Extra! Extra!

N.C. drinking water safety in doubt

In a three-part series, Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer shows the "state's regulation of drinking water reveals disregard for safety of private wells, weak regulation of public water systems and widespread problems with lead testing." The series includes an interactive map and a sidebar about how the state closely followed Stith's investigation and began responding to problems before the stories were published. "Stith, along with reporters Catherine Clabby and Wade Rawlins and database editor David Raynor, examined a stack of paper records 8 feet high and acquired databases from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health and Wake County. The reporters also interviewed more than 100 people."

U.S. planes have no defense against shoulder-fired missiles

Brian Ross, Jill Rackmill and Eric Longabardi report for ABC News that "experts say that shoulder-to-air missiles can be bought for only a few thousand dollars on the black market. But U.S. commercial aircraft still have no defense system against these portable missiles." Last November last year, an American Airlines pilot taking off from Los Angeles International Airport reported that a rocket might have been fired at his plane. "The federal government still has no definitive plan to protect U.S. commercial aircraft, even though two companies have developed systems that they affirm will defeat the missiles."

Nev. rural emergency services face challenges

Reporters Steve Timko, Jason Hidalgo and Jim Sloan of the Reno Gazette-Journal examine rural emergency services in Nevada. Timko used data from the Department of Transportation's Fatal Accident Reporting System to identify Nevada's deadliest roads. Other stories in the series look at ambulance response times — finding they are the worst in the country &mdash and the aging equipment used by EMS crews. (Editor's note: For those interested in doing similar stories using FARS data, it is available to journalists through the IRE and NICAR Database Library.)

Public records request frightens workers

Tamara Koehler of the Ventura County Star reports on the paper's public records audit showing that 40 percent of county government agencies failed to comply with requests. "Ventura Unified School District employees feared for their lives when a young man walked into the office, asked for public records and refused to give his name."

High salaries, free spending at N.Y. agency

Michelle Breidenbach of The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard looks into the "high salaries and free spending of the public's money at the New York Power Authority," the state's publicly owned power generator. "NYPA's six trustees oversee a $2.2 billion budget that accommodates the patronage and pork-barrel spending that come with a state public authority as well as the pampering that comes with a private business. As a state public authority, NYPA's policies, practices and profits are separate from the rest of New York state government." After the stories were published, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki directed the agency to review its policies and the Assembly Energy Committee launched an investigation.

Mortgage industry employs felons

Geoff Dutton of The Columbus Dispatch continues to follow the predatory lending business and practices in Ohio. He finds that "leaders of the brokers association have urged lawmakers to reject new proposals designed to crack down on predatory lending and increase state oversight. The mortgage industry, they argue, can police itself without new state regulations." But Dutton finds those leaders have employed felons and some of their businesses are scrutinized by regulators.

Builders, nonprofit have close ties

Reese Dunklin of The Dallas Morning News reports that "The low-income housing builders at the heart of the FBI's corruption investigation at City Hall created a nonprofit organization, stocked it with friends and political allies and used it to obtain more than $3 million in tax-free subsidies that earned their companies millions more in profit." The builders and the nonprofit failed to disclose their ties to the IRS and described the money as loans, "although a nonprofit official says there's no intention to repay."

IRE Award winners announced

Toxic dumping, public corruption investigations among winners
Investigative stories about deceit in Cleveland's public school district and an environmental disaster in New Jersey won the top prizes in the 2005 IRE awards, Investigative Reporters and Editors announced today. Those were among 15 prizes awarded by IRE. Other stories honored included a 17-year body of crime reporting that unmasked the killer in the 1963 murder of civil rights worker Medgar Evers, investigations into fraud and abuse in two federal agencies and stories documenting troubles with the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, IRE recognized one of the youngest journalists it has honored for work done primarily while in high school and, for the first time, gave a broadcasting award to a network not based in North America. The Korean Broadcasting System won a certificate for a report that prompted the South Korean government to ban ocean dumping. See full list of winners, finalists and judges' comments.

