Archive for February, 2005

Courtroom security lax for employees, officers

Monday, 02/28/05 Posted in Broadcast, Homeland Security, Justice (courts/crime/law)

Laure Quinlivan in WCPO-Cincinnati investigated courthouse security and found lax security in which employees enter through side doors and avoid metal detectors. Thousands of others, including county employees, lawyers and law enforcement officers, ... Read more..

Teacher pay rising faster than inflation

Friday, 02/25/05 Posted in CAR, Education, Workplace

Kurt Rogahn of The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette found that teacher pay "is increasing at rates better than inflation, despite warnings from the state's leading teacher organization that Iowa's average teacher pay hasn't ... Read more..

Administrative spending grows while student spending dwindles

Friday, 02/25/05 Posted in Business, Education

Vicki McClure and Tania deLuzuriaga of The Orlando Sentinel used audit records of local charter schools to find that "Imagine Schools Inc., operator of 10 schools in Central Florida, spent ... Read more..

Scam stole land from the dead

Friday, 02/25/05 Posted in First Amendment & FOIA, Justice (courts/crime/law)

Mike Hoyem of The (Fort Myers) News-Press has a new twist on Florida land deals: the use of phony deeds to sell land owned by dead people. "Forged signatures, faked ... Read more..

Unsafe bridges put public safety at risk

Thursday, 02/24/05 Posted in First Amendment & FOIA, Government (federal/state/local), Mapping

Dani Dodge of the Ventura County Star used Federal Highway Administration data to show that "twenty-eight of Ventura County's 485 bridges are considered 'structurally deficient' ... Bringing just 15 of ... Read more..

Consulting work pays big for former employees

Thursday, 02/24/05 Posted in Business, First Amendment & FOIA, Government (federal/state/local), Workplace

Brett J. Blackledge of The Birmingham News used state records to show that Alabama's Department of Human Resources has spent millions on computer consultants, including payments to former agency employees ... Read more..

Security firm tipped off prior to airport inspections

Tuesday, 02/22/05 Posted in Homeland Security

Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle used federal and court records to investigate a claim by a former employee of the firm, that the company was tipped off prior ... Read more..

Net worths rise for some legislators while in office

Tuesday, 02/22/05 Posted in Business, Government (federal/state/local), Politics

Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times reviewed the annual financial disclosure forms filed by Florida state legislators, finding that "while 22 of the 160 legislators report their legislative salary ... Read more..

Low tax penalty serves as cheap loan for some businesses

Tuesday, 02/22/05 Posted in Business, First Amendment & FOIA

Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used local records to show that "at least 443 land developers, real estate companies and construction companies owed more than a combined $5.17 ... Read more..

Rail safety in question

Tuesday, 02/22/05 Posted in Homeland Security, Mapping, Transportation

Scott Dodd, Bruce Henderson and Heather Vogell of The Charlotte Observer examine railroad safety, finding that "in the Charlotte region, nearly 800,000 people live within a mile of a major ... Read more..