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Lack of federal oversight of theme park rides

Florida Today and WKMG-Orlando used data from a 3-axis accelerometer and data collection device to test the effects of Central Florida's G-forces on theme park rides. They also examined figures on estimates of injuries and deaths involving fixed-site rides and found that state and U.S. agencies only inspect and regulate mobile amusement rides, the kind that travel to county fairs and church festivals. "But, apart from dictating construction and safety standards, they do not directly monitor fixed-site rides in Florida, such as those at major theme parks. " The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that from 1997 through 2004 there were 22,000 injuries and 24 fatalities. The report also examined a 2002 study by the British government that found incidents occurred when G-force levels were within established limits of human tolerability. See how the story was reported.

Thousands of dollars collected in per diems

Steve Neavling, formerly of The Bay City Times, reviewed records to show that Bay County paid more than $350,000 to citizens and politicians for serving on its boards in the past four-and-a-half years. Many of these meeting lasted less than 15 minutes and dozens lasted less than five minutes. "A bulk of the per-diem payments — $260,000 — came from boards and committees for three agencies: The Bay Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health Authority and Region VII Area Agency on Aging. " Often times per diems went beyond meeting payments, with some board members getting paid for signing checks, visiting with employees and attending luncheons, conferences and meetings of other boards.

D.C. officials violate spending laws

Dan Keating and David S. Fallis, with contributions from Bobbye Pratt, of The Washington Post used District of Columbia purchasing records to show that of $2.5 billion in purchases last year, the city spent roughly $425 million in unauthorized payments and no-bid contracts. "District officials routinely violate city spending laws by avoiding competitive bidding, masking purchases under unrelated contracts and paying vendors without contracts or legal authority. "Studies of no-competition contracts elsewhere indicate that the city is overpaying by $50 million a year. The examination found problems that go far beyond sloppy paperwork as employees skirt the laws designed to prevent waste and fraud. A second story examines one the relationship between city government and a contractor who promised big but delivered little.

Terrorism funded by organized criminal activity

David E. Kaplan, with Bay Fang and Soni Sangwan, of U.S. News & World Report found that Dawood Ibrahim, a world-class mobster and engineer of the 1993 multiple bomb blasts in Bombay, is on Washington's radar screen for lending his smuggling routes to al Qaeda and supporting jihadists in Pakistan, based on interviews with counterterrorism and law enforcement officials from six countries. Sheltered by Pakistan, he is the alleged godfather of strong-arm protection, drug trafficking, extortion, murder-for-hire — all stock-in-trade rackets. " He is far and away India's most wanted man, his name invoked time and again by Indian officials in their discussions of terrorism with U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers. " The investigation reveals growing U.S. concerns over how increasing numbers of terrorist groups have come to rely on the tactics — and profits — of organized criminal activity to finance their operations across the globe. Read accompanying stories on Dawood Ibrahim and how U.A.E. serves as the region's criminal crossroads.

FOIA request reveals media's use of FOIA

Editor and Publisher reports that The Associated Press leads news organizations in using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents from the Pentagon. A log of such requests from 2000 to early 2005 was compiled by a San Francisco-based activist. The AP filed 73 such requests, followed by the Los Angeles Times with 42 and The Washington Post with 34. Trailing far behind among major newspapers was The New York Times with 21, USA Today with nine and The Wall Street Journal with six. On the TV side, CBS News led with 32 queries; Fox News followed with 22; and NBC with 21. CNN made just 11 inquiries. "The results, which came in response to a FOIA request by blogger Michael Petrelis, are summarized by John Byrne at the Raw Story web site. " The request was sparked by interest in whether former New York Times reporter Judith Miller had ever made such a FOIA request. It was found that she had not.