Federal fines go uncollected across the nation

Martha Mendoza and Christopher Sullivan of The Associated Press used federal records to show that the amount of unpaid federal fines has risen sharply in the past decade, in an investigation that examined federal financial penalty enforcement across the nation. Individuals and corporations regularly avoid large penalties for wrongdoing — sometimes through negotiations, sometimes because companies go bankrupt, sometimes because officials fail to keep close track of who owes what under a decentralized collection system. "The government is currently owed more than $35 billion in fines and other payments from criminal and in civil cases, according to Justice Department figures." This is enough to cover the annual budget of the Department of Homeland Security. The story includes a breakdown of how much is owed by state.

Car donations to charities thwarted by salvage companies

Dave Savini of WBBM-Chicago used a computer database of vehicle identification numbers to show criminals are cashing in on vehicles donated to charity, in a series that exposed how two unlicensed Illinois towing and salvage companies cheated nearly 200 charities nationwide. The companies were run by convicted felons. The investigation revealed how they ripped off 5,000 cars with an estimated street value of $2 million. "No one was monitoring how these private towers and salvage yards handled car donation money." The reports have lead to police raids, grand jury investigations and proposed legislation that would ban felons from operating as middlemen in the car donation industry. The new car donation bill would also require full disclosure of who profits from each donation and how much of the proceeds go to charity. "The car businesses would be required to report to the attorney general's office."

Highway patrol policy changed during recall

John Hill of The Sacramento Bee found that the California Highway Patrol repeatedly shut down signature gathering at Department of Motor Vehicle offices across the state in response to the petition drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis in the spring of 2003. The move reversed a long-standing CHP practice of allowing local offices to routinely grant permits for activities such as gathering signatures. "It ran counter to court precedent that government restrictions on free speech in public places must be narrow and serve a legitimate government interest like crowd control." The California Association of Highway Patrolmen contributed $150,000 to committees fighting the recall, and an additional $24,500 directly to Davis in the months leading up to the election. For two years during and after the recall, the CHP denied more than 100 applications to gather signatures or register voters at DMV offices.

Execs benefit from backdating of stock options

Charles Forelle and James Bandler of The Wall Street Journal analyzed grant dates and stock movements and identified several companies with wildly improbable option-grant patterns. "The analysis bolsters recent academic work suggesting that backdating was widespread, particularly from the start of the tech-stock boom in the 1990s through the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform act of 2002. If so, it was another way some executives enriched themselves during the boom at shareholders' expense. And because options grants are long-lived, some executives holding backdated grants from the late 1990s could still profit from them today." Read more about the methodology used. (Links to the articles on the WSJ site will be good for seven days for non-subscribers. The article is also available through Factiva or for purchase on the WSJ Web site.)

Restraining orders fail to offer protection

Monica Rhor of The Orange County Register surveyed all 58 California counties and found widespread discrepancies in how the state's restraining order laws are being enforced. The system has become a legal labyrinth in which rules aren't the same as reality, procedures differ from courthouse to courthouse, and violators often benefit more than victims. "Eleven counties, including Orange, require the person requesting a restraining order to give advance notice to the person from whom they are seeking protection. Such a warning can inflame an already combustible relationship, or help abusers avoid being served with the order." The investigation also found that tens of thousands of restraining orders issued throughout the state are invalid because they were never served. And no county has a mechanism for seizing guns or making sure they are surrendered as required by law. The flaws in the system have led to one tragic consequence after another as detailed in this two-part series.

Public records difficult to obtain

Abraham Hyatt and Leslie Griffy of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, Calif., found that cities throughout that county don't follow state law when it comes to public records requests. "Only one of the county's seven cities supplied both of the public documents that The Tribune sought. Reporters asked for a directory of city employees' work numbers and the city's contract with its police union. City staff and officials who did not provide the documents claimed they were not public records."

