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Va. assisted living troubled and worsening

David S. Fallis of The Washington Post has a four-part series on assisted living in Virginia, finding "a troubled and worsening record of care at the facilities, including avoidable injuries and death, and a system of state oversight that often failed to identify or correct problems." A second piece examined violent crimes committed by residents of assisted living facilities in Virginia. The Post used Virginia's public records law to obtain documents and more than 20 years of data from the state's Department of Social Services that had never been publicly released. A searchable database of state violations from 1998 to February 2004 is available.

Tax incentives don't stop companies from laying off workers

Arthur Kane of The Denver Post writes about a Colorado program that offers property tax breaks to attract businesses and has the state reimburse school districts for lost revenue. "A quarter of the companies that made agreements with school districts closed or laid off employees while receiving the rebate or soon after it stopped ... Nearly half of the 10 companies that received the most money have laid off employees or closed the plant." State officials defended the program, which is projected to cost about $24 million by 2007.

Wichita schools spend more on support

Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle used Census data to show that Kansas' five largest school districts spend about the same amount of money on classroom instruction as do other similarly-sized districts, but they spend more on support services. "The Wichita school district ranked 17th out of 34 — right in the middle — in per-pupil spending among comparable size districts. But Wichita ranked 29th out of the 34 in the percentage spent on instruction. It was No. 6 on the list in spending for support services."

Some elected officials don't vote regularly

Mark Greenblatt of WBBH-Fort Myers, Fla., examined the voting records of 34 local politicians, finding that a handful voted less than half the time since 1990, while just five voted in every primary and general election during that period. The chairwoman of the Lee County School Board, Jeanne Dozier, missed 9 primaries and three of five general elections. Asked why she didn't use an absentee ballot, Dozier replied: "That probably is something I should have done. Sometimes we just get so wrapped up. In fact, I'm already thinking right now I probably need to put that on a to-do list."

Racial divide in Ga. candidates

Ben Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution used state voting data and campaign Web sites to find that "African-Americans and other minorities could be a couple of elections away from becoming a majority among Democratic candidates running for the General Assembly. The Republican slate, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly white and male." Two-thirds of white men running as legislative candidates are Republicans, and the increase in white male Republicans has been the greatest among GOP hopefuls.

Staff shortages, poor training put elderly residents at risk

Kevin McCoy, Julie Appleby and Barbara Hansen of USA Today analyzed assisted living facility inspection data from seven states to find that "staff shortages and insufficient training place elderly residents at risk with inadequate care, delayed diagnosis and treatment and even death." The paper examined records from inspections of 5,305 facilities in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, New York and Texas between 2000 and 2002. "Nearly one in five facilities inspected by regulators in those states was cited for at least one staffing violation, ranging from too few employees on a work shift to lack of a certified facility manager, the investigation found. In some cases, residents were left to fend for themselves temporarily because there were no caregivers on site."

Town struggles with housing, growth issues

A three-part series in the Asbury Park Press by Jason Method and Richard Quinn found that Orthodox Jewish real estate practices in Lakewood, N.J., apparently broke fair housing laws. The series also documented how both Orthodox and Hispanic residents were cramming into dwellings that had not been inspected nor, in many cases, approved by township officials. Plus, the series showed the leniency of the zoning and planning boards in granting high-density housing. The paper examined planning and zoning records from the past five years to show that developments catering to Orthodox Jews studying at Beth Medrash Govoha rabbinical college have caused complaints from other residents that "they feel locked out of the housing market."

Workers get traffic tickets in government vehicles

Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle examined traffic citations given to government vehicles since 2002, finding "424 speeding tickets, 10 arrests for aggressive or negligent driving, at least two DUI's, 24 cases of driving without or on a revoked license, hit-and-run, no seat belts — every traffic law on the books was broken by on-the-job government workers in their government cars." King County officials launched an investigation after the station showed its fire chief drinking at a bar and then driving his county-owned truck.

