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Police failing to notify schools about sex offenders

Ofelia Casillas of the Chicago Tribune investigated juvenile sex offenders in schools, specifically looking into school knowledge of the sex offender(s) in their school. They found that "some principals were not told that young sex offenders had enrolled in their schools, because the state system designed to notify them is mired in confusion." They found more disturbing data when looking into what types of crimes the juvenile sex offenders had committed. "Of the juveniles registered, 41 percent were found guilty of aggravated or criminal sexual assault, and 33 percent committed aggravated criminal sexual abuse"

High-risk drivers make up majority of DUI offenses

Matthew Junker of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review used arrest data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to determine that fully 56 percent of the people arrested last year were in the most intoxicated category under Pennsylvania's .08 DUI law. "Statistics for the law's first 11 months -- from Feb. 1, 2004, to the end of that year -- show that more than half of those charged with drunken driving had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 percent or higher, twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent."

Baseball doctor overstates credentials

Duff Wilson of The New York Times found errors in Dr. Elliot Pellman's stated credentials and education. Pellman is the medical adviser to Major League Baseball, whose testimony praised the recent congressional hearing on steroids. Pelman "has said repeatedly in biographical statements that he has a medical degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. But Dr. Pellman attended medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico, and he received a medical degree from the New York State Education Department after a one-year residency at SUNY-Stony Brook, state records show." Other descrepancies include he stated that he is an associate clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which he is not. He is an assistant clinical professor, which is an honorary position given to thousands of doctors.

Emergency fund used by legislators

Eric Eyre and Scott Finn of the Charleston Gazette examined records of a contingency fund controlled by West Virginia's governor, finding that "Hardy County received $6.7 million from the contingency fund since 1997 - more than any county in the state - even though the county ranks 42nd out of 55 counties in population." The link? Delegate Harold K. Michael, D-Hardy, chairman of the House of Delegates Finance Committee, which helps steer the contingency money. "The governor's contingency fund was set up to help out West Virginians during disasters — floods, fires and ice storms. But during the past eight years, more than $72 million has been spent on items that were hardly emergencies." A PDF chart shows how much went to recipients in each county. Another story details $8 million in state education funds that state officials didn't request. "Legislative leaders won't say exactly what they earmarked the money for. And state schools Superintendent David Stewart doesn't have a clue about the purpose of the funds. Stewart said the $8 million came with just one caveat: that it can be released only on orders from Harold K. Michael, D-Hardy, chairman of the House of Delegates Finance Committee."

Hispanic girls lack high school sports participation

MaryJo Sylwester, in her swan song at USA TODAY before joining the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, used federal education data to help illustrate the comparative lack of participation in high school sports by Hispanic girls. "Nationally, about 36% of Hispanic sophomore girls played interscholastic sports, compared with 52% of non-Hispanics for the 2001-02 school year." Money doesn't seem to be a factor, but rather the influences of culture and family that may emphasize home obligations over after-school activities.

Inmates awating trial drive up costs

Curtis Johnson of The (Huntingdon) Herald-Dispatch used Cabell County court and jail records to show that ."inmates facing felony charges, most of whom were awaiting trial, accounted for 62 percent of the month's bill. That's important, because if convicted, the state takes over the cost of their imprisonment." The records show that "reducing the jail bill would require a dramatic shift toward speedier trials along with pre-trial and sentencing alternatives."

County jails outdated fail to meet standards

Leon Alligood of The Tennessean reviewed state data to report on overcrowding in county jails. He found that "a total of 26 of the 129 jails statewide have been 'decertified'," because of varying reasons, ranging from unhealthy living conditions, to out-dated facilities. Of the 26 jails that were decertified, the average age of the facilities was 46.5 years old. The story also includes links to sidebars including, few penalties for not meeting standards for jails, some of the state's basic rules for jail standards and information on certified jails that have overcrowding in their detention facilities.