People with lower incomes risk more on lottery

Adam Bell and Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer analyzed four years of data from the South Carolina lottery to show that people with lower incomes spend a greater portion of their income on lottery games than more affluent players. The investigation found people earning less than $30,000 a year spent an estimated $627 per household annually, nearly triple the spending of those making more than $50,000. "In South Carolina, households with the same income levels in predominantly black neighborhoods generally spent more money than people in predominantly white neighborhoods." The paper analyzed ZIP code data in the Carolinas to estimate average household income spent on the lottery.

Dubious charities raise millions

Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register reviewed more than 10,000 pages of court records, financial reports and other documents and found that former associates of imprisoned charity telemarketing king Mitch Gold have raised more than $83 million in four years for dubious charities. Fundraisers and managers kept almost all the cash, leaving just 7 cents on the dollar for charity. "A typical Gold-style contract guarantees a charity a set amount or a fixed percentage of the take — seldom more than 15 percent and sometimes far less. " The investigation analyzed a GuideStar database of more than 150,000 charities, concluding that only about 500 sizeable charities spend most of their money on fundraising. The package includes a social network analysis diagram (done with UCINET) showing how dozens of charities and fundraisers are related to each other and to Gold.

Dam threats in Hawaii underassessed

Karen Blakeman, staff writer with The Honolulu Advertiser, used National Inventory of Dams data from IRE and NICAR for a story about the deadly failure of a privately owned dam on the Hawaii island of Kaua'i. Two bodies have been found and five others are missing. Blakeman reported that state safety inspections of dams across Hawaii are woefully behind schedule and the threats dams pose to people have been underassessed. "Federal records on dams in Hawai'i show very few have emergency action plans." (Editor's Note: IRE and NICAR offer the National Inventory of Dams to journalists.)

Donations from gambling interests rise in Kan.

Steve Painter and Brent D. Wistrom of The Wichita Eagle analyzed campaign reports and found gambling contributions to legislative campaigns over six years were up by more than 300 percent, while the same period saw no change in Kansas' gambling laws. Well-financed gambling interests are waging an increasingly expensive political war over where Kansans will spend their gambling dollars. "Collectively, major gambling interests have given more than $700,000 to House and Senate candidates since 2000 and $98,150 to candidates for statewide office, most of that to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius." Another $123,250 went to party committees that distribute money to candidates. The investigation found that the rapid rise in contributions could be fueled by increasing acceptance of legalized gambling, a supportive governor or close votes on expanded gambling in the Legislature in recent years.

LA Fire Department faces costly lawsuits

Dan Laidman and Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News used records from the City Attorney's Office to show that, despite a decade of efforts to end harassment and discrimination within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the agency still faces frequent costly lawsuits. The number has ebbed and flowed over the years, but rose sharply from three in 2002-03 to 13 in 2004-05. "While many cases are pending, liability payouts have already topped $1 million in the past five fiscal years. The Supreme Court has refused to hear the city's appeal in another Fire Department labor case that could leave Los Angeles on the hook for more than $2 million. " Late last month, a heterosexual male firefighter filed a claim against the department alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Between 2003 and 2005, the claim says, the 20-year veteran was abused by a supervisor who made sexually suggestive gestures and inappropriate remarks about the firefighter's wife, and threatened to fire him if he complained.

Code enforcement violations dismissed

Jeff Raymond of The Brownsville Herald examined five years of code enforcement violations — more than 11,000 records overall — to determine the number of cases municipal judges and prosecutors were dismissing and why. The investigation found a disproportionate number of animal-related violations but few cases involving junked homes, rusted appliances in front yards and other appearance-related infractions. "Municipal court reported 648 trials out of 380,615 cases filed from January 2000 through February 2006. More than 400 of the cases that went to trial were for non-parking traffic misdemeanors. One hundred thirty-six involved city ordinances."

Badges awarded to campaign contributers

Stuart Pfeifer and Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times investigated Gary Nalbandian, a seemingly political fundraiser in Southern California, and found band of donors have gotten badges and titles from law enforcement officials after raising tens of thousands of dollars. The granting of badges and titles to political supporters creates the appearance that they are rewards for donations. "Although the badges issued by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the San Bernardino County district attorney's office are not identical to those used by sworn officers, they bear similar stars or other symbols and official department names. " It is a misdemeanor in California to distribute badges to the public that are likely to be confused with real law enforcement badges. The donors and insiders who received the badges or identification have given more than $150,000 since 1997 to political campaigns.

