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Property tax deliquency costs county

The Dallas Morning News investigated the widespread property tax delinquency that plagues Texas. Reporters Kevin Krause and Molly Motley-Blythe attacked the problem from all angles, including which types of organizations are likely not to pay taxes, what sorts of excuses they use, and how the delinquency affects tax-run programs and other tax payers. Furthermore, the investigation reveals that some organizations still receive government funds, even though they've fallen behind on their property taxes.

A glimpse into the counterfeit trade

This series by The Columbus Dispatch delved into the origins of fake goods that are so common throughout the U.S. The paper sent reporter Jeffrey Sheban and photographer Jeff Hinckley to China, Hong-Kong, Taiwan and Thailand to trace the path that brings counterfeit goods from Asia into the U.S. The series covers how fakes are made, how they find their way to the U.S. and how some companies are trying to fight them.

"13 Seconds in August" details bridge collapes

The Star Tribune spent months reconstructing the locations and identities of the more than 150 people who were on the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis when it collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1. With the help of an aerial photo, an interactive Flash graphic titled "13 Seconds in August" offers the most comprehensive archive of victims' stories (including video, audio, still photos and text) accessible by clicking on individual vehicles in the photo. The Star Tribune has encouraged readers to comment as well as submit additional information to flesh out the story of the bridge collapse.

Some Houston banks more prone to ATM robberies

This investigation by KHOU-Houston used crime data to map the locations of ATM robberies. The analysis showed that some bank branches seem to be hot spots for robberies. Reporter Jeremy Rogalski spoke with police about why some areas are more vulnerable than others and how consumers can protect themselves from being robbed at an ATM.

The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism assisted in the data analysis for this story.

Dallas property values derived from small sampling of sales

Paul Adrian of KDFW-Dallas/Ft. Worth investigated disparities in property taxes set by the Dallas Central Appraisal District. Fox 4 learned that values for neighborhoods are set by home sale data reflecting an average of 3 percent of the properties, while assessors said that 10 percent or more would be ideal. A database of appraisals includes information on the property that was used to set the valuation.

The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, helped with the data analysis and mapping for this story.

Inside the Seminoles' ascension from poverty to profit

The last three decades have seen the Seminole Tribe of Florida ascend from extreme poverty to substantial wealth thanks to their lucrative Indian gaming endeavors. A South Florida Sun-Sentinel investigation found that, while this wealth is shared throughout the tribe, a "a handful of tribal leaders have especially benefited, steering millions of the tribe's money and business to themselves, their families and their friends." As a sovereign nation, the Seminole's are not obligated to open their records, but the Sun-Sentinel obtained thousands of pages of documents and conducted extensive interviews providing a rare glimpse inside the tribe.

Consumers unknowingly exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals

Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed more than 250 scientific studies and examined thousands of pages of regulatory documents for their investigation detailing the failure of the federal government to regulate chemicals known as endocrine disruptors. The Environmental Protection Agency promised a decade ago to screen 15,000 chemicals, yet this is still not being done. Consumers are unknowingly exposed to these potentially hazardous compounds in the contents and packaging of countless everyday products.

Plenty of holes in drug screening for college athletes

A survey by The Salt Lake Tribune of Division 1-A schools exposed extreme differences in how drug-testing programs are administered from school to school. Through FOIA requests, The Tribune "requested detailed information on student-athlete drug testing programs administered by the schools themselves, separate from the NCAA." Findings show that broken systems allow students to abuse performance-enhancing drugs with little risk of being caught. The data gathered in the survey is available online.

Home Sweet Meth Home

In a three-part investigative series, Keli Rabon of WLOX in Biloxi, Miss., revealed that Families may not know that their home used to serve as meth labs. State laws do not require disclosure of a property's history, and standards do not exist to adequately clean up the property after the labs are dismantled. Residue from hazardous chemicals remain throughout the homes.

Police cruisers involved in hundreds of accidents in Massachusetts

An investigation by Maggie Mulvihill and Joe Bergantino of WBZ-Boston shows that Massachusetts state troopers are causing numerous accidents on those same roads they're monitoring. Internal police data revealed that troopers have caused "nearly 500 crashes in their own cruisers in the past seven years." Many troopers investigate their own accidents excusing themselves of fault 55 percent of the time. The accidents have cost taxpayers $2 million in settlements and repairs.

Broken water meters costly in Atlanta

Jeremy Redmond of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a large number of Atlanta-area residents and businesses have received outrageous water bills because of broken meters that the city has not fixed, even after multiple complaints. Atlanta entered into a new contract with a private company to repair and update all meters, but the company is not required to fix broken meters first. To verify the city's claims that meters are being fixed, the newspaper requested copies of monthly reports on the contractor's performance and meters that cannot be read or located, but the city has not yet provided the records.