Students misuse low-income housing

Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register found scores of students are paying little or nothing to live in low-income projects in college towns in every region. Loopholes enable students — including scholarship athletes who already receive housing money — easily qualify for apartments in the Section 8 program. "Last year, during a probe into students' use of Section 8 at Pheasant Ridge Apartments in Iowa City, the newspaper also located students who used the housing assistance in Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. " Under the housing department's current rules, student financial aid does not count as income which gives virtually any full-time student, not claimed as a dependent on a parent's tax return, a good shot at qualifying. If the student does not work, taxpayers pay all of the rent.

Rogue tow truck drivers

ABC News reports on "bandit" tow truck drivers who pretend to be from companies hired by auto clubs and then overcharge drivers. The rogue drivers then tow cars to a shop that pays them a bounty. Some may not report that the car has been towed in order to rack up extra storage charges. Some have even been known to remove a car from private property without proper authorization. "The Los Angeles Police Department has been cracking down on rogue tow truck drivers. " Even though California has some of the toughest towing regulations in the country, sometimes people pretend to be managers and often, tow truck drivers ignore the law and drive off with someone's car even after he or she has returned to the scene. See video.

'Guest workers' suffer from exploitation, neglect

A nine-month investigation by Tom Knudson and Hector Amezcua of The Sacramento Bee "has found pineros [Latino forest workers in the United States] are victims of employer exploitation, government neglect and a contracting system that insulates landowners — including the U.S. government — from responsibility." The report, "based on more than 150 interviews across Mexico, Guatemala and the United States and 5,000 pages of records unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act" shows responsibility for these "guest workers" is spread among several federal agencies and private contractors with no effective oversight. Part two shows the government has been aware of problems with the program but has failed to do anything to fix it. "First in 1980 and again in 1993, Congress expressed shock at the abuse of Latino forest workers in America's woods and the hypocrisy of undocumented workers doing government work." The third part of the series focuses on "The number one cause of death among pineros" — van accidents. "They are the byproducts of fatigue, poorly maintained vehicles, ineffective state and federal laws, inexperienced drivers and poverty-stricken workers hungry for jobs."

Ky. economic incentives fall short

A series of Lexington Herald-Leader reports from John Stamper and Bill Estep, with contributions from Linda J. Johnson, computer-assisted reporting coordinator, reporter Linda Blackford and news researcher Lu-Ann Farrar, examines Kentucky's expensive efforts to recruit industries and failures in the program. "Instead, at a cost of $1.8 billion, Kentucky's main economic-incentive programs have overburdened taxpayers and left citizens on the losing side of a high-stakes game with hard-bargaining corporate interests."

Innocent man likely executed in Texas

Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle reports that a witness now says he was influenced by police to identify Ruben Cantu, then 17, as the killer in an alleged murder-robbery. Cantu, who claimed to have been framed in the capital murder case, was executed in August 1993. "A dozen years after his execution, a Houston Chronicle investigation suggests that Cantu, a former special-ed student who grew up in a tough neighborhood on the south side of San Antonio, was likely telling the truth." The judge, prosecutor, head juror and defense attorney have acknowledge that Cantu's conviction seems to have been built on omissions and lies.

Region unprepared for disaster

Joe Mahr and Phillip O'Connor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch find that "repeated recommendations from all levels of government in an eight-state region of the central United States have been largely ignored on how to best brace for an event that scientists expect to kill thousands and cause widespread chaos." The Post-Dispatch reviewed studies, reports, and interviewed government officials, researchers and preparedness advocates to reveal that "More than two decades after federal and state officials called for massive preparations for a major earthquake in this region, including St. Louis, a Post-Dispatch investigation found that government has failed to marshal many of its own resources to prepare for a disaster that could rival the devastation of Hurricane Katrina."

Calif. system's additional pay offsets student fee hike

Tanya Schevitz and Todd Wallack of the San Francisco Chronicle examine how much the University of California system really pays its administrators. "In addition to salaries and overtime, payroll records obtained by The Chronicle show that employees received a total of $871 million in bonuses, administrative stipends, relocation packages and other forms of cash compensation last fiscal year. That was more than enough to cover the 79 percent hike in student fees that UC has imposed over the past few years." The project includes a database of the system's highest paid employees.