Violence spikes in Chicago high schools

Rosalind Rossi, Mark J. Konkol and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated Chicago's public high schools that are troubled by incidents of violence. "Wells, Hyde Park and Clemente are among eight high schools that each received more than 150 students from the attendance areas of troubled schools now tapped for closure and eventual rebirth." Since they began admitting those students in fall 2004, all eight schools have posted an increase in reported violence that is at least twice as high as the average for similar high schools systemwide. The investigation found the number of reported violent incidents per month climbed from nearly three in the 2003-04 school year to almost 10 last year. When sizable numbers of students come from different neighborhoods and cross gang boundaries, it can be a catalyst for more violence. Across the nation, urban school districts are grappling with trying to fix ailing high schools.

Court-appointed lawyers abuse system

Gary L. Wright and Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer used jail records to show that North Carolina's system for paying appointed lawyers is vulnerable to financial errors and abuse. The investigation analyzed about 1,100 jail visits claimed by top-earning Charlotte lawyers and found more than 130 didn't appear in jail records. The newspaper also found that one high-earning Charlotte lawyer repeatedly double-billed for jail visits and another lawyer billed the state for more than 60 jail visits that sheriff's records don't confirm. The state does not require court-appointed lawyers to file timesheets detailing their work. Judges who are responsible for approving or cutting those fees say they rarely have enough time or information to scrutinize bills for abuse and mistakes.

Senator's money goes to gifts, meals

Herb Jackson of the North Jersey Media Group analyzed five years' worth of contribution and spending reports to show that, of the nearly $9.4 million Sen. Robert Menendez spent, less than one-quarter — or $2.2 million — went for expenses that most voters would consider actual campaigning, such as advertising, yard signs and bumper stickers. The $1.1 million spent on pollsters, media gurus, lawyers and other consultants was found to be only 35 percent of all expenditures. He spent more than $80,000 at a downtown Washington restaurant, in addition to hiring bands, renting halls and buying gifts and theater tickets for donors. "And the dinner tabs were just one of the expenses of what is essentially a small business whose revenues topped $3.4 million last year alone."

States make little use of provision to help hurricane victims

Jenni Bergal of The Center for Public Integrity reviewed health records to find that states have barely used $2 billion provided in an emergency bill passed by Congress to help low-income hurricane victims scattered across the country. "Any state that took in Katrina evacuees could tap into the money to offer cash to those who had at least one child and met certain income guidelines qualifying them as poor." But more than five months after the bill was signed into law, only 12 states — including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — have taken Congress up on its offer. Federal Emergency Management Agency figures show that at least 320,000 of the more than 1.6 million people registered with the agency have addresses outside of the three hurricane-ravaged states. Every state, from Wyoming to Maine, has taken in Katrina evacuees, according to FEMA statistics.

Program for disabled exploited

Jeff Kosseff, Bryan Denson and Les Zaitz of The Oregonian used hundreds of interviews, thousands of pages of documents and visits to more than a dozen charities in seven states to show that a program created to benefit Americans with severe disabilities is being exploited at the cost of the people it was supposed to help. The program was started so federal agencies could reserve contracts for small nonprofit workshops that hired epileptics, paraplegics and the mentally retarded to make simple products such as mousetraps, blackboards and first-aid kits, thus helping the disabled gain a paycheck. "More than three decades later, the nonprofits increasingly are hiring workers who are mildly disabled, if at all, with aching backs, substance-abuse problems and other maladies common in the American workplace." This new class of federally subsidized worker is getting the highest-paid jobs, while many of the most severely disabled toil for pennies an hour. Their bosses are benefiting handsomely, with at least a dozen earning $350,000 or more a year, and average pay and benefits for some top executives have grown more than three times faster than their workers' pay.