Contracts contribute to teacher layoffs

James Walsh and Ron Nixon of the Star Tribune analyzed Minnesota teachers' contracts to find that the agreements, "with automatic raises based on education and experience and job security based on seniority — contribute to layoffs. Because districts have to lay off their least experienced teachers first — and those teachers cost much less — schools end up cutting even more teachers to balance their budgets." Even as statewide enrollment figures drop in recent years, school districts have been paying teachers more, and cutting budgets to pay for those raises.

Former sawmill could have lasting effects on residents

Alan Scher Zagier of the Naples Daily News spent five months tracing the effects of a former sawmill in Jerome, Fla., that was destroyed in a chemical fire in 1956. Eighteen people "who worked at the Jones mill or lived in Jerome after the 1956 fire have died from various forms of cancer or brain tumors," and "dozens more — including a 5-year-old boy — are sick with a host of maladies, from skin lesions and fertility problems to behavioral disorders." The illnesses and deaths may be related to creosote, a wood preservative made from toxic chemicals, that seeped into the groundwater beneath the town. The fire that all but closed the town burned a holding tank containing 3,000 gallons of creosote. Former residents and their descendants have sued Collier Enterprises Inc., the company of county founder Barron Collier, which sold the land to the mill owner. "Officials with the state Department of Environmental Regulation, now known as the Department of Environmental Protection, did in fact laud the Collier companies for their response to the public health hazard. Yet those same state officials relied on incomplete and outdated evidence submitted by Collier Enterprises and its consultants to guide the cleanup process — a decision that saved the company millions of dollars."

Atlanta schools need $14 million a year for computer network

Paul Donsky and Ken Foskett of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigate Atlanta schools' use of money from a national program designed to help poor children tap into the Internet, finding that "with virtually no limit on spending, Atlanta since 1998 has built one of the country's most lavish computer networks for schoolchildren. Now, Atlanta says it needs $14 million a year — three times the district's textbook budget — just to run and maintain the network. And much of the promised benefit to students has yet to materialize." The high-speed network at a single elementary school cost the district $1 million — about $2,150 per student — and uses more routing equipment for one school than New Orleans' entire school network. The program, called E-rate, has been cited previously for abuses and waste.

Police rarely disciplined in shootings

Roger Roy, Anthony Colarossi and Pedro Ruz Gutierrez of the Orlando Sentinel, in cooperation with WESH-Orlando, have a two-part series on police shootings in Central Florida. "The examination of 81 cases in which officers shot at suspects — and in which 37 suspects died — showed that throughout Central Florida, prosecutors cleared every on-duty officer who used deadly force. The examination found only four cases in which officers were disciplined by their departments for shooting at unarmed suspects." The second story focuses on the faulty nature of statistics on police shootings: "The available nationwide statistics are so inaccurate that the numbers for Central Florida police agencies from 1999 through 2002 reported only a quarter of the actual fatal shootings by police."

City employees also working for unions

Douglas Feiden of the New York Daily News used city payroll data to show that "[m]ore than 400 municipal workers have been officially 'released' by the city with pay to work for at least 60 different unions full time or part time." The practice, called union release time, enables many top union officials that work for the city to earn six-figure incomes. "Cops and firefighters, doctors and nurses, teachers and sanitation workers are among those pocketing full pay and benefits — while performing little or no city work." The paper put the bill at $23 million a year in salary and benefits.

Officials governing former industries

Anne C. Mulkern of The Denver Post reports that the Bush administration has appointed more than 100 top officials "who helped govern industries they once represented as lobbyists, lawyers or company advocates. In at least 20 cases, those former industry advocates have helped their agencies write, shape or push for policy shifts that benefit their former industries. They knew which changes to make because they had pushed for them as industry advocates." A small number of the officials have faced ethics inquiries or resigned their posts after conflict of interest accusations. The paper included thumbnail sketches of the advocates-turned-regulators.

