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Courtroom security lax for employees, officers

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, get in just by flashing their identification to the deputy on duty. The station estimated up to 10,000 people can bypass the metal detector. In addition, one elevator that was supposed to stop on the first floor so occupants could go through a metal detector did not stop, allowing the elevator's users to go directly into a courtroom without passing through security.

Teacher pay rising faster than inflation

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 kept pace with inflation." One researcher says the numbers show pay has gone up quite a bit, though the averages say it hasn't. "A Gazette analysis shows that though average teacher pay rose 16 percent between 1996-97 and this school year in the two Technology Corridor counties, base salaries for beginning teachers rose an average of 26 percent." Inflation over the same period was 21 percent. Rogahn points out that most news stories focus on average pay, a measure that can be misleading. (Extra! Extra! readers get special access to the story for one month by entering username "ire" and password "sherlock8" — both without the quotes.)

Administrative spending grows while student spending dwindles

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 as much as 50 percent less per student on instruction last year but about two to six times more on administration than other public schools in Osceola and Lake counties, where most of the students who attend area charters live."

Scam stole land from the dead

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 notarizations, phony witnesses and easy access to land records via the Internet are robbing the dead and their relatives of land as property values in Lee County skyrocket. And the fraud could cause big problems for the people who are buying the properties." The paper posted copies of fake deeds on its site, and state and federal authorities are investigating the scam.

Unsafe bridges put public safety at risk

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 those bridges up to standard would cost $50 million." A map shows the location of the troubled spans, and a sidebar describes the condition of bridges nationwide.

Consulting work pays big for former employees

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 who left DHR only to return for consulting work. "The agency responsible for helping needy children and families now is facing questions from federal officials about how much money it has spent on consultants and how some of those consultants are related to agency officials. DHR has spent more than $20 million since 2003 on computer consultants, with dozens receiving between $50 and $85 an hour. Not all the jobs are highly technical computer positions. Some of the former state workers are paid from the computer contracts to handle financial and administrative jobs in the agency, records show."

Security firm tipped off prior to airport inspections

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 to security decoy tests. The tips allegedly helped the firm secure a 90 percent success rate with the tests. "That success rate helped the Chicago firm keep a federal contract that paid out $72 million last year under terms of an experimental airport security program enacted by Congress after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, federal records show."

Net worths rise for some legislators while in office

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 as their principal income, a review of annual financial disclosure forms shows that 37 House members and 16 senators reported net worths of more than $1-million in 2004. Thirty-one of them have become millionaires while in office." And while most lawmakers and Cabinet officers have increased their net worths, Gov. Jeb Bush has seen his decline since 1998, when he first won election. The paper also found that some 40 state legislators file their financial disclosures incorrectly.

Low tax penalty serves as cheap loan for some businesses

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 million in back property taxes and penalties" as of January 2005. Ski resorts, an airline and telecommunications firm MCI are among the other tax delinquents in Salt Lake County, where some businesses elect not to pay taxes because the penalties and interest are low enough that "many businesses view it as a way to obtain relatively cheap and easy loans." State law assesses a 2 percent penalty on late taxes and interest around 8.25 percent last year.

Rail safety in question

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 rail line," an increase of 90,000 in the past 10 years. "Yet emergency planners don't know how much hazardous material passes daily through uptown Charlotte and the region's small towns. Federal, state and local agencies told the Observer they don't keep track, and the railroads won't provide that information for security reasons." Nearly 400 schools are located within a mile of train routes, and thus within the evacuation zone for accidents involving chemical materials.

Coaches' contracts with Nike raise ethical questions

Hartford Courant reporters Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman won a month-long legal battle for release of the contracts between University of Connecticut mens' and womens' basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma and Nike Inc. Over strenuous objections by the coaches' lawyers, the state Ethics Commission decided that the contracts were public documents. A Courant review of the contracts raised questions about whether the contracts violate state ethics laws by linking Calhoun and Auriemma's endorsement deal to a requirement that the teams where Nike sneakers and uniforms.