Md. churches violate law with political donations

John Fritze of The (Baltimore) Sun reviewed candidate finance reports to show that more than 100 churches in Maryland — including dozens in Baltimore — have made campaign contributions to political candidates in recent years, an act that is prohibited by federal tax law and blurs the line between politics and the pulpit. Some have given repeatedly, such as the Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore, which made a dozen campaign donations between 2000 and 2004 that add up to more than $3,000. Statewide, at least 115 churches have given to about 40 candidates since 2000, and while the donations are generally small and sporadic, they flout Internal Revenue Service regulations that prohibit churches from advocating for specific political candidates. "Churches that give to candidates can face revocation of their tax-exempt status or a 10 percent excise tax on the contributions, according to the IRS." A variety of candidates from both parties — including many in top leadership positions — have taken money from churches in recent years.

Tenn. Medicaid pays for most expensive transportation

Nancy Amons of WSMV-Nashville investigated Tennessee's TennCare (Medicaid) rides program and found that millions of dollars may have been wasted. The investigation found the program assigning patient trips to the most expensive companies, even though that is against its own regulations. "Taxpayers have been overpaying by 40% or more for some trips simply because TennCare used companies that charged a high rate per mile instead of companies that charged less." For instance, Sunshine Transportation, one of the biggest providers in the state, was overlooked in favor of a competitor who charged 50 cents more per mile. The state is revamping the program and putting the brakes on a system they admit is out of control.

N.J. Megan's Law deemed one of nation's weakest

A team or reporters and editors with the Gannett New Jersey newspapers and Gannett News Service examine loopholes in Megan's Law in a three-part series. The investigation found that New Jersey's law stands as one of the weakest in the nation in immediately warning residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. "In New Jersey, it can take prosecutors and judges months to notify people if a notorious rapist has moved next door — if they warn you at all. " Monmouth and Ocean counties were home to 1,220 registered sex offenders in January, according to State Police information. The names and addresses of just 253 were posted on the state's Megan's Law Web site; most of the rest are known only to law enforcement. Because of the growing number of residency restrictions, an unknown number of sex offenders may be forced from their homes this year, thus making them shift from inner-city enclaves to suburban neighborhoods. The team who worked on this project includes James W. Prado Roberts, Robert Benincasa, Michelle Sahn, Alan Guenther, Abbott Koloff, Arielle Levin Becker, Ledyard King, Paul D'Ambrosio and Laura Rehrmann.

County fails to monitor AIDS services program

Norberto Santana Jr. and Tony Saavedra of The Orange County Register used data crunching, document digging and old-fashioned gumshoe work to reveal how Orange County bungled its fledgling AIDS program for African-Americans. The investigation found what the county hadn't bothered to look for when hiring an AIDS service provider. " Pastor Aubrey Keys, the person they put in charge had a long history of personal financial troubles calling into question his ability to ably manage federal funds." The reporters audited the county's books and also found Keys, who had disappeared when the AIDS funding ran out. He was unrepentent, as was the county. The story uses a local example to show how AIDS funding nationwide is being put in jeopardy by rogue programs and regulators who are missing in action.

RCFP finds cases disappear into hidden dockets

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press' quarterly magazine, The News Media & the Law, reports "more than 450 cases in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., were completely hidden from the public through the use of a hidden docketing system that two federal appeals courts have declared unconstitutional." The report, written by Reporters Committee Journalism Fellow Kirsten B. Mitchell and Legal Fellow Susan Burgess, includes a chart, a how-they-did-it sidebar and a glimpse into secret docketing in a Florida case.

Federal cases shrouded in secrecy

Michael J. Sniffen and John Solomon of the Associated Press used court records to show that despite the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of public trials, nearly all records are being kept secret for more than 5,000 defendants who completed their journey through the federal courts over the past three years. The investigation found that most of these defendants are cooperating government witnesses, but the secrecy surrounding their records prevents the public from knowing details of their plea bargains with the government. "Most of these defendants are involved in drug gangs, though lately a very small number come from terrorism cases." Some of these cooperating witnesses include multiple murderers and drug dealers but the public cannot learn whether their testimony won them drastically reduced prison sentences or even freedom.