Scout program overstated numbers to entice donors

The investigative team for WAGA-Atlanta investigated claims that Atlanta's inner-city boy scout program grossly overstated their numbers to boost their image, in an attempt to convince potential donors to donate. "Insiders say the way the Boy Scouts account for members and troops inflates its numbers resulting in what insiders call Ghost Scouts and Phantom Troops." They would do this by dispersing scout executives throughout the communities having boys sign flyers saying they were interested in joining the scouts. Then they would take these kids and add them to the list, without checking to see if the boys even took the oath and joined the scouts. The team uncovered many instances where large troop numbers were reported, however in reality the numbers were small or even none.

Governor's office political dealings in question

Alan Judd of The Atlanta-Jounal Constitution investigated claims that the Georgia governor's office put heat on the state's consumer regulatory office over dealings with a major car dealership and donor to the governor's campaign. "In the Bill Heard Chevrolet case, Hills' inquiry became a key point in a series of events that, Smith says, undermined the agency's already limited authority." The story uncovers numerous accounts of collaboration between the governor's office and the dealership, that eventually led to the firing of the consumer agency's chief, just months away from reaching retirement.

Wal-Mart cashes in incentives, while many employees taking in medicaid

Sydney P. Freedburg and Connie Humburg of the St. Petersburg Times used state records to show that "Wal-Mart and four other large companies that receive state incentives have an estimated 29,900 employees or their family members enrolled in Medicaid. The figures suggest taxpayers may be double-subsidizing low-wage employment by paying companies to create jobs and by paying for the health care of some of those companies' employees." Along with Wal-Mart, Publix Super Markets, Winn-Dixie Stores, Burger King Corp. and Walgreen Co. have the most employees eligible for health care financed by Florida. "Combined, these five firms have been approved by the state for up to $10.8-million in tax credits and tax refunds for at least 3,805 jobs."

Train delay rates climbing

Sewell Chan and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times studied delays on New York's subway system, finding that "a typical weekday rider on the subway today is likely to experience a train delay roughly once every three weeks, compared with about once every five weeks in September 2003, when the number of stalled trains reached a record low." The delays - defined as being at least five minutes late at the end of a run - occur for a wide variety of reasons, including worker error or signal malfunction. Passengers who hold doors open also contribute to the lateness.

Oil tanker regulations ignored, trimmed back

Eric Nalder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated the inner-workings of a tanker fleet owned by the third-largest oil company in the nation, ConocoPhillips. The series was inspired by a mystery spill in Puget Sound. The company had denied that its ship, the Polar Texas, was the spiller, while the U.S. Coast Guard said the oil matched the vessel's cargo. The investigation revealed a much wider pattern, that on the West Coast important reforms following Exxon Valdez spill are being undermined, ignored, violated and, in the case of tug escorts, trimmed back through the influence of the oil company. The P-I revealed through interviews and internal company documents a wide pattern of misconduct and dangerous behavior aboard a number of the company's huge ships, vessels that regularly carry nearly 40 million gallons of oil over some of the roughest seas in the world to refinery ports in Washington and California.

Dot com insiders made millions, while investors lost

Reporters Sharon Pian Chan and David Heath of The Seattle Times used unsealed documents successfully won in state and federal lawsuits to investigate Infospace's rise and downfall. At its peak, Infospace was worth over $31 million, but a bad investment on a Canadian wireless investment and questionable business dealings led to the eventual collapse of the dot com giant. They interviewed 100 people, ranging from former employees, investors, experts and regulatory officials. The three-part series details who the winners and loser were, how company insiders fled, dumping their stocks, making millions and the series will feature the aftermath of the downfall March 8. Emails, voicemails and documents are also included in the series, as well as a piece about how the series was done. The Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher wrote a column discussing the series.

Detroit high on list of top spenders

Kathleen Gray and Marisol Bello of The Detroit Free Press used federal data to show that "Detroit spends more on city government than most of the nation's big cities." The city ranks fourth in government employees per capita and fifth in overall general fund spending per capita, "behind New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago, spending $1.7 million for every 1,000 residents."

Mayor spends taxpayer money on meals

Joseph L. Wagner and Martin Stolz of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reviewed local records to show that "Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden has dunned taxpayers for more than $20,000 for meals over four years, including $1,943 for 66 private meals he had with his assistant, Tina Turick." The mayor of neighboring Solon also spent thousands on meals and gifts during the past five years. "Beachwood City Council's Finance Committee has never examined Gorden's credit card statements, said Chairman Fredric Goodman. He said that over the years, he looked at a few of Gorden's credit card statements, but he asked no questions."