Wash. program's flaws exposes public, vulnerable adults

Ruth Teichroeb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated state records to show the flaws in a state-funded program that pays for-profit companies to supervise dangerous developmentally disabled adults. The program has the state paying for-profit companies to look after developmentally disabled people placed its Community Protection program. "While the program does protect the public in many cases — most of the clients are sex offenders — it has left vulnerable adults at risk of abuse and represents a loss of personal rights for those who don't seem to fit the program's guidelines." The three part series found that the placements are not court-monitored, there are no appeals, and for many families or guardians in desperate situations, the only alternative is losing all state help.

Mortgage fraud surges in Chicago

David Jackson, with contributions from Ray Gibson, Todd Lighty and John McCormick of the Chicago Tribune, reviewed thousands of pages of land and court records and interviewed more than 100 people to show that a white-collar crime wave is raking Chicago's poorest communities, robbing vulnerable families of their homes and draining billions of dollars from the U.S. economy. During the past five years, mortgage fraud has surged as home loans become easier than ever to get and identity theft has blossomed. The five-part investigation found that blending face-to-face scams with computer forgery, fraud crews typically include home loan executives, appraisers and scouts who troll for victims. "Mortgage swindling has helped drug-dealing gangs, including Chicago's Black Disciples, solidify their control over street corners, launder money and gain safe houses to launch operations. " The story has prompted Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to call for an investigation into mortgage fraud.

FOI audit shows S.C. officials suspicious, uncooperative

Jim Davenport of The Associated Press wrote a series of reports detailing the costs of public records and abuse of executive sessions, as part of a statewide Freedom of Information audit completed by The Associated Press and the South Carolina Press Association. The investigation found that a quarter of elected officials in a statewide survey say they have broken state law by letting their closed-door session stray beyond what they promised the public they would discuss while out of sight and earshot. When asked about open meetings and open records most city or county officials in South Carolina became suspicious. "Police and sheriff's departments around the state turned out to be the biggest source for denial. More than a dozen law enforcement agencies, about one-fourth of those visited, refused to provide copies of incident reports that residents should be able to review without delay."

Farm insurance fraud on the rise

John Burnett, on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, reports a series on the growing incidence of crop insurance fraud among American farmers. Burnett looks at how some farmers commit felonies by inventing or overstating their crop losses, how the agricultural insurance companies let the problem get out of hand through their inattentiveness, and the political connections of the companies that built the fraud-prone program. "Once reliant on the honor system, the U.S. Department of Agriculture now looks over the farmer's shoulder to make sure he's not cheating the system. " Data analysts identified about 2,000 farmers every year with questionable insurance claims.

Calif. conservators profit from vulnerable seniors

Evelyn Larrubia, Jack Leonard and Robin Fields of the Los Angeles Times examined records of more than 2,400 cases handled by California's professional conservators since 1997 to produce a detailed four-part series on the state's failure to protect its senior citizens from those hired to handle their affairs. More than 500 seniors were entrusted to for-profit conservators without their consent at hearings that lasted minutes. Some conservators misuse their near-parental power over fragile adults, ignoring their needs and isolating them from loved ones. One withheld the allowance that a disabled man relied on for food, leaving him to survive on handouts from a church. Another abruptly moved a 95-year-old woman to a care home and for a month refused to tell her daughter where she was. The investigation found that in most cases, evidence of these abuses was in the courts' own files. "An online registry created six years ago to identify and track problem conservators has proved a failure. The reason: Most county courts have ignored it, even though participation is mandatory"

Flawed homes go unrepaired in hurricane-prone area

Mc Nelly Torres of South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that, despite an engineer's independent study showing workmanship and materials that did not meet standards in a hurricane-prone area, homeowners have been waiting 10 years for their homes to be fixed. Torres reviewed hundreds of records, including a grand jury report, two independent studies, and other construction-related documentation to show that Arvida/JMB Partners and Disney World Co. failed to design and construct homes using the materials and workmanship required by the 1979 South Florida Building Code. Independent study by an engineer found evidence of shoddy construction with firewalls missing, no wall reinforcements and with roofs attached with staples instead of nails. The home owner's association filed a class-action lawsuit in 1995 against Arvida/JMB Partners and Disney.