Data shows most dangerous highways in NY, NJ

Brendan Keefe of WCBS-New York investigated highways in New York and New Jersey to determine which were the most dangerous ones. "In 2004, there were 21 fatalities on Interstate 80, 35 on the New Jersey Turnpike and 42 on the Garden State Parkway." New York's worst roads for highway deaths: Interstate 87 — 17 dead. State Route 5, upstate — 24 dead, and on Long Island, Sunrise Highway — 22 dead. Statistically, some roads appeared to be more dangerous than others. But those same statistics show that in three out of four crashes, the human element is the primary cause. (Editor's note: Megan Means of the IRE and NICAR Database Library assisted with the data analysis for this story.)

Retrofits offer limited earthquake protection

Thomas Peele and Jessica Guynn of Contra Costa Times found that despite houses being retrofitted to keep them safe during an earthquake, less than a third of the houses inspected would survive a major earthquake. In an investigation of 35 retrofitted houses, the newspaper found that in 24 of the 35 homes , residents might have had a false sense of security about earthquake protection. "Scientists predict a magnitude 6.7 earthquake is likely to strike the Bay Area before 2032. Yet state and local building codes don't require specific standards for a safe voluntary seismic retrofit of a home." The investigation also found that in most cases, nails were either too small, which can leave connections weak, or too big, which can split critical wood blocks and that shear walls were made of misshapen pieces, or "quilt-works," of plywood rather than the full-size sheets needed to effectively transfer earthquake forces.

Former narcotics officers sick, dying

Producer Nishi Gupta and reporter Debbie Dujanovic of KSL-Salt Lake City follow up on a series of reports investigating the rate of disease and death in former narcotics officers who were exposed to chemicals in the meth labs they raided. In a recent follow-up report they document a total of 84 officers exposed to chemicals inside meth labs who are sick or have died. After these stories aired, the Utah legislature passed a bill that funds a two-year study to look into a connection between meth labs and officer health. They "discovered 24 of the 42 are suffering with chronic health problems or have died. Ten under the age of 50 have or have had cancer. That's 177 times the rate of cancer for that age group." The initial series of reports, titled "Something Killing Cops," includes the initial piece, a look at what research groups and experts say, and a report on the financial stress these illnesses pose.

Wash. court records improperly sealed

Ken Armstrong, Justin Mayo and Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times used court records to show that since 1990, at least 420 civil suits have been sealed in King County, Wa. "These sealed records hold secrets of potential dangers in our medicine cabinets and refrigerators; of molesters in our day-care centers, schools and churches; of unethical lawyers, negligent doctors, dangerous dentists; of missteps by local and state agencies; of misconduct by publicly traded companies into which people sink their savings." The investigation found that at least 97 percent of the judges' sealing orders disregard rules set down by the Washington Supreme Court in the 1980s. Judges and commissioners have sealed at least 46 cases where a public institution is a party, 58 cases where a fellow lawyer is a party, usually as a defendant and sealed cases where the person being sued was a licensed professional — for example, a doctor, psychologist or counselor — who was subsequently disciplined by the state. The package includes a sidebar about how they did the reporting and the CAR techniques used.

Unpaid parking tickets and broken fire hydrants in Philly

Two recent investigations by Jim Osman of KYW-Philadelphia uncovered hundreds of broken fire hydrants, while hundreds of millions of dollars are waiting to be collected from parking ticket deadbeats. Many hydrants were out of service, in some cases, for years. Some of the busted hydrants are next to buildings that house children, the sick and the elderly. "In Philadelphia, years of city records obtained by KYW show 25 percent of the cities almost 350 broken fire hydrants have been busted for six months or longer and still were not repaired. " In a separate report, Osman used city records to show that about $400 million have not been collected from parking ticket deadbeats who have ignored the law for years. "If collected, the total amount of unpaid parking tickets in the Delaware Valley would pay for five-thousand additional state troopers for one year or just as many teachers or could buy almost 800 new fire trucks."