Land swap deals net big profits for brokers

Adrienne Packer and J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal continue their investigation into land swap deals, finding that "on at least three occasions, land broker Scott Gragson traded property to McCarran International Airport and then reacquired it nearly two years later for less than he originally sold it for...That means the properties depreciated hundreds of thousands of dollars even as the Las Vegas Valley ranked among the nation's hottest real estate markets." In one case, Gragson re-purchased land and resold it for nearly $2 million more in eight days, thanks to a swiftly approved rezoning decision.

White coaches lasting longer than black coaches in NBA

David Leonhardt and Ford Fessenden of The New York Times used regression analysis to show that "over the last decade, black NBA coaches have lasted an average of just 1.6 seasons, compared with 2.4 seasons for white coaches ... That means the typical white coach lasts almost 50 percent longer and has most of an extra season to prove himself." The paper used all coaching tenures since 1989 involving 110 men who are not currently working as head coaches in the league (more on methodology).

City program accountability questioned

Toni Coleman of the St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed data on the city's Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grant program, finding that "accountability under STAR is uneven because of the program's complicated structure. Most projects go through a structured review process, for example, but individual City Council members circumvent that if they want. In addition, some of the money is earmarked for cultural improvements, but city officials have a pattern of breaking their own guidelines for how to use it." The city council has taken some of the STAR money and given council members the right to dispense it as they want, often under less scrutiny.

City shooting data shows race, location similarities

Nathan Gorenstein, Barbara Boyer and Rose Ciotta of the Philadelphia Inquirer summarized shootings in the city last year: "On average, more than four people a day were struck by bullets. About one in six died. On one day alone - Oct. 22 - 19 people were shot, one fatally. It's a toll of injury and death that falls most heavily on the same few neighborhoods year after year: North Philadelphia. West Philadelphia north of Market Street. The southwestern edge of South Philadelphia." During the past four years, half of all shooting victims were under 25, and most of those were African American males. An interactive graphic displaying shooting victims per square mile is included.

FOI requests improve, but some agencies still lag

Colleen Krantz of The Des Moines Register and Janet Rorholm of The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette report that a newspaper audit of public records in Iowa shows that "law enforcement agencies in Iowa provided greater access to their public documents during a recent investigation by Iowa newspapers than the agencies did five years ago, yet police departments and sheriff offices still violated the law by withholding records about a third of the time." City clerks and county government agencies provided better access to records this time, according to the audit, which was assisted by Drake University journalism students. A searchable database of results is available.

Utah dams improve, but high hazard conditions still exist

Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used state data to show that "44 percent of such Utah 'high hazard' dams meet all minimum safety standards - more than a sixfold improvement" since the paper last examined Utah's dams in 1988. "At that time, officials rated as safe a mere 7 percent of those dams classified as 'high hazard,' defined as those where failure would likely kill people and cause extensive damage." Salt Lake City is downstream from eight unsafe dams.

Wealthy schools benefit more from construction money

Steve Chambers and Robert Gebeloff of The (Newark) Star-Ledger analyzed state school construction data to find that "New Jersey's wealthiest districts have been far more successful qualifying for state money than middle-class or blue-collar ones. And with two-thirds of the state money already spent or committed, affluent districts have landed 24 percent more construction funding per pupil than other districts." The state's first-come, first-served method for distributing the money "left many poor and middle-class districts in the lurch."

Chicago recycling program success exagerated

Laurie Cohen and Dan Mihalopoulos of the Chicago Tribune, along with Gary Washburn, used city records to show that "less paper, plastic, metals and other recyclables were salvaged from Chicago's household garbage in the last two years than at any time since the program's earliest years." The paper's investigation found that the city "has quietly begun allowing nearly 30 percent of Chicago's residential waste to bypass the expensive sorting centers built a decade ago to pull out recyclables."