Mysterious death of disabled resident leads to homicide investigation

An investigation by Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle has led to a homicide investigation into the death of a resident of Rainier School, a state facility for the disabled. KIRO obtained records showing that resident Peter Bohnke suffered a broken neck in August, but his death three weeks later was classified as natural and attributed to respiratory problems related to pneumonia. The death investigation was reopened after a whistleblower raised allegations of abuses by staff. Earlier KIRO stories about abuses at Rainer School have led to the arrest of three employees.

No-proof loans fuel foreclosure problems

Dale Kasler, Phillip Reese and Jim Wasserman of The Sacramento Bee examined the impact of stated-income loans in the wave of subprime loans devastating the area's housing market. Analysis of "61,000 Sacramento-area mortgages over two years reveals striking discrepancies — gaps as high as 25 percent — between what homebuyers earned and what was listed on their loan applications." They also found higher gaps in lower income neighborhoods and aggressive use of stated-income loans, which do not require documentation of the borrower's income, in the late phase of the housing boom.

New York's political "odd couple"

A Newsday investigation delves into the long history between former New York City Mayor and current GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, and New York State democratic senator Chuck Schumer. The connections, which benefited both men politically, span everything from Giuliani's appointment of Schumer's wife to his mayoral cabinet, to the two politicians' collaboration on the 1994 crime bill. Reporter Tom Brune also looked at campaign finance data and found that Schumer was receiving donations from some powerful New York Republicans.

Haven Healthcare riddled with problems

Lisa Chedekel and Lynne Touhy of the Hartford Courant exposed the patient care issues and financial troubles at Haven Healthcare, one of Connecticut's largest nursing home chains. The reporters utilized Medicare data and Connecticut Department of Public Health data to uncover patient care problems. The investigation also revealed that the chain's CEO funneled corporate resources into a country music record label he owns. The series prompted the government to intervene at facilities run by the company, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

State data reveal high veteran suicide rates

A five-month investigation by Armen Keteyian of CBS News uncovered a startling suicide rate for veterans. Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs keep accurate numbers on veteran suicide rates. CBS News requested suicide data from all 50 states dating back to 1995, and 45 states provided the information. In 2005, "there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week, in just one year." Among veterans 20 to 24 years of age, the suicide rate was two to four times greater than non-veterans of the same age.

Death rates rise at Kabul maternity hospital supported by U.S. training

Maternal and infant death rates spiked at a major Kabul maternity hospital that was promoted as a model of U.S. medical training in Afghanistan. Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals that "the rate of normal-sized babies dying in labor and delivery at Rabia Balkhi jumped 67 percent last year." The statistics, including death rates from C-sections, raised concern at U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The same U.S.-funded healthcare program also spent $1.3 million on a no-bid contract for LeapFrog talking books "The idea was to teach illiterate Afghan women about hygiene, prenatal care, immunizations and nutrition from talking picture books popular with U.S. children." Documents from the CDC, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson are posted online.

Energy devices sell snake oil technology

Michael Berens and Christine Willmsen examine the global behind fraudulent medical devices that "claim to cure cancer, reduce cholesterol, even eliminate AIDS. Their operators say these 'energy medicine' devices work by transmitting radio frequencies or electromagnetic waves through the body, identifying problems, then 'zapping' them. Their claims are a fraud. The Seattle Timeshas found that thousands of these unproven devices &emdash; many of them illegal or dangerous &emdash; are used in hundreds of venues nationwide."

D.C. property tax refund fraud

In a Washington Post analysis of Washington D.C. city records, Dan Keating and Carol D. Loennig report that seven years' worth of fraudulent property tax funds have cost the District $31.7 million. On Nov. 7, the former manager of property tax refunds was arrested and charged for the refund fraud, along with five others. Federal authorities reported $20 million in fraudulent payments, but The Post analysis found more fraudulent refunds than had been publicly reported.

Young hunters twice as likely to cause accidents in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Ben Poston analyzed hunting accident records kept by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and found that in the past five years, hunters 21 and younger were more than twice as likely to cause accidents than all other hunters. The analysis also found that deer drives — "a method in which a small group of 'drivers' systematically cover an area to flush deer in a predetermined direction as 'standers' shoot at the scurrying animals" — remain a dangerous method of hunting, accounting for more than half of all deer-hunting accidents since the 1999 season.

Sex offenders not deterred by residency laws

Lisa Fletcher of KNXV-Phoenix mapped "level 3" sex offenders — considered the most dangerous and most likely to re-offend. Data analysis located 123 offenders living within 1000 ft. of schools and daycares in Maricopa County in violation of residency laws. One expert, Dr. Tom Selby, a psychologist who specializes in work with sex offenders, suggest these laws only provide a false sense of security. "In terms of it having any significant impact on reduction of sex offenses, research in general says that residency laws have no impact on recidivism rates," he said.