Juvenile crimes treated harshly in Colorado

Miles Moffeit and Kevin Simpson of The Denver Post found Colorado has one of the harshest systems in the country for handling juveniles in the adult criminal justice system, in a four-part series looking at teen crimes. Prosecutors, wielding broad discretionary powers found in only 14 other states, convicted kids in 1,244 cases since 1998. "Lawmakers equipped prosecutors to put increasing numbers of teens on a path to prison while slashing juvenile programs geared toward rehabilitation." The investigation found that between 2001 and 2005, funding for state juvenile justice programs was cut by nearly $30 million. The paper's reporting restarted an investigation into a murder allegedly committed by a 14-year-old boy.

States progress in reform of lobbying laws

Leah Rush and David Jimenez of The Center for Public Integrity report that 24 states have worked to strengthen or improve electronic disclosure systems since the Center's 2003 report, "Hired Guns." Meanwhile, federal lobbying disclosure laws have not changed in the past eight years. Political scandals, in many cases, were the catalyst for changes in state lobbying laws. The Center "evaluated the strength of lobbying disclosure laws nationwide found the federal law to be weaker than those of 47 of the 50 states."

County officials surf Internet during public meetings

Garrett Therolf and Matthew Waite of St. Petersburg Times used Internet records to show that three Pasco commissioners visited numerous Web sites during commission meetings over the past three years. The investigation found personal use of county computers has gotten rank-and-file county employees fired. "Like many other workplaces, the county uses software to track employees suspected of misusing their computers, and has fired people for it." The investigation also found that in Pasco, rules that prohibit county employees from misusing the Web do not apply to the commissioners. No state law regulates county commissioners' Web use; if there were, public officials could be punished for using the Web with "wrongful intent."

Booming housing industry slows in South Fla.

Matthew Haggman, Lisa Arthur and Tim Henderson of The Miami Herald analyzed home sales over the past five years and found South Florida has gone through the most explosive housing boom in its history. "The land rush has transformed just about every corner and corridor of the region, sending prices skyward since 2000 — more than 150 percent in Pompano Beach, more than 200 percent in Hallandale Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, and 250 percent in North Bay Village. " But it is predicted that South Florida's 5-year run of annual price jumps of anywhere from 12 percent to more than 20 percent is ending. Prices have wobbled in recent months, with sellers lowering their expectations. Houses are sitting longer on the market — the average time needed to sell a single-family home in Broward County has jumped from 34 days six months ago to 53 days.

Lack of tough measures result in deaths

Gregg Jones and Doug Swanson of The Dallas Morning News use a fatal 2004 truck accident near Dallas to illustrate many of the problems in the trucking industry. Miroslaw Jozwiak, a Polish immigrant, plowed the commercial truck he was driving into incoming traffic in 2004, killing 10 people, including three children. The investigation found that since interstate shipping was deregulated in the 1980s, the number of trucking and bus companies has soared from 230,000 in 1990 to more than 677,000 in 2004. "Competition among these companies has transformed the trucking industry into a magnet for immigrants, felons and others with poor employment prospects. It has also produced punishing conditions for truckers, many of whom are paid by the mile. " The political clout of the trucking lobby and of big retailers has helped block tougher laws to police the business. As a result, industry experts and watchdog groups say, untold legions of truckers work unsafe hours, or operate faulty equipment that inspectors fail to curb, or continue driving despite numerous traffic violations, or wipe out innocent people who try to share the road.

Tax delinquents still get public funding

Mark Greenblatt of KHOU-Houston used tax records to show that in Houston, though some local landlords haven't paid their property taxes in years, the government vault is still open to them. "Despite owing the government money, these property owners are still getting millions of dollars in public funding." For instance, the investigation found that in Houston and Harris County, a property owned by UCE Real Estate owed more than $5,000 in taxes dating back 10 years, and yet they received more than $100,000 in government funds. There were about 70 landlords who still owed the government tax money.