State officials overspending, despite fiscal crisis

Louis Hansen and David Gulliver of The Virginian-Pilot obtained spending records from Virginia's Department of Game & Inland Fisheries showing that "officials regularly traveled to conventions, bought expensive sporting goods and routinely exceeded limits on their state-issued charge cards ... Oversight of the department's use of charge cards appeared lax: 19 different employees exceeded their state-imposed monthly limits, many repeatedly." The spending came at a time when Virginia agencies were instructed to hold down spending.

Legislators double salaries with expense checks

Bonna de la Cruz of The (Nashville) Tennessean analyzed state data to find that "twenty-seven Midstate lawmakers double their salaries or better by collecting state expense checks whether they incur the expenses or not. The expense checks - which are taxed by the IRS as income because they are not linked to any documented cost - add as much as $28,000 to the $16,500 official salary paid to legislators."

Fines not paid by out-of-state violators

Gregory Korte of The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed nearly 100,000 parking tickets issued in Cincinnati last year, finding that "Kentucky violators rarely pay anything at all, because the office responsible for collecting fines doesn't trace out-of-state license plates. That resulted in an out-of-state collection rate of just 2.5 percent, compared to 87.9 percent overall." Fines for parking infractions increased in 2005.

PACs make up large chunk of campaign contributions

Jennifer Talhelm of The (Columbia) State reviewed campaign contributions to South Carolina state lawmakers during the final six months of 2004, finding that "36 cents of every dollar ... given to House and Senate lawmakers in the last two reporting periods of 2004 was tied to businesses, PACs or other special interest groups. During that time, a third of lawmakers raised all or almost all their campaign money from such groups. PACs and businesses legally can give up to $1,000 per election."

Expunged records raise concern over judicial fairness

Steve Myers of the Mobile Register reveals the existence of hundreds of court cases where convictions were removed from the public record. "The practice of expunging records came to the forefront recently due to the case of Mobile County school board President David Thomas, who was arrested for drunken driving in 1998. Before he was ever scheduled to appear in court, a Mobile municipal judge ordered that Thomas stay out of trouble for a year and that the DUI record be expunged. The file was held from public view until recently, when the Mobile Register learned of its existence and asked that it be opened. Hundreds of other expunged city cases - 268 last year alone, according to police - remain closed and are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Register." The practice appears to happen much less frequently in the state courts.

Flaws found in Head Start program

Susan Vinella of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer used state reports to show that "Ohio's largest Head Start agency has repeatedly failed to enroll the number of children it has been paid to serve and has erroneously reported children eligible for the program." The paper also found that top officials at the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland are well-paid despite the program's failures in meeting federal requirements.

Police response times longer in certain areas

Paul Goodsell and Lynn Safranek of the Omaha World-Herald examined 911 calls between 2000 and 2004 to find that "police took longest to respond to west Omaha calls. East of I-680, it took an average of 6 minutes and 31 seconds last year for the first officer to arrive on the highest priority calls. West of I-680, the average time was 8:28. The difference held true for priority two calls, which are less urgent and far more numerous. In the east, the average response time was about 11 minutes. In the west, 14 minutes." The gap between east and west widened in 2004 compared to earlier years.

Special ed students pack troubled schools

In a story produced by Beth Fertig and edited by John Keefe of WNYC-New York, school enrollment data was used to compare special needs enrollment data for the more violent schools compared to the lesser violent schools. Using freedom of information laws, WNYC obtained fall enrollment data for the 278 academic high schools that enroll more than a quarter of a million students. They found that "while special ed kids make up 12 percent of the high school population citywide, they make up 17 percent of students at violent schools. And they're 18 percent at schools the state says are failing." The story includes an in-depth analysis of Special Education and English Language Learners, as well as supplying the radio version of the story.

Problem cops keep badges through troubled system

Ron Menchaca and Glenn Smith of the Charleston Post and Courier investigated South Carolina's agency that oversees law enforcement, finding "endemic failures in the state's system for tracking police officers that allow problem cops to keep their badges despite histories of misconduct and even criminal behavior... Until three years ago, the state turned a blind eye toward misconduct, allowing police departments to hire virtually whomever they wanted. Being charged with serious crimes such as manslaughter, kidnapping and criminal domestic violence didn't stop some cops from finding law enforcement work in South Carolina." A second story shows how problem cops keep getting hired in South Carolina, while a third details how budget cuts have hampered the state's ability to police its own police.