Data shows extent, causes of animal deaths in marine parks

Sally Kestin of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel spent nine months examining the marine park industry, using federal records that the government never analyzed, to find that "more than 3,850 sea lions, seals, dolphins and whales have died under human care, many of them young. Of nearly 3,000 whose ages could be determined, a quarter died before they reached 1, half by the age of 7." Many animals die from preventable causes such as contaminated water, accidents and stress-induced ulcers. "They've eaten key chains, sunglasses and rocks. They've died while being treated for common ear and teeth infections." The paper used records from the Marine Mammal Inventory Report, which the National Marine Fisheries Service has compiled since 1972 but never before released in electronic form, citing computer difficulties. "In October, the agency allowed the newspaper's database editor, John Maines, to come to its Maryland headquarters. It took Maines only three hours to download the data onto a computer disk. His work has allowed the Fisheries Service to begin analyzing its data for the first time and to share the information with anyone interested."

Homeland Security spends $5 billion in first year

Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service analyzed federal contract data for the Department of Homeland Security, finding that the agency spent at least $5 billion during its first year of existence. " The nation's newest and third-largest federal department signed at least 18,505 contracts for an astonishing array of goods and services, ranging from almost $800 million on airport bomb-detection devices to $14.8 million on hotel rooms." The largest category of spending was at least $792 million for "chemical-detection and automated alarm systems," according to the report. Scripps Howard obtained the data through IRE and NICAR.

At least 75 Calif. teachers helped students on state tests

Erika Hayasaki of the Los Angeles Times used California's Public Records Act to obtain documents showing that "more than 200 California teachers have been investigated for allegedly helping students on state exams, and at least 75 of those cases have been proved." Most teachers received reprimands or warnings, but a handful have been fired or quit their positions.

Lawyers help fund Ohio legislator's campaign

Ted Wendling and Sandy Theis of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer report that Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder once referred to the state's trial lawyers as "jackals" but now seems more comfortable with them: the group hired Householder's former chief of staff and "some trial lawyers who had been giving a majority of their campaign donations to Democrats began shifting their money to Republicans, with Householder the principal beneficiary." An umbrella group for trial lawyers, the Alliance for Civil Justice, also donated to the speaker. "A Plain Dealer review of contributions from alliance members and their spouses last year found more than $136,000 in additional donations to Householder's campaign."

Fundraiser's property deals raise suspicions

Jennifer Dixon of the Detroit Free Press has a two-part series on suspicious real estate deals involving a firm called Donate Real Estate, which helps charities sell unwanted properties. "Records show that Donate Real Estate oversaw the sale of donated properties to insiders and close business associates who cashed in by re-selling the properties — often the same day — for more than they paid and for more than the property was worth." Habitat for Humanity, among the nonprofits that had business with Donate Real Estate, halted its involvement in the deals after the paper began asking questions.

Survey offers profile of first Mass. gay marriages

Scott S. Greenberger and Bill Dedman of The Boston Globe organized a survey of 752 same-sex couples who applied for marriage licenses on May 17, the first day they were available in Massachusetts. "Two-thirds of the gays who applied for marriage licenses yesterday were women, half of the couples had been together for at least a decade, and an enormous majority were Massachusetts residents." The paper used an Excel template to help with the data entry but in some cases had results delivered or sent via e-mail.

Records reveal votes cast by deceased

Brendan O'Shaughnessy of The Times of Northwest Indiana used state and federal records to find "thousands of registered voters who remain on the rolls despite their deaths. Cross-referencing the two computer databases revealed the names of 51 people with the same name and birth date who voted postmortem. Further examination ruled out dozens of errors but confirmed at least five dead votes, only one of which could be explained." The paper's examination covered a single county, Lake County, which has 370,000 names on its voter rolls, including 85 people born before 1900.

Outdated assessments cost towns, homeowners

Robert Gebeloff and Maura McDermott of The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger surveyed New Jersey's local property tax assessment system in 66 towns, finding that "tens of thousands of New Jersey residents are paying too much or too little in property taxes because of outdated assessments." Tax bills are most off in Essex, Middlesex and Union counties. The paper found that in Essex, half of homeowners are taxed based on 20-year-old assessments. Other counties update their assessments every year.

