Watchdog.org Podcast

This is “In Our Backyards,” Watchdog.org’s podcast that examines local government — because the government that’s closest to you often can be the most important, even if you don’t hear much about it. We look at city councils, school boards and even water treatment authorities, because local officials can waste your tax dollars as easily as Congress can waste them. Government is real when it’s close by, in schools and local police forces. In this week's episode, host Eric Boehm sits down with Watchdog reporter Rachel Martin to talk about the strange, sad tale of Elise Truchan and her tree house. After Elise spent three months planning and then building an elaborate tree house for a school project, her family came home to find a note on their front door from the local building inspector telling them it had to come down Now, in order to keep the tree house from being torn down, the family has to pay $500 just for a chance at an official permission slip fro