Tenn. lottery subcontractor has ties to official

Phil Williams of WTVF-Nashville uncovered questions about whether politics helped at least one man strike it rich off of Tennessee's lottery. Last year, the company Tec-Print LLC, owned by a politically connected businessman, J.W. Gibson , was awarded a multimillion-dollar printing subcontract by GTECH — the contractor that runs Tennessee's online games. This despite the fact that Gibson's company had no experience and did not even exist before GTECH put it into the printing business. Gibson is, by his own admission, a good friend of State Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis who heads the House subcommittee which is responsible for any lottery legislation. "The investigation also found that even before Tennessee's lottery was approved, Gibson and Miller went to GTECH offices in Atlanta together to discuss opportunities for minority businesses. "

Land deal results in huge profits for developers

Bert Dalmer of The Des Moines Register analyzed land records to uncover an insider land deal that makes big-name developers rich but ends with taxpayers paying twice as much. The operators of a struggling scale-model air show sold 84 acres along Interstate Highway 35 at $15,000 an acre, though other land being sold in the area was going for almost twice that much or more. The land was sold to two developers who had helped bring the air show to central Iowa and who had appointed some of the directors who approved the sale. "The investigation showed that the the nonprofit expo benefited from tax breaks and government loans it would never fully repay for six years." The investigation also found that the state of Iowa last year bought seven acres of the former expo property at $130,000 an acre, a price that amounted to an 866 percent profit for the developers, in a transaction never debated publicly.

Troopers with political connections win promotions

Brad Schrade of The Tennessean analyzed three years of the patrol's promotions and proposed promotions to show that two-thirds of Tennessee Highway Patrol officers tapped for promotion under Gov. Phil Bredesen gave money to his campaign or had family or political patrons who did. Among those with such connections, more than half were promoted over troopers who scored better on impartial exams or rankings. "Sixty-two of the promoted officers — 49 percent — contributed or had close family members who contributed to the governor's campaign before they were promoted ". The newspaper demonstrated how the THP is using a promotions loophole to let lesser-qualified candidates advance, a practice now being reviewed by the state personnel department in response to the newspaper's investigation. See web extras which include previous highway patrol coverage, documents online, and a 1966 Tennessean story reproduced to show the history of politics in the Highway Patrol.

Car stipends guzzling cash

Tawnell Hobbs and Kent Fischer of The Dallas Morning News reviewed district records to show that more than 2,300 school district employees are getting car stipends this year, at a total cost of nearly $3.7 million. This despite the fact that their job description does not include travel. "In a year when DISD cut some elementary school counselors and gave teachers small raises while trying to close a $28 million budget deficit, the $3,684,798 for car allowances has escaped the ax. " According to calculations, dozens would have to drive more than 950 miles a month to justify the size of their stipends, using DISD's reimbursement rate of 35 cents a mile. Car allowance recipients, like all DISD employees, also get reimbursed for mileage when they travel outside the district. DISD paid $404,000 in mileage reimbursements in 2004-05 in addition to the amount it spent on car allowances.

Elevators lack safety inspections in Fla.

Dave Bohman of WTSP-Tampa Bay reviewed computer records from the state of Florida and found that in the Tampa Bay Area more than 800 elevators and escalators have not passed a sanctioned inspection in at least a year. This even though a yearly inspection is mandated by state law. State records show that three years had passed since some elevators and escalators had been inspected in some very busy shopping centers, movie complexes, and office buildings. "Records also show that accidents have increased 60-percent in the last two years. In the last 16 months, Tampa Fire and Rescue was called four times to free people trapped in an elevator. " In the last two years, the state has fined 245 elevator owners for a total of $40,000.