Investigation uncovers reasons for Devil Ray's failures

Marc Topkin, Damian Cristodero and Louis Hau of the St. Petersburg Times examines the ten-year history of Tampa Bay's major league baseball franchise, finding that the Devil Rays' lack of success can be attributed to a number of factors:
* Major League Baseball put the new owners in a financial hole before the team ever took the field, raising the expansion fee to an unprecedented $130-million and forcing them to forfeit millions in national TV revenue at a time when the overall costs of competing were soaring. The financial wherewithal of the Tampa Bay ownership group was immediately challenged, and has been a persistent concern.
* While the Rays stocked their inaugural roster with veteran players, they fielded too many rookies in key management positions. The owner, Naimoli, had never owned a sports team; the general manager, Chuck LaMar, had never been a general manager; the manager, Larry Rothschild, had never managed. Of the six department-leading vice presidents on the 1998 staff, only one had done his same job before.
The paper also conducted a poll among area baseball fans to gauge their support and concerns.

Millions misspent by housing authority

Michael Biesecker and Pat Stith of the Raleigh News & Observer reviewed records from the Durham Housing Authority, finding that the agency "improperly spent millions for temporary labor, auto repair, landscaping and legal advice. Other financial records requested by The N&O are missing, officials say." The authority paid more than $2.3 million for temporary workers without soliciting bids for the work or signing contracts. In contrast, Raleigh's housing authority paid $183,960 on similar work between 2000 and 2004.

High toxin levels downplayed by regulators

Keith Matheny of the Traverse City Record-Eagle used state and federal records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to show that while the public learned about deadly toxins present in the Bay Harbor gated community last fall, "regulators knew of contamination from cement kiln dust piles as far back as the 1980s." The documents also shed light on a deal between Michigan and Bay Harbor developers over the existence of contaminants and cleanup procedures.

Nonprofits not required to follow sunshine laws

Matthew Hirsch of the San Francisco Bay Guardian investigated nonprofit city contracts and found that San Francisco is spending billions on nonprofit contracts without adequate oversight. "Since 2002 ... the city has distributed more than $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations ..." The nonprofits receiving the contracts, unlike city agencies, do not have to comply with sunshine laws. "They're run by nonelected boards that often meet behind closed doors, effectively making public policy decisions without direct public input or oversight."

Problems shielding troops more extensive than thought

Michael Moss of the New York Times used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents showing that "the Pentagon's difficulties in shielding troops and their vehicles with armor have been far more extensive and intractable than officials have acknowledged." The paper used a Department of Defense inspector general's report that outlined the problems in supplying armor to soldiers in Iraq. "The Pentagon put the inspector general on the case after Defense Department officials, noticing that its allies were getting armor so quickly, became suspicious that they were taking armor intended for American soldiers. But the report wound up criticizing the Pentagon instead."

Gang leaders control crime, despite incarceration

Michael Montgomery of American Radioworks spent five months investigating following inmates at staff at Pelican Bay State Prison in California. He found that prison gangs are controlling crime "far outside prison walls and across the country." Some of the gang leaders were already serving life sentences and are now facing prosecution for crimes committed outside of the prison walls, while they were incarcerated.

Officials fail to act on abuse claims

Michelle Roberts of The Oregonian found that warnings about abusive behavior by state parole officer Michael Lee Boyles went unheeded for years, and Oregon officials acted only after the suicide of a young man supervised by Boyles. "State officials received repeated and detailed warnings from a family raising concerns about Boyles and his behavior with another boy on his caseload. The warnings, received and responded to at a high level within the juvenile department, were earlier and more detailed than previously known. Top juvenile department officials promised to investigate Boyles, according to a letter sent to the family, and to remove the child in question from his caseload. But documents show neither happened."

