to go up again. Which will cause more people to drop their insurance. Which will cause premiums to go up. Such a death spiral could potentially collapse the individual insurance market in many states."   read more

The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners had tried to stop non-dentists from offering teeth-whitening in salons and at mall kiosks. But the high court agreed with the FTC, which challenged the board’s authority to restrict the service to dental offices. The court said the board rule was “anti-competitive and unfair." The state board is mostly made up of dentists, and it is funded by the dental industry. “They have an evident self-interest,” argued Deputy Solicitor General Stewart.   read more

Resolution will be removing an estimated $130 billion worth of copper that’s now owned by the American people. The proposal has been around since 2005, but never got through Congress until senators McCain and Flake put it into the “must-pass” defense bill, which President Barack Obama signed in December. Members of the Apache and Yavapai tribes consider the land sacred and have started a sit-in protest on the site to stop the project.   read more

Duke agreed to pay $68.2 million in fines and restitution and $34 million for community service and mitigation projects. Environmental groups praised the settlement. “It’s not just a slap on the wrist,” said Cape Fear River Watch's Kemp Burdette. “A $100 million fine is a significant one. It confirms what we’ve been saying all along. It’s good to finally have somebody say, ‘You’re right. Duke was illegally polluting waterways across North Carolina and it was criminal. It wasn’t an accident.’”   read more

The prison was reportedly rendered “uninhabitable” following the uprising, which resulted in at least three of the prison’s 10 Kevlar-covered domes being set on fire. Two officers and as many as five inmates suffered minor injuries during the melee, which began as a complaint about medical services at the prison. Many local residents have expressed concerns that the prison may never reopen, which would cost the community about 400 jobs.   read more

The newspaper examined more than a thousand police reports and found district attorneys routinely did not go after individuals accused of sex crimes. “As the Illinois data reveal, a stunningly small percentage of sexual assaults that are reported to police will eventually result in prosecution and conviction, and without meaningful data to portray that grim reality, there is no way for the public...to hold police departments and prosecutors’ offices accountable,” said EVAWI's Kim Lonsway.   read more