Agency credit card overcharged for unofficial expenses

Steve Neavling of The Bay City Times and the Detroit Free Press reviewed bills at the tax-funded Area Agency on Aging to show that the agency credit cards were charged for expenses running from a dozen roses to 14 out-of-state trips to locales such as Boston, San Francisco and Puerto Rico. "The regional agency that oversees services for senior citizens has used agency credit cards for $155,000 worth of meals, trips and gifts for employees and board members since 2001. " The board voted to remove a former member of the agency's Advisory Committee because, it said, he pestered staff members, hurt the agency's reputation and overcharged for attending meetings.

Problems found in racial profiling study

Jeff Golimowski of KAKE-Wichita checked court records of ticket offenses issues by the Wichita Police to show problems with a racial profiling study done in Wichita, Kan. The 2004 Wichita Stop Study, which cost $20,000, was supposed to be a detailed look at every time a police officer stopped a car or a person in Wichita. The report was part of a broader effort meant to see if Wichita Police were unfairly targeting some people. Wichita police have pointed to the study as evidence that the department's policies are working. It says police issued 18,453 traffic tickets between January and June of 2004. However, KAKE found a difference of close to 13,000 tickets between the study and the court records. "The 2004 study showed that African Americans represent a little more than 11 percent of the population, but close to 19 percent of the stops."

Natural gas costs high in Ala.

Bill Finch and Ben Raines of the Mobile Register used an independent energy-use analysis to show that Alabama natural gas customers are likely to pay hundreds of dollars more for the same amount of natural gas than customers in neighboring states this winter. "The higher price that the Alabama Public Service Commission allows Alabama utilities to charge has reversed any cost advantage that homeowners using natural gas once enjoyed. " On surveying 23 Southern utilities, it was found that over the past year, Mobile Gas Service Corp.'s residential bills per unit of gas were the highest among 23 Southern utilities and more than 40 percent above the regional average. New research also shows that the price Mobile Gas and Alagasco charged for delivering gas and the prices they charged customers for the fuel itself during the last year were both significantly above the Southeastern average. Read more about the investigation. An investigation into the matter was called for by the Public Service Commissioner in response to the story.

Italian news channel reports U.S. used chemical weapons

RAI 24 News, a news channel in Italy, reports that the United States used white phosphorus as a chemical weapon in the November 2004 attack on Fallujah. The Christian Science Monitor writes about the piece, including information and links from other news sources. RAI's Web site includes a statement from the U.S. Embassy that, in part, says "The United States do not use napalm or white phosphorus as chemical weapons or as a surrogate. The United States have destroyed their last stock of napalm in 2001."

Narcotics prescribed for inmates at high rates

Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle spent months detailing a drug distribution system to show that hundreds of thousands of powerful, addictive narcotics like morphine and oxycodone are being handed out to Washington prison inmates every year. Narcotics were being prescribed for almost every ailment including simple ones like toothaches, back pain or a sore toe. The story found that "prison doctors and physicians assistants too often write unneeded morphine and oxycodone prescriptions just to keep troublemakers at ease." KIRO obtained painkiller distribution records for Washington's eight biggest prisons after a long fight. They found that in three years, inmates were fed at least 329,000 Oxycodone pills, a minimum 85-thousand doses of morphine, and 800,000 doses of narcotics like Percocet and Hydrocodone, costing taxpayers millions in drug costs and distribution. Halsne's initial reports has prompted the "Washington Department of Corrections to call for a full scale review of its prescription drug network."

