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Prep players enroll in questionable schools

Pete Thamel, with contributions from Thayer Evans, Jack Begg and Sandra Jamison, of The New York Times found more than a dozen institutions claiming to be prep schools, some of which closed soon after opening. "All or most of the students were highly regarded basketball players. These athletes were trying to raise their grades to compensate for poor College Board scores or trying to gain attention from major-college coaches." The paper " found that at least 200 players had enrolled at such places in the past 10 years and that dozens had gone on to play at N.C.A.A. Division I universities like Mississippi State, George Washington, Georgetown and Texas-El Paso." Some of these institutions recently joined to form the National Elite Athletic Association, a conference seeking a shoe contract and a television deal. Its teams sometimes travel thousands of miles to play in tournaments that often attract more college coaches than fans. Those coaches will pay $100 for booklets of information about the players.

Oilman's donation invested in his fund

Stephanie Strom of The New York Times investigated Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman turned investor, to show the $165 million that he gave to a tiny charity set up to benefit the golf program at Oklahoma State University was invested in a hedge fund controlled by Pickens' BP Capital Management. The gift, which helped Pickens get a tax deduction, propelled him into the ranks of the nation's top philanthropists last year. "By giving the money before 2005 expired, Mr. Pickens was able to take advantage of a provision in Hurricane Katrina relief legislation that allowed him a deduction for a charitable gift equal to 100 percent of his adjusted gross income, double the normal limit of 50 percent."

Contractors are invisible casualties in Iraq

Alejandra Fernandez-Morera of the Scripps Howard News Service found there are significant invisible casualties of the Iraqi occupation. Almost 505 civilian contractors have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war. "Another 4,744 contractors have been injured, according to insurance claims by 209 companies on file at the Department of Labor." The investigation found that neither the Pentagon nor American corporations who hire contractors to support the U.S. military in Iraq will identify the Americans and foreign nationals who have died, citing privacy and security reasons. The unnamed civilians have become a significant part of the cost of the Iraqi occupation, accounting for at least one-sixth of U.S. fatalities suffered. Because the Pentagon has outsourced thousands of jobs, American contractors have become a new kind of Unknown Soldier.

Hawaii's backlog allows many to escape charges

Ken Kobayashi and Jim Dooley of The Honolulu Advertiser used traffic records to show that O'ahu, Hawaii, has an estimated backlog of 61,500 bench warrants, costing the state a potential $20 million in unpaid fines and fees and allowing defendants to avoid charges as routine as running a red light and serious as negligent homicide. The three-part series found that poor coordination among law enforcement agencies and the courts results in long delays in processing warrants, missed opportunities to serve the orders and, in some cases, failure to capture fugitives. "The state sheriff's department — the agency tasked with serving more than 80 percent of O'ahu's 61,500 unserved warrants — has only 12 full-time officers dedicated to serving warrants." A practice not widely known even in the legal community allows law enforcement officials to turn down extradition of felony defendants who have left the state, largely because it is costly to return them. About 250 charged with felonies dating to the 1980s have escaped prosecution by leaving the Islands, the newspaper found.

Inequities found in property taxes

Andrew Nelson, Bill Dedman and Matt Hersh of The Telegraph used city records to show that thousands of homeowners in Nashua, N.H. are paying too much in property taxes because of wide disparities between sale prices and the city's valuation of properties. Thousands more are paying too little, requiring other taxpayers to pick up the slack. Comparing the sale prices of those homes with the assessor's value, the investigation found 22.7 percent were overtaxed by at least 5 percent, 33.3 percent were undertaxed by at least 5 percent and 44.0 percent were close, pegged within 5 percent of their sale price. "If those homes that sold are representative of all 24,530 homes in the city — and the entire property tax system is based on the assumption that they are representative — then the owners of roughly 6,000 homes in the city are paying too much in property tax, about 8,000 are paying too little, and about 11,000 are paying about the right amount."

Dallas fails to collect parking fines

Dave Levinthal and Molly Motley Blythe of The Dallas Morning News analyzed city records to show that Dallas City Hall, perennially strapped for cash, is owed at least $40 million in unpaid parking fines. As of November, the city had yet to collect on nearly 1 million outstanding parking tickets and their corresponding late penalties dating to 1988. "The money is owed by delivery companies and the federal government; city employees and average residents; and folks from every corner of the state and nation. " The investigation found the information recorded about illegally parked vehicles is inconsistent — several different names for the same company, for example — and sometimes incorrect. Also, 10 businesses each owed Dallas more than $30,000. Two of them owed more than $100,000. Dallas has cut dozens of jobs and raised property taxes because of meager budgets.