Seneca Nation's profits benefit few

Michael Beebe, Dan Herbeck and Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News assessed the finances of the Seneca Nation of Indians that lives in upstate New York, finding that "hundreds of millions of dollars — from cigarettes and gasoline, from the federal government, from gambling — have poured into the Seneca Nation's two main Western New York reservations in recent years. But a yearlong Buffalo News study found that little of the riches went to the average Seneca." The paper used state and federal data and made its own projections of revenues from the sale of tax-free cigarettes, and also compiled a list of properties held by tribal businessmen. One, Junior Snyder, has "a Mercedes-Benz roadster, a Dodge Viper GTS, two Corvettes, a Porsche, a Jaguar, two Lexus SUVs and a Cadillac Escalade among the 15 cars and seven pickup trucks he owns."

Law firms that donate to LA officials get city business

Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times used city billing and campaign finance data to show that Los Angeles is spending twice as much as it did five years ago on outside legal help, and that "50 of those firms and their attorneys have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of Mayor James K. Hahn and City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, who have had key roles in deciding how much legal work to farm out and who should get the business." Hahn and Delgadillo denied that any favorable treatment had taken place, even though "in many cases, the records show, contracts were approved or expanded by the city within weeks of a political fundraiser held by the benefiting law firm."

60 percent of federal workers get bonuses

Christopher Lee and Hal Straus of The Washington Post used a database of federal government personnel to analyze bonuses paid to employees, finding that "almost two-thirds of 1.6 million civilian full-time federal employees received merit bonuses or special time-off awards in fiscal 2002." The payments were as much as $25,000 and as little as less than $100, but half of those receiving bonuses got at least $811. The paper created a Federal Workers Lookup on its Web site where visitors can search for employees who received bonuses.

Complaints against police come from minority communities

Julie Wallace and David Knox of the Akron Beacon Journal mapped the locations of incidents that generated complaints against the police in 2003, finding that "neighborhoods that have the largest proportion of minority residents generated significantly more complaints than did other neighborhoods." No mostly white areas accounted for more than 6 percent of the total complaints about police stops. Police officials said that the areas with the most complaints also tended to have more crime and a greater police presence.

Jump to Division I could cost school

Jeff Kolpack of the Forum studied North Dakota State's planned jump to Division I athletics, finding that "the NDSU sports budget for next year could hit $7.7 million — or nearly the outer limits of what a consulting group said the university can afford. That's $1.7 million more than NDSU will spend on sports this academic year." The paper used school records to compare its budget to those of other colleges heading to D-I, including South Dakota State and Northern Colorado. "Compared with the eight established schools in the Big Sky Conference, NDSU's budget would rank third highest behind the University of Montana, at $9 million, and Montana State, at $ 8 million — both of which struggle with financial problems."

Welfare reforms not saving money

Peter Smolowitz of The Charlotte Observer analyzed data on welfare cases in nine counties surrounding Charlotte to find that while caseloads have been cut in half during the past 10 years, "trimming the rolls hasn't saved money. Monthly checks are redirected into child-care subsidies and other programs that help former recipients. And after leaving welfare, many have seen little improvement in their lives." Long-term unemployment and training requirements are two factors at work. "Former welfare recipients are increasingly relying on social service agencies that already face record demand. For example, one year after leaving welfare, the number of people in the six N.C. counties still using food stamps grew from 38 percent in late 1999 to 49 percent earlier this year."

Bush fundraisers get jobs in administration

Thomas B. Edsall, Sarah Cohen and James V. Grimaldi of The Washington Post have a two-part series on the top fundraisers for President Bush's campaign, known as Pioneers and Rangers. "Of the 246 fundraisers identified by The Post as Pioneers in the 2000 campaign, 104 — or slightly more than 40 percent — ended up in a job or an appointment. A study by The Washington Post, partly using information compiled by Texans for Public Justice, which is planning to release a separate study of the Pioneers this week, found that 23 Pioneers were named as ambassadors and three were named to the Cabinet: Donald L. Evans at the Commerce Department, Elaine L. Chao at Labor and Tom Ridge at Homeland Security. At least 37 Pioneers were named to postelection transition teams, which helped place political appointees into key regulatory positions affecting industry." About a fifth of the 2000 Pioneers work as lobbyists, and about half are top corporate executives. The paper posted a graphic depicting the "spheres of influence" around Bush's candidacy. The second story examines Richard T. Farmer, CEO of Cintas and a top giver to GOP candidates and committees, and the laundry industry's role in a regulatory action that saved it millions.

