Inspectors

WASHINGTON - After dealing with the debt crisis, Senate negotiators tried and failed yesterday to end a stalemate over temporary financing for the Federal Aviation Administration, leaving 4,000 agency employees out of work and relying on airport safety inspectors to continue working without pay. The partial agency shutdown, which began July 23 and is likely to continue at least through Labor Day, has also idled tens of thousands of construction workers...

BEIRUT - Syrian government forces engaged in an extended game of cat-and-mouse against UN observers Monday, attacking cities like Hama after the monitors left and adopting a low profile as the monitors visited the Damascus suburbs. In Hama, soldiers walking through the streets of Arbaeen and other neighborhoods that had protested burst into schools to detain students, hauled people out of their homes - shooting some who resisted - and set numerous houses on fire, according to the activist organization Avaaz.

The town assessors' office has begun its annual round of property inspections. The inspections are done over several months, with inspectors going door-to-door to inspect the interior and exterior of properties. The state requires that real estate be inspected periodically. The inspectors, Robert Alford and Ann Williams, carry town identification with their photographs and will not inspect the interior of a property unless a person age 18 or older is present. If no one is available for the interior inspection, a notice will be left on the doorknob requesting that the resident call the office at 508-230-0520...

Something all too rare happened at the end of the Boston Lyric Opera's performance on Friday night: a living composer took a bow from the stage of the Shubert Theatre. Any responsible mainstream opera company must not only curate the art form's illustrious past but also engage itself with opera as a living entity. BLO had not brought a contemporary work to the Shubert Theatre since 2005. That the company has returned to this terrain is to be applauded. That said, I wish I had more positive news to share about this particular opera, "The Inspector" by John Musto, which was given its world...

NEW YORK - New York City will track its hundreds of building inspectors with GPS technology to make sure they are actually doing the inspections they report, the Department of Buildings said yesterday. The new scrutiny comes after an inspector was charged last year with faking a report that he had inspected a crane days before it collapsed and killed seven people. Electrical, construction, elevator, crane, and other inspectors will now have GPS tracking on their mobile phones so that department heads can follow their movements in real time through a Web-based program.

WASHINGTON - Facing a possible White House veto, the Senate has passed a watered-down version of legislation designed to protect government watchdogs from political pressure. But Senate lawmakers said the measure, approved on a voice vote late Wednesday, still offers strong protection to shield inspectors general from undue influence by the government agencies they investigate while making reports and audits more accessible to the public. The Senate bill omits several provisions in a similar bill the House passed last year after the Bush administration threatened a veto...

FALL RIVER - The permit for the state-run swimming pool where a woman’s body went unnoticed for more than two days this week had expired six months ago. A city health inspector who examined it Tuesday determined the water was cloudy, but did not see her remains resting on the bottom. The pool had not been inspected in about a year, and its permit had expired Dec. 31, the city’s mayor, William Flanagan, said yesterday. He would not elaborate on the permitting process. Flanagan put two inspectors, who had stopped by the pool Monday, on paid administrative leave...

Boston city inspectors have swept through an Allston neighborhood where a three-alarm fire last month left a college student in serious condition and have found malfunctioning smoke detectors, rodent infestations, faulty heating systems, and numerous other safety violations in rental properties. In a three-day operation this month that was capped off with a final neighborhood walkthrough yesterday, the inspectors and Fire Department officials logged 82 violations at 25 units on Gardner, Pratt, Linden, and Ashford Streets,...

FALL RIVER - Two municipal sanitary inspectors were not responsible for the state-run swimming pool where a woman drowned last month, their union attorney said yesterday, raising questions about accountability on the day of the victim’s funeral. The inspectors faced questioning from a city attorney during a closed-door disciplinary hearing. But Jaime DiPaola-Kenny, the attorney who represents the inspectors, said they had no authority to close the pool even though they inspected it and issued a city permit while the woman’s body was still concealed under 12...

