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CAR May 09, 2008 Aging sewer systems continue to pollute rivers, streams A Gannett News Service analysis by Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith shows that "America's aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned agencies responsible for sewage overflows." Wheeler and Smith analyzed enforcement and compliance records gathered by the EPA and state regulators from January 2003 to February 2008 for the report. Enforcement actions taken by federal or state authorities against municipal sewer authorities across the country are available in an online database. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 06, 2008 Fatal RV flaws An investigation into RV safety by Chris Halsne, of KIRO (Seattle, Wash.), found that the government only requires "front-end crash and brake tests for the empty chassis." Data analysis revealed that many fatalities in RV accidents are the result of poorly secured interior elements, braking problems, and the weak structural integrity of the fiberglass and wood frames. In response to the investigation, the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association said, "NHTSA (The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) hasn't crash tested finished motor homes because they are fundamentally safe — there simply haven't been enough deaths to warrant the cost of purchasing and testing these types of vehicles." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 16, 2008 Obama's fundraising linked to law lobbyists Despite claims that he hasn't taken money from lobbyists, Senator Barack Obama's fundraising efforts have been linked to Washington lobbyists according to USA TODAY's analysis of campaign finance data. Ken Dilanian reports that his fundraising team include "38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records show." Of those 38 lawyers, 31 are partners at their respective firms and "typically receive a share of their firm's lobbying fees. At least six of them have some managerial authority over lobbyists." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 10, 2008 Retired city workers profit from unpaid sick time St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters Kevin Crowe and Jake Wagman did a quick-hit CAR story about how much money retirees from the city have been getting for unused sick pay. "Of 281 employees who received payment for unused sick days, 149 workers walked away with at least $10,000; 15 of those workers received more than $50,000." The story includes a searchable database of the cashed-in sick pay. 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 April 01, 2008 Thousands of underground fuel tanks must be upgraded in South Florida An investigation by Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel revealed that forty-three percent of underground fuel tanks in South Florida must still be upgraded to be in compliance with state environmental laws. A state law requires all underground tanks use a "double-walled system" by 2009 to prevent soil and groundwater contamination. The Sun-Sentinel's analysis of Florida Department of Environmental Protection data revealed that "11,168 underground fuel tanks in Florida — out of 26,529 — have not been replaced with the proper systems". Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 12, 2008 Unnecessary transplants boon for clinics at great cost to patients The three-day special report by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters Andrew Conte and Luis Fabregas found that hundreds of patients each year undergo unnecessary liver transplants. The story cites national data for transplants at 127 hospitals across the nation between 2002 and 2006. The reporters looked at MELD scores—a government-approved standard used to determine how urgently a patient needs a liver— to see how sick transplant patients were and how patients with the least urgent conditions fared post-surgery. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post College athletic scholarships often shortchange expectation A story by The New York Times' reporter Bill Pennington and data analyst Griffin Palmer uncovers the discrepancy between the expectations of families and the reality of college athletic scholarships. Analysis of previously undisclosed National Collegiate Athletic Association data showed that scholarships are rarely as lucrative as parents and student athletes assume. "Excluding the glamour sports of football and basketball, the average N.C.A.A. athletic scholarship is nowhere near a full ride, amounting to $8,707. In sports like baseball or track and field, the number is routinely as low as $2,000...Tuition and room and board for N.C.A.A. institutions often cost between $20,000 and $50,000 a year." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post "Free to Flee" Fugitives can flee and don't have to hide, an investigation by Joe Mahr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch showed. Mahr's three-day series reported that hundreds of thousands of felony arrest warrants from across the nation are not entered into the FBI national fugitive database, including warrants for violent crimes such as homicide, rape and robbery. He found that while all states check a national database to see whether an applicant for a drivers license or state ID has a suspended license, only six states check to see whether an applicant is wanted on a felony warrant. Other stories showed that even when fugitives are found, they frequently are not extradited, and that in St. Louis, officials don't seek warrants in thousands of cases. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 04, 2008 Over 17,000 bridges nationwide are overdue for inspection An investigation by MSNBC.com's Bill Dedman shows that at least 17,000 bridges went more than two years between inspections, despite the federal law requiring an inspection every 24 months. The investigation was based on newly released data from the Federal Bridge Inventory which includes inspections through 2006. "Although Congress in 1971 ordered rigorous standards for inspecting bridges every 24 months, the records reveal a system in which the buck is passed down from federal to state to local governments, without penalty for those that fail to protect the public." The investigative package includes an interactive tracker which allows the reader to map the status of bridges on their own frequently travelled routes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 25, 2008 Gaps in Wisconsin tornado warning system identified After tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the state earlier this month, Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that thousands of southeastern Wisconsin residents are out of range for tornado warning sirens. Using mapping software, Poston plotted nearly 75 siren locations in Milwaukee and Racine counties and then overlayed census data to identify gaps in the warning system. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Drought threatens nuclear power in Southeast AP's Charlotte correspondent Mitch Weiss identified 24 nuclear reactors located in areas of severe drought that could potentially force reactors in the Southeast to reduce power or shut down later this year. The drought threatens the rivers and streams that supply massive amounts of cooling water. Weiss reports that, while utility officials issue public assurances about the plants' operability, documents reveal warnings about potential shutdowns and the expense of buying power from alternate sources. His analysis and mapping covered 104 nuclear reactors nationwide. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 24, 2008 Georgia purchasing cards abused to the tune of $370 million Andrea Jones and Megan Clarke of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that abuse of government purchasing cards cost the state approximately $370 million in 2007. An analysis of over four million transactions showed that the credit cards have been used to pay for such things as pornography, tattoos, concerts, and dating services. In addition to the problem charges, around 2,100 cards have been lost or stolen since 2005. Included in the report is a online database of all the credit card transactions. 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 December 07, 2007 Danger of common chemical downplayed In a second installment of "Chemical Fallout," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak found that the chemical industry has funded much of the science claiming that the popular chemical bisphenol A is safe. The reporters built a database of 258 scientific studies spanning 20 years of research into the chemical and found that 80 percent of the research showed the chemical poses health risks to laboratory animals. Bisphenol A can be found in hard plastics — including baby bottles, dental sealants, PVC pipes and reusable water bottles. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Emergency response times lagging in Ohio's Delaware County An investigation by Paul Aker of WBNS in Columbus, Ohio, shows that Delaware County's emergency response times fall short of the industry standard. The National Fire Protection Association's voluntary guidelines call for processing 99 percent of calls within 90 seconds. In Delaware County, the 911 center's interim director told Aker he wants to see dispatches under two minutes. WBNS looked at a sample of calls for suspected heart attacks and found that 59 percent took more than one minute to process and 30 percent took at least 90 seconds. The story also revealed that the center does not track how long the phone rings before a dispatcher picks up. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 04, 2007 Seniors targeted in subprime refinancing Susan Kelleher and Justin Mayo of The Seattle Times looked at how older borrowers and homeowners are targeted for predatory loans. Analysis of over 4,000 loans from Ameriquest Mortgage uncovered the trend of elderly homeowners being targeted for subprime refinancing that they would never be able to repay, resulting in the loss of their home and other assets. The project profiled a woman with Alzheimers who lost $2 million in assets, in part to predatory loans. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 29, 2007 Some Houston banks more prone to ATM robberies This investigation by KHOU-Houston used crime data to map the locations of ATM robberies. The analysis showed that some bank branches seem to be hot spots for robberies. Reporter Jeremy Rogalski spoke with police about why some areas are more vulnerable than others and how consumers can protect themselves from being robbed at an ATM. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism assisted in the data analysis for this story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 28, 2007 Dallas property values derived from small sampling of sales Paul Adrian of KDFW-Dallas/Ft. Worth investigated disparities in property taxes set by the Dallas Central Appraisal District. Fox 4 learned that values for neighborhoods are set by home sale data reflecting an average of 3 percent of the properties, while assessors said that 10 percent or more would be ideal. A database of appraisals includes information on the property that was used to set the valuation.
The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, helped with the data analysis and mapping for this story.
Police cruisers involved in hundreds of accidents in Massachusetts An investigation by Maggie Mulvihill and Joe Bergantino of WBZ-Boston shows that Massachusetts state troopers are causing numerous accidents on those same roads they're monitoring. Internal police data revealed that troopers have caused "nearly 500 crashes in their own cruisers in the past seven years." Many troopers investigate their own accidents excusing themselves of fault 55 percent of the time. The accidents have cost taxpayers $2 million in settlements and repairs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 26, 2007 No-proof loans fuel foreclosure problems Dale Kasler, Phillip Reese and Jim Wasserman of The Sacramento Bee examined the impact of stated-income loans in the wave of subprime loans devastating the area's housing market. Analysis of "61,000 Sacramento-area mortgages over two years reveals striking discrepancies — gaps as high as 25 percent — between what homebuyers earned and what was listed on their loan applications." They also found higher gaps in lower income neighborhoods and aggressive use of stated-income loans, which do not require documentation of the borrower's income, in the late phase of the housing boom. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post State data reveal high veteran suicide rates A five-month investigation by Armen Keteyian of CBS News uncovered a startling suicide rate for veterans. Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs keep accurate numbers on veteran suicide rates. CBS News requested suicide data from all 50 states dating back to 1995, and 45 states provided the information. In 2005, "there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week, in just one year." Among veterans 20 to 24 years of age, the suicide rate was two to four times greater than non-veterans of the same age. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 19, 2007 D.C. property tax refund fraud In a Washington Post analysis of Washington D.C. city records, Dan Keating and Carol D. Loennig report that seven years' worth of fraudulent property tax funds have cost the District $31.7 million. On Nov. 7, the former manager of property tax refunds was arrested and charged for the refund fraud, along with five others. Federal authorities reported $20 million in fraudulent payments, but The Post analysis found more fraudulent refunds than had been publicly reported. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sex offenders not deterred by residency laws Lisa Fletcher of KNXV-Phoenix mapped "level 3" sex offenders — considered the most dangerous and most likely to re-offend. Data analysis located 123 offenders living within 1000 ft. of schools and daycares in Maricopa County in violation of residency laws. One expert, Dr. Tom Selby, a psychologist who specializes in work with sex offenders, suggest these laws only provide a false sense of security. "In terms of it having any significant impact on reduction of sex offenses, research in general says that residency laws have no impact on recidivism rates," he said. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 14, 2007 Convicted killers in Texas receive probation After a Texas man convicted of shooting an unarmed prostitute received probation, Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin of The Dallas Morning News decided to see whether his sentence was a fluke or representative of a larger trend. They analyzed thousands of government records, some of which came from confidential criminal files and interviewed more than 200 people, including police, attorneys, victims’ families and the killers themselves. The reporters found that in Dallas County, more than twice as many murderers get probation as go to death row. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 08, 2007 Tennessee gun permits mapped WBIR-Knoxville reporter John Becker and producer Jake Jost looked at gun permit holders around the state, from pockets outside of Memphis where up to 11 percent of residents have a permit, to a rural area where six percent of residents own guns. Data analysis and mapping suggested a broad profile of gun owners: "They tend to live in rural areas. If they are anything like the typical person in their area, the numbers suggest they are upper middle-class, white, and own their own homes. They have a family, and the household makes between $50,000 and $150,000 each year." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Foreclosures: Living in the zone KSHB's Keith King reported on foreclosure rates in and around Kansas City. Analyzing data from RealtyTrac.com, King mapped all the foreclosures between June 2006 and July 2007 to see what neighborhoods were impacted the most. Foreclosures affected more residents on the Missouri side of the metro area, where there is no court oversight of foreclosures, compared to neighborhoods in Kansas. A searchable database lists foreclosures in the greater Kansas City area through September 2007.The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis for this story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 05, 2007 Sex offenders clustered near school bus stops An investigation by WTEV-Jacksonville, Fla. found "more than 500 sex offenders and predators living within two blocks of local bus stops," according to Celine McArthur. Certain sex offenders are barred from living within 1,000 feet of bus stops, but there are so many bus stops that enforcing the rule would place most of the city off-limits. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, assisted with the data analysis and mapping. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 02, 2007 Felons issued hunting licenses in Wisconsin Analyzing state data on hunting licenses, Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that dozens of convicted felons in Wisconsin were issued gun-deer hunting licenses last year despite a state law that bans them for life from possessing firearms. Felons with armed robbery, rape and weapons convictions all bought gun-deer licenses in Wisconsin in 2006, the analysis shows. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 31, 2007 Twin Cities residents pocket farm subsidy payments Matt McKinney and Glenn Howatt of The Star Tribune report that millions in farm subsidies are being paid to people who live in urban areas, including some of the toniest neighborhoods of Minneapolis-St. Paul. "The flow of federal largesse comes thanks to rules that allow landowners — including some 2,000 in the metro area — to collect subsidies without farming the land themselves, a legal and increasingly common practice as farm ownership has consolidated over the past few decades." A current $280 billion farm bill before Congress aims for reform, but few expect real change. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 30, 2007 Earmarks added $11.8 billion to defense bill The Seattle Times kicked off an occasional series on Congressional earmarks, the companies that benefit and the political fundraising connected to the pork projects. David Heath and Hal Bernton report that, after months of collecting and checking data from press releases and campaign finance reports, they were able to "tie about half of the 2,700 earmarks in the 2007 defense spending bill to members of Congress." The estimated cost of the defense bill's add-ons: $11.8 billion. 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 19, 2007 Illinois lags in tracking teachers' misconduct Scott Reeder, writing for Quad-CitiesOnline.com, found that Illinois ranked 49th in a nationwide analysis of disciplinary actions against teachers. The state has no system in place to investigate or flag teachers accused of misconduct. To determine how Illinois compares to other states, Small Newspaper Group obtained information on 20,000 cases of teacher licensure discipline from all 50 state departments of education. The newspaper group then built a computer database to analyze it." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 16, 2007 FEMA aid distribution uneven to victims of NY storms Patrick Lakamp, Mary Pasciak and Susan Schulman of the Buffalo News report on FEMA's uneven aid to areas hit by a surprise storm last October. "Almost one-half the nearly 18,000 residents in Western New York who applied for FEMA money got some help. But in Buffalo, one-third of the applicants received aid." In North Buffalo, only 20 percent of applicants received aid, even though some areas looked like "a war zone." An East Side neighborhood where FEMA workers went door-to-door encouraging residents to apply received the largest sum. "A News computer analysis was able to determine what items FEMA approved, and at what cost, for 98 percent of the claims." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Subprime crunch felt on Jersey Shore The Asbury Park(N.J.) Press analyzed federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data to report that in Monmouth and Ocean counties subprime lending accounted for one out of five mortgages in 2006, a total of $3.1 billion. Reporter Jason Method found "the income of subprime borrowers was 5 percent lower than those taking out traditional mortgages, yet the subprime borrowers took out loans that were 10 percent larger." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Discipline system for teachers, staff flawed in Ohio schools The Columbus Dispatch delves into Ohio's flawed system of disciplining and tracking teachers, coaches, aides, counselors and administrators. The Web site for The ABCs of Betrayal includes asearchable database of Ohio educators disciplined since 2000. The 10-month investigation found educators remained in the classroom despite misconduct such as theft, assault and abuse of children. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 10, 2007 Paychecks shrinking when inflation considered David Knox of the Akron Beacon Journal takes an in-depth look at eroding income levels. The Beacon Journal examined more than 50 years of census data to consider " what happens when older workers retire, exchanging their big paychecks for smaller Social Security and pension checks? The logical answer is that they would be replaced by workers with markedly lower wages, resulting in an overall drop in purchasing power and the nation's standard of living." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Demographic analysis shifts Dallas crime ranking A database analysis found that while the city of Dallas is once again ranked among "the worst large cities for violent crime," the numbers change when the sample is more closely examined. Jennifer LaFleur and Tanya Eiserer of The Dallas Morning News used "statistical tools that correct for the effect of factors such as poverty, unemployment, low homeownership, family structure and racial composition" and found that the city ranked 58th in violent crime out of 436 cities studied. The story also reports that the Dallas crime rate dropped from 2005 to 2006. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 03, 2007 Nearly $18 million in overtime paid to Milwaukee police officers Gina Barton and Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed city of Milwaukee salary and overtime data and found that the police department spent $17.8 million on overtime last year — a 23 percent increase over the previous year. Officers worked enough overtime to hire 380 more officers and pay their benefits. One officer alone earned more than $64,000 in overtime last year, more than doubling his salary. He was one of 42 officers who got paid more than $100,000 a year in 2006. The story includes a searchable database of city of Milwaukee salaries. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 26, 2007 Speculators driving foreclosures in Nevada Southern Nevada's foreclosure rates are the nations highest, due primarily to investors walking away from their property. "Roughly 85 percent of actual auctions or repossessions of homes from March 1 through Aug. 31 involved properties not occupied by their owners," according to a report by Jeff German, Steve Kanigher and Alex Richards of the Las Vegas Sun. They were able to identify the investor-owned homes from owner-occupied foreclosures using property tax records. The story includes a map of Las Vegas-area properties that have either been auctioned or repossessed since January 2006. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 19, 2007 CEOs of healthcare nonprofit netting top dollars The Honolulu Advertiser examined nonprofit salaries and reported that "the largest healthcare nonprofits in Hawai'i pay their chief executive more than $820,000 on average. Large foundations and trusts in Hawai'i pay an average of $341,000 to their top manager. Executives at a sampling of service providers were paid the least, averaging $133,100." The healthcare companies say competition and job performance played a role in the high salaries, but critics say executive pay is inflating health care costs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 13, 2007 Wis. dam inspections fall behind schedule Ben Poston and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed a database of state dam inspections and found that Wisconsin inspectors have failed to inspect dozens of dams that could pose a danger in the event of a break. In all, the state Department of Natural Resources has not inspected at least 230 state-regulated dams — including 67 that are considered a "high or significant hazard" — since August 1997, despite a state law that requires inspections at least once every 10 years. The reporters also posted a searchable database of the state-regulated dams on the newspaper's Data on Demand site. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 09, 2007 Undue Influence Eric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found "cops confronted with a drunken-driving arrest fare better than the average citizen," according to an investigation of seven years' worth of internal discipline records, arrest reports, accident reports, license-suspension files and court documents from around Washington state. The P-I's findings also determined Washington's police disciplinary system is "broken, illogical and unevenly applied." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 07, 2007 Baltimore aims to avoid bridge disaster, repairs started Following the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis, Tisha Thompson of WMAR-TV (Baltimore, Md.) evaluated federal inspection reports and found that over 300 bridges in Maryland are "structurally deficient" some with holes in the deck and, in one case, two-by-fours holding up a section of a major bridge. In Baltimore County, the replacement process has started on about 10 bridges. This map shows the bridges eligible for replacement in the greater Baltimore area. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post A look at Arizona's "structurally deficient" bridges Lisa Fletcher and Dan Siegel of ABC-15's I-Team look at the safety ratings of bridges in Arizona. In the state, 107 bridges are rated as "structurally deficient and in need of major repairs." Along with ASU civil engineering professor, Ed Kavazanjian, they looked at several of the bridges, analyzing what could hasten structural demise of some of the compromised bridges. Information on the bridges, listed by county, can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 02, 2007 Bridge data adds context to collapse Following the collapse of an I-35 bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, journalists turned to the National Bridge Inventory database, available from IRE and NICAR, to check the bridge's inspection history. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press. and The Star Tribune reported that inspection data from 2005 showed that the Minnesota Department of Transportation deemed the bridge "structurally deficient." The Pioneer Press also noted a federal report's finding that Minnesota ranked high in overall bridge safety with 3 percent of its bridges rated deficient in 2006. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 26, 2007 Chicago's drug war toughest on minorities A Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data shows that enforcement efforts in the the war on drugs hits minorities far harder than whites. Darnell Little reports that inner-city dealers are hit much harder than the more discrete dealings in suburban areas. Prison populations also reflect harsher penalties for minorities. Analysis of Chicago's predominantly African-American neighborhoods revealed that "97 percent of East Garfield Park, 99 percent of West Garfield Park, 98 percent of Woodlawn, 96 percent of Englewood and 82 percent of Austin fall within 'safe zones'" — designated areas that are covered by mandatory sentencing rules. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Overtime tops $500 million in California state prisons Inmate overcrowding and the increasing number of staff vacancies in California's prisons are spiking overtime costs for the state's corrections department, which spent more than half a billion dollars last year on overtime pay, according to analysis of payroll records by the San Francisco Chronicle. Tom Chorneau and Todd Wallack report that the surge -- a 35 percent increase from the agency's overtime bill in 2005 -- comes as the department prepares for a major expansion of the prison system. The Chronicle analysis found that almost 15 percent of the department's 56,000-member workforce earned at least $25,000 in overtime in the last calendar year -- more than eight times the amount paid to the average state worker over the same period. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 19, 2007 Political speed zones Sarah Okeson of Florida Today looked into a new law that sets up enhanced penalty zones in which drivers who speed get higher fines. Reviewing more than 1 million crashes in Florida from 2002 to 2005, she found that the speed zones aren't located in areas with the highest rates of speed-related crashes. The state officials in charge of the program didn't calculate the rates for speed-related crashes using numbers for how much traffic was on the roads. The law set up the zones in counties where the bill's top supporters lived. 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 21, 2007 Florida migration patterns show boom has slowed Through analysis of IRS data from 1999-2000 and 2004-05, St. Petersburg Times reporters James Thorner and Dana Oppenheim looked at the huge migration of people and income to Florida from other states in the first half of the decade, mapping the myriad locations from which people arrived. The analysis found that surprisingly, hot spots for Tampa Bay were other major cities in Florida and places in the Northeast. However, this trend might be changing. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 19, 2007 Cheating on standardized tests rampant in some Texas schools The Dallas Morning News worked with a Canadian professor and found that test scores of more than 50,000 students over two years show evidence of cheating. Joshua Benton and Holly K. Hacker report that their in-depth data analysis contradicts claims by the Texas Education Agency which said cheating was "extraordinarily rare and that the agency has done a good job of policing it." They found cheating concentrated in the two largest districts in Texas - Houston and Dallas - as well as in charter schools. The entire series can be viewed here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 14, 2007 Paris Hilton: The true Hollywood CAR story The Los Angeles Times found that, if hotel heiress Paris Hilton serves 23 days out of a 45 day sentence for her DUI-related charges, she'll do more time than 80 percent of people convicted of similar offenses. In L.A. County, such offenders are routinely released early due to overcrowded jails. "Because of the high media interest, Hilton was one of only a few inmates whose premature release received publicity — and the judge who originally sentenced her noticed. She is believed to be the first inmate in years who actually was sent back to jail to serve more of her term," the Times reports. An analysis by Doug Smith and Sandra Poindexter looked at similar cases in county booking and release records from 1999-2005. "The Times analyzed 2 million jail releases and found 1,500 cases since July 2002 that — like Hilton's — involved defendants who had been arrested for drunk driving and later sentenced to jail after a probation violation or driving without a license." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 13, 2007 Fresno fire stations fail in timely response to fires An investigation by Brad Branan of the Fresno Bee shows that the Fresno County fire district is failing to meet the national standard for response time when called, leaving residents and property in peril. An analysis of about 1,500 fires over a 21-month period revealed frequent failure to respond in the 5-minute window. One district only met that national standard on 16 percent of their calls. The county cites too few stations as their main problem. A graphic maps the stations with the percentage of fires they respond to within five minutes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 30, 2007 Collateral Damage - Human Rights and Military Aid after 9/11 The Center for Public Integrity has published "one of the most comprehensive resources on U.S. military aid and assistance in the post-9/11 era. 