10-year anti-crime effort not paying off

Janet Roberts, Charles Laszewski and Lisa Donovan of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tracked the efforts of police to curb crime in the city's Frogtown district, mapping street crimes and compiling a database of court outcomes as cops embarked on an ambitious anti-crime program. "In the five years before Operation Sunrise, Frogtown had more police calls about drug-related street crimes than any other St. Paul neighborhood, a Pioneer Press computer analysis of police records shows. Despite continued police attention over the last 10 years and investment of more than $40 million in public money, nearly all of it in housing, the neighborhood still has one of the densest clusters of drug-related crime in all of St. Paul." The paper generated interactive maps of crime hotspots and other graphics. (Free registration required.)

Company remakes itself after losing contract

Lisa Chedekel and Jack Dolan of The Hartford Courant obtained state records showing that a company that lost its state contract for emissions testing has essentially reconstituted itself to perform the same work. "Agbar Technologies, the company that won the right to succeed Envirotest, was founded by former Envirotest managers who had roles in overseeing Connecticut's troubled old system, and who have tapped a number of other Envirotest employees to run the new program in Connecticut." State officials halted the testing program last month after concerns were raised about Agbar.

Ex-officials lobby for aid to oil-rich nations with poor human rights records

Ken Silverstein of the Los Angeles Times has a series on oil companies' efforts in Kazakhstan and Angola, based on internal company documents and other records. In the first piece, Silverstein writes that a group of influential Americans, including a former Secretary of State and the former executive director of the Democratic National Committee, pressed for U.S. support of the authoritarian Kazakh government. "The campaign got results: It rallied supporters in Congress and helped win key concessions from the current Bush administration that allowed the release of U.S. aid despite continuing corruption and human rights problems." The paper found dozens of former government officials "who have worked for the oil industry or for foreign governments with extensive energy reserves — and, almost invariably, poor human rights records." The second story, on Angola, details how oil firms "have won favor with the Dos Santos regime by steering contracts to Angolan insiders and by giving millions of dollars to foundations controlled by the ruling family." Other stories are forthcoming.

Microsoft, others pay for Wis. legislators' trips

Katherine M. Skiba and Jeff Nelson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed congressional travel records to find that Microsoft and affiliated firms "have lavished $180,429 on members of Congress, their spouses and aides in the 16 months ending in April, the records show. Most trips were to Microsoft headquarters, records show." Some trips involved Microsoft product launches, while seven spouses accompanied legislators on trips since January 2003. Rep. H. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, along with his wife and staff, accepted trips worth $72,405.

More states up for grab in presidential election

Adam Nagourney and Matthew Ericson of The New York Times used Federal Election Commission data to identify where President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are spending the most money. The story shows that more states than usual are in play in this presidential campaign. "In addition to the 16 most competitive states, those won by less than six percentage points in the last election, the parties are focusing on a number of other states that they think may also be up for grabs." Graphics for the story include maps of the country identifying the significance of each state based on electoral votes and what states are up for grabs.

13 percent of papers meet ASNE goal

Bill Dedman and Stephen K. Doig analyzed the results of the annual survey of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, finding that "this year only 13 percent of newspapers responding to the survey have reached ASNE's goal of parity between newsroom and community nonwhite percentages. That's up slightly from last year's 11 percent." Nearly 400 of the newspapers that responded to the survey have all-white staffs; their combined circulation was 3.8 million. Included in the report are charts and Excel files of the study's rankings. The Knight Foundation sponsored the analysis.