High donations pour in through campaign finance loophole

Michael Cooper of The New York Times found gaps in New York's campaign finance laws. "Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money." The Times uncovered a growing number of corporate donors topping the $100,000 mark, well above the $5,000 corporate limit for state campaigns. "Several election lawyers said that sending money directly from housekeeping accounts to individual campaigns appeared to be illegal. But Lee K. Daghlian, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said the law does not specifically prohibit such transfers, so they are permissible in some cases, as long as they do not violate contribution limits."

Teenage driving accident rate drops

Leon Fooksman, John Maines and Chris Kahn of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel used state and federal data to show that "in Florida, the rate of car crashes for drivers between ages 15 and 19 dropped 23 percent from 1996 to 2003, the last year of available statistics. The crash rate has declined for everyone, but it's down twice as much for teens as any other age group." While fatal accidents involving teenage drivers grab headlines, young drivers in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties all had fewer accidents during the seven years studied.

Local government pays big for unsuccessful game

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "more than $1.5 million of taxpayers' money has been spent subsidizing a lightly attended college football game played annually at Qualcomm Stadium since 1999." The Gold Coast Classic continues to receive government support despite a series of unpaid bills during the past several years. "The city apparently didn't know there were that many claims and judgments against the Gold Coast game."

Charity linked to evangelical sex cult

Don Lattin of the San Francisco Chronicle used tax and property records to show that a Southern California charity called the Family Care Foundation has "deep, ongoing ties between the organization and the Family, the evangelical sex cult rocked by a recent murder-suicide." Officers of the foundation are linked to the Family via property records, Internet domains and other ties. "Former members say the vast majority of projects funded by the foundation are run by the Family. Two children's programs, including one which was based in San Francisco, were run by one-time cult members who had faced separate allegations of child sexual abuse." The foundation denies any link to the Family.

Former gov. remains on state payroll

Patricia Alex of The (Bergen County) Record reports that former New Jersey governor Jim Florio "has stayed on the state payroll, and in the state pension system, thanks to a $90,947 side job at Rutgers University." Florio, voted out of office in 1993, teaches one class a semester and sits on two advisory boards. Two Florio cabinet members also are Rutgers faculty members, each earning more than $100,000 a year. The paper obtained salary information through the state’' Freedom of Information Act.

Cost overruns deplete constuction funds

Dunstan McNichol of The (Newark) Star-Ledger analyzed data from New Jersey's School Construction Corporation since 2002, finding that "the six urban projects under the SCC have cost, on average, 45 percent more than 19 schools built without the agency's oversight during the same period." One-fifth of the spending is due to massive cost overruns and change orders on repairs. The SCC's chief, Jack Spencer, said urban schools cost more to build and that "numbers are like little children; you can make them say anything you want them to say."

Google staff contributions favor Democrats

Jim Hopkins from USA Today looked into campaign contributions by employees for Google Inc. and found that most of the money donated by employees is going to the Democrats. "Google employees gave $207,650 to federal candidates for last year's elections, up from just $250 in 2000 when it was still a start-up." Neither party has been able to woo over Google, Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. "Their company shares are worth $7.2 billion each. Yet federal campaign finance data do not show a single contribution from either one last year."

Sex offenders living in nursing homes

An investigation by KCRA-Sacramento "found that there are currently 52 registered sex offenders living in California nursing homes and not all are elderly men confined to their bed. Fifty-six percent are under 70." An alarming number after reviewing a Nevada case in which a 86-year-old man was convicted of sexual assault against a 78-year-old women with Alzheimer's and dementia. Current law does not require the homes to perform background check on residents.

Charity money goes to fund-raiser

Bill Smith of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch used tax records to show that "a foundation run by some of Missouri's top police officials has raised millions of dollars on behalf of charity, but more than 80 percent of those contributions have gone to the foundation's Texas-based fund-raiser." The group raised about $3.1 million between 2000 and 2004, but just 17 cents of each dollar went to the Missouri Police Chiefs Charitable Foundation. Less than one percent of that amount was used for the charity's stated purpose of helping children.