Nonprofit tax breaks scrutinized for hospitals

Misti Crane and Geoff Dutton of The Columbus Dispatch reported a three-day series, "Prescription for Profit," that examines the impact of specialty hospitals on general hospitals. The series also examines how nonprofit hospitals use aggressive collection tactics to collect from poor patients and whether the four hospital systems in Columbus deserve their $88 million tax break.
Also included is a chart of the highest paid employees.
Journalists can access the Dispatch's Web site at no charge using this account:
User name: usapress@dispatchpress.com
Password: dispatch

Delays, inconsistencies plague veteran affairs

Chris Adams and Alison Young of Knight-Ridder Newspapers sued the Veterans Administration to obtain records never before released to the public. They showed that "injured soldiers who petition the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for those payments are often doomed by lengthy delays, hurt by inconsistent rulings and failed by the veterans representatives who try to help them." Knight-Ridder compiled a database comparing VA regional offices, finding "wildly inconsistent results" in providing care to vets. Ted Mellnik of the Charlotte Observer assisted with formatting the database for display on the Web site; here's how the series was done.

Helicopter problems put crew members at risk

Michael Fabey of the Savannah Morning News used Coast Guard data to find that "Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter engines continue to lose power, threatening the lives of pilots and crew members. There were 423 incidents of power failure in the helicopters in the fleet between Aug. 4, 1985, and Sept. 30, 2004." Air Station Savannah ranked in the middle of Coast Guard stations in number of incidents reported.

Affluent residents more likely than minorities to show up for jury duty

Andrew Tilghman of the Houston Chronicle analyzed local court data to show that "residents of Harris County's predominantly white, affluent neighborhoods are up to seven times more likely to show up for jury duty than those in the county's lower-income, mostly minority neighborhoods." The paper used the area's more than 140 ZIP codes to divide up juror pools, finding that "the 10 ZIP codes with the lowest turnout, all below 10 percent, have populations that are predominantly Hispanic or black. Those areas had a median income of $29,636."

Serious workplace violation fines low

Marc Chase of The (Northwest Indiana) Times used OSHA data to investigate workplace safety violations. They found "that fines at or below the minimum are the rule, not the exception, in cases involving what OSHA considers serious violations. The average fine from 1991 to 2003 was $862.74 per serious violation, $637.26 less than the minimum of the penalty range during that time period."

New York City employees still use cars, despite mayor's boast

David Seifman of the New York Post obtained city records to show that "more city workers are commuting in their government-owned cars, despite Mayor Bloomberg's boast that his administration is slashing spending while maintaining services." The number of civilian NYC employees who commuted in their city-provided cars increased 11 percent from 2003, even as the overall workforce increased only slightly.

Texas hispanics dying at an alarming rate in Iraq

Juan Castillo and Bill Bishop of the Austin American-Statesman studied military deaths from the war in Iraq to find that "Hispanic Texans are dying in Iraq at a rate more than 60 percent higher than the rate for the nation's military-age population as a whole." Texas Hispanics and rural Americans serving in Iraq have some of the highest mortality rates. Statistican Robert Cushing did the analysis for the paper.

Crime data compares parolee data by ZIP code

Jeremy Finley of WSMV-Nashville compared prison parolee data to ZIP codes in the Nashville area, uncovering a trend that is populating felons together and trapping ZIP codes in a "cycle of violence." He found the highest number of felons living in the 37207 ZIP code. "There are more than 200 convicted criminals in this ZIP code including convicted murderers, rapists, and drug dealers." The report also provides data that lists the number of parolees by ZIP code in Davidson County.

Traffic stop study raises racial profiling questions

Karisa King and Kelly Guckian of the San Antonio Express-News analyzed 12 months' of traffic and pedestrian police stops, finding that "blacks were more than three times as likely as whites to face certain types of police searches. Yet police found contraband in the searches at about the same rate for both races, a finding that civil rights groups said shows the disparate treatment was unwarranted." The data, from 2002, show that "San Antonio police stop minority and white drivers at rates that are roughly similar to their share of the population."

Ohio drunk driver program flawed

Sheila McLaughlin of The Cincinnati Enquirer evaluated an Ohio program that requires drunk drivers to put special license plates on their vehicles, finding that "a year after Ohio started requiring the special tags, a sampling of more than 300 local cases and interviews with lawyers, judges, police officers and legislators indicate that the law is unevenly administered, enforced and monitored." Among the problems are that repeat offenders don't always get the plates and that police have no way to track who has them or should.