A union representing state escalator inspectors is fighting a decision to fire two inspectors and suspend six more after a child’s death in a shopping mall, arguing that the Public Safety Department does not train inspectors sufficiently or even provide enough safety code books. Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gatzunis imposed the punishments last month after finding that the inspectors failed to require escalator owners to place safety barriers over wide gaps along the sides of various public escalators.

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department rushed out a major revamp of its foreclosure prevention program in 2010, limiting the plan's ability to help people who are unemployed or owe more than their homes are worth, a government watchdog says. Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund, which distributes money to state housing agencies for a range of programs, has been plagued by delays and disagreements with mortgage companies that must participate for the program to succeed, according to a report released Thursday by the special inspector general for the financial bailouts.

The German government said Monday that a Swiss decision to issue arrest warrants for three German tax inspectors hasn't damaged relations between the two countries, and insisted it illustrates the need to get a stalled deal on tax evasion approved. Germany's center-left opposition condemned the Swiss move when word of it emerged over the weekend. It is part of an investigation into German authorities' 2010 purchase of a compact disc containing data on suspected tax cheats. But the government noted that the two countries have different laws regarding tax evasion and...

BECKLEY, W.Va. - The former superintendent of a southern West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal fraud charge. Gary May of Bloomingrose, the highest-ranking Massey Energy official charged in connection with the blast, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 9. May pleaded guilty before US District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. The charge stems from his actions at the Upper Big Branch mine.

The Board of Health is seeking someone experienced in animal husbandry as a part-time barn animal inspector. The successful candidate will serve from May 1 until April 30, 2013. Interested individuals should send their resumes to Ayer Board of Health, 1 Main St., Ayer, MA 01432. - Davis Bushnell

Federal officials are increasing efforts to combat fish mislabeling, including by training a government lab in Stoneham to conduct DNA testing of seafood. The Food and Drug Administration is launching its first formal surveillance program in the coming months that involves inspectors collecting samples from fish wholesalers and distributors around the country and sending them to labs, including the one in Stoneham, to determine whether they are being sold with the correct species names, according to Jonathan Deeds, a research biologist with the FDA. The National Oceanic and...

With gas prices rising steadily in recent weeks, Governor Deval Patrickcq has directed state inspectors to step up efforts to ensure that gas stations are not engaged in price gouging, false advertising and other deceptive practices, state officials said Sunday. "We want to get ahead of the curve here," Barbara Anthony,cq the state's undersecretary of consumer affairs and business regulation, said in a phone interview. "We want to make sure that no one's even thinking about price-gouging.

The German government said Monday that a Swiss decision to issue arrest warrants for three German tax inspectors hasn't damaged relations between the two countries, and insisted it illustrates the need to get a stalled deal on tax evasion approved. Germany's center-left opposition condemned the Swiss move when word of it emerged over the weekend. It is part of an investigation into German authorities' 2010 purchase of a compact disc containing data on suspected tax cheats. But the government noted that the two countries have different laws regarding tax evasion and bank secrecy.

Two Fall River health inspectors who signed off on a swimming pool where the body of a drowned 36-year-old woman went unnoticed for two days are scheduled to appear at a city disciplinary hearing Tuesday, according to the Fall River mayor’s office. The hearing is meant to determine if the inspectors followed procedure when they allowed the pool, despite a murky appearance and an expired permit, to continue operating, Fall River’s mayor, William Flanagan, said yesterday. The inspectors were placed on paid administrative leave last week.

State inspectors are stepping up oversight at gas stations in Massachusetts to guard against potential price gouging. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation said Sunday it sent an alert to Division of Standards field inspectors to pay close attention to what it calls unusually high prices. Nationwide, the average for a gallon of unleaded is $3.74. State officials say it's $3.73 a gallon in Massachusetts. Officials say inspectors will take a look at gas stations with prices that are significantly more than what's charged at stations in the immediate vicinity.