High pay for civilian contractors

Kevin Begos and Phoebe Zerwick of the Winston-Salem Journal used details from federal contracts to contractors in Iraq to calculate a basic labor rate of $350,000 a year for a "liaison officer under the contract that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Charlotte's Zapata Engineering to help dispose of captured munitions. It's 10 times what the average soldier or member of the National Guard earns, even for full combat duty."

War fatalities hit hardest in Vermont

Jody Tillman of the Valley News used state-by-state analysis to compare Vermont's fatality numbers compared to other states. The Valley News found that Vermont had the "highest death rate of any state among soldiers and Marines deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan between March 1, 2003, and October 31, 2004: 5.6 per 1,000 troops." They also found that "Vermont had the highest number of deaths when measured against state population. As of Jan. 8, Vermont had 1.64 military deaths per 100,000 residents, more than three times the national average." Also included is a state-by-state comparison of per capita deaths among soldiers and marines, as well as a deaths per 1,000 deployed and National Guard participation.

Racist covenants still exist

Judy L. Thomas and Gregory S. Reeves of The Kansas City Star studied homeowner association rules in the Kansas City area, finding that "more than 1,200 documents involving thousands of homes still contain racist language banning blacks, Jews and other ethnic groups. For the first half of the 20th century, racially restrictive covenants were routinely recorded in plats and deeds and placed in many homeowner's association documents not only here, but nationwide. Yet many of the covenants never were removed, even after being ruled unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court as long ago as 1948 and banned by the Fair Housing Act of 1968. And their vestiges of discrimination - a kind of 'curse of the covenant' - still linger locally."

Legislator used state funds for own benefit

Kim Chandler of The Birmingham News used state and local records to show that "an east Alabama lawmaker steered state money to pave the dirt road that led to a subdivision he and his wife were developing." A $50,000 state grant in 2002 went to the paving project, but was also intended to be used to pave other roads. Property records show that the lawmaker and his wife bought 15 acres and divided the land into lots before the state money arrived.

N. Texas high school athletes using steriods

Gregg Jones and Gary Jacobson of The Dallas Morning News found that steroids in north Texas high schools are "readily available and commonly used." In a four-month investigation, "The News interviewed more than 100 current and former high school students, coaches and parents about steroids in high schools." They found students buy the drugs from "friends, classmates and sometimes varsity athletes" and coaches rarely confront players or parents when they suspect steroid use.

Election records found fallible

Greg Borowski and Stacy Forester from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal investigated voter logbooks and found discrepancies between votes cast and number of people who voted. "The newspaper's review found 24 cases where there is a discrepancy of at least 5%, with more ballots than voters listed in a ward. Logbooks for another 20 wards showed no entry for the last voter counted." In most wards the difference was small, but in a few there was a significant difference. "In the case of Ward 297, the logbook showed 590 more voters than votes, and in Ward 314, the books showed a difference of 507 votes."

Working poor face tough challenges

Heath Foster, Paul Nyhan and Phoung Cat Le of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have a series on the working poor in King and Snohomish counties, concluding that "nearly half a million people in King and Snohomish counties, about a quarter of them children, are surviving at no more than twice the federal poverty level – less than $38,000 a year for a family of four. They account for a fifth of our region's population. And for the most part, they are not poor because they are unemployed. About 61 percent of them – or nearly 300,000 people – live in families where at least one adult is working full time." One sidebar lists the resources the P-I used to report the project.The series, which includes extensive graphics, made use of 14 years' worth of Census PUMS data.

Legislators wine and dine at wholesalers' expense

An investigation by the Detroit Free Press has found that beer and wine distributers are taking Michigan lawmakers with them every winter to a convention on a luxury resort. "The legislators fly for free to beachfront retreats like the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and the Hyatt Regency on Grand Cayman Island. They pay nothing for their rooms and can bring spouses, too. The beer and wine wholesalers' political action committee has donated more than $2 million to state politicians since 1997."

Campaign contributions still high despite law

David S. Bernstein of The Boston Phoenix analyzed campaign contributions to Massachusetts state legislative candidates, finding that "of the 650 registered lobbyists and 167 active PACs in the state, just 20 prominent lobbying firms and 10 large PACs collectively pumped more than $1 million into legislative candidates' war chests in the past two years. And of the 1000 lobbying interests on Beacon Hill, a mere two dozen of them are responsible for about $20 million, or a fifth, of total lobbying expenditures."