Despite donations, charities spend little on vets

Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford Courant conducted a computer-assisted analysis of federal financial records for nearly 300 veterans' charities across the country to show that veterans' charities, whose donations have increased since the start of the Iraqi War, lag well behind other charities when it comes to the percentage of money that goes directly to services for those in need. The report identified some charities that raised millions of dollars but provided no services to veterans. Among them are the American Veterans Coalition, a Seattle-based charity that raised $1 million in 2003 and spent nothing on veterans, and the American Veterans Relief Foundation of Santa Ana, Calif., which raised $3.6 million and spent less than 1 percent on veterans. "A handful of veterans' groups spend almost nothing on veterans' causes, diverting 90 percent or more of their money to administrative and fundraising costs. Scores of others claim hefty spending on charitable programs, but only by including a large portion of the cost of their fundraising drives as charitable expenses"

Convicts on St. Louis official's payroll

Jake Wagman, with contributions from Steve Bolhafner, Mark Learman and Matthew Fernandes, of St. Louis Post-Dispatch examined St. Louis City Treasurer Larry Williams' hiring practices to show that his payroll includes employees with criminal records, political connections and, sometimes, both. " Of about 200 employees in the treasurer's office, at least five have been convicted of felonies and at least one for misdemeanor assault. " At least a dozen more workers in the treasurer's office have connections to the city's Board of Aldermen, the city Democratic Committee or Williams' own campaign for office. As the treasurer, Williams is the city's banker and controls and supervises more than $1.5 billion in public funds.

Lack of standards plagues drug industry testing

David Evans, Michael Smith and Liz Willen of Bloomberg Markets report on the lack of strong regulation and standards that is plaguing the pharmaceutical industry in the testing of experimental substances on humans, resulting in the death and injury of scores of people. The world's largest drugmakers spend $14 billion each year to test experimental drugs on humans. The subjects, almost always poor or illegal immigrants desperate for money, are often injured or killed. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the principal federal agency charged with policing the safety of human drug testing, has farmed out much of that responsibility to a network of private companies and groups called institutional review boards, or IRBs. " The investigation found that the FDA's own enforcement records portray a system of regulation so porous that it has allowed rogue clinicians — some of whom have phony credentials — to continue conducting human drug tests for years, sometimes for decades. The extensive report includes analysis charts, records and testimonials from some of the victims.

Students investigate 23-year-old murder case

Students from the Missouri School of Journalism led by Steve Weinberg, a former director of IRE, spent months researching DNA testing, digging up court testimony and interviewing witnesses to report on a St. Louis case which had been controversially re-opened in 2003. The report is a detailed account of the 1982 murder of JoAnn Clenney Tate and the subsequent conviction of the accused, Rodney Lincoln. "The 23-year-old murder case is controversial because of inconsistent witness testimony and a three-year feud between the daughters of the victim and the convicted murderer, with the former wanting to re-open the case and the latter opposing the motion. " The students gathered background information, chronologies, photographs and more to produce a story that ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Major cleanup planned in New Orleans

Randy Lee Loftis of The Dallas Morning News reviewed government test results to show that the Army Corps of Engineers is planning one of the biggest environmental clean ups ever attempted in New Orleans. According to the report, part of an extensive look at the rebuilding of New Orleans, the clean up would involve scraping miles of sediment laced with cancer-causing chemicals from New Orleans' hurricane-flooded neighborhoods. "The clean-up plans would also include crews using front-end loaders to scoop up contaminated sediment that Hurricane Katrina floods left in yards, playgrounds and other spots throughout the greater New Orleans area." Despite one widely publicized study that said the Katrina floodwater was no more polluted than typical urban floods, the examination of the EPA's tests of flood-deposited sediments reveals long-term health concerns if the contamination were to remain.

Blacks excluded from juries in Louisville, Ky.