High interest mortgages prevalent in rural areas

Geoff Dutton, Jill Riepenhoff and Doug Haddix of The Columbus Dispatch analyzed federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data and explored the spread of high-interest mortgages from inner cities to Ohio's suburban and rural areas. They found that risky high-interest mortgages have cost record numbers of people their homes, but not just in the big cities. The investigation found people in rural areas were much more likely to sign mortgages with high interest rates, generally above 8 percent, compared with the average of 5 percent for a conventional loan at the time. (Note: For reporters interested in pursuing similar stories, IRE and NICAR offer a beat book, "Home Mortgage Lending: How to detect disparities," as well as Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.)

Fla. fails to inspect elevators regularly

John McCarthy of Florida Today reviewed reports by local, state and federal agencies to show the state agency that oversees elevators has failed to ensure proper inspections as state law requires, in a three-day series on elevator safety. The newspaper found that in Brevard County, 221 of 1,113 passenger elevators do not have a current operating certificate. " Ten have certificates that expired in 2002. Some have not been inspected for years — as far back as 1998 in one case — despite a state law requiring annual inspections." Among the buildings with delinquent certificates are high-rise condos, hospitals and even government office buildings. State records reveal 2,235 accidents in Florida since 2000 involving elevators and escalators regulated by the state Bureau of Elevator Safety.

Library plagued by serious violations

Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle used the internal library database from Seattle's new $169 million downtown library to show it is plagued by some serious security concerns. Hundreds of patrons are kicked out for repeatedly getting drunk, sleeping or more serious matters, like threats, sexual misconduct and assaults. "Records show 491 "code of conduct violations" serious enough to get a patron kicked out. Since June of 2004, documents show 22 incidents of sexual misconduct or public nudity; 60 threats of violence, including loud, racially-motivated or obscene rants; 76 cases of harassment, disruptive behavior, leering, stalking. " Guards documented seven cases of physical assault and at least 13 illegal drug incidents. Patrons have repeatedly been expelled for sexually inappropriate behavior.

Demand for pardons creates backlog

Rich Cholodofsky of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review analyzed applications for pardons dating to 2000 and found that as the country's security concerns increased in the wake of 9/11, along with intensified background checks implemented in the late 1990s as a result of the Brady Bill, the number of people seeking to have records of criminal convictions cleared has grown significantly. "In the last five years there have been more than 2,900 applications for clemency filed with the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. The board has reviewed about 1,900 cases, and Pennsylvania governors have granted relief in about a third of those filings. " According to the analysis, the pardons board has recommended relief in just five of 11 cases involving inmates who were sentenced to life in prison. The demand for pardons in Pennsylvania in recent years has created a backlog of more than 820 cases.

Ex-adviser gets out of jail early, but victims get little

Brent Schrotenboer of The San Diego Union-Tribune used court records in an investigation of John W. Gillette Jr., a former financial adviser to high-profile athletes. He is four years removed from prison after fleecing those athletes out of more than $11 million. He serves as the chief operations officer at Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego. The investigation found Gillette was released three years after his sentencing because he cooperated in recovering more than $5 million, including turning over his 50 percent share of Seau's Mission Valley restaurant. "But after attorneys were paid and assets distributed through bankruptcy court, many victims said they received only a small fraction of what Gillette took, if anything." Records show Gillette's family lives in a three-bedroom house with mountain views (owned by his in-laws) and is financing a 2005 BMW SUV.

Federal loans granted for risky businesses

Ben Welsh of the Columbia Missourian used Small Business Administration loan records to show that over the past five years, the number of government-backed loans to Columbia's bars and restaurants has skyrocketed far beyond previous levels. "Between August 2000 and August 2005, 33 cents of every loan dollar the SBA backed in Columbia — more than $7.7 million of the $22.3 million total — went to finance bars and restaurants. That is more than double what was given out to Columbia bars and restaurants in the previous five years." The investigation found that Columbia surpasses a national trend. Last year the agency's inspector general found that restaurants received 9 percent of all government-backed loan dollars between 1996 and 2003, more than any other industry. And not only were restaurant loans the most common, they were also the most likely to go unpaid. (Editor's Note: In reporting this story, Welsh used SBA 7a data, which is available from IRE and NICAR.)