FOI investigation finds most comply, but not entirely

Mark Chellgren of the Associated Press reported on an investigation led by the Kentucky Press Association and the Associated Press into "whether public offices are allowing citizens to view government documents. The investigation "showed most are obeying the state's Open Records Act, but compliance is not uniform." The results were mixed, varying from a smile for a city budget request to intimidation when requesting a list of current inmates at the Motgomery County Jail. Also included is a list of participants in the investigation, as well as a section on how the investigation was done. Jim Hannah of The Kentucky Enquirer, Gregory A. Hall of The Courier-Journal, Herb Brock of The Advocate-Messenger and Bill Estep and Lee Mueller, both of the Lexington Herald-Leader, followed up the AP story with their conclusions to the investigation. They found that cities responded the best to public record requests, while jailers were the worst. "Kentucky turned down requests to see a list of inmates seven out of 10 times, the Oct. 21 audit showed."

Missing Indian campaign contributions leads to lobbyist investigation

Jon Kamman of The Arizona Republic compared tribal records with federal campaign contributions to find that "about $70,000 in political contributions are unaccounted for after a Texas Indian tribe sent them to a since-disgraced lobbyist to distribute." The missing checks, which have been cashed, were meant for the campaign committees or leadership PACs of more than two dozen members of Congress. The former lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, is under federal investigation.

Large donations influence political career

Joe Donohue and Deborah Howlett of The (Newark) Star-Ledger compiled state and federal campaign finance records to show the influence of donations by Sen. Jon Corzine, a candidate for governor. "All told, Corzine and his family have given $9 million to Democratic causes and candidates - $8 million of it since he left investment banking in 1999 for politics." Corzine has given money to party committees in each of New Jersey's 21 counties since he ran for office.

Superintendents pay outpaces teachers pay

Reid R. Frazier of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review analyzed salary data from six Western Pennsylvania counties to find that "school superintendents' salaries have increased at twice the pace of classroom teachers' salaries over the past five years." School district officials said that finding top candidates for the superintendent jobs was increasingly difficult. "The average teacher salary rose from $48,357 in 1999-2000 to $51,804 in 2003-04. For superintendents, average pay climbed from $96,409 to $109,938 in the same period."

King Center deteriorating, faces financial crisis

Ernie Suggs and Mae Gentry of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution dug into the finances of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which said it could not afford many millions of dollars for necessary repairs, to show how it had gotten into such a financial hole. They found that "Martin Luther King III, who took over as the center's CEO in January 2004, was paid a salary of $150,000 last year," while his younger brother "Dexter King, the center's chief operating officer and chairman of the board, is paid the same salary he was paid previously when he was CEO. Tax records show the center paid Dexter King $179,933 when he was CEO in 2003, plus $8,708 in benefits and deferred compensation."

Roadblocks in fight against domestic violence

In a four-part series, Sarah Huntley of the Rocky Mountain News examines the tactics used to end domestic violence. Among the findings: mandatory-arrest laws put more women in jail and raise concerns that victims won't call police; aggressive prosecution and ''fast-track'' courts may be snagging the wrong people; court-ordered treatment for batterers has not proved effective in studies, but critics say Colorado won't consider changing its approach.

Food bank honor system attracts questionable charities

Jeff McDonald of The San Diego Union-Tribune spent three months investigating the San Diego Food Bank, finding that "the food bank has no way of making sure all the charitable food program's donations get to the tables and cupboards of hungry families. Instead, the program operates on what amounts to an honor system." Five little-known charities are the largest participants in the program, but they are "run by people whose backgrounds include a felony conviction, bankruptcy, court orders for child support and multiple lawsuits. At least two have operated businesses that sell groceries. Most gave the food bank cell phone numbers as their only means of contact."

Documents reveal baseball's cost to taxpayers

Mark Segraves of WTOP-Radio in Washington, D.C., used documents obtained through the FOIA to determine the District of Columbia "has paid $465,000 to consultants linked to baseball" despite the city's insistence that bringing baseball wouldn't cost the taxpayers. One of the consultants is from Oakland, Calif., so D.C. must foot the bill for her travel and related expenses. Money for the consultants came from a newly created city agency, the Center for Innovation and Reform, that D.C. Council members haven't even heard of.

