A legal loophole allowed wealthy property owners to protect their real estate at the expense of Hawaii’s coastlines. Now, the state Legislature is considering bills to crack down on the destructive practices, but questions around enforcement remain.
by Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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Governors continue to open indoor dining and other activities before vaccinations become widespread. Experts warn this could create superspreading playgrounds for dangerous variants and squander our best shot at getting the pandemic under control.
Caroline Chen
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For decades, corporate timber benefited from tax cuts that devastated local budgets. Lawmakers want change and have filed dozens of bills, making this one of Oregon’s most consequential sessions for forest policy.
by Rob Davis, The Oregonian/OregonLive, and Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Private equity firm Leonard Green and other investors extracted $645 million from Prospect Medical before announcing a deal to sell it and leave it with $1.3 billion in financial obligations. Four states approved it — but Rhode Island is holding out.
by Peter Elkind
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A key House subcommittee cited reports by ProPublica and other news outlets in launching an investigation into how the country’s meatpacking companies handled the pandemic, which has killed hundreds of workers to date.
by Bernice Yeung and Michael Grabell
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We know the government lied about Vietnam. But should the reporter who published the Pentagon Papers have lied to his source?
by Stephen Engelberg
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The VA and FEMA agreed to pay a first-time vendor in a desperate search for protective equipment. Now Robert Stewart admits he defrauded three federal agencies and lied about being in the Marine Corps.
by J. David McSwane
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Like them or revile them, federal agencies seem poised to regain some of their traditional powers under the new administration. But it’s not clear how far President Biden wants them to go.
by Jesse Eisinger
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The software company SolarWinds unwittingly allowed hackers’ code into thousands of federal computers. A cybersecurity system called in-toto, which the government paid to develop but never required, might have protected against this.
by Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum
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