Classified satellite-related contracts on the rise

Michael Fabey of Defense News analyzed 3 million contract and modification records from 2000 through 2004 to show that U.S. agencies made more than 2,100 deals worth $1.2 billion for satellite telecommunications and related work. "U.S. federal agencies issued about 35,000 contracts and related modifications for general space-related work, worth about $40.2 billion, the analysis showed." Space work could include software, equipment or other components for any type of space work, including but not limited to satellites. The records showed that about 800 of the satellite-related contracts were for programs listed as "classified or non-discernible." The total number of all federal government contracts and associated modifications for classified programs show an increase from about 281,000 in 2001 to about 446,000 in 2003, an increase mirrored by space and satellite work.

High school coach recruits players, violates rules

Christine Willmsen and Michael Ko of The Seattle Times investigated the Chief Sealth High School girls basketball team's head coach, Ray Willis, and found that the coach had violated numerous amateur athletic rules. Willis and his assistants, Amos Walters and Laura Fuller, have recruited players for more than three years, six of whom helped the Seahawks win a state championship last year. The Chief Sealth coaches found these players by scouting gyms in the region, then enticing them with talk of starting positions and college scholarships. "In four cases, parents say the coaches provided bogus lease agreements and offered addresses in West Seattle so the girls could establish residency in the Seattle School District without moving from the suburbs." Other parents and players said Willis and assistant coach Fuller bought prospective players meals.

Taxpayer money goes to gifts, travel

Ryan J. Stanton of the Northwest Explorer, a weekly newspaper that covers the northern suburbs of the Tucson, Ariz., area, investigated how local officials are spending taxpayer money. For the five-part series, the paper reviewed town's travel and training expenses, bank statements and receipts. It found "Marana public officials have charged close to $200,000 on their town-issued credit cards in the last two and a half years" to pay for things such as expensive dinners, luxury hotel stays, tuxedo rentals, flowers and fruit baskets. Other stories look into town council retreats and finds officials spent thousands more than what three other municipalities of comparable size did for conferences and specialized training seminars last fiscal year.

Parking tickets dismissed without legitimate reasons

Phil Williams of WTVF-Nashville reviewed more than 136,000 parking tickets to show that almost 16,000 parking tickets were dismissed or, in court language, retired, for no apparent reason. In one instance, court records show that though the vehicles of employees at a downtown Walgreens had racked up well over 200 tickets, none of them were paid. Store manager Barbara Van Meter got hit with 57 parking tickets and two speeding tickets in two years, none of which was paid. " In some cases, notes of the Walgreens tickets indicated a judge dismissed them as "ROP" — request of prosecutor — or request of officer. " The investigation found that tickets were being taken care of for politicians, police employees, even court officials.

Official invests despite possible conflict of interest

Joni James of the St. Petersburg Times reviewed tax returns to show that Florida's elected insurance commissioner, Tom Gallagher, invested millions of dollars in insurance-related stocks in his last year on the post. "And as a member of the Cabinet in 2004, Chief Financial Officer Gallagher voted to approve a natural gas pipeline for an energy company whose stock he traded to the tune of more than $1-million before and after the vote." The investigation found that on the day Gallagher made the motion that AES Corp. of Virginia be permitted to lay pipeline under delicate coral reefs off Broward County, Gallagher held 1,000 shares in the company. The records also show that along the way, Gallagher has not been shy about buying and selling stocks whose interests overlap with his role near the top of state government. Also see: Follow up stories on Gallagher

School district loans are unreasonable burden on taxpayers

Jeffrey Gaunt and Emily Krone of the Daily Herald , outside Chicago, analyzed 206 suburban school district loans to show many taxpayers repay those loans at rates higher than they would on their homes. The investigation found that, despite federal measures that keep government rates low, the district agreed that taxpayers will pay back $6.03 billion for the $3.34 billion borrowed. "In the most costly example, taxpayers will repay $3.09 per dollar — or three times the amount borrowed." The Daily Herald analysis revealed that many districts agreed to interest rates higher than available, got cash bonuses from their lender for doing so and many agreed to pay compounded interest rates -sometimes on the higher rates. Also see the complete analysis and series

Maui's sand could be gone in five years

Ilima Loomis of The Maui News reports that Maui's sand is expected to run out. "The vast system of inland sand dunes that stretches across Wailuku has largely been covered by development, and what's left is being mined — about 318,000 tons of the stuff dug out and used each year, 70 percent of it shipped to Honolulu." At that rate, the last available sand on the island will be gone within five to seven years. Sand is a key ingredient in concrete, and a shortage will mean importing a substitute, increasing the cost of construction across the state. It's also the only material available that can be used in beach-restoration projects. Sand has been mined on Maui since before World War II, and for years it was excavated in limited amounts from beaches in the Paia area to produce lime at a nearby kiln.