Illinois' black children still at disadvantage in schools

Diane Rado, Darnell Little and Grace Aduroja of the Chicago Tribune studied the impact of school integration on Illinois children, finding that 50 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, many black students remain in an inferior education system. "A black child is about 40 times more likely than a white child to attend one of Illinois' worst-of-the-worst 'academic watch' schools. A child at a majority black school is about six times more likely to be taught by teachers without full certification than at a white school." The paper used test scores, school spending and other indicators for its analysis. "Complicating matters in Illinois is a school finance system that creates stunning inequities between affluent areas that can afford to pour money into local schools and impoverished districts that can't. The state relies on local communities to pump up school spending because only a limited share of state funds is devoted to public education."

Ariz. gas pumps fail inspections

Enric Volante of the Arizona Daily Star analyzed state gas station inspection records since 1998 to find that "regulators shut down about one in 10 pumps for dispensing too little fuel or for other problems." The state issued a record number of fines in 2003 but also found 254 pumps "where one or more meters gave motorists more fuel than they paid for." The paper put a database of the inspections on its site, searchable by zip code.

Perks inflate official's actual earnings

Bob Wheaton and Matt Bach of tThe Flint (Mich.) Journal examined compensation records for more than 450 local public officials, finding that "actual income for many public officials far exceeds their base salaries — the figures most often made public to taxpayers." Perks like allowances and reimbursements pushed Grand Blanc School Superintendent Gary Lipe's total pay last year to $218,147, nearly $60,000 more than his base salary. The paper found that school officials typically earned more than their counterparts in city government. Some public charter schools initially resisted FOIA requests by the paper; all but one eventually provided the information.

Conditions at Gitmo detailed; prisoners identified

Scott Higham, Joe Stephens and Margot Williams of The Washington Post tracked the development of the prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base and its detainees, compiling "the largest public list of detainee names, encompassing 370 out of the 745 or so men detained at the camp since January 2002." Saudi Arabian nationals make up the largest contingent among identified prisoners held at Gitmo. The report describes some of the interrogation techniques used at the base, which had shrunk in size before the 2001 terrorist attacks but now costs about $118 million a year to run. The full list of names compiled by Williams, the Post's research editor, includes an explanation of how it was compiled.

Emergency response time in Tampa lags

WFTS-Tampa studied more than 110,000 emergency response calls in Hillsborough County during 2003, finding that "the average response time is almost 9 minutes in Hillsborough County, four minutes longer than experts would like." The station mapped out areas within the county, showing that Riverview has among the longest waits for emergency vehicles, between 8 and 14 minutes. "One of the most troubling problems this system has is that when there is an emergency, they don't always send the closest emergency vehicle." Maps showing response times by neighborhood are also available.

One in three collect "enhanced" pensions in Calif.

John Hill and Dorothy Korber of The Sacramento Bee have a two-day series on California's enhanced retirement system, which is used by nearly one in three state employees that works in a "public safety" area. "In the 1960s, only about one in 20 state workers received enhanced retirements for their role in keeping the peace. Today, it's close to one in three. The state paid out $587 million for the public safety categories in 2001-02, the most recent year statistics are available. That's nearly as much as it paid that year for the 230,000 workers not involved in public safety." A second story looks at disability pension for public-safety workers: "Two out of three retirees in the California Highway Patrol are on these medical pensions. Among local police and fire retirees in the state pension system, it's nearly one out of two."

Officials get preservation money for personal property

Kirk Mitchell of The Denver Post reviewed records of elected officials in Black Hawk, Colo., finding that "preserving the past in Black Hawk often means government business intertwines with the private interests of elected officials." Since 1993, "aldermen and local historic commission members were granted $2.5 million in state preservation funds for home improvements and the sale of their personal property" and once billed the city for nearly $300,000 of personal income taxes because grant money is considered income. A town official says that with just 65 homes, some elected officials are bound to qualify for historic preservation money.

Blacks hold disproportionate number of low-paying jobs

Tanya Fogg Young of The (Columbia, S.C.) State used Census data to show that while African-Americans make up a third of South Carolina's population, "they hold more than 40 percent of low-paying food preparation and housekeeping jobs, and they account for 7 percent of S.C. lawyers and 4 percent of real estate brokers, two higher-paying professions." Some professions saw large increases in black representation during the 1990s, but the wage gap between blacks and whites remained wide. "The per-capita income of blacks — at $11,776 — is 53 percent of the $22,095 income of whites, according to Census 2000. In 1990, black per-capita income was 48 percent of S.C. whites' income."