Poor districts failing despite recent education reforms

Mc Nelly Torres from the San Antonio Express-News investigated the progress of a Texas public school reform legislation dubbed "Robin Hood". She focused on the Edgewood School District, where the high school has an hispanic population of 97 percent. She found that the "total revenue per student was $8,729 last year, compared with $4,315 in 1994." A vast improvement for the district, however, the school keeps failing from constant changes in leadership, a divided school board and other problems that generally plague a poor school district. Enrollment has also dropped, due to the diminishing population in the district. A spreadsheet that shows the school district expenditures and a slideshow on how the Edgewood school district is shrinking are also provided.

Land deals raise nepotism concerns

J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal used local property records to find that the grandson of a former Las Vegas mayor has been able to quickly profit from land deals that may have involved inaccurate appraisals. Scott Gragson "has obtained a total of 104 parcels in 20 land exchanges with the county. In each case, he gave the county privately held land that had been appraised at an equal value. Raising the question of whether inaccurate appraisals have shortchanged the public, Gragson has been able to flip at least 10 of the 104 parcels for profit less than a week after acquisition."

Problems with judiciary system plague city

Jerry Mitchell of The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger reports that the Hinds County judicial system "at times resembles an elephant balancing on toothpicks. A yearlong investigation by The Clarion-Ledger has uncovered many long-term problems that have not been addressed." The county had fewer prosecutors and fewer indictments in 2004 than similar-sized cities. "Between 1998 and 2003, the percentage of dismissed cases increased from one in five to one in three. That includes dismissals, inactive and remanded to files. That means if a suspect is indicted today in Hinds County, he has a one in three chance of seeing his charges go away."

New schools planned on contaminated sites

Jason Method and James W. Prado Roberts of the Asbury Park Press looked at New Jersey's $6 billion school construction program and found that the state authority had purchased at least 22 environmentally contaminated or possibly contaminated sites, including one radioactive Superfund site and another historic steel cable plant full of lead, beryllium, arsenic and other poisons. Environmentalists questioned whether the sites could ever be considered fully safe.

(Editor's note: For useful tips on reporting similar stories, see the latest IRE Beat Book, "Covering Pollution: An Investigative Reporter's Guide.")

Teen driving fatalities data shows an alarming trend

Jayne O'Donnell from USA Today investigated teenage driving accidents across the United States and found an alarming trend. Nearly three-fourths of teenage accidents occurred when males were behind the wheel with 16-year-olds being the riskiest of them all. "Their rate of involvement in fatal crashes was nearly five times that of drivers ages 20 and older, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety." States with restrictive licenses saw a significant decrease in teenage fatalities once the restriction was in place. "Seven states and the District of Columbia don't give unrestricted licenses to anyone under 18."

Prison health care company faces harsh criticism

Paul von Zielbauer of The New York Times spent a year investigating Prison Health Services, a private company that provides medical care in many of New York's state prisons. "A yearlong examination of Prison Health by The New York Times reveals repeated instances of medical care that has been flawed and sometimes lethal. The company's performance around the nation has provoked criticism from judges and sheriffs, lawsuits from inmates' families and whistle-blowers, and condemnations by federal, state and local authorities. The company has paid millions of dollars in fines and settlements."

Complaints high for Florida repair shop

Jim Schoettler of The Florida Times-Union used state records to show that auto repair shops in Northeast Florida were the subject of nearly 600 complaints since 1999. "Hundreds more are fielded by local agencies and the courts, while countless others are reported to the shops. No one knows how many people who suspect they've been mistreated never complain."

Politicians benefit from cheaper tickets

Dave McKinney of the Chicago Sun-Times obtained a list of state politicians who have the opportunity to purchase tickets to the top-ranked University of Illinois basketball team's games at face value. "As demand for Illini tickets has rocketed off the charts, the university has dispersed more than 2,000 tickets to its trustees, dozens of state lawmakers, congressmen, lobbyists and even the son of indicted former Gov. George Ryan, who has booked most of the team's schedule."