Highway plan too costly to execute

Tim Darragh of The Morning Call investigated why the move to widen a local highway, Route 22, seemed highly unlikely, despite the backing of several powerful groups. "The widening plan has backers that include those who lobbied for and got construction of such landmark road projects as the completion of Route 33 from the Poconos south through the Lehigh Valley." The biggest hurdle to widening Route 22 is the project's enormous cost, which was estimated at $776 million in 2001, is already tens of millions of dollars more expensive because of inflation. The other problems inlude eminent domain, more pressing needs and a change in philosophy at the state Department of Transportation. The investigation also showed ways to improve the highway that would cost less and be completed sooner.

Expensive puppies seriously sick soon after purchase

A four-month investigation by Reporter Jeff Burnside and Producer Scott Zamost of WTVJ-South Florida revealed that puppies being purchased from a popular pet operation based in South Florida were seriously ill, with some even dying soon after they were bought. The investigation found 160 customers nationwide, most with sick dogs. "Some are described in veterinary records as suffering from "pneumonia," a "heart murmur," "massive fatal hemorrhaging," "collapsed lung," and being "unfit for sale."" The store selling these puppies, Wizard of Claws, contends it sells only the best dogs, which is why they sell for up to $10,000. The Humane Society of the United States sued Wizard of Claws after WTVJ's stories aired.

Problem officers responsible for using excessive force

Susan Sward, Bill Wallace and Elizabeth Fernandez, with contributions from Lois Jermyn, of the San Francisco Chronicle used city police logs to create a database tracking the use of force by officers, finding that, for years, the San Francisco Police Department has failed to control officers who repeatedly resort to force, hitting, choking, clubbing and pepper-spraying citizens at rates far higher than fellow officers who patrol the same streets. A core group of fewer than 100 officers account for most of the incidents, but the SFPD has never done what the paper did in tallying the reports, which are kept on paper spread around stations throughout the city. "The department lags far behind many other major cities in developing an effective system for identifying problem officers. And it has failed, over and over, to take steps to get these officers off the streets." According to the investigation, officers with questionable records are promoted to supervisory positions or assigned to train rookies, putting them in position to carry forward a culture that tolerates or rewards the use of force. The series' main page includes more information on how the story was reported.

NFL players dying young because of weight-related ailments

Thomas Hargrove of the Scripps Howard News Service tracked the deaths of 3,850 pro football players to show that athletes of the National Football League are dying young at an alarming rate and many of the players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight. The heaviest athletes are more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates. "Most of the 130 players born since 1955 who have died were among the heaviest athletes in sports history, according to the study. One-fifth died of heart diseases, and 77 were so overweight that doctors would have classified them as obese, the study found." Twenty years ago, it was rare for a player to weigh 300 pounds. But more than 500 players were listed at that weight or more on NFL training-camp rosters this summer.

Malpractice cases raise questions about hospital's care

Rob Perez of The Honolulu Advertiser investigated the Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii to show that a number of families are seeking compensation for what they allege was substandard care, in a series that looks at medical malpractice at Tripler. "The cases have generated questions about the overall quality of care provided at the landmark pink O'ahu hospital that serves as the major treatment facility for thousands of Hawai'i's military, their families, veterans and others. "The investigation found that the federal government has spent tens of millions of dollars over the past two decades to resolve about 170 cases among more than 600 filed in which patients or their families accused Tripler of shoddy care. The tab to taxpayers has totaled more than $60 million in court judgments, out-of-court settlements and resolution of medical malpractice claims. The government, for instance, has paid more than $14 million to resolve about 150 claims since 1985.