Jason Riley, Kay Stewart and Mark Schaver of The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal , analyzed records of 34,000 residents summoned for jury duty in a year's time, to show that people who live in predominantly African-American areas of the county are less likely to serve on juries than those who live in mostly white areas. "The newspaper found that residents of the county's five ZIP codes with black majorities are being disproportionately eliminated in almost every stage of the selection process — from the moment they are called for service through the time lawyers decide whether to seat them on juries. " Black jurors are excluded by prosecutors and defense attorneys in criminal cases, as well as by lawyers for both sides in civil trials.

Banned drivers flout law in Va.

Bill Burke and David Gulliver of The Virginian-Pilot used local court data to show that " from 2000 to 2004 in Hampton Roads, 42,606 people were convicted of driving on a suspended or revoked license, according to an analysis of court records." More than 4,600 people were found guilty three or more times, and some had more than 10 convictions. Though more than a dozen states have recognized the problem in recent years and taken actions to remove violators from the road, Virginia has no such initiatives, instead eliminating judges' most powerful weapon for punishing chronic suspended-driving offenders — the state’s habitual offender statute.

Taser use on the rise in Ind.

Richard D. Walton and Mark Nichols of The Indianapolis Star reviewed reports on more than 1,100 instances of Taser use in Marion County, Ind. as part of a broader look at Taser use in Indiana. The investigation found that a pregnant woman, a man in a wheelchair and a 13-year-old girl fleeing police after a rock-throwing incident were shocked with Tasers during a 19-month period. "As the number of the stun guns carried by Indiana Police Department quadrupled to more than 400 in the past two years, use also rose sharply. " Indicriminate use of the stun gun by police officials has lead to 112 unarmed suspects being Tasered while fleeing IPD or sheriff's deputies and at least 87 handcuffed people being shocked while handcuffed. The Star's review also shows that blacks and Hispanics were shocked with Tasers at a far higher rate per number of residents than whites.

Decades of dumping of weapons pose threat

John M.R. Bull of the Daily Press examined Army records to show that the previously classified weapons-dumping program was far more extensive than ever suspected and that chemical weapons that the Army dumped at sea decades ago are ending up on shore in the United States. The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels. The investigation found that "these weapons of mass destruction virtually ring the country, concealed off at least 11 states - six on the East Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Few, if any, state officials have been informed of their existence. " Furthermore, with records missing, and some destroyed, the Army is unaware of the exact locations of the dumped weapons.

Campaign contributions may bolster charges against Delay

Jonathan Salant of Bloomberg Markets analyzed Federal Election Commission records to find the Republican Party's $190,000 in donations to seven Texas politicians in 2002 is five times more than any of the other contributions the national party made to state legislative races that year. "The charges may bolster a prosecutor's accusations that Tom DeLay, who has now been indicted on charges of money laundering, channeled funds through the party to skirt a Texas law banning corporate contributions to political races." The money was distributed by Delay's political action committee, two weeks after the national party got $190,000 from the PAC.

Price of gold too high for the environment

Lowell Bergman, Jane Perlez, Kirk Johnson with other contributing reporters of the FRONTLINE/World and The New York Times examined the growing conflict between the local people and the Yanacocha Mine in Peru along with tours of gold mines in the American West, Latin America, Africa and Europe to provide a rare look inside an insular industry with a troubled environmental legacy and an uncertain future. "Some metal mines, including gold mines, have become the near-equivalent of nuclear waste dumps that must be tended in perpetuity. " Hard-rock mining generates more toxic waste than any other industry in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency estimated last year that the cost of cleaning up metal mines could reach $54 billion. The 6 month project revealed that with costs and suspicions of mining companies on the rise in rich countries, 70 percent of gold is now mined in developing countries like Guatemala and Ghana. See the " entire documentary and extra website features " including interview transcripts, FOIA documents and " recent developments " .

Child abuse fatalities went unreported

Tim Evans of The Indianapolis Star used state records to find that "the deaths of 10 Indiana children from abuse or neglect were not reported in the state's 2004 child fatality report. If included, they would have brought the number to 66, making it the deadliest year on record". The paper compared the state records on child deaths to media accounts and other sources. Deaths discovered by paper that were not in the report include two cases investigated and confirmed as abuse or neglect by child protection workers. At least eight other deaths apparently were not investigated or counted, though their circumstances were similar to others that were scrutinized. See how the story was investigated.