Executive pay soars at Indianapolis hospitals

Jeff Swiatek of The Indianapolis Star used data from federal filings to show that "high-level officials at Indianapolis' four urban-based hospital systems pulled down average annual raises of more than 20 percent in their most recent reporting period, despite slim earnings margins and growing scrutiny of hospital salaries by federal tax authorities." Most of the top-paid executives worked for Clarian Health Partners, a company that runs four area hospitals. Community Health Network's William Corley topped the list with $777,140 in total compensation.

Home-health care problems put patients at risk

Paul Garber and Danielle Deaver of the Winston-Salem Journal investigated home-health care in North Carolina, finding that "fewer than 200 of the 1,200 agencies licensed to provide home-health care in North Carolina are inspected on a regular basis," and there were more than 400 reported cases of abuse, neglect or theft by employees since 2000. In addition, "home-health agencies - unlike nursing homes, adult-care homes and mental-health group homes - are free to hire people listed on a state registry of workers who have committed such offenses against patients." The paper built a database of state inspections and criminal claims that can be browsed.

Aircraft owners use loophole to avoid taxes

Michael Mansur of The Kansas City Star used local government records to show that "hundreds of aircraft owners in Jackson and Johnson counties escape paying personal property taxes, costing cash-strapped schools and local governments millions of dollars in recent decades." The practice occurred in both Kansas and Missouri, where officials either did not enforce the law or permitted the use of a loophole that enabled airplane owners to avoid paying taxes on their property. "Randy Turley, chief counsel for the State Tax Commission, confirmed Jackson County was not following state law that requires individuals to be taxed where the property owner lives, not where the plane is stored. Turley was unaware of other counties misinterpreting the law. And he did not know about Jackson County until alerted by the newspaper."

State senator caught in conflict-of-interest dealings

Marc Perrusquia of The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal used documents filed in a court case to report that "State Sen. John Ford received $237,000 over two years from a business partnership yet didn't disclose the venture on annual legislative conflict-of-interest statements required by state law." The payments came from Managed Care Services Group 1, which appears to be linked to a former executive of TennCare, Tennessee's health insurance program. "As a ranking member of the Senate, Ford, a Memphis Democrat, serves on the TennCare Oversight Committee that guides policy for Tennessee's publicly funded health insurance program."

Questionable accounting caused by high work demand

Mike Hudson and E. Scott Reckard, writing in the Los Angeles Times, found that the public profile of mortgage lender Ameriquest differs vastly from accounts detailed by former employees and in various public records. "Ameriquest customers filed more complaints with the Federal Trade Commission from 2000 through 2004 than did those of two of its biggest competitors combined," and more then two dozen former workers said Ameriquest engaged in improper business tactics, including forging documents and qualifying borrowers for loans they could not afford. "Nearly one in nine mortgages made by Ameriquest last year was a refinance of an existing company loan less than 24 months old." The company denies any wrongdoing.

School aid declining in Ohio

Doug Oplinger and Dennis J. Willard of the Akron Beacon Journal used state data to show that spending in some Ohio school districts has declined in the past two years after five years of increases. "Data obtained from the Ohio Department of Education show that in the 2003-04 school year, one in three districts had fewer inflation-adjusted dollars to spend per pupil than in 2001-02. That counts state and local money plus the small share that comes from the federal government." Smaller revenues combined with increasing enrollment is raising the prospect of higher local taxes to pay for schools.

Fire response times on the rise

Bill Dedman investigated nationwide fire department response times, staffing, and civilian and firefighter fatalities for The Boston Globe and found that while firefighters are being laid off and fire stations are closing, firefighters are taking longer to respond to fire alarms. Among the resources Dedman used was a database called the National Fire Incident Reporting System, maintained by the U.S. Fire Administration. The online presentation includes a ranking of fire departments, supporting documents and spreadsheets.