The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis.

Investigation examines how dentists maximize Medicaid payments

A five-month investigation by Roberta Baskin of WJLV in Washington, D.C.,"reveals that children on Medicaid who visit two Washington area clinics are suffering pain for profit." Former staffers and patients of the Small Smiles clinics, which are among the few dental practices serving children on Medicaid, allege that dentists routinely put children in restraints during exams, separated them from parents, and gave staff bonuses for upgrading procedures, such as crowns or baby root canals instead of fillings, to get more money from Medicaid. A Colorado-based company called FORBA manages 63 Small Smiles clinics nationwide.

Double Identity

In a three-month investigation, WVTJ-Miami investigative producer Scott Zamost and reporter Jeff Burnside uncovered the South Florida man who had used a woman's Social Security number for 16 years. They traced him to a local Chevrolet dealership, where he worked as the director of finance. Authorities said the woman was a victim of a growing new form of crime called "synthetic identity theft" &emdash; someone steals an identity but doesn't ruin the victim's credit rating so abuses are harder to flag. In the wake of the NBC 6 investigation, the U.S. Secret Service launched its own probe.

Some Boy Scouts leaders earn six-figure salaries

Lee Davidson of the (Salt Lake City) Deseret Morning News analyzed nearly 300 tax returns, known as IRS Form 990, filed by tax-exempt organization and found that Boy Scouts both in Utah and across the U.S. tend to pay their top executives significantly more than do other nonprofit groups that serve youths. It's a topic of particular interest in Utah, which is home to some of the largest Boy Scouts councils in the country in part because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes scouting part of its youth activity program.

Scam hits struggling homeowners

A mortgage scam has deceived homeowners in 27 states, including at least 17 in New Jersey. Jason Method of the (Neptune, N.J.) Asbury Park Press investigated the fraud, in which a company contacted homeowners who had been struggling to make their payments. The company promised them a deal: An investor would temporarily buy they property while the homeowners paid rent to live in their own house and bought the property back within two years. But larger loans were taken out on the properties using the names of unsuspecting "straw buyers," third-party investors who were paid to lend their credit scores to help the struggling homeowners.

Convicted killers in Texas receive probation

After a Texas man convicted of shooting an unarmed prostitute received probation, Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin of The Dallas Morning News decided to see whether his sentence was a fluke or representative of a larger trend. They analyzed thousands of government records, some of which came from confidential criminal files and interviewed more than 200 people, including police, attorneys, victims’ families and the killers themselves. The reporters found that in Dallas County, more than twice as many murderers get probation as go to death row.

Investigative journalism challenged in China

The Washington Post's Edward Cody reports on the case of Pang Jiaoming, a reporter in China who lost his job in the wake of publishing investigative stories "reporting that substandard coal ash was being used in construction of a showcase railroad, the $12 billion high-speed line running 500 miles." The Post says that due to a pair of stories on the ash situation, "The Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department and the official All-China Journalists Association issued a directive ordering Pang's employer, the China Economic Times, not only to fire him, but also to 'reinforce the Marxist ideological education of its journalists.'"

More mayhem in the Meadowlands

In an ongoing investigation, Jeff Pillets of The Record in Bergen County, N.J., uncovered how a taxpayer-supported plan to reclaim the North Jersey Meadowlands instead reopened the infamous garbage dumps to millions of cubic yards of contaminated waste. A review of some 10,000 pages of state documents revealed that the site's developers won a string of state government concessions that stripped down or eliminated key environmental safeguards. At the same time, those developers were makings millions in tipping fees for the contaminated waste being brought to the site as a "cap" for the old landfills. Recent stories in the series also trace the political ties behind the deal and the fallout for politicians who initially supported the development.

Tennessee gun permits mapped

WBIR-Knoxville reporter John Becker and producer Jake Jost looked at gun permit holders around the state, from pockets outside of Memphis where up to 11 percent of residents have a permit, to a rural area where six percent of residents own guns. Data analysis and mapping suggested a broad profile of gun owners: "They tend to live in rural areas. If they are anything like the typical person in their area, the numbers suggest they are upper middle-class, white, and own their own homes. They have a family, and the household makes between $50,000 and $150,000 each year."

Foreclosures: Living in the zone

KSHB's Keith King reported on foreclosure rates in and around Kansas City. Analyzing data from RealtyTrac.com, King mapped all the foreclosures between June 2006 and July 2007 to see what neighborhoods were impacted the most. Foreclosures affected more residents on the Missouri side of the metro area, where there is no court oversight of foreclosures, compared to neighborhoods in Kansas. A searchable database lists foreclosures in the greater Kansas City area through September 2007.The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis for this story.

