Some regional offices paid bonuses to VA workers while veterans waited for claims to be processed. At least costly efforts to go paperless have improved wait times. Your portal to these stories, plus several more in this special report from the News21 project, is here.
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense spent at least $1.3 billion during the last four years trying unsuccessfully to develop a single electronic health-records
The Department of Veterans Affairs gave workers millions of dollars in bonuses for “excellent” performances that effectively encouraged them to avoid claims that needed extra work to document veterans’ injuries, a News21 investigation found.
Veterans who survived Taliban and al Qaida attacks, roadside bombs, mortar fire and the deaths of fellow soldiers told reporters from the News21 project they have returned home to a future threatened by poverty, unemployment, homelessness and suicide.
IowaWatch Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller was a guest on Bob Bruce’s radio show on WMT radio on Thursday, Aug. 22, speaking about IowaWatch stories and other topics raised
Wind producers in Iowa say they want a level playing field when it comes to tax breaks. They would go so far as to push for cutting tax breaks for other energy producers, like oil and gas. The current tax break wind production gets ends Dec. 31.
Sex sells in the video game business but it often is based on portrayals of curvy women wearing suggestive clothing, if much at all, who are subservient to men during games. Some real women are fighting back, trying to crack what has been called a boys' club.
Broad federal requirements are allowing many levees to fall through the cracks in maintenance and leave the reliability of others unknown, an IowaWatch investigation revealed. Levees that are inspected generally rate low, but repairs aren't always made.
Browse this IowaWatch database of levee inspections in Iowa. An IowaWatch story says Iowa towns are at risk because of spotty inspections and an inability to respond efficiently to flaws that exist in some levees.
In April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised to 535,000 its estimate of the number of American children with potentially dangerous levels of lead in
Social, economic and logistical barriers keep many pregnant, drug-addicted women in Iowa from accessing substance abuse treatment. Moreover, despite attention given the problem over the years, social stigma and fear of losing custody can keep them from seeking medical care during pregnancy, an IowaW
Children of drug-abusing mothers are more likely to pick up drugs themselves, continuing the cycle of substance abuse. With the recent defunding of drug prevention programs in Iowa schools, there is one less tool in the effort to cut of the generational cycle of drug abuse.