For-profit telemarketers get bulk of donations

Michael Baker of The Oklahoman reviewed state records to find that "on average, telemarketers pocket nearly 80 cents of every donated dollar they collect for Oklahoma charities." The charities defend the practice, saying that the telemarketing firms do not charge for their employees and facilities. One official called it a "necessary evil" of fundraising. The paper also detailed some unusual findings in the paperwork, which is rarely scrutinized.

City's use of interest eats into infrastructure

Dean Paton of The Pinnacle News in Hollister, Calif., analyzed the city's cash flow and found it uses 93 percent of the interest earned on infrastructure accounts to pay for day-to-day expenses. "The practice is taking money away from accounts set up to build roads, parks and even a new sewage system and using it instead to fund other city operations, a practice critics say has contributed to Hollister's inability to fix its ongoing and crippling infrastructure problems."

Ore. retirees pensions similar to salaries

Dave Hogan of The Oregonian used state pension data to show that a record wave of state government retirees in 2003 mostly got pensions close to their full salaries. "On average, employees with 30 or more years on the job retired at age 56 with 87 percent of their pay," a level the paper said was "well more than typical pensions." The state legislature made sweeping changes to retirement rules last year that take effect July 1, baring a court challenge. The paper analyzed records from 12,000 retirements last year.

Lifesaving incidents represent sliver of Taser uses

David Migoya of The Denver Post used police and court records to find that Denver police don't often use their Taser stun guns in life-threatening situations. "More often, Denver police have used Tasers to force people to obey their orders, to shortcut physical confrontations and, in several cases, to avoid having to run after a suspect." Most people charged with crimes after being tased faced misdemea nor charges or a ticket, and at least 16 people where tased while already wearing handcuffs. Included is an interactive map of Taser incidents.

Average of 33% of Mich. State grades is at least 3.5

Eric Morath of The State News, the campus newspaper at Michigan State University, analyzed grade data from the fall 2003 semester to show that "in 33 percent of courses, the average grade was a 3.5 or higher. In fact, in 31 classes, every grade was a 4.0." The paper only used classes that had at least 20 students enrolled for its story, which was accompanied by lists of the 200 highest class GPAs and the 200 lowest.

Australian officials use taxpayer money to customize cars

Kelvin Bissett of The Daily Telegraph in Australia used documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to show that "top State MPs have spent more than $100,000 of taxpayers' money souping up their official limousines with sports suspension, sunroofs, spoilers, mag wheels and even satellite navigation systems." The Holden Caprice vehicles have leather seats, ABS brakes, cruise control and alloy wheels standard, but some MPs added items such as mag wheels and Pirelli tires. "Even the usually frugal Treasurer Michael Egan, who often drives his white Caprice himself, added a $2000 sunroof, as well as cigarette lighter and ashtray. The extras total $2451."

67 percent of Red Cross money went to victims

Jennifer Vigil of The San Diego Union-Tribune analyzed records from the local Red Cross chapter to find that its response to victims of wildfires in October 2003 was much stronger than it had been three years ago. "At least 67 percent of funds spent by the local chapter of the American Red Cross during October's wildfires went to fire victims," compared to an audit of the 2001 spending which showed that 10 percent went to victims. Nearly $4 million of the $5.8 million spent was in the form of direct cash assistance or temporary housing. "Development director Bob Morris said the percentage of aid reaching local victims is 85 percent if more than $2 million in noncash donations — such as clothing, food and toiletries — are factored in."

Ind. jails drain health care budgets

Sara Eaton and Amanda Iacone of The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette found that "with few exceptions, all northeast Indiana counties have gone over their original jail medical expense budgets annually since 1999 by thousands of dollars." The unpredictability of inmates' health means that even one or two cases can end up draining county budgets. Some smaller counties do not have their own jail medical staff but rely on emergency rooms and specialists to provide care.