Camera system ineffective in reducing accidents

Matthew Benson of the Fort Collins Coloradoan analyzed a decade of accident data to show the ineffectiveness of the camera system at reducing red-light running and preventing collisions. The number of accidents and accident rates, at a certain intersection in Fort Collins, Colo., have steadily increased in the years since the city installed a system in 1997. "The investigation found that the rate of accidents per 1 million vehicles entering the intersection climbed from 1.31 in 1994 to 2.4 last year. " The intersection remains the city's second most dangerous in terms of the accident rate.

Retirement promises remain unfulfilled

Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele report, in the Oct. 31 issue of Time magazine, that more and more companies are walking away from the promise of retirment benefits, leaving millions of Americans at risk of an impoverished retirement. "The investigation looks at how Congress let it happen and the widespread social insecurity it's causing. " The report concluded that long before today's Americans reach retirement, policy decisions by Congress favoring corporate and special interests over workers will drive millions of older workers, most of them women, into poverty. According to the story, Congress has enacted legislation that adds to the cost of retirement and eats away at dollars earmarked for food and shelter. One by one, lawmakers have destroyed policies that might have afforded Americans at least a decent chance at a secure life.

Inmate deaths were preventable

Rick Anderson of Seattle Weekly examined King County's internal jail records to show that deceptive administrative tactics hid a spike in local jail deaths this year, including what turned out to be two preventable suicides. Record requests showed that among the 13 deaths in a 27-month period were that of a man who died from flesh-eating disease and another who had a wad of gauze shoved down his throat; both deaths were ruled "natural." Jail guards and nurses revealed that officials were covering up deaths and poor health care at 1,700-bed King County Jail. A woman who committed suicide the day she was arrested had hanged herself on an easily-accessible six-foot TV power cord in a holding cell. Another inmate, who had once asked a court to kill him rather than sentence him to life — and who had once tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide by hoarding his jail antidepressants — succeeded the second time after again hoarding his pills. "To some jail health workers and custody officers, these critical cases raise more questions about downtown jail operations.">"

Gun crime plea deals common in Del.

Mike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal analyzed 115,000 felony cases overseen by Attorney General M. Jane Brady during her 11-year tenure, to show that plea deals involving gun crimes are common in Delaware. The newspaper found that "of the nearly 16,000 weapons-related cases filed from 1994 through 2004 — years Brady served as the state's top prosecutor — three-quarters ended without a felony-level weapons conviction. ... A third of the 16,000 cases ended with a conviction on another felony. " To examine how Brady's office handled felony cases, The News Journal reviewed computerized records, obtained after a six-year legal battle from the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, or DelJIS, which tracks criminal cases from arrest through prosecution and punishment. Of the nearly 9,000 cases involving the charge of possession of a deadly weapon, only 6 percent ended with a conviction on that charge.

Bush's re-election campaign contributers reap benefits in Ohio

James Drew and Steve Eder with contributions from Mike Wilkinson, Christopher D. Kirkpatrick, Jim Tankersley, and Joshua Boak of The Blade report that the Ohio business leaders and lobbyists who contributed at least $4.1 million to President Bush's re-election campaign last year collected more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars for their companies and clients. The payback also featured choice appointments from state and federal officials, including an ambassadorship to Germany and a seat on the Ohio State University board of trustees. "The fund-raisers included Tom Noe, a former Toledo-area rare-coin dealer who is facing multiple investigations into the state's failed $50 million investment in rare-coin funds. " An analysis of a state expenditure database shows that the state of Ohio paid about $800 million to the companies and lobbying clients of Ohio's 30 Pioneers and Rangers during the last six years.