Chicago transit pension fund in trouble

Stacy Warden of the Chi-town Daily News investigated questionable policies in the Chicago Transportation Authority's pension fund, raising questions about CTA's claim that state funding policies had caused its current financial crisis. "Taking the first steps toward repairing the agency's pension fund, along with paying rapidly increasing employee wages and health care costs, will cost the CTA $101.4 million this year, accounting for 92 percent of the CTA budget gap. In 1994 the CTA pension fund was found to be robust enough to allow for reduced contributions, but a combination of reduced revenues, early retirement benefits and some of the highest wages in country have strained the system.

"Free offers" lead to credit card charges

Anna Werner of KPIX-San Francisco investigated complaints about Webloyalty Incorporated. People shopping online were unwittingly enrolled in WLI Reservation Rewards and its $9 monthly credit card charge. The KPIX investigation found "reports of thousands of online shoppers complaining about the same small monthly charges from 'WLI Reservation Rewards' on their credit cards, after they made purchases from well-known websites, including Priceline.com, Hotels.com, Justflowers.com, Petco.com, Classmates.com and others." Customers who said yes to "free offers" after visiting those sites were actually giving their consent to let the current site transfer the shopper's credit card information to Weblolyalty.

Shelter animals destroyed by "heart shot"

WSMV-Nashville's I-Team exposed a veterinarian who used inhumane methods to euthanize shelter dogs and cats. Video showed "dogs were brought in by trustees from the local jail, pulled up and lethally injected right into the heart with no sedation and were dead within minutes," Jeremy Finley reports. Death by direct cardiac injection, or "heart shot," is considered a last resort, but it was widely used by a county-contracted vet who earned $9 per animal. The investigation has prompted action by the county and the state.

No-Fly Fiasco

Deborah Sherman of KUSA-Denver looked into U.S. government's No-Fly List and found thousands of innocent travelers who have trouble getting on airplanes nationwide because they're misidentified as terrorists. While people snagged by false matches are forced to arrive hours early at airports to be cleared, a new government report found terrorists on the list are still getting on airplanes. Sherman found that a new program to fix those problems, called Secure Flight, has cost taxpayers $200 million so far and may leave participating passengers vulnerable to identity theft.

Sex offenders clustered near school bus stops

An investigation by WTEV-Jacksonville, Fla. found "more than 500 sex offenders and predators living within two blocks of local bus stops," according to Celine McArthur. Certain sex offenders are barred from living within 1,000 feet of bus stops, but there are so many bus stops that enforcing the rule would place most of the city off-limits. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis and mapping.

Houston TV report prompts more toy recalls

KHOU-Houston's Chris Henao and Mark Greenblatt discovered more toys made with lead paint or vinyl, spurring companies such as Toys R' Us, Walmart, Target, Marvel, and others to enact national recalls or pull products from shelves. One recall included 16,000 pieces in the Toys R' Us Elite Operations line. Over a period of weeks, Henao and an expert tested more than 100 toys and came up with 9 products containing high levels of lead.

Drug-testing loopholes a national problem

An investigation by Jeff Ballion of KMSP-Minneapolis earlier this year exposed drug-testing loopholes that allow abusers to stay behind the wheel of commercial trucks. Their report prompted an investigation by the Government Accountability Office. The results of the GAO report were the focus of a congressional hearing this week. The study found that these loopholes in drug testing are a nationwide problem.

Whistle-blowers punished by system meant to protect them

A collaborative six-month investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and Salon.com details the failings of whistleblower courts, which are intended to protect employees who speak out against corruption and abuses in government agencies. Instead, this forum is used to punish those who speak out for the public good. The investigation "found that federal whistle-blowers almost never receive legal protection after they take action. Instead, they often face agency managers and White House appointees intent upon silencing them rather than addressing the problems they raise...At whistleblower court, employees lose nearly 97 percent of the time."

Felons issued hunting licenses in Wisconsin

Analyzing state data on hunting licenses, Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that dozens of convicted felons in Wisconsin were issued gun-deer hunting licenses last year despite a state law that bans them for life from possessing firearms. Felons with armed robbery, rape and weapons convictions all bought gun-deer licenses in Wisconsin in 2006, the analysis shows.

The Mercury Connection

Hundreds of miles of South Carolina rivers are tainted with mercury, and the state warns people not to eat fish caught in some of these waterways. But no one had checked to see if the mercury was harming humans until The Post and Courier in Charleston had tests conducted on people who eat the fish as part of an investigative series on mercury pollution. Tony Bartelme and Doug Pardue report that nearly half of the people tested had mercury levels above the amount considered safe.