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Business June 13, 2008 Pentagon's logistics concerns mean profit for transportation companies Air freight companies are profiting from the war as the Pentagon increases its investment in logistics, reports Michael Fabey for Air Cargo World. "Contracts and contract modifications for companies flying cargo and passengers to the war zones in 2006 and 2007 totaled about $5.6 billion, according to an Air Cargo World analysis of data." Data for this story was provided by NICAR. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 12, 2008 Race track deal emerged at great cost to taxpayers A Charlotte Observer investigation by Adam Bell revealed what happened behind the scenes after a race track owner threatened to move his speedway following a dispute with a community over plans to add a drag strip there. The billionaire owner landed $80 million in taxpayer incentives in exchange for staying in town. A review of more than 1,100 pages of previously confidential documents obtained under the NC Open Records Act, and interviews with more than two dozen people, detailed the lengths to which bickering local officials went to keep the track, including a last-minute decision that cost taxpayers an extra $20 million. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Litigation finance companies skirt usury laws for great profit Billy Shields of the Daily Business Review exposed the growing business of litigation finance. These companies offer plaintiffs an advance on pending legal settlements, but at great cost. "The debate over litigation finance company begins over whether they are making a loan or investing in cases. Because courts have ruled their advances are not loans, the companies can charge virtually any percentage of a settlement or verdict in exchange for a cash advance without violating usury laws." Usury laws limit the amount of interest that can be charged on a loan, but to not apply to the litigation finance advances. Currently, these finance companies are almost entirely unregulated, leaving litigants vulnerable to excessive fees and charges. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 08, 2008 Big retailer profited from state office supply contract California's state office supply contract was meant to benefit the small businesses while saving the state money, but an investigation by Kimberly Kindy of The San Jose Mercury News shows that the contract actually lined the pockets the big box retailer Office Depot. In 2007, the state's bill for office supplies ran over $32 million. "As for the savings, a Mercury News analysis shows the annual cost for office supplies rose 20 percent under the contract and included tens of thousands of dollars in overcharges." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 07, 2008 Profits balloon for business improperly certified as disadvantaged Elizabeth Newell and Robert Brodsky of Govermnent Executive report that a Miami-based defense contractor saw a significant increase in his business after being improperly labeled as a small disadvantaged business. AEY, Inc. is currently under investigation for providing faulty munitions as part of a $289 million contract to provide the Afgahanistan Army and police force with ammunition. Since being incorrectly labeled as a SDB, AEY has earned over $204 million from federal contracts. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 10, 2007 Insiders profit from FDA's Fast Track A seven-month investigation by The Plain Dealer's Joel Rutchick and Brie Zeltner into the FDA's Fast Track drug review program has proven benefits to investors while doing little or nothing to speed up the availability of new medical treatments, compared to expedited review options that already existed before the drug industry lobbied to create Fast Track."Fast The news of Fast Track designation creates a boon for day traders, hedge funds and others looking to make quick money off biotech stocks." Securities information shows that stocks surge at the announcement of Fast Track designations, resulting in hefty profits for company insiders. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 28, 2007 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 26, 2007 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 19, 2007 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 13, 2007 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 31, 2007 Neglect plagues property holdings of ex-NBA star An investigation by The Sacramento Bee's Terri Handy and Phillip Reese shows that former NBA star Kevin Johnson is responsible for a slew of neglected properties in the downtrodden area of Oak Park where his investments have been widely publicized and praised. "Within a two-mile radius, a Bee investigation found, half of the 37 parcels owned by Johnson or companies and organizations he founded have been cited by the city in the past decade, some multiple times. The 73 violations at those Oak Park properties resulted in 42 fines or fees totaling at least $32,080." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 29, 2007 One-third of S. Florida gas pumps inaccurate A report by Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel shows that 34 percent of gas pumps in South Florida failed accuracy tests over the past three years. "The analysis found 580 of more than 2,500 stations in South Florida had at least one pump dispensing more gas than customers paid to purchase, while 477 provided less fuel than they should." A database of gas pump inspections is included online. There is also a map of those stations which failed 10 or more pump tests over three years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 25, 2007 Investigation finds animal corpses in Colorado Humane Society trash Over six weeks, CALL7 Investigators discovered more than a dozen dead animals in a dumpster outside the Colorado Humane Society," report Tom Burke and Tony Kovaleski of the CALL7 investigative team in Denver. Such disposal saves the Colorado Humane Society — a private organization not affiliated with the National Humane Society or any other animal shelter — about $12 per animal. Whistleblowers implicate the executive director in allowing this practice, a charge that the director denies. The reporting also raised questions of financial mismanagement and the society's continued drive to solicit donations despite a suspended license. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 25, 2007 Credit card promotions profitable for two Iowa universities Clark Kauffman of the Des Moines Register reported in a two-part series that Iowa's two largest public universities are aggressively marketing credit cards to their students as part of an arrangement that generates millions of dollars for the schools' privately run alumni organizations. Records obtained by the Register showed that while the schools and their alumni have kept secret the details of their arrangement with Bank of America, they have given the bank access to mailing addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of students, parents and people who buy tickets to football and basketball games. One of the schools has used coaches and student athletes to promote the cards, promising the biggest spending cardholders lunches with football players and private, 90-minute Q&A sessions with coaches. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 31, 2007 Fugative fundraiser has been hiding in plain sight Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields of the Los Angeles Times report that Norman Hsu, a fugitive for over a decade, has been hiding in plain sight as a prominent Democratic fundraiser. Fifteen years ago, Hsu pleaded no contest to charges of grand theft agreeing to serve up to three years in prison. His identity was confirmed this week by his lawyer, who claimed Hsu had no recollection a plea that included prison time. As a top-tier fundraiser, Hsu "is credited with donating nearly $500,000 to national and local party candidates and their political committees in the last three years" and has been a significant contributor to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 27, 2007 Electric co-op to energy conglomerate Margret Newkirk of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on Georgia's Cobb EMC, one of the largest electric co-ops in the nation and described as "an aggressively expanding conglomerate." "While most co-ops reimburse that invested money to customers over time, Cobb EMC hasn't returned a nickel of it in more than 30 years: It was sitting on $240 million of ratepayer cash at the end of last year. Meanwhile, Cobb EMC has invested millions of its customers' dollars over the past decade to build a for-profit company called Cobb Energy." By operating the for-profit company as part of the co-op, it is possible to avoid regulation and transparency. In a similar situation in Alabama, members of Pioneer Electric Cooperative took a stand to end the monopoly by ousting incumbent board members. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 03, 2007 Contributions call school board president's ethics into question James Pressley, school board president in Pleasantville, N.J., sought money from community businesses who were seeking contracts from the school board. John Froojian, of the Press of Atlantic City, reports that money was solicited for the James A. Pressley Scholarship and Community Youth Build Foundation, although neither the IRS nor the New Jersey Consumer Affairs Division have record of the registration of such a charity. Of nine businesses approached by Pressley, eight had no-bid contract proposals before the school board. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 26, 2007 Fresno suffers more power outages than neighboring communities California and other states require investor-owned utilities to publish reliability statistics, including the number of minutes the average customer goes without power each year. Brad Branan of the Fresno Bee looked at those numbers to find that "customers in the Fresno division of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. go without power longer than those in most areas served by the utility in Central and Northern California, according to a report the utility filed with state regulators." Statistics from the past year show that Fresno experience 34% more outages than average for communities served by PG&E. California's reliability reports can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 23, 2007 WARN Act riddled with loopholes In a four-part series, James Drew and Steve Eder of The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade report that a 19-year-old federal law that requires companies to give notice to workers losing their jobs is so full of loopholes and flaws that employers repeatedly skirt it with little or no penalty. A Blade analysis of 226 lawsuits filed in federal courts since 1989 revealed that judges threw out more than half of the cases alleging violations of the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act. In the majority of those decisions, judges cited loopholes in the law, ranging from companies that said they tried their best to give notice to employees to firms that claimed they couldn't predict bad financial times. A day after The Blade's series began, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown introduced a bill to overhaul the law. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Computer security issues plague Boeing financial records Andrea James and Daniel Lathrop of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated security problems with Boeing's computer system which leaves it vulnerable to manipulation, theft and fraud. The issues relate to Boeing's failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, "a wide-ranging law aimed at preventing stockholder rip-offs such as the Enron scandal from happening again." For the past three years, Boeing has failed to prove its system is in compliance with the S-O Act. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 17, 2007 State pensions profit from nuclear waste, rogue states Nevada's pension fund for state workers, legislators and judges holds investments in companies that have pushed to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain— even though the state has fought to keep the shipments out. Steve Kanigher and Alex Richards of Las Vegas Sun discovered that the $23 billion portfolio, run by independent fund managers, holds hundreds of millions in controversial investments, such as companies that do business in Iran, which the United States accuses of sponsoring terrorists. The fund invests in firms accused by critics of war profiteering (Halliburton), using child labor (Nestle) and furthering toxic pollution (Newmont Mining Corp.)." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 06, 2007 Backgrounding South Florida businessman reveals criminal past While looking into complaints about a local business, Florida Today reporter Sarah Okeson unearthed the criminal record of a top executive, exposing the questionable endeavors in his past and present. His current firm was booted from the Better Business Bureau. Along with the story, a video interview with the subject of the story was posted on the paper's Web site. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 02, 2007 Medical research group's conflicts of interest revealed Reporters Susanne Rust and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed conflicts of interest involving the Constella Group, a private health research company that performs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for the federal government while also representing major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. The reporters analyzed federal contracts data to help tell the story. Among their findings: Constella got a federal contract four years ago to oversee a list of carcinogens. Three months later, the company added a virus to the list while two of its private sector clients were developing vaccines to treat that virus. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 20, 2007 Arizona developer's checkered past Mark Flatten of the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix completed a series on Jim Rhodes who has become in the most influential developer in Arizona's East Valley. In December of 2006, he purchased over 1,000 acres of state trust land. The $58.6 million purchase gave him the right to "master-plan 7,700 acres in the area and set the tone for development of 275 square miles of state land extending from the eastern edge of Maricopa County to Florence." State officials claim they did not know of Rhodes' checkered past, which includes charges of fraud and theft, prior to the land purchase. The entire series can be viewed here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 08, 2007 Squeezing millions from pennies Ron Campbell of the Orange County Register reports on Irvine businessman Mark Ellis who made millions of dollars through his money-losing penny stock company, Winsted Holdings. By reverse-splitting the stock and then flooding the market with billions of new shares, he effectively drove down the stock's price to a hundredth of a penny.The story explores Winsted's tumultuous history and shows how penny-stock investors miss out on protections available to other investors. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 15, 2007 Insurance settlements often undercut victim's expenses Investigative correspondent Drew Griffin, of CNN’s "Anderson Cooper 360" filed a report on how automobile insurance companies deal with victims of auto accidents. It follows the stories of accident victims who sustained soft tissue injuries in collisions that caused only minor damage to their vehicles. Victims and some industry watchdogs say that, in this accident scenario, major insurers appear to be systematically offering summary monetary settlements that often cover only a fraction of the victim’s expenses. Some industry critics suggest that the small-sum settlement policy stems from a consultant's advice aimed at improving profit margins. See part 1 and part 2 here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 05, 2007 NJ taxpayers bankrolling Meadowlands development gamble John Brennan and Jeff Pillets at The (Bergen County, NJ) Record went deep into the financial underpinnings of a developer's promise to transform the state's most infamous landmark from smelly garbage dumps and swamps into an Emerald City of golf courses, luxury condos and resort hotels. They emerged with a compelling story about the way business is done in New Jersey. The story reveals that, despite assertions to the contrary, the project relies overwhelmingly on public funds. In the wake of The Record's reporting, the governor has commissioned an investigation into how the politically connected developer cobbled together such an unprecedented series of government incentives. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 08, 2007 Gates Foundation investments scrutinized Charles Piller, Edmund Sanders and Robyn Dixon of the Los Angeles Times explore the investments held by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and found that it "reaps vast profits every year from companies whose actions contradict its mission of improving society in the United States and around the world, particularly the lot of people afflicted by poverty and disease." The two-part series highlights the conflicts created by its "blind-eye investment strategy" dictated by profit rather than its philanthropic priorities. "At the same time that the foundation is funding inoculations to protect health [in the Niger Delta], The Times found, it has invested $423 million in Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Total of France -- the companies responsible for most of the flares blanketing the delta with pollution, beyond anything permitted in the United States or Europe." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Auto execs' flight costs questioned Steve Wilson of WXYZ-Detroit looked into Big Three auto executives' use of corporate jets for personal trips, despite cost-cutting pressures in the industry. The story estimated that non-business travel for a handful of top leaders costs in the neighborhood of $700,000 annually at both Ford and GM. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 14, 2006 Law opens boardroom doors Jill Riepenhoff and Doug Haddix of The Columbus Dispatch used U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proxy statements to examine the boards of directors of 30 companies based in central Ohio. They found huge increases in compensation and an increase in directors serving on multiple boards since the 2002 passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Companies defend the large raises because of new requirements and potential liability under Sarbanes-Oxley, which was passed in the wake of financial scandals at Enron and WorldCom. The newspaper ran large graphics with key findings and profiles of well-known board members, their compensation and other details. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 12, 2006 Complaints rampant in insurance industry Mike Casey of The Kansas City Star reports on the rampant dissatisfaction many consumers have with their insurance providers. The paper conducted an 11-month investigation into insurance problems and analyzed almost 35 million records, including over 600,000 complaints logged in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) database from 2003 through 2005. The analysis shows that consumer satisfaction is less of a concern for insurance companies than other financial services, such as banks and brokerage firms. The biggest gripe by consumers is that insurance agencies take too long to settle claims, followed closely by claim denials. David Herzog of NICAR and the Missouri School of Journalism consulted on this story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 28, 2006 Hurricane shutter fraud on the rise Sarah Okeson of Florida Today reports that hurricane storm shutter fraud is on the rise in Florida. Records from the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida show that at least six companies offering storm shutters have unsatisfactory records, and at least one faces criminal charges. Complaints range from shoddy workmanship to theft of deposits. A listing of these companies is included in a sidebar. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 21, 2006 Empire Zone abuses afford millions to a lucky few The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard's Mike McAndrew and Michelle Breidenbach expose abuses of New York's "Empire Zone" tax breaks which negate the programs intended purpose:" to create jobs in targeted impoverished areas." One mall owner was able to cash in on about $14 million in tax breaks by paying the city of Geneva to expand the boundaries of its zone to include his property located over 30 miles away. Lawmakers and other business owners are disgusted by these abuses of a program meant to encourage economic development. The Post-Standard found that "none of the 10 businesses that claimed the biggest property tax refunds for 2003 created more than 20 jobs." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 03, 2006 "Lead Astray" In a piece for MotherJones, CIR correspondents Sara Shipley Hiles and Marina Walker Guevara reveal how the St. Louis-based firm, Doe Run, expanded its operations abroad at a time when it was facing increasing scrutiny and regulation in the United States, milking money from its Peruvian operation while claiming it couldn't afford to finish its mandatory cleanup plan there. Meanwhile, ninety-nine percent of La Oroya's children are lead-poisoned - a price some families think they have to pay to put food on the table. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 31, 2006 Bond scam yields profits at the expense of the needy William Selway, Martin Z. Braun and David Dietz of Bloomberg News exposed a phantom bond scam - over $7 billion in the past 10 years - which promise benefits for the needy (better housing, improvements to inner-city schools, etc.), yet the only ones profiting are banks, insurance companies and financiers. "The arrangements -- often called black box deals, because they're complicated and mysterious -- sometimes contain secret agreements that promise to pay the financial middlemen higher fees if none of the money from the bond offerings is used to help the public. The agencies that issue the bonds buy them back from investors. The money goes untapped, and the advisers keep their fees." CJR complemented the efforts of Bloomberg News for taking a "more expansive view of business news, one that values that seemingly quaint notion of the public good. In this case, Bloomberg's William Selway, Martin Z. Braun and David Dietz outline a scandal of staggering proportions, then make their case through exhaustive research and reporting that backs up the splashy start." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 16, 2006 Lax regulations for contractors a recipe for trouble McNelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that loopholes state regulations allow corrupt business owners to continue defrauding their customers. Citing the example of John T. Pluto and his company All American Driveways and Pool Deck Inc., Torres documented how countless complaints have not impeded Pluto's business enterprises in Broward County. "State regulators and Broward County building licensing officials say there is no law preventing Pluto from continuing to take on new customers or requiring him to disclose the existing complaints or problems in his past." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 25, 2006 NY companies exploit loophole for massive tax breaks Michelle Breidenbach of The (Syracuse, NY) Post-Standard shows how hundreds of New York companies pulled accounting gimmicks and exploited a loophole in the state law to collect millions of dollars in tax breaks. The companies created new corporations and passed themselves off as new on paper, thus becoming eligible for tax breaks intended for businesses that are truly new. Michelle used state records won through FOI law, corporation and property records, and interviews to identify the so-called "new" companies, which include business that have been in NY for a century. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 21, 2006 "Desert Connections" Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times report on an epic development project in Nevada - a "67-square-mile tract of empty desert will blossom into one of the biggest cities in the fastest-growing state in the country and the projected home to more than 200,000 people." The project is on track largely due to close ties between Senator Harry Reid and developer Harvey Whittemore - a mutually beneficial relationship wherein Reid has used his influence to clear obstacles in the process and Whittemore has made significant campaign contributions to Reid and other Democrats. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 27, 2006 Companies find new way to win contracts Michael Forsythe and Jonathan D. Salant of Bloomberg analyzed Federal Election Commission records and found that a growing number of companies had found "a new business model: locate facilities in lawmakers' districts and shower them with campaign cash. " The companies were taking advantage of lawmakers' increasing penchant for "earmarking,'' which was at the center of the scandal involving a California Republican serving a prison sentence after admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to help secure defense-company contracts. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 21, 2006 Charities lose out in bingo game benefits Darren Barbee of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram analyzed state records and found the proceeds of bingo games were going to the people running the games instead of benefiting the charities they were supposed to help. "No bingo proceeds were reported being spent by more than 40 Texas groups conducting bingo last year, though they raised about $11.5 million." The investigation also found that the state was the ultimate enforcer, but to some extent, charities were supposed to watch their own backs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 12, 2006 Car repair stores charge for work they don't do Joel Grover and Matt Goldberg of KNBC-Los Angeles used test cars with hidden cameras to show the apparent scheme at car repair stores: charging customers for the work they never even done. "'Does this happen to customers a lot?' NBC4's Joel Grover asked a former employee of America's biggest Lube and tune chain, Jiffy Lube. 'Every day,' the insider replied. " Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 08, 2006 Fla. officials profit from weak ethics laws Bob Mahlburg of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reviewed state financial disclosure records to show Florida's weak ethics laws and how state and local officials with real estate investments walk a tightrope between their public posts and personal profits. "State Sen. Mike Bennett has made more than $2 million renting office space to a state agency he helps oversee." The investigation also explained how Florida, which once had some of the nation's toughest ethics laws, now lags most major states and shows little apparent interest in changing. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 01, 2006 State records show complaints about 'death care' business Rick Anderson of the Seattle Weekly reviewed state files and revealed Washington consumer complaints about funeral homes and cemeteries. Consumers were "being 'penalized' by funeral homes for buying coffins elsewhere." There were "complaints about bodies buried in the wrong graves, cremated when they should have been planted, or occupying plots that have been resold" and "protests over misspelled headstones, mishandled remains, and high-pressure sales pitches by the industry's 'grief counselors.'" A sidebar tells the story of two teenage crime victims buried in the same grave, unbeknownst to parents, and another examines "low-cost, do-it-yourself, eco-conscious burial options." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Farm subsidy payments in Denmark go up Farmsubsidy.org has released new data on farm subsidy payments, with an analysis by Nils Mulvad, co-founder of farmsubsidy.org and director of the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting, analyzed new data on farm subsidy payments in Denmark in 2005 and found that "the new Single Farm Payment Scheme has dramatically increased the number of farm subsidy recipients in Denmark, though many of these new recipients receive relatively small payments." "The Danish authority paid €1.3 billion to more than 70,649 recipients. There was a significant increase in the number of recipients compared to former years. Some 17,290 'first time' recipients were paid a total of DKK 440.645.234 or just less than 5 percent of all farm subsidies paid out over course of 2005." The Single Farm Payment Scheme also increased the concentration of payments among the largest recipients, with more than 80 percent of payments going to the top 20 percent of recipients. See the report of the new data. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 30, 2006 Hundreds of Texas racehorses fatally injured John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News examined the Texas Racing Commission's database of horse injuries, which never had been analyzed by outsiders, and found that "at the state's five licensed tracks, Marsh and other veterinarians with the Texas Racing Commission have euthanized or documented the deaths of 300 horses in the past five years, usually after the animals broke ankles, legs or even spinal cords during races." Although thousands of horses compete safely in Texas, the investigation reveals an ugly side to a industry struggling to fill empty seats. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 17, 2006 High-interest payday loans increase in N.H. Karen Spiller of The (Nashua, N.H.) Telegraph found that payday loans with high interest rates — as high as 500 percent or more — are increasing in New Hampshire, the only state in New England not to regulate them. "Last year alone, more than 100,000 payday loans were written in the state for an average loan of about $360, according to the New Hampshire Banking Department. " The number of loans rose 28 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to data The Telegraph requested from the state banking commissioner. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Utility district spent ratepayers' money on sports Andrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee found that "the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has spent more than $1 million in ratepayers' money on partnership deals with the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs since 2002." The public utility's contracts with Maloof Sports, disclosed under the state's Public Records Act, offer a rare glimpse into an NBA team's advertising and sponsorship dealings with businesses — and the hospitality perks that go with such agreements. See the 2005 contract and 2003 contract. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 01, 2006 Firms employ brokers who have regulatory records Paul Foutch and Will Deener of The Dallas Morning News used state securities board data to show that four firms in the Dallas-Fort Worth brokerage industry have brokers with extensive regulatory records. The investigation used NASD data (the industry's self-regulatory body, formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers) obtained from the Texas State Securities Board, and analyzed the regulatory records of the 14,450 brokers with offices in D-FW as of April 7. "The paper focused on firms with a minimum of 15 brokers, about 125 firms including some insurance, mutual fund and other financial companies." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Judicial nominee violated ethics law Will Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting, writing for Salon.com, reviewed the financial filings of Judge Terrence W. Boyle, a key circuit court nominee touted by the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to show that he ruled in multiple cases involving corporations in which he held investments. For instance, Boyle bought stock in General Electric while presiding over a lawsuit in which the corporation stood accused of illegally denying disability benefits to a long-standing employee. "Two months later, he made his ruling: Boyle shot down the plaintiff's claims to long-term and pension disability benefits, granting him only a fraction of the money in short-term compensation for a debilitating mental condition." The investigation revealed that Boyle apparently violated federal law prohibiting judicial conflicts of interest — not only in the G.E. case, but in many instances since his nomination five years ago. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 20, 2006 Delphi executives fly high as company sinks Steve Wilson of WXYZ-Detroit found that although Delphi, the giant auto parts company, was facing bankruptcy, scores of top executives and officers were reaping sizeable special bonuses and cash incentives. Delphi admits such benefits are not available to its hourly workers because they claim that while executives are making less than competitive salaries, American workers are already making more than the market should bear. "After making $2 billion in its first two years on its own, Delphi began to hemorrhage red ink, posting loss after loss totaling a whopping $6.3 billion in the last seven quarters reported. The company says it lost more than a billion just last December." The investigation also found that, contrary to Delphi claims that its most-senior American workers earn more than $70 an hour, the truth is even counting all the benefits, it's closer to $50 an hour. Also, the CEO's pledge to work for a dollar a year turned out to be no more than a PR ploy after he collected a $3 million sign-on bonus and nearly a million more in paychecks for just six month's work last year. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 14, 2006 Tax breaks prove costly for Detroit David Josar of The Detroit News used State Tax Commission data, property assessments and tax records to show that Detroit is losing more than $63 million in annual revenue because of property tax breaks given to people moving into new houses, condos and lofts. The tax breaks have cost the city and school district more than $400 million since 2000. "The loss in revenue has become so dire that Detroit Public Schools has begun sending its chief financial officer, Dori Freelain, to weekly City Council meetings urging pragmatism with abatements." The investigation found the tax breaks don't always go to the disadvantaged. In one case, the owner of one of America's most successful Chevrolet dealerships, who bought a $1.3 million house, saves $41,999 a year because of several exemptions. When the breaks expire in 2011, the businesswoman will have saved $371,345 in property taxes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sonics' owners are a secretive team Jim Brunner of The Seattle Times used public records to construct the most complete roster to date of the investors of Seattle's basketball team, the Sonics. "Some were announced when they bought the team in 2001; others were identified in public records or interviews. Several were recently confirmed by the team for the first time after repeated inquiries by the newspaper. " The team still will not identify about a dozen owners; some are family members of other owners. With a combined wealth in the billions, the owners represent a cross section of Pacific Northwest money and influence. It is a millionaires' club with solid political connections. Owners have contributed more than $2 million to state, federal and local campaigns since they bought the team. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 05, 2006 Drug companies sponsored FDA staff travel Alexander Cohen of The Center for Public Integrity analyzed FDA reports of privately sponsored trips taken by agency officials between October 1999 and September 2005 that cost more than $250 and found a loophole in the agency rules that has allowed its employees to receive more than $1.3 million in sponsored travel from groups closely tied to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. "The investigation found nonprofit associations that draw their members, their boards and even some of their funding from medical and pharmaceutical-related companies paying for the travel of hundreds of FDA employees." Among other findings, five organizations that were tied to FDA-regulated companies sponsored almost 1,000 trips, seventeen Drug Safety Oversight Board members took more than 160 privately-funded trips costing more than $220,000, and eleven Drug Safety Oversight Board members took 55 trips, costing roughly $75,000, sponsored by one or more of the five organizations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 29, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 22, 2006 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.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 17, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 10, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 09, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 02, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 28, 2006 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." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 20, 2006 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.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 02, 2006 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 30, 2006 University leader serves on 10 boards Eleanor Yang of the The San Diego Union-Tribune used calendar records obtained under the California Public Records Act to show that UC San Diego Chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, has served as a director for 10 corporations and nonprofit organizations, while running the university for the past year and a half. Fox spent more than 180 hours attending board meetings — many of them on the East Coast — in the past 12 months. "For all of her outside positions, Fox, 58, an organic chemist, receives compensation that rivals her university salary of $359,000. " In the past year, she received cash and stock worth at least $339,260 from her board memberships, according to corporate annual reports, proxy statements and tax returns from the nonprofit organizations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Kinko's deal costly for Dallas schools Kent Fischer, Pete Slover and Tawnell D. Hobbs of the The Dallas Morning News used district records to show that a plan by Dallas schools to outsource copying and printing to industry giant Kinko's, started to slash copying and printing expenses by 21 percent, has in fact quadrupled expenses. "Across the entire Dallas Independent School District, copying and printing costs more than doubled. In 2003, the district spent $5.87 million; by 2005 it was spending $12.82 million, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News. " The investigation also found the contract obliges schools to lease equipment from FedEx/Kinko's, so hundreds of printers the district already owned sit in warehouses, wrapped in plastic. Some school budgets are breaking under the cost of operating new equipment leased through the program. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 24, 2006 Hurricane shutter company failed to deliver Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed bankruptcy records, county licensing records and complaints filed with the local consumer affairs division to show that Palms West Shutter & Screen Inc., a company supplying hurricane shutters, had taken about $1.5 million in deposits from 672 Palm Beach residents before it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October & mdash; the same month Hurricane Wilma hit the area. "Residents gave their money to the company — licensed to install screened closures in Broward since 1978 — in many cases more than 20 percent — expecting hurricane shutters and screen enclosures for their homes that have yet to be completed." Bankruptcy records show that the company also owes money to vendors, suppliers, the Internal Revenue Service and other businesses. The high demand for and shortage of shutters, screen enclosures and materials have caused problems and backlogs for many local shutter companies. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 20, 2006 Foreclosures growing burden on low-income communities Lisa Hammersly Munn, Binyamin Appelbaum and Ted Mellnik of The Charlotte Observer used county records in a three-part series that looks into the rapidly rising numbers of home foreclosres, and the effects on neighborhoods where failed home loans have concentrated since the advent of easy credit by government and lenders. "Home loan failures have more than quadrupled in Mecklenburg County, NC since 1999. More foreclosures are filed here, per person, than any other county in the state."The neighborhoods are often new subdivisions priced for first-time buyers. But instead of building wealth through ownership, the buyers often lost their homes and badly damage their credit. Neighbors who pay their mortgages on time get hurt, too, because concentrated foreclosures can depress home values. Also see how this story was investigated. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 11, 2006 College boosters wield powerful influence Mike Fish of ESPN.com examines the role of the college booster, finding "It's a love-hate relationship that binds a college and its boosters. They are often the first ones pointed to when recruiting violations surface. And the first ones called upon when facilities need an upgrade. With their money comes their two cents. Some call it influence. Others say it's meddling." The series looks at Phil Knight's relationship with University of Oregon; Oklahoma State University benefactor T. Boone Pickens; Joe Malugen's support of Troy University's football team; Tulane's athletes as ambassadors for the storm-ravaged university; and mandatory donations tied to college ticket sales. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post UFW strays far from Chavez's legacy Miriam Pawel of the Los Angeles Times examines the current state of United Farm Workers to find that Cesar "Chavez's heirs run a web of tax-exempt organizations that exploit his legacy and invoke the harsh lives of farmworkers to raise millions of dollars in public and private money." Pawel's reporting finds there is little to link the UFW with the impoverished farmworkers for whom Chavez crusaded. "The UFW is the linchpin of the Farm Worker Movement, a network of a dozen tax-exempt organizations that do business with one another, enrich friends and family, and focus on projects far from the fields: They build affordable housing in San Francisco and Albuquerque, own a top-ranked radio station in Phoenix, run a political campaign in support of an Indian casino and lobby for gay marriage." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Vehicle planned for Marines said to be 'dangerous' Joseph Neff of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reports that a vehicle the Marines plan to use for transport of troops and mortars may be inadequate. The vehicles, called Growlers, look "a lot like a Vietnam-era jeep. But this model, a modified dune buggy, costs $127,000 each and doesn't have armor. Some experts worry that it is vulnerable to attack, too slow and too prone to rolling over, making it dangerous in combat." The Growlers would be carried on the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft that can fly as both helicopter and airplane and has had its own share of problems. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 10, 2006 Ga. hotel bill for Katrina evacuees tops $19 million Yolanda Rodriguez of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with assistance from Craig Schneider, Leon Stafford and database editor David A. Milliron, used a FOIA request to show that “Georgia hotels have billed taxpayers more than $19 million to house evacuees who fled after hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast last year.” The agency has paid for rooms in 650 Georgia hotels, ranging from Atlanta’s Ritz-Carlton to lower-priced hotels. A map shows the location of the hotels. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Congressmen tried to stop investigation Richard A. Serrano and Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times used documents to report that “Reps. John T. Doolittle and Richard W. Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas to oppose an investigation by federal banking regulators into the affairs of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz.” The lawmakers inserted regulatory agency investigation files into the Congressional Record, giving Hurwitz’s attorneys access to them. “Soon afterward, in 2002, the FDIC dropped its case against Hurwitz, who had owned a controlling interest in the United Savings Assn. of Texas. United Savings’ failure was one of the worst of the S&L debacles in the 1980s.” Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 09, 2006 Mine agency more lenient since 2001 Seth Borenstein, Linda J. Johnson and Lee Mueller of Knight Ridder Newspapers used federal data to find that “since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed.” The Mine Safety and Health Administration has a smaller budget and has won fewer convictions or guilty pleas. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 06, 2006 Mercury in seafood at unsafe levels Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune published a three-part series on the presence of mercury in fish sold in supermarkets. “In one of the nation’s most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish, testing by the newspaper showed that a variety of popular seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules. The testing also showed that mercury is more pervasive in fish than what the government has told the public, making it difficult for consumers to avoid the problem, no matter where they shop.” In addition to conducting its own tests, the paper relied on documents and interviews for the series. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 21, 2005 Gulf Coast homeowner loans lagging Leslie Eaton and Ron Nixon of The New York Times used federal data to show the pace of homeowner loans in the Gulf Coast is lagging. “The Small Business Administration, which runs the federal government’s main disaster recovery program for both businesses and homeowners, has processed only a third of the 276,000 home loan applications it has received. And it has rejected 82 percent of those it has reviewed, a higher percentage than in most previous disasters.” The loans that have been approved have been going to higher-income neighborhoods. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 06, 2005 Smoking bans not affecting businesses Jason Hoppin and MaryJo Sylwester of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press analyzed Minnesota Department of Revenue data on taxable sales at establishments that sell alcohol to see if there was any evidence of widespread economic hardship due to smoking bans that were enacted in some areas of the Twin Cities on March 31. Because tax return information for individual businesses is not public, the reporters persuaded the Department of Revenue to provide summary data by ZIP code. They also created interactive maps using ArcIMS and ASP so readers could click on individual ZIP codes and see the data behind it. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 02, 2005 Data on European farm subsidy payments made available Farmsubsidy.org is a project coordinated by the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting (DICAR) and EU Transparency, a nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom. The Web site obtains detailed data relating to payments and recipients of farm subsidies in every EU member state and makes this data available to European citizens. Subsidies paid to farmers under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy amount to approximately €43.5 billion a year, more than 40% of European Union's entire annual budget, or around €100 a year for each EU citizen. Coordinated from Denmark and the UK, the Web site is the product of intensive collaboration across more than 10 countries. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 30, 2005 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 22, 2005 '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." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 17, 2005 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 16, 2005 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" Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 15, 2005 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 14, 2005 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 11, 2005 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" Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 04, 2005 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 " . Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 03, 2005 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. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 31, 2005 Pentagon program results in inflated prices Lauren Markoe and Seth Borenstein of Knight Ridder Newspapers conducted a computer database analysis to show that a Defense Department purchasing program called prime vendor is costing taxpayers 20 percent more than the previous system. " Run by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the program is based on a military procurement strategy to speed delivery of supplies such as bananas and bolts to troops in the field." The database analysis consisted of a comparison of prices charged by a small segment of prime vendors and prices for the same items purchased from companies outside the prime vendor program. A total of 2.37 million pieces of equipment cost the government $37 million, $1.2 million more than what the government would have paid normally outside the program. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 24, 2005 CEO salaries soar at disabled workers' expense Jeff Kosseff and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian found that executive pay has soared at nonprofits that often give disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage. "In Texas, one of the biggest nonprofits paid $4.6 million to a management firm founded by its CEO. In Baltimore, another charity's top executive earned more than $700,000 in cash and benefits. And a Tennessee nonprofit boosted its CEO's pay and benefits eightfold over four years to $500,000. " The newspaper found more than 100 executives earning six-figure pay and benefits at the 50 most active nonprofits in the Javits-Wagner-O'Day program during 2003. This when eight of the biggest charities in the Javits-Wagner-O'Day program paid 1,644 subminimum wage workers a median rate of $1.93 an hour, according to Department of Labor records analyzed by the newspaper. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 20, 2005 Private foundation sponsored international travel of congressman Bob Williams of The Center for Public Integrity and Steve Henn of Marketplace examine the organizational structure and business activities of the International Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, or the IFCNR in their "Power Trips" series. IFCNR has alienated mainstream environmental groups and its tax documents show its major financiers include the Japan Whaling Association, the International Fur Traders Association, Monsanto and a company whose president was convicted of smuggling and violating endangered species protections. The report shows that "Congressman [Richard] Pombo is chairman of one of the most important environmental committees in the House of Representatives. He, his wife and a staffer have accepted $23,000 in international travel from the IFCN in the last 5 years." Experts on tax issues said the law requires Pombo to return the costs of the foreign trips to the foundation. "If not, both the foundation and the member of Congress could face stiff penalties from the IRS. " Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 17, 2005 Few minority businesses take advantage of federal program Jeff Raymond of the The Brownsville Herald reviewed the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program participant database to show that "only 10 of the Valley’s more than 12,000 minority-owned businesses identified in 1997 U.S. Census statistics avail themselves of the leg up. " Although the Rio Grande Valley is, on average, 85 percent Hispanic, few businesses are certified under a federal program meant to make minority-owned firms competitive in the marketplace. Through interviews with various minority business owners, it was found that the reasons for delays in enrolling in the SBA program for most amounted to this: Too little time for research and rumors that the government was a difficult customer. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 14, 2005 Ford leaves behind toxic legacy in N.J. "Toxic Legacy" is a five-part series by reporters at The Record exploring the environmental and health impacts of paint sludge and other industrial waste dumped a generation ago in watersheds and other environmentally sensitive areas by the Ford Motor Co. For 25 years, ending in 1980, the automaker operated a massive assembly plant in Bergen County that produced nearly 6 million vehicles and an ocean of industrial waste. Much of that waste remains where it was dumped, including a woodland watershed that's home to a low-income community whose members claim Native American ancestry. "The Record found that Ford repeatedly dumped in poor communities and failed to clean up its mess. "The tract was subjected to a Superfund cleanup, but the EPA repeatedly declared the site clean even though slabs of paint sludge and other waste was still readily apparent. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 10, 2005 City approved slipshod repairs on homes Mike McGraw and Michael Mansur of The Kansas City Star report that an investigation by The Kansas City Star revealed that the taxpayer-supported home maintenance program overseen by the city's former housing agency approved of shoddy repair work on homes leading to leaky roofs, sagging ceilings, buckling and poorly repaired foundations and dangerous furnaces and flues. Contractors working with the Housing and Economic Development Financial Corp., also known as HEDFC, even charged one elderly couple $700 for smoke detectors. "They didn't do the work that should have been done to ensure a safe and habitable house, such as proper wiring and flues. And the work that did get done was substandard, " said Paul Romer of AAA Certified Home Inspections. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 06, 2005 Hatch leads in money from alcohol interests Lee Davidson at Salt Lake City's The Deseret Morning News reported that Orrin Hatch, despite being a former Mormon bishop teetotaler, has received more from alcohol interests than any other U.S. Senator this year — and he's among the top five in money from tobacco interests. The Deseret Morning News also searched Federal Election Commission reports filed monthly by political action committees of industry groups to verify data and update it with some more recent donations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Candidate helped defeat ban on gambling Jim Galloway and Alan Judd of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that Ralph Reed, who has vocally condemned gambling as a "cancer on the American body politic," quietly worked five years ago to kill a proposed ban on Internet wagering on behalf of eLottery Inc., a Connecticut-based company in the online gambling industry. The defeated legislation sought to control a segment of the gambling industry that went on to experience prodigious growth. A spokesman for Reed said that though the political consultant fought the ban as a subcontractor to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff's law firm, he did not know "the specific client" that had hired Abramoff. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 30, 2005 Data reveals no-bid contracts for hurricane clean up Eric Lipton and Ron Nixon of The New York Times used federal contract data covering hurricane response to show that "more than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition ... provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse." FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have spent the most so far. (Note: For other stories looking at what went wrong in the Katrina disaster, please see IRE's Katrina resources page.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 28, 2005 Getty museum had clues it was buying looted pieces Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino of the Los Angeles Times report the J. Paul Getty Museum, the world's richest art institution, knew as early as 1985 that "three of their principal suppliers were selling objects that probably had been looted and that the museum continued to buy from them anyway." The Times obtained Getty documents that "include memos, purchase agreements, correspondence and other records going back 20 years." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 22, 2005 Nonprofits mislead about destination of donations Kelby Hartson Carr of The Times in Munster, Ind., looks into the accuracy of IRS 990 forms filed by nonprofit organizations. After an examination of all 990s filed for "fiscal year 2003 by nonprofit agencies based in Lake County, Porter County and Chicago's south suburbs," the paper found that 70 percent that raised public donations reported no fund-raising expenses. Experts say it is difficult to raise money without spending money and "zero-expense fund-raising claims always should be questioned." The project includes a database of the nonprofits that includes the data from their 990 forms. Other parts of the series look at nonprofit employees who make six figures and have generous benefits packages, the powerful part nonprofits play in the local economy and tips to evaluate a charitiy before donating. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Lax oversight contributes to high foreclosure rate Geoff Dutton and Jill Riepenhoff of The Columbus Dispatch investigated Ohio's high foreclosure rate, "a problem fueled by a weak economy, aggressive mortgage brokers, financial overreaching and tepid state oversight.". The newspaper analyzed Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, obtained U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development audit reports of homebuilders through the federal Freedom of Information Act, and analyzed state and county foreclosure records and sheriff's sales data. On the second day of the series, state lawmakers from both political parties vowed to tighten Ohio's loose regulation of the mortgage industry. (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.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 21, 2005 San Diego land inventory flawed Brooke Williams and Danielle Cervantes of the San Diego Union-Tribune compiled data on the city's land holdings, finding that "the city's inventory of real estate assets, worth billions of dollars, is seriously flawed. A roster of 4,430 parcels the city supplied omits some property, and it also lists land the city has never owned, land it hopes to own and land it sold long ago." About 200 properties that were sold over the past 20 years are still on the list. San Diego is considering selling some of its property to improve the city's financial condition. A PDF graphic highlights the inventory's flaws. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Funds for workers could drive agencies to bankruptcy Troy Anderson of the Los Angeles Daily News found that "California's largest public agencies face setting an extra $108 billion aside in the coming years to pay for promised retiree pensions, health care and workers' compensation claims." Experts say the estimate is conservative and that some public agencies might face bankruptcy in the future. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 20, 2005 Payday lenders find lucrative home in Ariz. Craig Harris, Ryan Konig and Matt Dempsey of The Arizona Republic looked at how minimum regulation and a large population of low-income workers has created a thriving market for payday lenders. "In the past four years, the number of payday-loan offices in Arizona has nearly tripled to 610, and there are more of these offices across the state than McDonald's restaurants and Starbucks coffee shops combined. Arizona also has a higher number of payday-loan offices per capita than the national average." The paper projects that Arizonans will pay $165 million dollars in interest on such loans this year. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post S.C. port authority operates like a business Michael R. Shea of The Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette delved into the South Carolina State Ports Authority, the state agency that manages "the fourth-largest waterborne shipping network in the country through marine terminals in Charleston, Georgetown and Port Royal, South Carolina." The stories show that political contributions, political appointments and no-bid contracts blur the line between state agency and a private business. It also discusses its battle for records from the agency. The 18-story project includes more than a dozen of the public records, received through FOIAs, that were used in the reporting. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 19, 2005 Poorer and university neighborhoods supported tax Lee Ann O'Neal and Ian Demsky of The Tennessean used spreadsheets and mapping software to analyze Nashville's failed Sept. 13 sales tax referendum. They found the greatest support for the half-cent sales tax increase was in poorer neighborhoods and the areas around Vanderbilt and Belmont universities. Themap identifies voting precincts and how they voted on the referendum. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 16, 2005 W. Va. cashes in on video poker Lawrence Messina and Vicki Smith of The Associated Press have a three-part series examining the impact of the video poker industry on West Virginia. They found that nearly 2,000 businesses have the gambling machines installed and "fifteen businesses, families or partnerships — out of more than 1,300 that held one or more licenses — collected one-fifth of the $173 million in profits, and accounted for a similar share of the money wagered and the revenue to the state." Video poker terminals are in all but one of West Virginia's 55 counties. Parts two and three address the concentration of ownership and state regulation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 14, 2005 Potential conflicts identified for Supreme Court nominee Center for Investigative Reporting's Dan Noyes finds that "After a long career spent representing blue chip corporations and resource industries, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, Jr. brings more potential conflicts of interest to the bench than any justice of his generation." The investigation looks at "rules governing conflicts of interest and reveals cases already on the docket for the Supreme Court that may cause conflicts for Roberts." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 09, 2005 Sept. 11 loans go to many unaffected by terror Frank Bass and Dirk Lammers of The Associated Press examined nearly $5 billion in loans granted by the Small Business Administration as Sept. 11 recovery aid, and found that many went to businesses "that didn't need terror relief — or even know they were getting it." The SBA said it first learned of the problems from AP. "The records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also show that many other loan recipients who made cases they were injured by Sept. 11 were far removed from the direct devastation of New York City and Washington, like a South Dakota country radio station, a Virgin Islands perfume shop and a Utah dog boutique." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 31, 2005 Blacks pay higher interest on home loans Binyamin Appelbaum and Ted Mellnik of The Charlotte Observer used mortgage loan data from 25 top lenders to show that “blacks who bought homes in communities across America last year were four times as likely as whites to get high interest rates for mortgage loans.” The interest rate disparities occurred even when blacks had substantially higher incomes. The paper looked at 2.2 million mortgage applications from 2004 for its study and posted a breakdown of patterns on the Web. (Editor's Note: Others interested in doing similar stories should see Jo Craven McGinty's IRE Beat Book, Home Mortgage Lending: How to detect disparities. In addition, IRE and NICAR offer the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database to journalists and journalism educators.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 30, 2005 Developers take advantage of agricultural breaks Samuel P. Nitze and Beth Reinhard of The Miami Herald used local property data to show that “under a 1959 state law intended to preserve agriculture, developers reap huge property tax breaks by herding cows or raising crops in the most unlikely settings. Some pay less in annual property taxes than the average homeowner on parcels slated for multimillion-dollar projects.” One developer saved a quarter-million dollars last year by placing cows on land containing industrial warehouses. Florida has lost about 8 million acres of farmland since the law intended to preserve such property went into effect. With a methodological description. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 26, 2005 Little oversight of profitable charter school The Philadelphia Inquirer's Connie Langland and Dale Mezzacappa report on a charter school's manager "who has turned Chester Community Charter School into a profitable, expanding business in the heart of the virtually bankrupt school district." Vahan H. Gureghian's Charter School Management Inc. has a 20-year contract with the school's board of trustees that both have refused to make public. The county has paid the company about $10 million since 1999 for management, with a large percent of that going toward Gureghian's management fee. The agency charged with overseeing the school's finances "says it has been too preoccupied with the district's own fiscal woes — now being investigated by the state attorney general — to even ask for basic documents from Chester Community. The Inquirer's examination of the school's finances was based on state data and financial reports and six years of federal tax filings ending in 2003-04, the most recent year available." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 22, 2005 SUV brakes leave drivers shaken Jennifer Kraus of WTVF-Nashville reports that more than 200,000 Nissan vehicles are on the roads with brakes that vibrate and shake when drivers try to stop the SUVs. Whle a Nissan spokesman said the shaking is "uncomfortable" but not dangerous, dealers say they hear complaints from drivers "every day," Nissan says it has come up with new parts that will solve the problem and is shipping them to dealerships. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 18, 2005 Benefit payouts generous for public employees David Milstead of the Rocky Mountain News used documents and recordings to find that the benefits offered by Colorado's Public Employees' Retirement Association to its employees have been generous. "In total, leave payouts have cost PERA more than $2 million since 2000. The benefits don’t end there. PERA has spent $429,000 on new cars and car allowances for its executives in the past 10 years." The investigation includes a sidebar on how the story was done. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 16, 2005 Money, debts high in Texas county Paula Lavigne of The Dallas Morning News used Census and state economic data to show that while residents of Collin County, Texas, are among the wealthiest nationwide, many also have large debts: "On average, Collin County residents have more credit card debt - $4,200 - and a lower net worth - $125,000 - than residents of other high-income counties throughout the country... the county is full of young couples with children who take on excessive debt, in many cases simply to keep up the lifestyle of their friends and neighbors." Lavigne will chat online about the story on Aug. 16. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 15, 2005 Very few hold power in Richmond Staff at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, along with Aaron Kessler used the social network analysis program UCINET and more than 50 interviews to investigate who really wielded power in Richmond, Va. The series includes a story about the four men central to Richmond's power, a story about minorities and how political influence does not equal power, as well as a sidebar on how the series was done. The series includes an interactive network map detailing the Web of power. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 11, 2005 State lobbyists spending nears $1 billion An analysis by The Center for Public Integrity found that lobbyists and their employers in 42 states reported spending nearly $953 million in 2004 attempting to influence state legislators and executive branch officials. That figure is up from the $904 million reported in 2003. "It seems likely that state lobby expenditures will exceed the $1 billion mark this year." The investigation includes a sidebar on methodology and general breakdowns of their findings. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 10, 2005 Researchers sell secrets to Wall Street investors Luke Timmerman and David Heath of The Seattle Times use sources and documents to investigate at least 26 claims that drug researchers leaked secrets to Wall Street. "In 24 of the 26 cases, the firms issued reports to select clients with detailed information obtained from doctors involved in confidential studies. The reports advised clients whether to buy or sell a drug stock." A sidebar on how this is done is included, as well as information on how the story was reported. The investigation has already sparked an SEC investigation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 09, 2005 Blast site had history of problems Dina Cappiello of the Houston Chronicle used state records to show that "the portion of the Texas City refinery that burst into flames July 28 was the site of repeated malfunctions that could have been prevented if BP correctly and more frequently performed maintenance on the unit." The incidents included the installation of an incorrect pipe and a bad valve that released pollution. The paper found "at least eight cases where the incident was part of a 'recurring or frequent pattern'." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 08, 2005 County grant program riddled with problems Daniel Chacón of the San Diego Union-Tribune analyzed county grant receipts finding a multimillion-dollar system riddled with shoddy bookkeeping and lax oversight. The investigation "found that records for 54 grants totaling nearly $1 million are missing. Receipts that have been collected show that money has been spent on everything from Cheetos to seared ahi crostini." Many of the organizations receiving grants are considered grassroots organizations and don't have paid staffers to handle financial reports. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 05, 2005 Alcohol scam drives up prices Michael Beebe and Robert J. McCarthy of The Buffalo News report that New York's lax regulation of alcohol sales has resulted in a system in which producers and wholesalers provide "retailers illegal payoffs of money, trips, even gold Krugerrands to push certain brands of wine, vodka or whiskey. Some of the biggest liquor wholesalers in the country further defy the law by offering Bacardi, Absolut, Drambuie and other famous brands for $1 a bottle to select retailers, usually the biggest." Using New York's Freedom of Information Act, the paper found that a state investigation - never publicly released - detailed "the biggest stores routinely getting illegal deep discounts not offered to others. When smaller retailers found out about the bargains, wholesalers refused to sell, saying they were 'limited availability' or 'restricted' items." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 04, 2005 Tow companies use vague laws to keep towed cars John Dickerson of The Scottsdale Times investigates a nearly-legalized theft common across Arizona. "Several tow companies are literally keeping towed vehicles against the will of the owners and later selling them." Tow companies are filing paperwork saying the vehicle has been abandoned and if that vehicle is not reported stolen within 30 days, the tow company gains possession. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 03, 2005 Disgraced deputy beats system Eric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer report in a three-part series on how a disgraced sheriff's deputy beat the system. The report details the allegations made against the deputy, including drug use, theft, attempted stalking, conspiracy to promote prostitution and official misconduct. "For 14 years, the detective worked on his own, rarely checking in, partying with prostitutes, making deals with escort-service operators, driving the county executive's car and traveling to Mexico, Thailand and Canada." In a short period of time the deputy went from "from facing a felony trial and a firing recommendation to a prosperous retirement." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 01, 2005 Problems plague food safety system Tim Darragh and Christopher Schnaars of The (Allentown) Morning Call uses restaurant inspection data to investigate food safety in Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania. They found that Pennsylvania's "patchwork of food safety laws and public health agencies often fails to provide even minimal monitoring of restaurants and food retailers." School cafeterias scored well on recent inspections. "The schools averaged 97.7 out of a possible 100 on recent food inspection scores, better than the average for all establishments." The investigation includes a side bar explaining how they got their data. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 20, 2005 Power for Jobs program flawed Mike McAndrew of The (Syracuse) Post-Standard investigates the "Power for Jobs" program, finding that more than a third of the businesses receiving state-subsidized electrical power in the program failed to deliver the jobs they promised. Cooper Crouse-Hinds was awarded 5,000 kilowatts of subsidized power; in return they agreed to retain all of its jobs and to create 45 new ones. But the company has continued to save between $200,000 and $250,000 over the past six years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 18, 2005 Company builds silo within 300 feet of school Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette investigates a coal company, which has built and begun to build silos outside the companies permit area, within 300 feet of a school. The Gazette used color overlays of hard-copy mine maps produced by a local blueprint shop, so that maps dating back to 1982 could be easily compared to more recent digital mine maps. The paper followed up on Sunday, with a piece on the maps and data used in the investigation, and how complaints were ignored and boundary advances missed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 13, 2005 Young farmer numbers waning Carolyn Jung of The Mercury News used census data to study the decline in young farmers in California. According to the data, the number of farmers under 35 "fell 44 percent in California and 18 percent nationwide from 1997 to 2002." The average age of a principal farm operator in the United States was 55.3 in 2002, according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 12, 2005 Many businesses not inspected, study shows Reporter Christina Murphy and Assistant City Editor Jennie Coughlin of The Daily News Leader analyzed five years' worth of Department of Labor and Industry inspections obtained from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration. They found that "many businesses are not inspected each year. In fact, the labor department performed too few safety inspections between 1999 and 2003 to reach even a quarter of the construction businesses in more than a third of the state, though construction is considered a high-hazard industry." The story includes a section on how the investigation was done. (Editor's note: IRE and NICAR offer the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Workplace Safety Database for purchase.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 11, 2005 Ex-aides use connections to make money James Drew and Steve Eder of The (Toledo) Blade traced the path of former Ohio state aides-turned-lobbyists who "have traded their official titles for personal riches and the influence that comes with helping select a U.S. president." Some of Gov. Bob Taft's closest aides have gone onto lucrative lobbying and consulting businesses; one "has raked in more than $700,000 in state and federal lobbying deals and political consulting fees since the business opened two years ago." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 08, 2005 Utah residents use border cities for gambling, lottery As part of a series on gambling in Utah, Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used Idaho state data to show that "the top six Idaho lottery sales sites are on the Utah border - and they sell up to 27 times as many tickets as the average Idaho lottery site." One store just north of the border sold $2.5 million worth of tickets during fiscal 2004. "The tiny Idaho border towns of Malad, Franklin, Fish Haven, Preston and Weston have a combined population of only 7,900 people. But they sell 8.5 percent of all lottery tickets in Idaho - a state with a population of 1.37 million - thanks to the help of Utahns." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Loophole endangers drivers in Canada Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star used federal and provincial records to show that "if you rent a U-Haul, you've got a 50-50 chance of getting a truck that won't pass a road safety check." Ontario police failed nearly half of such vehicles during road examinations between 2002 and 2004, and Ministry of Transportation data suggested a similar pattern at the federal level. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 06, 2005 Drug industry's influence drives doctors' diagnoses Susan Kelleher and Duff Wilson interviewed more than 160 doctors, patients, medical analysts, regulatory officials and other experts for a Seattle Times series about the health care industry and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. "Suddenly Sick" reveals that perviously healthy people go to the doctor only to be diagnosed with an illness because the definitions of disease have changed. Among the Times' findings: "Pharmaceutical firms have commandeered the process by which diseases are defined. ... Some diseases have been radically redefined without a strong basis in medical evidence. The drug industry has bolstered its position by marketing directly to the health-conscious consumer, leading younger and healthier people to consider themselves at risk and to start taking medications." The series includes a sidebar about sources used in the story. (Duff Wilson reported and wrote this story while working for The Seattle Times. He now reports for The New York Times.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 01, 2005 Companies tied to bureau donate heavily to Republicans Mark Naymik and Joseph L. Wagner of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer analyzed state campaign contributions to show that "top Ohio Republican officials and political committees have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions from companies managing money for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Almost two-thirds of the 212 companies hired by the bureau to invest its money gave a total of nearly $5 million to Republicans and their causes while virtually ignoring Democrats from Jan. 1, 1997, through 2004." Gov. Bob Taft, who had two campaigns during that period, was the leading recipient of money from those companies. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 30, 2005 Restaurant prices outpace inflation in NYC Jennifer Steinhauer and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times used restaurant price information from Zagat Guides and the paper's own reviews to show that "in 1994, the average one-star meal cost $33; it now costs a little more than $50, pushing it outside many people's weekend budgets. That is a 51 percent increase, and even after adjusting for inflation, it represents an 18 percent increase." As a result, New York is losing some of the good, cheaper eateries that existed 10 years ago. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 29, 2005 Number of highly paid transit employees triples Mike Adamick of the Contra Costa Times used salary data obtained after a legal battle to show that "the number of BART employees making at least $100,000 nearly tripled since 2000. During the same time period, overtime payments surged by 147 percent for the transit district's highest paid employees." The transit agency originally resisted the paper's request for data, saying releasing the names and salaries of employees would be "overly intrusive." BART turned over information on employees making at least $100,000 after the paper won a similar suit against the City of Oakland. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Contribution through multiple companies help corporate donors elude limit Ben Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed campaign contributions to Gwinnett County commission races in the past two years, finding that "thousands of dollars in donations from companies sharing common addresses and company executives that appear to violate campaign contribution limits. Among them: nine companies headed by two developers whose firms gave to former Commission Chairman Wayne Hill. The contributions, in one case, amounted to twice the donations Hill could legally collect from a single source, and in the other, nearly three times the limit." The donors involved said they were unaware that state law prohibits the practice. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Developers have big plans for rural areas John McCarthy of the Florida Today analyzed and mapped data from the Brevard County Property Appraiser's database to report on growth and development in Brevard County, Fla. McCarthy found that land developers in the county "plan to turn agricultural land in the far reaches of the county into upscale housing developments ..." The project includes a sidebar by Jeff Schweers about how the public can have its say on rezoning and other issues and the online version of the project includes a flyover three-dimensional map, produced by online enhancement coordinator Lee Nessel Daszuta. Assistant Managing Editor Matt Reed oversaw the project and Graphic Artist Tim Standish produced a map for the print edition based on a map McCarthy created with Arcview 9. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 27, 2005 Private contractors pour $2.5 billion into city L.A. Lorek of the San Antonio Express-News used federal contracts data to examine the largest military contractors in San Antonio. Lorek found the Pentagon's reliance on private companies has let to a boom for local businesses who "provide everything from oil and food to aircraft parts and weapons research." In 2003, the top 20 contractors received $2.5 billion worth of contracts, making San Antonio the second-largest military contracting city in Texas. That money went toward making canteen covers, ammunition vests, aluminum cots; meals ready to eat; developing software, building and maintaining aircraft. (Editor's Note: The Federal Procurement Data System is available to journalists from IRE and NICAR.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 24, 2005 Getty chief's high compensation, management style under fire Jason Felch, Robin Fields and Louise Roug of the Los Angeles Times investigate Getty Chief Executive Barry Munitz and his handling of the nonprofit. Declining stock markets helped in the nonprofit's two-year $1 billion loss, leading to cutbacks and layoffs. Two days following a series of layoffs the Getty paid $72,000 for an SUV for Munitz. The board of directors also approved an increase in pay for Munitz; "placing him among the highest-paid foundation chiefs, museum directors and university presidents in the nation ..." The story includes three graphics detailing the executive's compensation and perks. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 23, 2005 Problems plague state's biotech partnership Clint Riley of The (Hackensack, N.J.) Record investigates New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey's plans to promote biotechnology in the state in a four-part series. The investigation found problems with New Jersey's partnership with the biotechnology industry. "Millions of your tax dollars have gone to companies that take valuable research, profits and jobs from New Jersey and strengthen the biotech industry elsewhere." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 16, 2005 Street gun dealers go to jail, while licensed dealers get a free pass Susan Schulman, Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck of The Buffalo News uses public records to investigate gun dealers in a four-day series. The investigation found that while street gun dealers go to jail, licensed gun merchants get a free pass. "Gun shows are a prime source of crime weapons in many states...Despite those concerns, the U.S. Justice Department shies away from gun shows and rarely prosecutes any of the 68,500 dealers licensed to sell firearms in the United States." The series includes an analysis of where the guns are exported from. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 09, 2005 Officials free gas card raises questions Hal Marcovitz of The (Allentown) Morning Call used county records to show that Bucks County "Chief Operating Officer David M. Sanko obtains free gas at the county pumps for a county-owned 1997 Ford Explorer, which he is permitted to tank up before making 100-mile trips from the courthouse in Doylestown to his home in Harrisburg." The perk, which came as a surprise to two county commissioners, could cost taxpayers an additional $3,600 a year on top of Sanko's $139,000 annual salary. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 07, 2005 State homeland security problems uncovered Bert Dalmer of The Des Moines Register reports on an analysis done by the Register using Iowa's critical-asset list. The list "has played a key part in determining how the state divides homeland-security money among Iowa's counties." They found that some "dams and schools on the list have been found not to exist." Historic buildings were left off, while "the state liquor warehouse in Ankeny, Living History Farms in Urbandale and the Danish Windmill Museum in Elk Horn" were put on the list. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 03, 2005 Tax abatements benefit downtown owners Gregory S. Reeves of The Kansas City Star analyzed county data on tax breaks given to properties in downtown Kansas City, finding that "more than 1,700 properties in Jackson County enjoy some kind of property tax abatement," including several expensive condo buildings. Meanwhile, many residential property owners are facing double-digit increases in their assessments. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 26, 2005 Section 8 failing to provide adequate housing Antonio Olivo, John Bebow and Darnell Little of the Chicago Tribune used local data to show that "private landlords are fast taking over government's traditional role of housing Chicago's poor. But these subsidized 'Section 8' landlords have been failing four out of every 10 inspections" during the last five years. "More than 6,000 landlords failed the majority of their inspections. Yet those landlords collectively received a quarter-billion dollars in taxpayer-funded rent subsidies in the last five years." Bebow emails that the paper's reporting "was complicated by the fact that the housing authority refused to release the addresses of any of the thousands of apartments in the Section 8 system. They cited a privacy exemption that completely contradicted the federal government's policy on release of addresses of subsidized buildings." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 25, 2005 Fire district underestimates cost of helicopter Andrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee used state public records to show that "the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spent at least $790,000 to refurbish and equip a military surplus helicopter for firefighting and rescues, more than twice the $300,000 budget its elected board originally approved for the project." A member of the fire district's board called the vehicle "a toy for the chief." Eight other California counties or cities have firefighting helicopters. "Documents show district officials grossly underestimated the need for costly spare parts, that some expenses were labeled 'operating costs' when the aircraft wasn't operating and that the board approved the helicopter hoping that it might generate revenue to defray costs, but little money has been raised." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 20, 2005 State senator makes big bucks with bank Craig R. McCoy, Jennifer Lin and Mario F. Cattabiani of The Philadelphia Inquirer detailed the relationship between state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo and the bank he heads, finding that "PSB Bancorp Inc. has served one man especially well: its chairman, Sen. Fumo. The bank paid Fumo $709,800 last year. For a few years, it provided him a Mercedes-Benz roadster. He also has received $950,000 in reduced-rate loans, a 'golden parachute' estimated at $4.2 million to $6.4 million if the bank is sold, and stock worth millions more." Fumo helped the bank grow from a single office to 13 branches in the Philadelphia area, and the board includes "the manager of Fumo's South Philadelphia legislative office, his biggest campaign donor, and a city councilman whose campaigns are heavily financed by Fumo's campaign funds." Fumo and PSB Bancorp declined to respond to the paper's inquiries, citing "the unadulterated bias that the Inquirer has shown toward Senator Fumo and PSB Bancorp." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 19, 2005 Incentives pay millions, while companies fall short Mike McAndrew and Michelle Breidenbach of The (Syracuse) Post-Standard report on how New York Governor George Pataki's administration gives millions of dollars to businesses that promise to hire people, but often don't. The Post-Standard uses the state's Freedom of Information Law to obtain financial accounts, as well as records on companies' penalties. "The newspaper's review of those records shows that in 2004, companies with active grants and loans fell short of their combined targets by at least 6,000 jobs. In all, 47 percent of the companies missed their targets." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 18, 2005 Confusing stats help mask plant deaths Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle continues the Chronicle's investigation into the 1995 explosion at the BP oil refinery. Olson used OSHA data to uncover why few deaths had been attributed to refineries in the past. "Increasingly, the accuracy of government safety statistics is undermined by the changing work force. These days, up to half of refinery workers are contractors, who generally get some of the most dangerous jobs." Olson also reports on how BP is the fatality leader in their industry in the United States. "BP leads the U.S. refining industry in deaths over the last decade, with 22 fatalities since 1995 — more than a quarter of those killed in refineries nationwide ..." The paper included this explainer on how they did the story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Top 10 businesses top $1 billion in St. Petersburg Helen Huntley of the St. Petersburg Times analyzed the cities top 10 companies finding that, for the first time ever, all 10 are more than $1 billion in revenue. "Eight of the 10 increased revenues by double digits last year. Their average return on equity was 20 percent." The story includes graphics that provide details ranging from most valuable company to fastest growing company. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 10, 2005 Pension abuses hurt employees Michael L. Diamond, with contributions from Paul D'Ambrosio and Nicholas Clunn, Eileen Smith and Peter Spencer of Gannett New Jersey newspapers reviewed the state's pension program, finding that "while the private sector has sharply cut pension and health insurance benefits, the state has gone the opposite way. New Jersey's system features generous payouts to retirees and is subject to abuse." Other employees hold multiple positions: using 2002 data, the papers found "at least $238 million was paid in salaries to 9,500 individuals holding 24,700 government jobs. That represents about 3 percent of the entire payroll in local, county and state government, excluding police, firefighters and teachers." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 05, 2005 Profits high, payroll low for Pittsburgh Pirates Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette spent two months delving into the finances of the Pittsburgh Pirates, owned by a private company, to project "that the Pirates will make a $12.8 million profit in 2005." The average Major League Baseball franchise generated about $4.4 million in profits last year, and the Pirates' payroll has been among the lowest in the league - it increased by $1.4 million since 2004. The team's managing partner said that "the team has chosen to apply most of that profit toward a debt that is estimated by knowledgeable sources at $110 million. The rest, he added, is being used for capital projects such as the $2 million scoreboard the Pirates bought for PNC Park this year." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 03, 2005 Disney looks to improve parks to further growth Jerry W. Jackson, Debbie Salamone and Sean Mussenden of The Orlando Sentinel used public records to determine that Walt Disney World represents a more than $4 billion-a-year business in Central Florida. The paper reviewed state, local and county tax records, corporate annual reports and 15 years' worth of federal SEC filings, using computer-assisted reporting, to analyze the company's size and impact on the community, as well as its contribution to the revenue and profitability of the theme park division and to Walt Disney Co. overall. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Restaurant inspections find high number of infractions Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News uses computer assisted-reporting to analyze nearly 10,000 restaurant inspections during 2003 and 2004. The data were obtained through a state open records request. "The analysis shows which restaurants had the most violations per inspection and the fewest, with 25 establishments averaging 13 or more critical violations per inspection, while 30 had perfect scores with no violations of any kind during the two years." The most common violation of any type, cited 5,3739 times over the two years, was the "critical" violation of using unclean equipment. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 25, 2005 Contractor caught cutting guard rails below standards Nancy Amos of WSMV-Nashville investigates a highway contractor the news team caught on camera cutting guard rails below required standards. "Our investigation found that when LU's workers had a hard time getting the posts into the ground, they simply cut them short using a chain saw." The WSMV news team was tipped off by Neal Adkins, a former LU employee. The investigation has gained attention from the FBI and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 18, 2005 Orlando convention center fails to meet high standards Dan Tracy of the Orlando Sentinel spent more than six months investigating the Orange County Convention Center and the industry surrounding Central Florida's largest single public-works project. "The center's $748 million expansion, which opened in August 2003 in the midst of a tourism and travel slump, attracted only 154,317 new visitors during its first full year of operations — less than a third of the 500,000-plus who had been projected." In their second installment in a series of three, Orlando's biggest competitor, Las Vegas, was analyzed to see why the city has been and continues to be the number one draw for conventions. The series also includes time-lapse video of the convention center project, details about the numbers, four detailed graphics and information about the series. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 12, 2005 State offers big incentives at a large price Sydney P. Freedberg and Connie Humburg of the St. Petersburg Times wrote about Florida's attempt to attract business by offering large incentives to help companies create jobs. The incentives were not working with some companies shipping jobs oversees instead of creating them. These economic efforts come at a big price with Florida's economic development efforts costing the state government more than $900 million. "In a state with a $61-billion proposed budget, $900-million could pay for nearly 11,000 new teachers, prekindergarten classes for 150,000 4-year-olds and all of next year's tuition increase for more than 250,000 university students." The story also includes 14 charts that break down details from wages to cash grants. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 08, 2005 Refinery warned about dangerous ventilation stack Dina Cappiello and Anne Belli of the Houston Chronicle obtained OSHA data on the British Petroleum refinery that exploded March 23. They found that the refinery had been fined and warned about the ventilation stack and given ideas on how to make it safer in 1992. "To correct the problem, OSHA recommended that Amoco reconfigure the unit so that liquids and vapors discharged go to a flare, or set up air monitors." The company was cited for 15 violations and initially fined $50,000. If the flare system had been in place, officials said the accident would never have happened. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 06, 2005 State agency invests millions in rare coins Mike Wilkinson and James Drew of The (Toledo) Blade checked out one of Ohio's government investment instruments: rare coins. "Since 1998, Ohio has invested millions of dollars in the unregulated world of rare coins, buying nickels, dimes, and pennies. Controlling the money for the state? Prominent local Republican and coin dealer Tom Noe, whose firm made more than $1 million off the deal last year alone. The agreement to invest the money in rare coins is rare itself: The Blade could find no other instance of a state government investing in a rare coin fund. Neither the state nor Mr. Noe could provide one." The paper details some problems with the firm managing the investment, including the loss of two coins worth $300,000 in the mail. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 29, 2005 Governor's office political dealings in question Alan Judd of The Atlanta-Jounal Constitution investigated claims that the Georgia governor's office put heat on the state's consumer regulatory office over dealings with a major car dealership and donor to the governor's campaign. "In the Bill Heard Chevrolet case, Hills' inquiry became a key point in a series of events that, Smith says, undermined the agency's already limited authority." The story uncovers numerous accounts of collaboration between the governor's office and the dealership, that eventually led to the firing of the consumer agency's chief, just months away from reaching retirement. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 28, 2005 Wal-Mart cashes in incentives, while many employees taking in medicaid Sydney P. Freedburg and Connie Humburg of the St. Petersburg Times used state records to show that "Wal-Mart and four other large companies that receive state incentives have an estimated 29,900 employees or their family members enrolled in Medicaid. The figures suggest taxpayers may be double-subsidizing low-wage employment by paying companies to create jobs and by paying for the health care of some of those companies' employees." Along with Wal-Mart, Publix Super Markets, Winn-Dixie Stores, Burger King Corp. and Walgreen Co. have the most employees eligible for health care financed by Florida. "Combined, these five firms have been approved by the state for up to $10.8-million in tax credits and tax refunds for at least 3,805 jobs." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 24, 2005 Dot com insiders made millions, while investors lost Reporters Sharon Pian Chan and David Heath of The Seattle Times used unsealed documents successfully won in state and federal lawsuits to investigate Infospace's rise and downfall. At its peak, Infospace was worth over $31 million, but a bad investment on a Canadian wireless investment and questionable business dealings led to the eventual collapse of the dot com giant. They interviewed 100 people, ranging from former employees, investors, experts and regulatory officials. The three-part series details who the winners and loser were, how company insiders fled, dumping their stocks, making millions and the series will feature the aftermath of the downfall March 8. Emails, voicemails and documents are also included in the series, as well as a piece about how the series was done. The Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher wrote a column discussing the series. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 23, 2005 Land swap deals net big profits for brokers Adrienne Packer and J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal continue their investigation into land swap deals, finding that "on at least three occasions, land broker Scott Gragson traded property to McCarran International Airport and then reacquired it nearly two years later for less than he originally sold it for...That means the properties depreciated hundreds of thousands of dollars even as the Las Vegas Valley ranked among the nation's hottest real estate markets." In one case, Gragson re-purchased land and resold it for nearly $2 million more in eight days, thanks to a swiftly approved rezoning decision. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 01, 2005 Complaints high for Florida repair shop Jim Schoettler of The Florida Times-Union used state records to show that auto repair shops in Northeast Florida were the subject of nearly 600 complaints since 1999. "Hundreds more are fielded by local agencies and the courts, while countless others are reported to the shops. No one knows how many people who suspect they've been mistreated never complain." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 25, 2005 Administrative spending grows while student spending dwindles Vicki McClure and Tania deLuzuriaga of The Orlando Sentinel used audit records of local charter schools to find that "Imagine Schools Inc., operator of 10 schools in Central Florida, spent as much as 50 percent less per student on instruction last year but about two to six times more on administration than other public schools in Osceola and Lake counties, where most of the students who attend area charters live." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 24, 2005 Consulting work pays big for former employees Brett J. Blackledge of The Birmingham News used state records to show that Alabama's Department of Human Resources has spent millions on computer consultants, including payments to former agency employees who left DHR only to return for consulting work. "The agency responsible for helping needy children and families now is facing questions from federal officials about how much money it has spent on consultants and how some of those consultants are related to agency officials. DHR has spent more than $20 million since 2003 on computer consultants, with dozens receiving between $50 and $85 an hour. Not all the jobs are highly technical computer positions. Some of the former state workers are paid from the computer contracts to handle financial and administrative jobs in the agency, records show." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 22, 2005 Net worths rise for some legislators while in office Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times reviewed the annual financial disclosure forms filed by Florida state legislators, finding that "while 22 of the 160 legislators report their legislative salary as their principal income, a review of annual financial disclosure forms shows that 37 House members and 16 senators reported net worths of more than $1-million in 2004. Thirty-one of them have become millionaires while in office." And while most lawmakers and Cabinet officers have increased their net worths, Gov. Jeb Bush has seen his decline since 1998, when he first won election. The paper also found that some 40 state legislators file their financial disclosures incorrectly. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Low tax penalty serves as cheap loan for some businesses Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used local records to show that "at least 443 land developers, real estate companies and construction companies owed more than a combined $5.17 million in back property taxes and penalties" as of January 2005. Ski resorts, an airline and telecommunications firm MCI are among the other tax delinquents in Salt Lake County, where some businesses elect not to pay taxes because the penalties and interest are low enough that "many businesses view it as a way to obtain relatively cheap and easy loans." State law assesses a 2 percent penalty on late taxes and interest around 8.25 percent last year. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 21, 2005 Coaches' contracts with Nike raise ethical questions Hartford Courant reporters Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman won a month-long legal battle for release of the contracts between University of Connecticut mens' and womens' basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma and Nike Inc. Over strenuous objections by the coaches' lawyers, the state Ethics Commission decided that the contracts were public documents. A Courant review of the contracts raised questions about whether the contracts violate state ethics laws by linking Calhoun and Auriemma's endorsement deal to a requirement that the teams where Nike sneakers and uniforms. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 11, 2005 Legislators wine and dine at wholesalers' expense An investigation by the Detroit Free Press has found that beer and wine distributers are taking Michigan lawmakers with them every winter to a convention on a luxury resort. "The legislators fly for free to beachfront retreats like the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and the Hyatt Regency on Grand Cayman Island. They pay nothing for their rooms and can bring spouses, too. The beer and wine wholesalers' political action committee has donated more than $2 million to state politicians since 1997." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 09, 2005 King Center deteriorating, faces financial crisis Ernie Suggs and Mae Gentry of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution dug into the finances of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which said it could not afford many millions of dollars for necessary repairs, to show how it had gotten into such a financial hole. They found that "Martin Luther King III, who took over as the center's CEO in January 2004, was paid a salary of $150,000 last year," while his younger brother "Dexter King, the center's chief operating officer and chairman of the board, is paid the same salary he was paid previously when he was CEO. Tax records show the center paid Dexter King $179,933 when he was CEO in 2003, plus $8,708 in benefits and deferred compensation." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 08, 2005 Documents reveal baseball's cost to taxpayers Mark Segraves of WTOP-Radio in Washington, D.C., used documents obtained through the FOIA to determine the District of Columbia "has paid $465,000 to consultants linked to baseball" despite the city's insistence that bringing baseball wouldn't cost the taxpayers. One of the consultants is from Oakland, Calif., so D.C. must foot the bill for her travel and related expenses. Money for the consultants came from a newly created city agency, the Center for Innovation and Reform, that D.C. Council members haven't even heard of. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Aircraft owners use loophole to avoid taxes Michael Mansur of The Kansas City Star used local government records to show that "hundreds of aircraft owners in Jackson and Johnson counties escape paying personal property taxes, costing cash-strapped schools and local governments millions of dollars in recent decades." The practice occurred in both Kansas and Missouri, where officials either did not enforce the law or permitted the use of a loophole that enabled airplane owners to avoid paying taxes on their property. "Randy Turley, chief counsel for the State Tax Commission, confirmed Jackson County was not following state law that requires individuals to be taxed where the property owner lives, not where the plane is stored. Turley was unaware of other counties misinterpreting the law. And he did not know about Jackson County until alerted by the newspaper." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 07, 2005 Questionable accounting caused by high work demand Mike Hudson and E. Scott Reckard, writing in the Los Angeles Times, found that the public profile of mortgage lender Ameriquest differs vastly from accounts detailed by former employees and in various public records. "Ameriquest customers filed more complaints with the Federal Trade Commission from 2000 through 2004 than did those of two of its biggest competitors combined," and more then two dozen former workers said Ameriquest engaged in improper business tactics, including forging documents and qualifying borrowers for loans they could not afford. "Nearly one in nine mortgages made by Ameriquest last year was a refinance of an existing company loan less than 24 months old." The company denies any wrongdoing. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 03, 2005 Wichita pays high price to attract retailer Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle, along with KWCH-Wichita, found that while Wichita paid $7 million to lure outdoors retailer Gander Mountain to a downtown development project, "the vast majority of cities and counties that have a Gander Mountain store didn't pay any public money to get one. The investigation found four other local governments that paid subsidies to get Gander Mountain. In three of those communities, the estimated value of the incentives was $500,000 or less." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 31, 2005 Ga. laws tough on borrowers Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters Ann Hardie, Alan Judd and Carrie Teegardin analyzed foreclosure laws in all 50 states, tracked foreclosure notices and interviewed consumers, lawyers and bankruptcy experts about Georgia's foreclosure law, which drives a bankruptcy rate that is among the nation's highest. David A. Milliron, computer-assisted reporting and analysis editor, and news researchers Nisa Asokan and Alice Wertheim contributed to the reporting. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 28, 2005 Agency withholds Iraq contract details Kevin Begos of the Winston-Salem Journal reports on the secrecy surrounding a "$236 million contract to promote democracy in Iraq." The the U.S. Agency for International Development is withholding all "financial information about Research Triangle International's government contract" after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request. A founder of the company and the leader of North Carolina's congressional delegation have expressed concern over the secrecy. In December, a three-part Journal investigation into RTI's work revealed a wide range of security and management problems that called into question the effectiveness of the program. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 27, 2005 Congressional travel soars despite regulations A team of graduate students from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, along with Marketplace and American RadioWorks, researched congressional perks to see if recent regulations have cut down on lobbysits' lavish expenditures. What they found was there has been a significant decrease in expenditures, but not when it comes to travel. More than $14 million was spent by corporations, universities and other institutions, "sending representatives around the world, for sometimes questionable reasons." Their research details how the process works, who is benefiting from it and who the "king of travel" is. The group also has compiled data detailing individual expenditures, as well as breakdowns based on party affiliation and the top beneficiaries and spenders. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Tax breaks given despite broken promise Sydney P. Freedberg and Jeff Harrington of the St. Petersburg Times analyzed state and local government records to find that they "have paid or promised more than $21 million of benefits plus a tax break worth up to $74.5-million to help a financial corporate titan create jobs in Tampa - the same company that will lay off 1,900 employees this year." For years, JPMorgan Chase & Co. received incentives and other benefits to remain in the area and create high-paying jobs: "There was $1.2-million for help in training workers, $4.3-million for road improvements and right-of-way acquisitions, state tax refunds of at least $6.5-million and $1.3-million to help the company pay governmental fees for its developments." The company announced in January that it was closing a credit card call center. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 19, 2005 Housing law falls short of promise Adrian Hampton of the the San Francisco Examiner found that affordable home building hasn't met expectations set up by the three-year old housing law. "The law requires all developers of 10 or more units to dedicate at least 10 percent to residents earning median income or less, and the first units are expected to hit the market this year." The Examiner found that only 7.3 percent of households could afford the median price. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sweet deal for sister of Chicago top aide Tim Novak and Steve Warmbir of the Chicago Sun-Times used city contract records to show that the sister of a top aide to Mayor Richard Daley was able to win a city contract for minority and women-owned businesses despite the fact that her company, Toltec, had to purchase supplies from a white-owned firm and subcontract the work to another white-owned contractor. "Inserting Toltec into the deal cost taxpayers more money. How much is unclear. Overall, Toltec got about $218,000 for the work on two buildings, starting in 2003, city records show. Toltec got another $480,000 for helping Cecchin with the infrastructure at O'Hare, city records show. Cecchin's owner, Timothy Cecchin, said he could have gotten the supplies cheaper by going to Builders directly. But by allowing Toltec to place the orders and bill Cecchin Plumbing for it, Cecchin Plumbing helped meet Mayor Daley's demand to give minorities and women city business." The city said that rules barred pass-through deals. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 13, 2005 Newspapers boost circulation with unsolicited deliveries Jacques Steinberg and Tom Torok of the New York Times analyzed newspaper circulation data to show that "across the country each week, more than 1.6 million people who are not on newspaper subscriber rolls are being delivered copies that did not cost them a cent - but they are still being classified as paying customers." Many large papers, including The Miami Herald, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe, make such unsolicited deliveries. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Florida swampland sales return through Internet sales Ron Hurtibise of the Daytona Beach News-Journal used Volusia County property records to show that web sites like eBay are boosting sales of land in so-called "paper subdivisions" that mostly consist of swampland. "Thanks to the Internet, sales in paper subdivisions are exploding again four decades after sparking national outrage and a state crackdown. As state officials look into the new trend, experts fear that today's buyers, many of whom are immigrants in northern states, are repeating costly mistakes." The paper ran a map of recent transactions in University Highlands, where more than 1,600 lots have sold in the past three years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 12, 2005 Boeing taking chance with new plastic plane Michael Oneal and David Greising of The Chicago Tribune take an in-depth look into Boeing's efforts to regain primacy in the aviation industry. Boeing has bet it all on a new plane that could change the way the aviation industry does business. "If the company's engineers can solve the puzzle of building successfully with composites, they will eliminate hundreds of thousands of rivets, hours of machining time, and billions of dollars in expensive manufacturing machinery. That, in turn, should allow Boeing to price its new jet more competitively." Boeing hopes to compete with Airbus, who delivered more commercial jets for the first time in 2003 than Boeing. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 10, 2005 Local governments avoid bond bids Thousands of municipal bond issuers in the United States -- schools, cities, public agencies and states -- have permitted investment banks to sell their municipal bonds without vying for the business, writes David Dietz of Bloomberg Markets magazine. These "negotiated sales," have in the past 25 years gradually replaced the century-old tradition of competitive bidding according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 03, 2005 Companies pay only fraction of clean-up costs David Pace of The Associated Press used federal records to show that "bonds posted by companies with federal oil and gas leases cover only a small fraction of the projected costs of plugging wells and restoring land once the fuel is extracted, leaving taxpayers with the potential for huge cleanup bills." The price tag for cleanup could reach as much as $1 billion, while the Bureau of Land Management has raised $132 million from companies that maintain more than 100,000 oil and gas wells. "The current rates were set in 1960, and gas and oil companies are the only federal mineral lease holders that aren't required to post full reclamation bonds. Coal and hard rock mineral companies must post bonds equivalent to the estimated cleanup costs." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 23, 2004 Legislators' families benefit from ties Chuck Neubauer and Ted Rohrlich of the Los Angeles Times report that in the past year and a half, "the Times has identified five House members and seven senators whose family members have worked for clients that benefited from the lawmakers' official actions." Among those to have capitalized on a family member's position: "U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters' family members have made more than $1 million in the last eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that the influential congresswoman has helped." Researcher Mark Madden contributed to the story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 21, 2004 Conflict of interest on regulatory board Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "because California puts few restrictions on who can serve on the California Horse Racing Board that oversees the state's $3 billion horse-racing industry, the panel is principally composed of people who have a significant economic stake in the sport." At least six of the seven board members acknowledge that they gamble at tracks and five of them actively own or breed racehorses in the state. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Taser used against juveniles, pregnant women Phuong Cat Le and Hector Castro of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer find that Tasers have been used "to end violent standoffs and subdue suicidal people, but a P-I review found they're also being used routinely in far less threatening situations — including against juveniles, pregnant women and people who have already been handcuffed." The P-I reports "69 deaths nationwide have been reported after tasings, including three in the Puget Sound area." The report includes a story about Taser International, "a multimillion-dollar company providing Tasers to thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country and military units around the world." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 17, 2004 Pension loopholes affect local taxpayers Chris Christoff and Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press studied area public employee pensions, finding some "have paid off big to those helped by generous retirement rules or, in some cases, political connections... In other cases, the cost of public pensions has resulted in local tax increases or potential burdens for future taxpayers." While most government workers' pensions are steady if unspectacular, some used loopholes or connections to boost their payouts. A sheriff too young to retire with a full pension "got himself demoted for one day - with no pay cut - to lieutenant in the Sheriff's Department, where he had worked for 25 years. It allowed him to retire immediately with a $72,800-a-year pension. He continues to collect the pension on top of his $128,000 salary as sheriff." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 16, 2004 Chronic polluter escapes fines Chris Bowman of The Sacramento Bee used state records to show that a Merced County cheese maker avoided spending millions on waste treatment equipment by dumping polluted materials onto land leased by the company. "The water board has recorded at least 4,000 violations against Hilmar Cheese in the past four years alone, making it one of California's most chronic offenders of clean-water laws. Yet, for years not a single fine or injunction was issued. Instead of cracking down, the Valley water board kept raising the limit on wastewater volume at the cheese maker's request, as production kept growing." (Editor's note: For those interested in doing similar stories, be sure to see IRE's latest beat book: "Covering Pollution: An Investigative Reporter's Guide.") Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 15, 2004 Illegal gambling prevalent in Ky. In a two-part series, Grace Schneider and Lesley Stedman Weidenbener of The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal found that illegal video poker and slot-like machines are widespread in Kentucky. "Over two days, a reporter found 137 machines at 19 truck stops, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants located at 15 exits." Among the problems with illegal machines: the operators can make their own rules — with lower payout rates than the state would require; experts say video gambling is highly addictive; and state and local governments can't tax the profits generated by illegal machines. "The Courier-Journal spent nine months examining illegal video gambling in Kentucky and Indiana. It reviewed hundreds of records in the two states and interviewed dozens of government and industry officials." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 14, 2004 Oil refineries missing deadlines Scott Streater of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram finds the Environmental Protection Agency has "quietly allowed oil refineries nationwide to miss court-mandated deadlines to reduce air emissions, prolonging the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people to dangerous pollutants." The article is based on an analysis of progress reports submitted by refineries that have settled, released by the EPA through the federal Freedom of Information Act, and interviews with more than 50 environmental regulators, legal experts and oil company officials. A second story looks at a deal the EPA has struck a deal to clean up five refineries owned by ChevronTexaco. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Calif. Indians on brink of casino riches Thomas Peele and John Simerman of the Contra Costa Times examined the Indian tribe and political players behind the controversial Casino San Pablo project that will house 2,500 slot machines. One story traces the history of the tribe that will operate the casino, the 277-member Lytton Band of Pomo Indians. Peele's story shows how a homeless Indian family settled unused government land in 1937 and 67 years parlayed their tenuous claim of tribal status to stand on the verge of unimaginable casino riches. Simerman's story shows how an act of Congress and a governor eager to share in casino profits created a situation in which the tribe will soon operate far more slot machines than it first proposed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 13, 2004 Tax abatements have pitfalls L.A. Lorek of the San Antonio Express-News found that 42 percent of San Antonio companies that have been granted tax abatements since 1989 have either failed, transferred their abatement or didn't do the approved project. Also, the number of created (and the type of jobs) fell short of the number of jobs promised. A sidebar on school tax abatements also details how a Texas law now permits school districts to grant abatements once again. And a searchable database lets the public examine all 57 tax abatements. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 10, 2004 Businesses use farming to avoid taxes Paula Lavigne, Kevin Krause and Ed Housewright of The Dallas Morning News used property tax data to show that "on thousands of acres of North Texas land, big business and other private interests have found a way to save millions of dollars with agricultural side operations. For these savvy corporations and land speculators, every munching cow and hay bale spells annual savings, thanks to property tax breaks originally intended to help farmers." Dallas, Denton, Tarrant and Collin counties lose millions in annual tax revenue, particularly taxes for public schools. A map shows the proliferation of these land parcels. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 23, 2004 Legislator had links to businesses Mike Stanton of The Providence Journal unearthed evidence showing that state House Majority Leader Gerard M. Martineau, "while he was in a position to influence legislation affecting CVS and Blue Cross, was profiting from his private business with those companies ." Martineau sold plastic bags to both companies during the time that he voted against legislation that would have affected both companies' business in Rhode Island. "Legislators and state health officials who worked with Martineau said that he seemed fair in his handling of complex health-care matters. But they said that they were unaware of his private business dealings, and wish that he had disclosed them." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 16, 2004 Yacht owners find ways around taxes In a three-part series, Eric Nalder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer finds that yacht owners are taking advantage of several tax loopholes. "Four tax loopholes underwriting pleasure boats from Key West to Puget Sound were investigated by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer through an examination of licensing records and tax laws as well as interviews with boat owners, yacht sellers, charter companies, lawyers, regulators, accountants and lawmakers." Among the strategies boat owners use to gain deductions: depreciating their boats under the tax-relief program passed in 2003, declaring their yachts as second homes, putting boats into charter arrangements and declaring their yachts to be a business resource. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 28, 2004 Iraq contractors tack on multiple costs Joseph Neff and Jay Price of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer looked at the contracts of private military contractors in Iraq and revealed "how costs can add up when the government uses private military contractors to perform tasks once handled by the Army." They detail one case in which, Blackwater, a company based in North Carolina, added a 36 percent markup and its overhead costs, then sent the bill to a Kuwaiti company that tacked on its costs for vehicles and weapons and a profit and then sent an invoice to a German company called ESS. That company added its costs and profit and sent its bill to Halliburton, which added overhead and a profit and presented the final bill to the Pentagon. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 18, 2004 Amtrak pays millions in liability claims Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times, with contributing reporters Claire Hoffman, Eric Koli and Jenny Nordberg, reports that Amtrak, the federally subsidized railroad, has been paying millions in lawsuits even when it is not liable. "An analysis by The Times of records obtained through the federal Freedom of Information Act found that Amtrak has paid more than $186 million since 1984 for accidents blamed entirely or mostly on others." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 13, 2004 Insurance rates not forcing doctors out Tim Bonfield of The Cincinnati Enquirer dissects the numbers on Ohio physicians, finding that "while many doctors are deeply frustrated with rising insurance rates, there is no mass exodus of physicians ... To the contrary, there are more doctors in the state today than there were three years ago." Medical malpractice costs have been cited as a reason why doctors are abandoning their practices in Ohio and other states, but state and federal records show that "the doctor supply in Ohio — as in every other state in the country — has been steadily growing for years." Most of the state's counties have not lost any physicians during the past year. Bonfield also finds that, despite a cap on malpractice awards, doctors are paying more for insurance than ever. Day three of the series looks at the race for the Ohio Supreme Court and its possible effects on malpractice reforms. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 07, 2004 Feds failed in battle against meth Steve Suo of The Oregonian reports that "Congress and federal authorities could have contained the methamphetamine epidemic, and still can." Analyzing millions of records detailing arrests, emergency room visits and other drug-related incidents, the paper found "striking correlations between government actions and meth abuse. In two periods — 1995-96 and 1998-99 — federal authorities interrupted the flow of chemicals to drug cartels. Each time, crime and addiction fell in tandem as the price of the drug rose." Another piece tells how lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry helped to keep tighter regulation by the Drug Enforcement Administration at bay: "Again and again, DEA officials agreed to compromises that left open one or more crucial loopholes for traffickers to obtain their ingredients — the bulk of which are made in only nine factories worldwide." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 04, 2004 DOD awards billions in no-bid contracts The Center for Public Integrity examined contract data from the Department of Defense and found that "over the past six years, the Pentagon has awarded some $362 billion to companies without competitive bidding." In addition, "the report, which covers 1998-2003, documents the extent to which the Defense Department has become dependent on outside contractors, finding that every annual increase in defense spending has been matched by an equal increase in contracting." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 23, 2004 University land affects county tax base Dave Gershman of The Ann Arbor News used county real estate records to show that the University of Michigan "has purchased more than 40 properties since 1990, taking a total of about 316 acres off the tax rolls." But the school has also sold off other land that has contributed to the county's tax base. "Since 1990, U-M has acquired 45 properties that reduced local tax collections by about $1,572,281 ... The tax loss from those purchases, however, was less than the taxes gained after U-M sold seven properties, which were taxed at a collective $3,526,969 last year." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 17, 2004 Mont. makes deals for grazing leases The Associated Press used records from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to show that the state has repeatedly reduced the amount ranchers have to pay to lease state-owned land during the past 10 years. The total amount discounted exceeds $1.5 million. "Over the past 10 years, 9,001 grazing and cropland leases were renewed. Usually less than 5 percent of those attracted a competitive bid and the current leaseholders usually matched it. In about half of those cases, leaseholders requested an administrative hearing to argue they should pay a lower rate. The department and state Land Board reduced the rental rate in about eight of every 10 cases, with an average decrease of 35 percent. That amounted to more than $1.5 million in discounts over the 10-year life of the affected grazing leases, money that would have mostly gone to education programs." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 16, 2004 Phone companies profit from prisoners Kim Curtis and Bob Porterfield of The Associated Press used data from California's 57 county jails to show that "telephone companies and California counties have made hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the state's poorest people through high, unregulated phone rates for calls from local jails." Local calls can cost as more than $2 at some jails. "The inflated rates they pay make service contracts with jails so lucrative that carriers offer counties signing bonuses, nearly $17 million in the case of Los Angeles County." The phone contracts are not regulated by state or federal telecommunications agencies. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 08, 2004 Funds vote with management 86 percent of the time Beth Healy of The Boston Globe analyzed votes by mutual funds last year, finding that although they often voted against pay raises sought by corporate executives, "across all issues, the mutual funds voted with management 86 percent of the time." This is the first time that proxy-vote data was released to the public. "The new data reveal that fund groups took a dim view of any requests by company management that the funds believed could hurt the stock. For example, Fidelity, Putnam, and MFS all rejected the 2004 stock incentive plan at Hewlett-Packard Co. — a plan that would make 180 million shares, or 6 percent of the computer company's stock outstanding, available to be issued for executive incentives." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 02, 2004 Program to create jobs not a total success John Fritze of The Indianapolis Star analyzed local tax records to find that a program to lure new jobs to the area has had mixed results through 2001. "Sixty-three companies promised to create 10,704 new jobs and retain 22,981 workers in exchange for $147 million in tax breaks, according to the analysis of documents covering nearly 90 percent of the total value of abatements during the five-year period. So far they have actually created 8,689 jobs and retained 22,142 others, although the deadline hasn't passed for some companies that received abatements." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 01, 2004 Housing agency pays more for car repairs Michael Biesecker and Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer analyzed records from the Durham Housing Authority, finding that "it spends far more for auto repair and other various routine services than some North Carolina housing agencies of similar size. Since January 2000, the check registers show the authority spent $772,238 on vehicle maintenance — an average of $15,760 per vehicle. The base sticker price of a 2004 Ford Ranger XL pickup truck, not including model year-end discounts, is $15,195." The agency doesn't have fixed-price contracts with repair shops, so there is no limit to what they can earn. One business, Road Runner Shop on Wheels, billed $177,444 since January 2000. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Schools lose money to utility overbilling Jennifer Toomer-Cook of The Deseret News asked Utah school districts and power companies to track billing processes, finding that "utility companies are inaccurately billing public schools by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year — taxpayer money that likely would be lost if schools didn't hunt it down." The error rates range from 1.6 percent of bills to 9.4 percent, mostly in favor of the school districts. "Granite District's McLeod keeps memorabilia of more than $100,000 in utility reimbursements: copies of a $62,491.60 check from Granger Hunter Improvement District; $27,687 and $22,189 from Utah Power, and others." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 19, 2004 Whistleblower calls IRS deal into question In The New York Times, David Cay Johnston reports on a secret deal worked out by Internal Revenue Service officials that a whistleblower says will "allow a Silicon Valley company and its top executives to escape at least $51 million in additional taxes that she was convinced they should have paid." In addition, Remy Welling, a senior auditor for the IRS, says the agreement requires the agency to cooperate with the company to keep "its shareholders uninformed on some basic terms of its stock-option plan, which Ms. Welling said enriched the four top executives by as much as $20 million in total." The company, Micrel, a semiconductor maker, refutes the allegation. The IRS is in the process of firing Welling on the ground that contacting the FBI violated Micrel's confidentiality. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 18, 2004 U.S. News & World Report issues clarification A story in the Aug. 9, 2004, issue of U.S. News & World Report titled "Secrets behind the mask" claimed to find "evidence that 3M respiratory masks failed to protect wearers from lung-damaging particles in their work environments for more than two decades." The story was posted on Extra! Extra! on Aug. 18, 2004. A clarification in the Sept. 20, 2004, issue of the magazine says "A subsequent review of the article by the editors of the magazine, requested by 3M, disclosed several significant shortcomings and inaccuracies." Among issues cited in the clarification: the magazine failed to properly characterize results of tests of the mask's fit, the article's subhead was insupportable and unfair, and it did not identify people in the article who criticized the mask as having served as paid advisers to plaintiffs' counsel in litigation against 3M. The clarification says the story "failed to meet U.S. News's acknowledged high standards of journalistic fairness and balance." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Businesses target those with few resources In a three-part series, Ron Nixon, Terry Collins and Dee Depass of the Star Tribune look into financial businesses that profit by "catering to people who live paycheck to paycheck or have been shut out of mainstream financial institutions." The first part looks at payday loans, the fastest-growing such business in Minnesota. The second part examines rapid tax refund loans and the third is about high-interest mortgages granted to borrowers who with heavy debt or damaged credit. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 16, 2004 Money to clean up old mines diverted for other uses Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston (W.V.) Gazette reports that the U.S. coal industry pays taxes — more than $7 billion since 1978 — intended to reclaim old mines. "But today, more than $3 billion of mine sites that threaten public safety remain unreclaimed. The federal Abandoned Mine Land program has not met its goals in large part because regulators diverted more than $1.3 billion in AML money to other projects." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Nonprofit, company share CEO, business Randy Ludlow of The Columbus Dispatch looked into the relationship between the nonprofit Ohio Association of County Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the privately owned Leadership First Academy for Executive Development. The training and consulting company is owned by the nonprofit's CEO, Charles H. Arndt. "A two-month investigation by The Dispatch found that Arndt's company has received more than $1.4 million in state and county tax funds since 2001 while the nonprofit organization shouldered many of the company's expenses." After The Dispatch detailed the nonprofit association's dealings with a business owned by CEO Charles H. Arndt, the organization's board revoked the authority of its chief executive officer to sign checks. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 05, 2004 School leaders earning outside money Scott Parks of The Dallas Morning News writes about school superintendents who moonlight or consult for companies, some of which have contracts with their school districts. The paper found "that trustees in at least 22 of Texas's 30 largest school districts have agreed to put consulting clauses into their superintendent's employment contract." The leader of Dallas' school district has earned "tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees while simultaneously billing the district for more than $700,000 in legal fees" and one Houston-area superintendent is a paid consultant for an energy conservation company that contracts with her district. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 03, 2004 Local nonprofit salaries increase 7 percent Laura Lorek examines the pay of local nonprofit executives for the San Antonio Express-News and finds the average wage at $386,759. That's more than triple the $119,580 average annual wage for chief executives in both private and public industries in the metropolitan area. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 02, 2004 Global trade not only factor in collapse Charlotte Observer reporters Adam Bell and Tony Mecia examined the reasons behind last year's collapse of Pillowtex, a once prominent textile company whose closing led to the largest mass layoffs in the history of North Carolina and the textile industry. Some 7,650 lost their jobs, including 4,800 in North Carolina. The company was quick to blame global trade and low-cost imports. But the Observer found that imports were only part of the story. For the series, the Observer interviewed more than 75 people, including three of the past four leaders, as well as reviewed dozens of securities filings, state records and bankruptcy documents. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 23, 2004 Clean-air inspections down 52 percent Jeff Claassen and Scott Streater of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Seth Borenstein of Knight-Ridder combined to study federal environment enforcement of oil refineries, finding that since 2001, "federal and state authorities have sharply cut back on clean-air enforcement actions at many of the nation's 145 oil refineries, even though they remain among the country's worst air polluters." Such regulatory actions peaked during the Clinton administration, but have fallen off during the Bush presidency. "Comprehensive clean-air inspections, a crucial step in identifying violations, are down 52 percent for refineries since 2001, compared with 4 percent for all industries. ... Notices of violations have plummeted 68 percent for refineries, compared with a 24 percent drop for all industries. And formal enforcement actions are down 31 percent for refineries but less than 1 percent for all industries nationwide." The Environmental Protection Agency says that it has not cut its enforcement efforts but that it has pursued legal settlements called consent decrees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Companies fund N.M. governor's convention expenses Barry Massey of The Associated Press reports that "companies that helped arrange financing for Gov. Bill Richardson's $1.6 billion transportation program are the top contributors to a newly formed political committee affiliated with the governor." The committee, Si Se Puede! Boston 2004, is picking up costs related to the Democratic convention by Richardson's political staff and has raised $191,000 so far. "Slightly more than two-thirds of the contributions — $130,000 — came from companies that helped put together a complex bond financing program earlier this year for the administration's transportation plan, which is called GRIP — Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 21, 2004 Congressman seems to benefit from winery's fall John Ellis of The Fresno Bee spent six months unraveling the story behind Radanovich Winery, owned by U.S. Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.). Losses and debt propelled local developer Richard Spencer in 2002 to pitch a new company involving current investors and new ones from Fresno's business community. "By the summer of 2003, however, a far different reality emerged. Investors in Radanovich Winery Inc. had nothing but worthless stock and lost investments. The company essentially had ceased to exist. And all of the principal assets that once belonged to the company were in the hands of just two people: Radanovich and Spencer." The two men swapped parcels of land, with Radanovich getting debt-free a vineyard and winery barn that once belonged to his family. Spencer got Radanovich's stake in 51 acres of undeveloped land. "Spencer is 95% owner of Mariposa Wine Co., which is now selling Radanovich label wine and, as of earlier this year, was leasing the winery barn from the congressman." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 20, 2004 Taser cited autopsy reports it never had Robert Anglen of The Arizona Republic reviewed autopsy records and other documents to show that the Taser industry's claims that the stun guns are not lethal were unsupported by records. "Taser's claims are based on autopsy reports the company never possessed," the newspaper reports. "For years, Taser officials cited these reports as proof that the stun guns never caused 'injury or death to another human being.' Now, officials acknowledge they never had those autopsy reports and didn't start collecting them until April. The Republic's review of autopsies and interviews with medical examiners found Tasers have been linked to at least five deaths." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 15, 2004 Crucial waterway suffering from neglect Brian Hicks of The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier has the story of "the Ditch," otherwise known as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Neglect by the Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the route, has made it too shallow for passage in many areas and federal funding may be cut to zero next year. "If money for dredging is not provided soon, whole sections of the waterway could be virtually useless within a year or two, sending an economic shockwave along the Southeast coast." Intracoastal projects received about $6.7 million in 2004, but the paper concludes that several times that amount is necessary to keep the waterway open. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 08, 2004 Viatical industry ripe for fraud Michael J. Berens and Mark Skertic of the Chicago Tribune investigate the viatical insurance industry, in which life insurance policy holders sell their policies to investors for quick tax-free cash, finding a poorly-regulated field ripe for abuse: "Since 1995, at least 56 industry executives have been convicted of felonies for activities ranging from elaborate pyramid schemes — companies selling non-existent policies — to recruiting terminally ill patients to apply for multiple policies without disclosing their conditions." More than 100 viatical companies have violated state laws or rules since 1998, and a dozen states have no laws restricting their activities. Berens recently moved to a job with The Seattle Times. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 07, 2004 Regulator earns money by selling policies to hospitals Steve Warmbir of the Chicago Sun-Times used IRS records to show that "a top state hospital regulator, Bernard Weiner, and his son have collected more than $1 million in commissions by selling insurance to hospitals Weiner oversees." As a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, Weiner rarely recused himself from voting on projects involving hospitals he does business with, including at least seven in the Chicago area. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 06, 2004 Schools spend thousands at store owned by official’s brother Ryan Gabrielson of The Monitor in McAllen, Texas, reviewed Pharr-San Juan-Alamo School District spending records to find that Superintendent Arturo Guajardo co-owns a building housing a hardware supply firm that does business with the Texas school district. The supply store is run by Guajardo's brother and tax records released by the superintendent show that he is a co-owner of the business, too, although he maintains that's not true. The year after Guajardo became the building's co-owner, the district's purchases from the store jumped from $3,373 to $20,376. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Judge’s orders forgave more than $800,000 Randy Ellis, Nolan Clay and John Perry of The Oklahoman reviewed court records to find that "an Oklahoma County special judge issued orders that improperly forgave bail bondsmen from paying more than $800,000 in bond forfeitures." The judge in question is retiring soon, but not because of the forgiven bail money, which mostly involved Ranger Insurance Co. The orders were "part of a pattern of actions by some Oklahoma County judges and court clerk employees that benefited Ranger and are responsible for the county collecting just $706,500 in felony bail bond forfeitures during 2002 and 2003." Court officials told the paper that the order resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in uncollected payments. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 01, 2004 Selig has unprecedented control over MLB Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post has a three-part series about how Major League Baseball does business, describing Commissioner Bud Selig as the sport's unchallenged leader, even though he has attracted scorn in his hometown for how the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium was financed. "The Major League Constitution was rewritten to give Selig increased authority over economic issues — powers so sweeping that they expire at the end of his term so his successors cannot abuse them. Selig can act unilaterally on any matter pertaining to collective bargaining between the owners and players." Selig will decide shortly on the prospects of placing a team in Washington, D.C. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 22, 2004 Payday lenders take advantage of little regulation Jim Rankin and Nicole MacIntyre of the Toronto Star spent three months investigating the payday loan industry in Toronto, finding a mix of practices and charges that show how "erratic" the industry is in Canada. "With no government or licensing body to answer to, payday lenders charge a confusing assortment of interest and fees... Most of the 12 Toronto payday lenders sampled had different names for their fees and different prices for their loans. One company, Payroll Loans, referred to the extra charges as a 'brokerage' fee. Wage garnishment forms, which state payments can be taken off paycheques if a customer defaults, were required in nearly every store. Never mind that they are technically unenforceable. In Ontario, only credit unions and Revenue Canada can use such a tool. All other creditors would have to get a garnishment order from the courts." The series includes several stories on the loan companies and their customers. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 18, 2004 Steep increase in Philly-area home values Alan J. Heavens and Rose Ciotta of The Philadelphia Inquirer analyzed home sales in the area to find a dramatic increase in prices during the past five years: "of the 354 towns with reported residential sales, nearly all saw some increase in median prices, and 307 — or 87 percent — saw double-digit increases, after adjusting for inflation." The number of million-dollar home sales jumped from 177 to 738; more than half were at the Jersey shore. The paper also placed a searchable database of home sales on its Web site. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Developer gets contracts despite bad checks to politicians Ted Rohrlich and Ralph Frammolino of the Los Angeles Times reviewed legal and campaign records to find that subsidized housing developer Christopher Hammond continues to get government contracts despite his habit of writing bad checks to Los Angeles politicians. "A review of court and campaign records and interviews by the Times turned up three dozen instances in which he or his companies bounced checks from 1999 through 2003 totaling more than $200,000. A majority of those were written in 2001, when Hammond said he became overextended. Three times, Hammond agreed to settle lawsuits over bad debts, only to bounce the settlement checks." Hammond and his primary company, Capital Vision Equities, owe more than half a million in unpaid federal and state taxes dating back 15 years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 17, 2004 Price of waterfront homes skyrocketing Matthew Waite of the St. Petersburg Times studied housing prices in Pinellas County, finding that "since 1998, the median price of waterfront homes and condos in Pinellas has increased more than twice as fast as real estate off the water." The typical price of a waterfront home in Pinellas is more than $500,000, an increase of 136 percent in six years. Condo sales also have boomed during the same period, even for non-waterfront properties. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Dealer selling cars for double book value Andrew Wolfson of the Louisville Courier-Journal investigated the practices of a popular local car dealer, analyzing 20 recent sales. The paper "found the vehicles sold for nearly twice their book value — amounts that one industry expert called 'outrageous' and another 'grossly overpriced.'" The dealer, a J.D. Byrider franchise, sold the most cars in the chain last year, but its critics say it overcharges customers for high-mileage vehicles. "During the past five years, it was the subject of nearly twice as many complaints to the attorney general's office as the next 10 largest local used-car dealers combined, and nearly three times as many Better Business Bureau complaints as those dealers together." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 14, 2004 Contractors contribute millions to campaigns The Asbury Park Press investigates how local contractors are winning no-bid government jobs by funneling millions of dollars to the campaigns of elected officials. Investigations Editor Paul D'Ambrosio and Projects Reporter James W. Prado Roberts looked at billions of dollars in government contracts and hundreds of thousands of political contributors over several years. Among the paper's findings was that "more than half of the estimated $61 million raised by political committees for last year's legislative and county elections came from companies and law firms." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 07, 2004 Number of Ohioans lining up for donated food on the rise Alan Johnson, Catherine Candisky and Jonathan Riskind of The Columbus Dispatch spent a week with people who line up for donated food in Ohio. "In that one week, from April 26 to May 1, the number of Ohioans served by food pantries statewide — more than 150,000 — would have filled Ohio Stadium one and a half times. Nearly 2 million pounds of food were distributed — enough to fill 70 tractor-trailers. The number of people seeking help at food pantries statewide has risen three straight years." The paper's seven-day series, Lines of Despair, documents how hunger has reached into suburbs as well as cities. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 28, 2004 Tax incentives don't stop companies from laying off workers Arthur Kane of The Denver Post writes about a Colorado program that offers property tax breaks to attract businesses and has the state reimburse school districts for lost revenue. "A quarter of the companies that made agreements with school districts closed or laid off employees while receiving the rebate or soon after it stopped ... Nearly half of the 10 companies that received the most money have laid off employees or closed the plant." State officials defended the program, which is projected to cost about $24 million by 2007. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 27, 2004 Town struggles with housing, growth issues A three-part series in the Asbury Park Press by Jason Method and Richard Quinn found that Orthodox Jewish real estate practices in Lakewood, N.J., apparently broke fair housing laws. The series also documented how both Orthodox and Hispanic residents were cramming into dwellings that had not been inspected nor, in many cases, approved by township officials. Plus, the series showed the leniency of the zoning and planning boards in granting high-density housing. The paper examined planning and zoning records from the past five years to show that developments catering to Orthodox Jews studying at Beth Medrash Govoha rabbinical college have caused complaints from other residents that "they feel locked out of the housing market." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 26, 2004 Former sawmill could have lasting effects on residents Alan Scher Zagier of the Naples Daily News spent five months tracing the effects of a former sawmill in Jerome, Fla., that was destroyed in a chemical fire in 1956. Eighteen people "who worked at the Jones mill or lived in Jerome after the 1956 fire have died from various forms of cancer or brain tumors," and "dozens more — including a 5-year-old boy — are sick with a host of maladies, from skin lesions and fertility problems to behavioral disorders." The illnesses and deaths may be related to creosote, a wood preservative made from toxic chemicals, that seeped into the groundwater beneath the town. The fire that all but closed the town burned a holding tank containing 3,000 gallons of creosote. Former residents and their descendants have sued Collier Enterprises Inc., the company of county founder Barron Collier, which sold the land to the mill owner. "Officials with the state Department of Environmental Regulation, now known as the Department of Environmental Protection, did in fact laud the Collier companies for their response to the public health hazard. Yet those same state officials relied on incomplete and outdated evidence submitted by Collier Enterprises and its consultants to guide the cleanup process — a decision that saved the company millions of dollars." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 25, 2004 Atlanta schools need $14 million a year for computer network Paul Donsky and Ken Foskett of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigate Atlanta schools' use of money from a national program designed to help poor children tap into the Internet, finding that "with virtually no limit on spending, Atlanta since 1998 has built one of the country's most lavish computer networks for schoolchildren. Now, Atlanta says it needs $14 million a year — three times the district's textbook budget — just to run and maintain the network. And much of the promised benefit to students has yet to materialize." The high-speed network at a single elementary school cost the district $1 million — about $2,150 per student — and uses more routing equipment for one school than New Orleans' entire school network. The program, called E-rate, has been cited previously for abuses and waste. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 24, 2004 Officials governing former industries Anne C. Mulkern of The Denver Post reports that the Bush administration has appointed more than 100 top officials "who helped govern industries they once represented as lobbyists, lawyers or company advocates. In at least 20 cases, those former industry advocates have helped their agencies write, shape or push for policy shifts that benefit their former industries. They knew which changes to make because they had pushed for them as industry advocates." A small number of the officials have faced ethics inquiries or resigned their posts after conflict of interest accusations. The paper included thumbnail sketches of the advocates-turned-regulators. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 21, 2004 Fundraiser's property deals raise suspicions Jennifer Dixon of the Detroit Free Press has a two-part series on suspicious real estate deals involving a firm called Donate Real Estate, which helps charities sell unwanted properties. "Records show that Donate Real Estate oversaw the sale of donated properties to insiders and close business associates who cashed in by re-selling the properties — often the same day — for more than they paid and for more than the property was worth." Habitat for Humanity, among the nonprofits that had business with Donate Real Estate, halted its involvement in the deals after the paper began asking questions. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 19, 2004 Seneca Nation's profits benefit few Michael Beebe, Dan Herbeck and Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News assessed the finances of the Seneca Nation of Indians that lives in upstate New York, finding that "hundreds of millions of dollars — from cigarettes and gasoline, from the federal government, from gambling — have poured into the Seneca Nation's two main Western New York reservations in recent years. But a yearlong Buffalo News study found that little of the riches went to the average Seneca." The paper used state and federal data and made its own projections of revenues from the sale of tax-free cigarettes, and also compiled a list of properties held by tribal businessmen. One, Junior Snyder, has "a Mercedes-Benz roadster, a Dodge Viper GTS, two Corvettes, a Porsche, a Jaguar, two Lexus SUVs and a Cadillac Escalade among the 15 cars and seven pickup trucks he owns." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 28, 2004 Utility disconnections concentrated in low-income areas Lukas Velush and Scott North of The (Everett, Wash.) Herald analyzed county records to find that "Turn-off notices in Snohomish County are concentrated in neighborhoods where residents have the lowest incomes." Disconnections have soared since utility rates increased in 2001, including more than 15,000 in 2002. The Snohomish Utility District has some of the highest electricity rates in Washington. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Ill. cities see increase in sales tax receipts Isaac Guerrero of the Rockford Register Star analyzed Illinois tax data to find that sales tax receipts in the Rock River Valley have increased during the past 11 years. "Seven cities enjoyed double-digit percentage gains in 2003 sales taxes coming back from the state." Just two of the 22 cities studied by the paper saw sales tax declines in 2003, and in both cases the drop was less than 1 percent. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 22, 2004 Fla. home buyers hit with increased taxes Brittany Wallman and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel analyzed records of home sales in Broward County to show that new homeowners often find an unwelcome present: property tax bills that double or triple over the previous year. "Proportionately, the hardest hit are those who buy lower-priced homes, especially in cases where buyers pay in the low- to mid-$100,000s. Many of them are shelling out as much as four times more in property taxes than the previous owners." The jump is due to a 1995 law that keeps taxes artificially low for current homeowners. Once sold, the property is reassessed at current values. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 02, 2004 Developers save thousands through farming tax breaks Allen G. Breed and Martha Mendoza of The Associated Press reviewed property tax arrangements around the country to find that "millions of dollars in property tax breaks intended to preserve farmland are going instead to companies that bulldoze farms to build housing subdivisions, malls and industrial parks." Among the beneficiaries of such programs are singer Michael Jackson, who received a 50 percent discount on property taxes on his Neverland ranch through California's agriculture property tax break program (he has since removed it from the program after an inspection). One Alabama developer planted 54 acres of trees after building two hotels and two stores on the remainder of a property and now paid a 2003 tax bill of $152 instead of $64,230. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 01, 2004 IRE awards three medals An astonishing story of brutal war crimes by The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade and a book on the American tax system by David Cay Johnston took top honors in the 2003 IRE Awards. In addition, the Freedom of Information Award went to a team from the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader for exposing a massive secret pardons program rife with questions and conflicts for the governor. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 29, 2004 Indians import fuel from Canada, avoid taxes Michael Beebe and Dan Herbeck of The Buffalo News report that "Mohawk Indian companies have sent gasoline tankers on thousands of trips across the U.S.-Canadian border, stiffing the federal government on $79 million in taxes over eight years." Federal records show that one tribe in northern New York have purchased 400 million gallons of fuel from Canada since 1995 to be sold at gas stations on Indian reservations. The IRS has filed liens against the distributors, but the tribe says that the federal taxes are not applicable to their transaction. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 26, 2004 Only half of Atlantic City restaurants inspected last year Michael Diamond of The Press of Atlantic City used city restaurant inspection records to find that in Atlantic City, "the equivalent of three full-time inspectors were able to inspect only half the resort's 887 retail food establishments in 2003, despite a state requirement that each be inspected at least once a year." Some places haven't seen an inspector in two to three years, while casino eateries usually get more frequent visits. "Of the resort restaurants that are inspected, half need to be reinspected, a rate that is among the highest in New Jersey." Statewide, none of the 115 New Jersey health departments make their inspection reports available online. (Free registration required.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post University shares information with credit card company Roger McCoy of WBNS-Columbus, Ohio, and Alice Thomas of The Columbus Dispatch report that "Ohio State University and the OSU Alumni Association are supplying the world's largest independent credit-card company with information on contacting more than 400,000 students, employees and alumni." The school gets $1.3 million a year for the information, according to a redacted version of the contract with MBNA, but none of the students contacted by the station knew about the deal or their right to opt-out of the information sharing. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 23, 2004 Phily museum director gets top dollar, house Craig R. McCoy, Marcia Gelbart, Mario F. Cattabiani and Patricia Horn of The Philadelphia Inquirer investigated the finances of the city's Independence Seaport Museum, using public records to show that increased spending has forced the nonprofit to dig into its endowment. "The most recent public figures put its director's salary at $220,416, more than that paid to officials running much larger maritime museums. The director, John S. Carter, lives in a house that the museum owns. It bought the home for $665,000 — and then expanded it at a cost of $800,000 and furnished for an additional $210,000. The museum also invested heavily in a vintage yacht, the Enticer. It lost $2.4 million trying to charter out the vessel." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Police pension fund loses millions in bad deals Penny Brown Roberts of The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reviewed the financial records of Louisiana's pension fund for police officers, finding that "in addition to taking a $200 million hit in the stock market, the fund has sunk nearly $20 million into golf courses that have only put it further in the hole — then made a $6 million land deal with a company that didn't even exist at the time." The pension fund is now seeking a public bailout from its losses, despite an increase in fees that police departments pay into the system. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 19, 2004 Local taxes vary for blacks, whites Jeffrey Cohan of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a two-part series on the economic conditions of Pittsburgh's suburbs. "While the city's property tax base has remained remarkably stable over the past 25 years, no fewer than 55 other Allegheny County municipalities have suffered decreases in the total value of their taxable property since 1980." The second story found disparity in tax rates between white and black residents: "On average, blacks in this county pay a local income tax rate that is 49 percent higher than what whites pay ... Put another way, the typical black person with a $40,000 salary would pay $908 to the school district and municipality, while a white person with the same salary would pay just $604." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Four inspectors responsible for 700 restaurants In a two-part series on March 15 and 16, Mark Hayward of The (Manchester, N.H.) Union Leader reported restaurant health inspection scores for Manchester, N.H. Although inspection reports and scores are public records, the city does not publicize them. "City health officials say they have no desire to put the data on the Internet or require restaurants to post their scores." The paper found that even high-risk establishments get visited about once a year, although restaurants get more attention. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 24, 2004 Records reveal many Las Vegas cab passengers taken for a ride J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal used Taxicab Authority records to show that Vegas cabbies ripped off 174 riders last year "by taking them on a nondirect route to boost the cost of a ride." Although the trips, called long-hauling, represented a tiny fraction of all cab rides, drivers and authorities said the practice occurs much more often. Typically, drivers pad an extra $3-$10 onto a fare by logging extra miles. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 12, 2004 Outdated systems delay burials, cremations Deborah Sherman of KUSA-Denver finds that outdated vital records systems are delaying burials, cremations, the settlement of estates and other critical actions that require death and birth certificates. "Without the certificates, families can't settle estates, collect insurance payments or close bank accounts. The documents now have to be signed by hand by doctors, hospitals, funeral directors and sometimes coroners, which can take several days or weeks." And when the documents are issued, many have mistakes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 09, 2004 Petrochemical "upsets" belch pollution in Houston Dina Cappiello of the Houston Chronicle reviewed state environmental data to find that "a dozen plants belonging to major petroleum and petrochemical companies accounted for 80 percent of all pollution released accidentally into Houston's air last year." The releases, known as "upsets," came from refineries and other facilities in the area. Just 2.6 percent of upsets in 2003 resulted in violations or fines. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 04, 2004 Charities make millions of dollars in loans to officials Harvy Lipman and Grant Williams of the Chronicle of Philanthropy reviewed information from more than 10,000 nonprofit tax forms covering 1998 through 2002 to determine that charities reported at least $142 million in debts due to loans made to officers and directors. Private foundations cannot make such loans, but charities can. Some filings contained less than complete information on loan debts: "4,756 groups reported loans to top officials, but failed, as required by the Internal Revenue Service, to say how much the debt totaled." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 02, 2004 Tiny town holds more than 1,800 patents Truong Phuoc Khánh and Seth Hemmelgarn of the San Jose Mercury News analyzed 30 years' worth of California patents to find that tiny Portola Valley, with a population of less than 5,000, "boasts more than 1,800 patents, earning it the distinction of the highest patent-to-people ratio in the state." In numerical terms, San Jose has 29,018 patents by its residents, more than Los Angeles and San Diego combined. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 23, 2004 Wealthiest nonprofits get bulk of foundation money Marcella Bombardieri and Walter V. Robinson of The Boston Globe have a follow-up to their earlier pieces on nonprofits, finding that "the largest foundations parcel out a surprisingly high proportion of their grants to already well-endowed colleges and universities and other elite institutions." The paper commissioned a study by the Foundation Center to track patterns of grantmaking by 1,000 of the largest foundations between 1992 and 2001. Sixteen of the top 20 grant recipients were "elite universities" including Harvard, Stanford and Columbia. "By contrast, nonprofits identified in the study as human service providers received about 1 in 10 foundation dollars in 2001." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 21, 2004 Utility fee goes to nonprofit controlled by legislator's allies Mario F. Cattabiani of The Philadelphia Inquirer, continuing his investigation of a nonprofit connected to state Sen. Vincent Fumo, used state audits and IRS records to find that customers of utility company Peco Energy have been funding the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund, which is controlled by Fumo allies. "Fumo secured the Peco money in the 1998 electric-rate restructuring talks that opened the industry to competition. Since then, the nonprofit has, virtually unnoticed, redirected about $4 million in low-interest loans and grants to a small circle of recipients, all in Philadelphia and most with unmistakable links to the powerful Democrat." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 13, 2004 Business interests make up bulk of donors to council candidates David A. Grant of the King County (Wash.) Journal analyzed state campaign finance records to find that "real estate and other business interests dominated a list of a dozen politically plugged-in organizations and individuals who contributed to the campaigns of all four winning City Council candidates last November." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 07, 2004 Despite willful violations, OSHA often fails to punish employers David Barstow of The New York Times finds that in 93 percent of the cases in which OSHA determined an employer's "willful safety violations" caused a death, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration declined to seek prosecution. The report also finds that "OSHA's reluctance to seek prosecution persisted even when employers had been cited before for the very same safety violation," even when the violations caused multiple deaths, or when the victims were teenagers. (Note: IRE and NICAR offer four sets of OSHA workplace safety data: one listing companies and inspection results, and three subordinate databases listing worker accidents, hazardous substance injuries and workplace violations.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post N.J. donors get lucrative no-bid contracts Shannon D. Harrington, Clint Riley and Jeff Pillets of the Bergen Record have a two-part series on "pay to play" in New Jersey, "a system that encourages politicians to reward their big contributors with juicy — and perfectly legal — no-bid contracts financed by the taxpayers." One story focuses on the lucrative law practice of M. Robert DeCotiis, finding that the "DeCotiis firm billed at least 128 government entities nearly $26.6 million during the 2½-year period starting in January 2001," all while ranking among the most prolific donors and fundraisers in the state. The paper obtained copies of the law firm's billing records from more than 550 government agencies via New Jersey's freedom of information law. The second story examines why attempts to curb the pay to play phenomenon have failed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 05, 2004 Bingo parlors fail to pass income to charities Kristina Buchthal of The Indianapolis Star analyzed state records to find that "twenty-five Indiana bingo parlors collectively took in more than $52 million last year, but gave only $1.6 million to the charities they were established to support." One operation earned more than $1.5 million but gave just $677 to charity, triggering a state investigation. Indiana is the fourth-largest bingo state in the nation, but rules requiring large bingo parlors to give 10 percent of their revenues to charity don't go into effect until May. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Approvals to drill wells up 34 percent under Bush The Associated Press reports that oil and gas companies seeking government approval for drilling since 1998 have an ally in the Bush administration, which is "approving wells at a pace well ahead of the Clinton administration and looking to get even faster." Nearly all the applications are for projects in the Mountain West states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 02, 2004 Electronic waste poses problems for developing countries Karl Schoenberger of the San Jose Mercury News reports on scrap yards in India that process waste from discarded computers. "As India emerges as a technology powerhouse, poverty, cheap labor and rampant corruption make it a prime market for the dumping and burning of unregulated electronic waste, environmental activists say." The Indian government maintains that electronic waste is not brought into the country and therefore isn't a problem. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 24, 2003 Developers use preservation method for tax write-offs Joe Stephens and David Ottaway of The Washington Post report on the abuse of tax incentives intended to preserve land. "Conservation easements" allow landowners to "donate the easements to a nonprofit land trust or a government agency." The landowner can then "seek federal income tax deductions for the reduction in the land's market value." The story follows up on a series of articles about the Nature Conservancy and the way it has bought property, added easements, then sold the property and gotten tax write-offs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 22, 2003 Lawyers get bulk of money intended for clean up of water supply Chris Bowman, Cameron John and Rebecca Boyd of The Sacramento Bee pored over environmental, court and city government records detailing the city of Lodi's effort to make insurers pay for contamination of drinking water by city businesses. "The city's pursuit of polluters' insurance money has become a multimillion-dollar sinkhole, the result of state environmental authorities ceding enforcement powers to local government and locally elected officials, in turn, neglecting their watch on public spending." Since 1996, about $14 million in city money has gone to lawyer Michael C. Donovan and his associates — a total that amounts to nearly half of Lodi's annual budget. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Timber industry tops other interests in campaign contributions Diane Dietz of The (Eugene, Ore.) Register-Guard examined campaign contributions in local races in Eugene, Springfield and Lane County in the past five years, finding that members of Oregon's timber industry dominated the political landscape. "Together, timber-connected donors have dropped more than $200,000 into local races since 1998, routinely writing $500 or $1,000 checks to their favorite candidates." Development interests ranked second, but many of those donors "are backed by timber fortunes that have diversified over the years." Part of a series on local campaign donors, the paper also described how it collected the data for the stories. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 19, 2003 Alaska senator benefits from influence Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times profile the financial record of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who was not among the Senate's millionaire members until recently. "Then, in 1997, he got serious about making money. And in almost no time, he too was a millionaire — thanks to investments with businessmen who received government contracts or other benefits with his help. Added together, Stevens' new partnerships and investments provide a step-by-step guide to building a personal fortune — if you happen to be one of the country's most influential senators. They also illustrate how lax ethics rules allow members of Congress and their families to profit from personal business dealings with special interests." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 11, 2003 Memphis Habitat homeowners filing for bankruptcy Marc Perrusquia of The (Memphis, Tenn.) Commercial Appeal found that 40 percent of Greater Memphis recipients of Habitat for Humanity housing have filed for bankruptcy after getting their homes. An eight-month investigation found that the city's rate is highest among the 20 largest Habitat affiliates. "Nowhere is the comparison more stark than between Memphis and Jacksonville, Fla., the nation's largest Habitat affiliate. Volunteers in Jacksonville have built 1,200 homes — nearly five times the number here — yet more bankruptcies and foreclosures have resulted in Memphis." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 09, 2003 Federal researchers also act as drug company consultants David Willman of the Los Angeles Times reports that top-ranking officials of the National Institutes of Health have received "hundreds of consulting payments" from drug companies, often without public notice. "Such dual roles - federal research leader and drug company consultant - are increasingly common at the NIH, an agency once known for independent scientific inquiry on behalf of a single client: the public." A 1998 legal opinion allows the NIH to keep top officials' consulting income confidential, a practice that sets it apart from 34 othe! r federal agencies The Times surveyed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Trampled shopper has history of store injuries, report says Tony Pipitone and Darran Caudle of WKMG-TV in Orlando, Fla., have the story of a woman who claimed she was "trampled" by Wal-Mart shoppers on Black Friday, finding that Patricia Vanlester "has a long history of claiming injuries from Wal-Marts and other businesses where she worked or shopped." Pipitone used court records and other sources to find 15 previous injury claims against retailers by the woman, who has worked for several Orlando-area Wal-Marts. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 19, 2003 Pressure from Wal-Mart affects suppliers, U.S. economy Charles Fishman of Fast Company magazine examines how Wal-Mart sets its prices so low and "what that pressure does to the companies Wal-Mart does business with, to U.S. manufacturing, and to the economy as a whole." Fishman says there is little information available on the retailer's effect on its suppliers because "it's nearly impossible to get meaningful data that would allow researchers to track the influence of Wal-Mart's business on companies over time. You'd need cooperation from the vendor companies or Wal-Mart or both — and neither Wal-Mart nor its suppliers are interested in sharing such intimate detail." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Drug industry spends to influence legislation Mark Brunswick and Ron Nixon of the Minneapolis Star Tribune report on the pharmaceutical industry's attempts to defeat legislation that "would control prices or allow people to import drugs from across the border." Money spent by an industry trade group on advertising, lobbyists and lobbying activities and campaign contributions add up to more than $2.6 million spent in Minnesota in 2000-02. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 12, 2003 Mo. companies get tax credits despite lack of business licenses Virginia Young of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch obtained a list of recipients of a Missouri tax credit for "specialized equipment" and found that "companies got the credits by claiming to have bought millions of dollars worth of computer equipment. Many of the purchases were made at a used-computer store in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis." Each of the companies reported spending at least $187,500 on equipment to gain the maximum tax write-off — $75,000 — this year. "But they're not the thriving startup firms the state envisioned. None of the 12 has a city business license. Five of the companies were started by one man who has shut them down after getting $900,000 in tax credits." State officials are investigating. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 07, 2003 Contracts in Iraq present problems Rod Nordland and Michael Hirsh of Newsweek investigate allegations of "overspending, favoritism and corruption" in the contracts awarded to help rebuild Iraq. "Six months ago the administration decided to cut corners on normal bidding procedures and hand over large contracts to defense contractors like Bechtel and Halliburton on a limited-bid or no-bid basis." The magazine says there may be "just as many problems ahead, raising serious questions about the vast amounts of money Bush has demanded for Iraq with little tolerance for debate." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Political donations made by contractors examined In a six-month investigation, The Center for Public Integrity finds that more than 70 companies and people have been awarded contracts for work in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that they have "donated more money to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush — a little over $500,000 — than to any other politician over the last dozen years." The Center says it has compiled "the most comprehensive list to date of American contractors in the two nations that were attacked in Washington's war on terror." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 06, 2003 Data reveals regional differences that muddy Oregon's future Jeff Mapes, Alex Pulaski and Gail Kinsey Hill of The Oregonian used census, economic and voting data to help describe Oregon's nine distinctive regions, each with its own culture and priorities. "These differences are at the heart of why the Legislature has been gridlocked, why there is little consensus on how to compete in the global economy and why Oregon's prospects don't seem as clear as they did 30 years ago when timber was king." In a separate note, the paper explains its approach to the series. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 04, 2003 Paper finds problems in most new homes Dan Tracy of the Orlando Sentinel and WESH-Orlando hired a home inspector to design a study of new home construction in the Orlando area, finding "leaks, cracks and bad weatherstripping around windows and doors in 64 percent of the houses; major wall, floor and deck cracking in 61 percent; significant cooling/heating system problems in 50 percent; mold in 20 percent; and poor drainage in 18 percent." Engineering students from the University of Central Florida, under the guidance of Ron Resch, performed what the paper bills as "the first statistically valid assessment of new-home construction ever done in Florida and likely the nation." Builders downplayed the flaws as cosmetic and mostly minor. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 31, 2003 Cyber terrorists could exploit security lapses and wreak havoc Ed Meyer of the Akron Beacon Journal reports on flaws in the computer system that controls the nation's electrical grid. It finds that the flaws leave it open to cyber terrorists. An expert quoted in the story says "security was not the highest priority" when the system was designed. He also told the paper that "A relatively small number of computer vendors devised the system, using training procedures that are virtually the same in the United States as in countries suspected of harboring terrorists." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 29, 2003 Fla. losing corporate taxes to loopholes Sydney P. Freedberg of the St. Petersburg Times has a piece studying Florida's corporate income tax and those large companies that don't pay any, including Verizon and Carnival Corp. "In fact, 98 percent of the estimated 1.5-million businesses in Florida paid nothing (last year). And many of those that did pay found ways to reduce their tax bills. At a time when Florida is scraping for every dollar to improve education, build roads and prisons and buy prescription drugs for the poor, Florida's corporate income tax is all but dead." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 21, 2003 Private lenders endangering federal student loan program Megan Barnett, Julian E. Barnes and Danielle Knight of U.S. News & World Report find that many colleges and universities are abandoning the U.S. Department of Education's direct-loan program in favor of deals with private lenders that promise profits to the academic institution. "In all, 62 colleges and universities have dropped out of the Education Department's direct-loan program since 2000, and the list is growing." In the process, the U.S. Treasury is losing out on as much as $250 million a year. The story details how the private lenders went about "undercutting the direct-loan program and wooing away big schools like Michigan State." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 02, 2003 N.C. companies overwhelmingly run by white men Amy Joyner of the Greensboro News & Record compiled data on the gender and racial makeup of directors at North Carolina's 50 largest public companies, finding that "white men overwhelmingly control boards of directors. In fact, some of the highest profile businesses in the Triad and the state have no minority or female representation on their boards." Women and minorities have increased their membership on corporate boards since 1992, when the paper did a similar study. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 01, 2003 Gulf's health in decline Cathy Zollo and a team of reporters from the Naples Daily News have a 15-part series on the declining environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico. The stories describe a "Dead Zone" the size of Massachusetts at the mouth of the Mississippi, the loss of coral and salt marshes and the introduction of invasive species as threats to the Gulf. Other pieces focus on the fishing industry and the impact of industrial pollution. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 29, 2003 Minn. DOT takes land for lower compensation Dan Browning of the Star Tribune investigates cases in which Minnesota's Department of Transportation has taken private land for roads and other projects and offered compensation to the owners. The paper found that the agency frequently offered less money to land owners than was later awarded by an independent panel. "MnDOT's data show that the appraisals it selected usually were below the amounts deemed fair by commissioners. The amount commissioners awarded land owners between 1998 and 2003 was 66 percent higher than MnDOT's appraisals." The agency did acknowledge flaws in their data, making it difficult to make a comprehensive assessment. (free registration required for links) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 25, 2003 Public television suffering from decline in funding Paul Farhi of The Washington Post reveals the difficult situation "many of the nation's 349 public TV stations" are facing. "With pledge week donations lagging, corporate contributions flagging and state support drying up, public stations are growing increasingly threadbare. Layoffs are rampant, and cutbacks in local news, public affairs and cultural programming have become commonplace." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 19, 2003 Data helps show Minn. quality of life The Saint Paul Pioneer Press used Census data, county business pattern reports, FBI Uniform Crime Reports and educational achievement and spending statistics to revisit a 1973 cover story in Time magazine that praised Minnesota for its economy, low crime rate, attractions and lack of traffic congestion. The special section looked at what the magazine would find today in terms of the state's "quality of life and the challenges ahead." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 09, 2003 Post-Sept. 11 grant not spent where officials intended Edward Wyatt and Joseph P. Fried of the New York Times report that "more than a third of the emergency grant money intended to help small businesses in Lower Manhattan survive after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack went to investment firms, financial traders and lawyers." Almost $200 million of the $539 million World Trade Center Business Recovery Grant program went to those businesses, while "far smaller amounts went to restaurants, retailers and other small businesses, many of them dependent on the foot traffic that largely disappeared from Lower Manhattan after the attack." The Times obtained information on the grant from the Empire State Development Corporation through a Freedom of Information request. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 08, 2003 Utilities donated to legislators investigating blackout Capital Eye, a newsletter produced by the Center for Responsive Politics, reports that legislators now investigating the recent Northeast power blackout have received donations of "more than $7 million from electric utilities over the past 15 years." The largest contributors were a trade group called the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Southern Company. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 04, 2003 Fla. farmworkers exploited in near-slavery conditions Ronnie Greene of The Miami Herald has a three-part series on the dangers faced by Florida's farmworkers, some of whom are lured into the work with promises of cash and drugs but end up in a system "filled with sweatshop hours, slum housing, poverty pay and criminal abuse. At its extreme, it includes modern-day slavery in a state where oranges adorn license plates and tourists pull in for a free cup of juice when they cross the border." North Florida's farmworkers are typically poor African-Americans, rather than Latin Americans, and some are recruited from homeless shelters. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Australian government subsidizing business' rent Gerard Ryle and Brian Robins of The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed 18,000 leases obtained under Australia's freedom of information law to find that "big businesses and some of the world's wealthiest people are renting taxpayer-owned land in NSW for peppercorn rates under a system that is riddled with inconsistencies and loopholes." The total rent for some 37.5 million hectares is $60 million a year — less than $2 per hectare for land that contains office buildings, homes and resorts. The package reveals a resort that pays less than $30,000 for 9.2 hectares, a Sydney Harbour marina with land valued at nearly $4 million that doesn't pay taxes, an insurance company that rents an entire Sydney block for $70 a year and other similar situations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 02, 2003 Phoenix hospitals' bad debts exceed industry standard Jodie Snyder of The Arizona Republic reviewed the financial condition of hospitals in the Phoenix area, which isn't very healthy: "Of 24 hospitals in the Valley, at least 18 have bad-debt levels that are higher than the national standard of 5.2 percent of total operating revenue." Some facilities have three times the standard level of bad debt, which is defined as money hospitals expect to be paid but do not collect. The economic downturn and slow responses by managed care companies are among the reasons cited for the levels of bad debt. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Working-class neighborhoods affected by questionable home deals Ken Alltucker of The Cincinnati Enquirer has an investigation of a property-flipping scheme that targets low-income buyers who end up losing their overpriced new homes to foreclosure. "At a time of historic low interest rates and strong homeownership nationally, questionable home deals here are helping cause record foreclosures." Foreclosures in Hamilton County have increased 66 percent between 1999 and 2002. "African-American communities were hit hardest, accounting for 13 of 15 communities with the highest loan default rates." A second story focuses on the impact of foreclosures in two Price Hill neighborhoods. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 26, 2003 Austin, Dallas hardest hit by downturn Esther Wang of the Austin American-Statesman analyzed economic data from the Texas Workforce Commission to conclude that "the recession hit the high-tech, high-wage cities of Austin and Dallas hardest." The two areas lost nearly 150,000 jobs from the end of 2000 through 2002, while other cities like Houston and San Antonio lost smaller amounts or stayed even. Dallas was hardest-hit, while Austin lost many of the high-tech jobs that made it a magnet in the late 1990s. "What Texas continues to experience, several economists and analysts said, mirrors a national trend: a move from a manufacturing-driven economy to one emphasizing services over goods production." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 22, 2003 N.H. manufacturing industry in decline Brad Leighton, Eileen Kennedy, Karen Spiller and David Brooks of The (Nashua, N.H,) Telegraph has a three-part series on New Hampshire's manufacturing industry, weaving statistics compiled by an economist with the stories of local businesses and workers affected by the movement of jobs out of the state. New Hampshire has lost 21 percent of its manufacturing jobs during the past three years — a steeper decline than any other state. Other stories describe the search for new work and recommendations for improving the state's economic base. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 19, 2003 Company focused OxyContin sales efforts on Appalachia Charles Camp of the Lexington Herald-Leader used documents from a "little-noticed Ohio lawsuit and a closed investigation by the Florida attorney general" to piece together how drug company Purdue Pharma pitched painkiller OxyContin to doctors around the country. "Between 1996 and 2001, as OxyContin became the nation's top-selling narcotic, Purdue invested more than $500 million deploying a small army of sales representatives around the country, according to previously confidential corporate records." Using details of doctors' prescribing practices, the company helped its sales reps focus on Appalachia, where painkiller use was common. "In 1998, for example, parts of southwestern Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia received more of OxyContin's competing painkillers per capita than anywhere else in the nation." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 13, 2003 K.C. losing out on income from business licenses Michael Mansur and Lynn Horsley of the Kansas City Star used city licensing records to find many Kansas City businesses operating without a license. "City officials acknowledge that the amount of lost revenue could be sizable. We're easily missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in business license revenue,' said Troy Schulte, the city's acting budget director." In 1989, the paper did a similar survey of business licenses and found similar problems. "After that 1989 investigation, city officials promised to beef up enforcement. But in recent years the city has eliminated field agents who check compliance. And it has left in place outdated and difficult-to-decipher regulations -- making license administration more costly and enforcement more cumbersome." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Cincinnati health care spending falls behind Tim Bonfield of The Cincinnati Enquirer reviewed reports on hospital infrastructure spending projects since 1995 to conclude that Cincinnati's hospitals were falling behind other Ohio facilities in terms of spending on new equipment. The region's hospitals "ranked fifth in the state when spending was measured per person, spending $290 per resident on improvements compared to $434 per capita in Dayton and $394 in Toledo." The area's facilities were among Ohio's newest during the early 1990s, but the average age of hospitals "crept up to 10.39 years while the state average dropped to 9.94 years" by 2000. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 12, 2003 More execs get access to corporate jets Gary Strauss of USA Today reports that security concerns and new compensation packages propelled dozens of new deals last year allowing the corporate jet to become a bauble for CEOs, swelling the ranks of executives given virtually unlimited personal access." The paper analyzed information from public filings to find 140 CEOs who racked up company-paid flights worth at least $50,000 in 2002, a significant increase from 2001. "Because the perks are taxable fringe benefits, many companies covered CEOs' flight-related taxes, too." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 11, 2003 Prosecutors allege former trader stole $43 million from Merrill Lynch Bloomberg reports that Merrill Lynch's former chief energy trader is being investigated for allegedly "embezzling $43 million from the world's largest securities firm in 2000 by disguising the theft as an energy trade, according to a letter written by a U.S. Justice Department prosecutor and interviews with Canadian law-enforcement officials." The securities firm has not disclosed the loss in public filings and one expert says, if true, this would be the "largest employee theft from a financial institution in modern times." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 01, 2003 Problems turn up in no-bid contract Dan Keating of The Washington Post uncovered a D.C. public schools contractor who "was paid more than $240,000 in 18 months for work at four District schools for which the same employee handled purchasing. The money was charged on school credit cards intended for incidental purchases." The story uses invoices and billing records to show that some charges appeared to be inflated; other invoices were simply missing. The contractor -- who worked for a business that landed the contract through a no-bid award -- and five school employees were suspended from their jobs in response to the paper's inquiries. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 28, 2003 Museum runs up millions in debt Bruce Murphy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a two-part series on the finances of the Milwaukee Art Museum, which has millions in debt and has run up $9 million in yearly expenses since the opening of a new wing in 2001. "Rarely has a major non-profit in Milwaukee faced so dire a financial situation, or needed such a rapid rescue, to judge by a review of the museum's annual audit, loan documents and tax filings." Donors are being asked to make planned contributions as a lump sum instead of as annual installments, but some have declined. The second part of the series asks, given the museum's financial situation, whether the 2001 addition was worth the cost. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 22, 2003 Tax breaks offered as incentive fail to provide jobs Andy Gammill of The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette studied tax breaks offered to potential employers by Allen County, Ind., and found that "more than half have fallen short of the employment promises they made while pleading their cases before local government boards." Despite the record, no government body has rescinded any of the tax abatements granted to businesses. The paper reviewed nearly 200 sets of records filed by the recipient firms. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 16, 2003 Penn. utilities don't pass along break on property taxes Anthony R. Wood of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that while Pennsylvanians are paying higher property taxes, the state's utility companies have trimmed their own property tax bills by 85 percent to $20 million during the last six years. "Meantime, the utilities are passing on their real estate levies to their customers, based not on what the companies are currently taxed but on the far higher sums of six years ago." Instead of tax revenues being placed into a pool and apportioned statewide, most power plants now are taxed only by their local authority and can contest assessments. "Philadelphia has seen its annual take drop from $24.4 million in 1997 to nearly $4.3 million today; its schools are getting $960,000 instead of $6.85 million. They are the big losers, topping a list of nearly 3,000 other losers statewide." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Troubled phone company tied to top Minn. officials Tim Huber, Rick Linsk and Hank Shaw of the St. Paul Pioneer Press report that "Some of Minnesota's top Republicans, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Auditor Patricia Awada, have had business ties to a Minneapolis-based telephone company accused of cheating consumers in seven states." The company, New Access Communications, paid $222,000 in fines last year after being accused of overcharging or "slamming" customers by improperly switching their telephone service. For two years, Pawlenty was on the board of New Access' parent company. The story is "based on dozens of interviews and thousands of pages of documents, including government files, court records, campaign finance records and company financial documents." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 07, 2003 Redevelopment comes at a price Jeff Wilkinson of The State in South Carolina reports on Columbia's Congaree Vista, an area of restaurants, galleries and apartments that has received about $115 million in taxpayer money in less than a decade. With some public officials now urging that the money tap be turned off, the paper examines the benefits and the costs to the area. While businesses and development have increased the tax base, they have come at a price. "Like a home mortgage, much of the $115 million -- such as funding for the new convention center and the Three Rivers Greenway -- will cost taxpayers much more in interest payments." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 19, 2003 Housing subsidies fueled questionable sales Tom Pelton of The (Baltimore) Sun has an investigation of a local mortgage broker's plan "for enriching investors by taking advantage of a program designed to provide housing for poor families." The scheme, which is being probed by city, state and federal authorities, "turned out to be a Monopoly game that players couldn't win." The broker, William W. Dent, "misled tenants and investors, defrauded a bank, hurt neighborhoods and exploited poorly supervised government housing programs meant to help the needy." The Sun's review is based on court and real estate documents. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 10, 2003 Enterprise zones have gone wrong in New York James Heaney and Patrick Lakamp of The Buffalo News investigate the results of an idea hatched by hometown congressman Jack Kemp: economic enterprise zones to encourage development. Buffalo's own program "may be the extreme example of Kemp's idea turned on its head." With state assistance, Buffalo "is using its richest development package to provide tax breaks to some of the city's biggest corporations and most-influential business executives." Few jobs are created and New York loses more than $200 million a year in potential tax revenue. First of a four-part series. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Poor judgment led to fatal nightclub fire Stephen Kurkjian, Stephanie Ebbert and Thomas Farragher of The Boston Globe unveil the results of their two-month investigation into the fatal nightclub fire at The Station in West Warwick, R.I., revealing "willful code violations" and the fact that the club's owners glued the infamous foam to the walls of the club themselves. "The road to one of the nation's deadliest nightclub fires was marked not so much by great acts of malfeasance but by poor judgments, missed opportunities, administrative sloppiness, and shabby acts of self-interest." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 30, 2003 Foreign trade offices submitting false reports California's 12 foreign trade offices were created to boost exports and investments in the state. But Kimberly Kindy of The Orange County Register found they often submit false or distorted accounts of success. These statements go into annual reports that legislators and the governor use to assess the value of the trade offices. And until now, no one had bothered to check the millions of dollars in benefits they list -- at least $44.2 million of which were false or overblown in the most recent annual report. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 28, 2003 Bad pharmaceuticals enter market through Florida Sally Kestin and Bob LaMendola of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel report on how fake drugs enter the supplies of pharmacies and hospitals, "many via unscrupulous brokers in South Florida." Checking state records, the paper found 18 corporate officers in three dozen wholesale drug companies licensed in Florida had criminal records. Other companies that have been shut down have reappeared under different names or employing relatives as a front. Florida has 1,400 licensed drug wholesale companies, twice as many as California. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 20, 2003 Brokers with lengthy disciplinary histories still licensed Last month, Susan Harrigan of Newsday reported on the paper's analysis of New York state records of complaints about stock brokers, finding that more than 380 brokers have lengthy records but remained licensed. "New York's top regulator said Newsday's findings show there are serious deficiencies in federal licensing procedures and this state's law governing brokers." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 13, 2003 Tax subsidy program benefiting developers John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News has a four-part series on the city's tax increment financing program, which "quietly has become the subsidy of choice in a city that's gun-shy about outright tax abatements." The paper asks whether the idea, once considered a way to promote development, has run its course. "A review of thousands of public records and scores of interviews depict a city TIF program that began in 1998 with good intentions but is veering off track. In the name of progress, developers are poised to receive millions of dollars in tax subsidies for hot real estate ventures." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 12, 2003 Credit reporting system seriously flawed In a four-month investigation, Kenneth R. Gosselin and Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford Courant "found that the nation's credit reporting business is built on a system so seriously flawed that costly errors are inevitable. A much-heralded congressional reform effort seven years ago has done little to repair the broken system or to hold credit bureaus accountable." They paint a picture of massive databases filled with errors, as a results of a matching system that credit companies admit is flawed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 06, 2003 Manhattan restaurants not turning over sales taxes Jim Hoffer of WABC-New York searched state tax records to discover that many Manhattan restaurants owe thousands in back taxes. "From fast food to some of the city's finest restaurants, our investigation found nearly 200 establishments that have collected from their customers a combined total of about $10 million. It's money collected through the eight and one quarter percent sales tax. But instead of passing it on to the city and state, these restaurants kept it." One restaurant owner admitted that he essentially borrowed against his tax payments after Sept. 11, "knowing full well that I'd be paying a lot of penalties and a lot of interest on that, yes." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 05, 2003 Whites approved three times as often for mortgages Sheila Wissner of The Tennessean analyzed mortgage records from the Nashville area and reports that African Americans "were turned down for mortgage loans up to three times more often than whites with similar incomes over an eight-year period," even when seeking to borrow similar amounts. The paper reviewed more than 200,000 loan applications in eight counties to reach its conclusions. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 02, 2003 Bills for state contract apparently altered Eddie Curran of the Mobile Register has been looking into the University of Alabama's contracts with a Montgomery advertising agency that appears to have pocketed federal money by altering bills submitted to the university. "As a result, the university -- chosen by the Alabama Department of Transportation to oversee the federally funded contract -- reimbursed the higher sums to Kim & Co. And each time, the one-woman firm owned by former Montgomery television reporter Kim Davis pocketed the $2,137.50, records show." Last year, the state ordered the agency to refund $122,339 it had overbilled on two other contracts. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 28, 2003 Little accountability for Tucscon ambulances Rhonda Bodfield and Enric Volante of the Arizona Daily Star reviewed nearly 100,000 ambulance calls in Pima County to find that many response times exceeded the eight-minute "gold standard" favored by researchers. "Some states set and enforce an optimum response target, but not Arizona, where ambulance service providers essentially set their own goals then relax them if they miss." The three-part series also focuses on Rural/Metro Corp., the dominant ambulance company in the area. The story includes a sidebar on how they did the story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Foundation president makes $717,000 as organizations loses 25 percent of assets Eric Nalder of the San Jose Mercury News reports that even as the James Irvine Foundation lost 25 percent of its assets and laid off staff, it "spent millions of dollars on its longtime president, Dennis Collins -- from a compensation package that reached $717,000 one year to lavish retirement fetes and gifts." Collins' 1999 compensation "was so high that he could face sanctions if the IRS audited the foundation." It didn't. Collins stepped down last year but was retained as a paid consultant. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 22, 2003 Bay Area arts organizations strained by drop in contributions Joshua Kosman, Erin McCormick, Steven Winn and Todd Wallack of the San Francisco Chronicle report on the anemic financial state of leading Bay Area cultural organizations, which are "straining to cope with dwindling donations, volatile endowment funds, cuts in government grants and smaller, choosier audiences." The paper used the groups' annual financial statements to show a drop in contributions and investment losses. A second part deals with the impact on midsize groups. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 21, 2003 Fingers pointing to leader of public TV station Cheryl Phillips and Kay McFadden at The Seattle Times looked into the woes of public-television station KCTS to find that while the station's president, Burnill "Burnie" Clark, blamed problems on a poor economy, many insiders blame him. "Employees, former executives and the station's own paid consultants say Clark runs the public entity like a private fiefdom." Clark, who knew the investigation was about to be published, resigned April 17. The Web site carries supporting documents, a timeline and the executive editors' column about the investigation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post See older postings. |
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