Denver code enforcement cases on the rise

Daniel J. Chacón of the Rocky Mountain News used local data to show that code-enforcement cases in Denver increased more than 12 percent between 2004 and 2005 and by more than 20 percent in five of the city's 11 council districts, according to data obtained under a Colorado Open Records Act request. "The number of total inspections, including those where no violation was found, nearly doubled from 26,303 in 2004 to 51,756 last year. " Denver has also implemented a new program which carries stiffer fines, and slaps property owners with a $150 fine for the first violation, $500 for the second and $999 for each one after that. Violations include everything from illegal dumping to running an auto repair shop on a residential lot. The two most frequent infractions are uncut lawns and junk cars.

Kansas City speeders plead to lower offenses

Michael Mansur of The Kansas City Star used computer-assisted analysis of court records to show the court repeatedly allows thousands of speeders and red-light runners to reduce dangerous moving violations to defective-equipment pleas. That means tickets for serious violations are pleaded down to offenses such as broken taillights, which means no points against a driver's record. The legal tactic — called "buying points" — is common in the metro area, but is spinning out of control in Kansas City, resulting in problem drivers continuing to speed, even when their licenses should be suspended or revoked. "Currently, a driver older than 21 who hires an attorney and agrees to pay a slightly higher fine can get two defective-equipment reductions in a calendar year. That allows some of the worst drivers to get as many as four in a 12-month period — such as two in December and two in January — without any questions. " One driver used the tactic six times in one year, the paper found, while 250 did it three times or more.

Florida law fails in treatment of sexual offenders

Jason Grotto of The Miami Herald analyzed more than 100,000 cases of sexual crimes, reviewed court cases, state records and documents and conducted dozens of interviews to show that seven years after the passage of the Jimmy Ryce Act, Florida's program for screening, confining and treating the worst sexual offenders is failing. The four-part series reveals that, while the state has spent millions placing 825 men at the Florida Civil Commitment Center, at least 600 offenders who were passed over by the screening process were later arrested for new sex crimes — many against children. "Even when offenders are placed at the center, more than 60 percent still receive no treatment because the Legislature has not fully funded the program and because a loophole in the law allows the men to refuse therapy." Meanwhile, hundreds of offenders have been freed from the facility without completing a comprehensive treatment program — including nearly 100 who didn't participate in a single hour of therapy.

Murderers go unpunished in Newark

Jonathan Schuppe and William Kleinknecht of The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger analyzed homicides in Essex County between 1998 and 2003 and found killers went unpunished more often than they went to prison. In the cases in which a defendant was convicted, more than a quarter led to prison sentences of 10 years or less. "Essex County is New Jersey's homicide capital. One in three of the state's killings occur in Newark and surrounding towns. But while taking a life is the most serious criminal offense on the books, police and prosecutors have struggled to put murderers behind bars. " The Star-Ledger, in reviewing the cases and interviewing police, prosecutors, lawyers, community leaders and others during the past six months, found a series of glaring deficiencies in the criminal justice system. The story includes a sidebar about how this story was investigated.

Food, tobacco giants share expertise

Patricia Callahan, Jeremy Manier and Delroy Alexander of the Chicago Tribune examined tobacco-lawsuit documents to show that America's largest foodmaker and its biggest cigarette company have pooled expertise in search of more alluring foods and cigarettes since the dawn of their corporate pairing two decades ago. "Documents show Northfield-based Kraft collaborated on flavor issues with some of the same Philip Morris brain researchers who probed what gives cigarettes their kick. None of those scientists was more controversial than Frank Gullotta, a former top Philip Morris researcher whose brain experiments suggested the company knew more than it claimed about cigarettes' addictive nature." The documents reveal Kraft and Philip Morris discussed investing jointly in brain scans to study how the brain processes tastes and smells. Food scientists even helped their tobacco counterparts make experimental cigarettes — working after-hours in a German coffee plant.

Charities exploit vulnerable elderly

Jon Burstein of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed more than 700 pages of court documents and sworn statements involving two companies, as well as more than 1,500 pages of financial records obtained by the Attorney General's Office to show a pattern of telemarketers getting money from senior citizens who seem confused or hearing-impaired. The Global Mindlink Foundation and its sister nonprofit organization, Select International Donors, took in more than $5.3 million since August 1999, but less than 2 percent went to charitable causes, according to federal tax returns and the groups' accounting records. "Instead, company officials were using the money for everything from a $2,885 stay at a Key West hotel to a $301 meal at a Boca Raton restaurant, records show."