Post September 11 illegal immigration data costs almost $400,000 after FOI request

Dan Christensen of the Daily Business Review in South Florida writes about an interest group's FOIA request for documents from the Justice Department relating to legal proceedings involving immigrant detainees since Sept. 11: compiling the records, the agency said, would cost "approximately $372,799. Please note that this does not include the search times estimated from 5 districts. At least one of those districts (Southern Florida) informed us that their search would require hundreds of hours. Therefore, this is an estimate." People for the American Way asked for documents relating to "any request by the government to seal the proceedings of a case in any federal court arising from or relating to the detention of a post 9/11 immigrant detainee."

Faulty overtime rules lead to unusually high pay for firefighters

Timothy McNulty of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found that 42 of the top 50 highest paid city employees in Pittsburgh were firefighters. McNulty used city payroll information and found problems with the city's overtime rules. "Under the union contract, there are minimum requirements for staffing firefighter shifts and the city's 35 fire stations. When shifts are short of workers, others are called back to fill in, which results in the overtime payments." The top-six employees were paid over $120,000 with the highest paid official, fire Battalion Chief Michael J. Mullen, making $135,893 last year

Wichita pays high price to attract retailer

Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle, along with KWCH-Wichita, found that while Wichita paid $7 million to lure outdoors retailer Gander Mountain to a downtown development project, "the vast majority of cities and counties that have a Gander Mountain store didn't pay any public money to get one. The investigation found four other local governments that paid subsidies to get Gander Mountain. In three of those communities, the estimated value of the incentives was $500,000 or less."

Sex offenders living near schools

Robin Erb of The (Toledo) Blade used Ohio's sexual offender registry to show that "one in four of Lucas County's more than 600 registered sex offenders live within 1,000 feet of a school," a violation of state law. The paper used mapping software to plot the residences of sex offenders and their distance from schools in the Toledo area. "The problem is this: While laying out the new rule, lawmakers never gave sheriff's deputies the power to enforce it. It only allows neighbors or school boards to go to court and ask a judge to order an offender living within that proximity to move."

College aspirations rise, dropout rate steady for low-income families

Greg Toppo and Anthony DeBarros of USA Today analyzed data from two surveys by the Department of Education, finding that messages urging teenagers to go to college have had an impact: "In 1990, 59% of 10th-graders with educational aspirations expected to get a four-year college degree or higher; by 2002, nearly 80% said the same." That expectation didn't always turn into reality, however. "The number of bachelor's degrees earned annually rose by 18% from 1990 to 2002. But while graduation rates rose at elite colleges, they dropped - sometimes sharply - at many others, especially public colleges."

Taxpayer money used to repay loan on senator's land

Chris Casteel and Tony Thornton of The Oklahoman used federal campaign finance data and local property records to show that "Oklahoma taxpayer money was used in 2002 to buy property in McAlester from then-state Sen. Gene Stipe, a transaction that allowed him to repay a $50,000 loan that had been illegally funneled into the 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts." The price was more than double the property's assessed value at the time. "Taxpayer money was directed to the project from the city of McAlester and from the state, when Stipe was still a powerful senator."

'Free rides' come at high cost, despite regulations

Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution used public record requests to investigate the recruiting expenditures on top high school football prospects by Georgia and Georgia Tech. The restrictions on lavish expenditures have not effected the food and hospitality, the results are still impressive. "Tech budgeted $556,703 for 2004-05 football recruiting, which works out to more than $25,000 for each of the 18-20 players expected to sign with the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday. But that per-player figure is misleading: In recruiting, like in fishing, you spend much of your effort on the ones that got away." The story details expenses ranging from filet mignon dinners to rental cars with GPS navigation systems so that coaches don't get lost visiting recruits' homes.

Recruiting expenditures high at Ind. universities

Mark Alesia of The Indianapolis Star used public records requests to track what Indiana colleges spend to recruit top high school football players. A single weekend at Indiana University in December 2003 cost nearly $50,000 for 22 recruits and eight parents. "In all, IU spent $314,120 on football recruiting in the 2003-04 fiscal year. Purdue University spent $299,943." The paper tracked dinners, travel and even security by off-duty police officers.