'Collateral Damage' couples the reporting of 10 of the world's leading investigative journalists on four continents with a powerful database combining U.S. military assistance, foreign lobbying expenditures, and human rights abuses into a single, easily accessible toolkit." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 21, 2007 Series a look at Tarrant County (TX) schools In its series "Measuring Up," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looked at the area's public schools to see how they were performing. Using school test scores and other data, they identified key trends, including: which schools are doing better or worse than expected on state assessments; a large percentage of students requiring remedial help once in college; and that the best teachers are not working in the schools where their skills are needed most. Online databases allow you to look at the data, comparing information such as schools and student performance throughout the region. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 15, 2007 Speeders more deadly than drunk drivers While alcohol-related accidents and deaths may receive more attention, speed-related accidents kill more people — about 10 each week — in North Carolina, according to a The News & Observer report by Pat Stith, Mandy Locke and David Raynor."But while state legislators and court officials have gotten tough on drunken drivers, they have eased up on speeders." Database editor Raynor analyzed 3.4 million speeding cases from the state court system, plus a decade of highway patrol citations and state motor vehicle data. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 14, 2007 Residential areas grow in wildfire risk zones According to a USA Today report by Brad Heath, "Since 2000, roughly 450,000 people — enough to populate a city the size of Atlanta — moved to Western areas endangered by wildfires." Heath's analysis combined historical fire data from the USGS Forest Service, Census population data, fire modeling software used by researchers and a wild and urban interface map to discover this dangerous migration. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 11, 2007 Seattle issued illegal parking tickets on holidays Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle reports that the city of Seattle has been issuing parking tickets on legal holidays when parking is posted as free. The KIRO 7 investigates team reviewed approximately three years' worth of fines to find 4,416 tickets issued on legal holidays. A local attorney has filed a class action suit against the city on behalf of those who paid their fines requesting that the city return their money. Since this issue has been brought to light, the city has changed the parking ordinance and clearly listed its free parking days. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 20, 2007 Numerous South Florida restaurants cited for critical health code violations Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that nearly 2,500 restaurants in South Florida were cited for critical violations by state inspectors between July 2006 and January 2007. Since 1997, there has been a 66 percent increase in the number of confirmed food-borne illnesses tied to restaurants. "In December, the state issued disciplinary actions against 276 restaurants in the state -- 94 of them in South Florida -- and collected a total of $253,550 in fines, the Sun-Sentinel's analysis shows. South Florida's restaurants paid a total of $101,950 in fines." Included in the story is a database which allows readers to search the inspection records of South Florida restuarants. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 13, 2007 FBI's terrorism mission leaves white-collar crime unpunished A story by Paul Shukovsky, Tracy Johnson and Daniel Lathrop of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on a profound shift in the FBI's mission. Due to a shift in focus to national security following 9/11, the FBI has failed to pursue thousands of white-collar crimes. "Five-and-a-half years later, the White House and the Justice Department have failed to replace at least 2,400 agents transferred to counterterrorism squads, leaving far fewer agents on the trial of identity thieves, con artists, hatemongers and other criminals." Lathrop built a database from the records the P-I collected for their investigation and "the newspaper was able for the first time to fully measure the dramatic decline in the number of cases and convictions resulting from the FBI moving resources to terrorism and walking away from areas of criminal enforcement. Copies of the analysis were given to federal officials in Seattle and in Washington, D.C., who did not dispute the newspaper's findings but wouldn't make database experts available to discuss the analysis." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 26, 2007 One third of fatal accidents linked to shady driving records Sarah Okeson of Florida Today investigated Brevard County drivers involved in fatal accidents, specifically looking at drivers charged with DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide between 2000 and 2006. She found that more than a third of them didn't have a valid license to be on the road at the time of the wreck, had a prior conviction for DUI, or had been convicted of at least five traffic violations in the three years prior to the fatal accident. The investigation also revealed problems with coordination between courts and the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in dealing with high-risk drivers. Note: IRE and NICAR Database Library offers data from the Dept. of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, database. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 15, 2007 Campus accidents increase as inspection rates fall Jeffery Brainard of The Chronicle of Higher Education discovered an increase in accidents on campuses as proper inspections have declined. "Serious accidents in which workers were killed or hospitalized have became more common on college campuses, according to a Chronicle analysis of federal safety-inspection records...nearly 200 significant campus incidents were cited by government officials between 1996 and early 2006, up from the 140 serious injuries in the decade before." Included with the article are data on inspections and violations, colleges and their workplace fines, and information on how the data was analyzed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace inspection data is available from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 14, 2007 Response times faster on inner-city fires John Tedesco, Karisa King and Kelly Guckian of the San Antonio Express-News analyzed six years of San Antonio Fire Department response-time data and found that firefighters reach inner-city structure fires quicker than in the outlying areas where firefighters cover more territory with fewer stations. In response to the Express-News coverage, local officials pledge to address the fire department's slow response times by either relocating or building new stations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Lax inspections leave Pennsylvania pets in peril Tim Darragh and Christopher Schnaars of The Morning Call investigated the inspection of Pennsylvania dog kennels. Analyzing a database of 20,000 inspections since 2003, they found that kennel owners almost always got a satisfactory grade, even when they had violations. This kennel inspection data was made availabe on The Morning Call's site and is searchable by county and kennel. The governor of Pennsylvania is considering significant new regulations on the state's kennels. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 27, 2007 More tired truckers on South Carolina roads Andy Pierrotti of WCBD-Charleston looked at every South Carolina truck accident report that noted a fatigued or sleeping truck driver as a contributing factor. He discovered a 75 percent increase in such crashes from 2001 to 2005. Those fatigued drivers contributed to 158 accidents that killed nine people and left more than 100 injured. "Despite property damage, loss of life, and injuries, only 42 percent of those tired truckers were never ticketed." State transport police say the biggest problem with tired truckers in the state lies in the number of interstate rest stops. There are simply not enough rest stops in South Carolina for truckers to park and sleep. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 15, 2007 Houston burglary hot spots mapped Dave Fehling of KHOU_Houston reports on the city's burglary trends. "Analyzing raw numbers from the last two years, a special mapping program found five hot spots." Further analysis of the data showed that the hot spots covered a higher concentration of apartment complexes, where it is easier for unfamiliar faces to move around unnoticed. The IRE and NICAR Database Library assisted with data analysis and mapping for this story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 12, 2007 School bus drivers in Ohio have questionable driving records Using a database of school bus drivers and public records searches, Randy Ludlow and Jill Riepenhoff of the Columbus Dispatch found that more than 150 school-bus drivers have records of drunken driving and drug abuse. "State laws, practice and policies make it virtually impossible for school officials to review complete driving histories maintained by the state," they report. Despite the fact that Bureau of Motor Vehicles knows every offense committed by a licensed driver, not all of this information is shared. Abstracts obtained for background checks only include records from the past three years. Unbeknownst to most schools, full motor vehicle records can be obtained if requested specifically. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 31, 2007 Lottery sales slow in North Carolina The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer analyzed North Carolina lottery data and found that fewer outlets and lower prizes accounted for the slow sales in the new state lottery. J. Andrew Curliss and news researcher Paulette Stiles found "the number of outlets for every resident in North Carolina is significantly behind the saturation levels of the nation's best-selling lottery states." They also noted fewer players in areas that would not receive substantial benefits from lottery revenue distributed to schools. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 29, 2007 Iowa drivers dodge high fines, license penalties The Des Moines Register used data on driving-related offenses in Iowa to identify 78,000 people who owe at least $500 in fines. Reporter Lee Rood and data analyst Michael Corey found "The outstanding debt that all Iowans owe for everything from overdue speeding tickets to drunk driving fines to law enforcement surcharges is at a record high: $438.7 million." With stiff state penalties, the rate of sanctions against drivers' licenses have nearly doubled in 10 years. The online package also includes video and a searchable database of drivers who owe fines. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post License to Carry In a four-part series, Megan O'Matz and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel examined Florida's concealed weapons law and found that licenses have been issued to hundreds of people who, due to their criminal histories, wouldn't stand a chance of getting them in most other states. Courts have found them responsible for assaults, burglaries, sexual battery, drug possession, child molestation - even homicide. The newspaper obtained a database of 443,425 names of licensees before the state passed a privacy law last July 1 closing the records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 23, 2007 Migration patterns mapped The Charlotte Observer and charlotte.com published stories and interactive maps that show county-to-county migration in North Carolina and across the U.S. The report highlighted the trend of upstate New Yorkers moving to the Charlotte region. An accompanying map is based on the most recent five years of IRS county migration data. Click on any county, and you get a table and a thematic map of county flows to or from that county. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 22, 2007 Nail salon violations on the rise in Florida Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that state inspectors issued 163 citations for violations at nail salons from June 2005 to July 2006, compared to 99 in 2003 to 2004. Torres examined three years of inspection data for salons that received citations from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and found "ignoring sanitation rules, failing to use disinfectant to sterilize tools, storing dirty instruments with clean ones and, in some cases, allowing unlicensed employees to work for months." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 09, 2007 Dead still hold parking spots Eric Herman, Stephanie Zimmermann and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated a city program that allows residents to request handicapped parking spots near their homes. A computer-assisted analysis found at least 260 dead people on the list of 11,423 participants. "Throughout the summer and fall, the Sun-Times visited the sites of all 260 active permits held by dead people. In neighborhoods around the city, vehicles were parked in those spots, including cars with out-of-state plates, a contractor vehicle, a Dumpster, and in several cases, cars whose owners had transferred the deceased permit holders' placards to their own dashboards." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 08, 2007 A Hidden Shame Alan Judd and Andy Miller of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presented the first in a series of reports on Georgia's system of state psychiatric hospitals. Reporters used state vital records and death data, autopsy reports and claims filed against the state to flag 115 suspicious deaths among patients in state custody in the past five years. "This study revealed a pattern of neglect, abuse and poor medical care in the seven state hospitals, as well as a lack of public accountability for patient deaths." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 04, 2007 Campaign Consultants: The Price of Democracy The Center for Public Integrity investigated campaign spending for the 2003-2004 federal elections and found that the majority of the money being spent on campaigns is going to campaign consultants. In the 2003-2004 election cycle, approximately 600 consultants were paid $1.85 billion, with 65% of that money going to media consultants. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 20, 2006 Contributions might violate city ordinance In a computer-assisted analysis of campaign contributions, Matt Stiles and Chase Davis of The Houston Chronicle found that elected officials might have accepted contributions in violation of a city ordinance. The ordinance prohibits "donations from contractors with business before the City Council." Their analysis shows that more than $30,000 was contributed by prohibited donors. ,After learning of the violations, some officials immediately returned the donations. In part, the violations are attributed to the archaic system for identifying ineligible contributors which must all be done manually. 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 December 06, 2006 Subprime loans cripple minority homeowners Vikas Bajaj and Ron Nixon of The New York Times looked at the impact of subprime loans on minority homeownership over the past six years. The very loans that allowed for the purchase of a home are now crippling buyers' finances as interest rates inflate, leading to an increase in delinquencies and foreclosures. "Industry officials say the number of subprime borrowers losing their home and encountering distress is growing and sure to increase because there have been so many more mortgages issued in recent years. But they argue that on balance, subprime lending has been beneficial because it has given people who previously did not have access to credit the ability to buy homes." The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database can be obtained from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 21, 2006 "Media Tracker" database relaunched The Center for Public Integrity has relaunched its "Media Tracker" database in an updated and expanded form. The improved features of the online database "detail the scope of the political influence of top communications, entertainment and electronic companies" by including information on political contribuntions and lobbying expenditures. Click here to see their press release. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post "Fatal Food" Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service, along with contributions from Sruthi Kunnel and Lee Bowman, completed an investigation into food-borne illness outbreak reports made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical officials in Kentucky have already ordered reform's to the state's disease reporting process as a result of this investigation. Links to the stories and data:
Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 03, 2006 Hydrant repair and inspection delinquent in some Washington cities Chris Halsne of KIRO-TV looked at 50,000 hydrant repair records in Seattle and the surrounding area and found that firefighters encountered malfunctions in 10% of area hydrants when they arrived to use them. In addition to malfunctions, the records indicated that proper inspections were not taking place. The National Fire Protection Association dictates that all hydrants are inspected once a year, yet the KIRO investigation turned up some hydrants that hadn't been inspected in 10 years. A map of hydrants in the region - inlcuding inspection records - can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 24, 2006 Detroit: "The Quality of Urban Life" A 2-day series by Greta Guest and Victoria Turk in the Detroit Free Press examined the state of grocery stores in the city of Detroit. While the housing market in downtown Detroit is experiencing growth, a lack of desirable grocery store options is a "nagging problem in terms of the city's quality of life." Difficulty in attracting chain grocery stores to Detroit is linked, in part, to "a high number of residents on public assistance, which creates a monthly boom-and-bust cycle...About 25% of Detroit households receive cash public assistance or food stamps, compared with 11% in Chicago, 14% in Baltimore and 12% in Pittsburgh, according to 2004 U.S. Census figures, the most recent available." Additionally, Detroit stores are frequently cited for helath and safety violations. "Overall, city of Detroit stores had an average of 6.3 critical and noncritical violations a year, or double the statewide rate of 2.56. About 26% of the 327 stores represented in the state reports were free of critical violations." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 23, 2006 Tribes profit from gaming and grants In a story for the Tulsa World, Ziva Branstetter used FAADS (Federal Awards Assistance Data System) to identify the amount of federal grants going to Indian tribes and comparing those numbers with gaming revenues. She found that during the three most recent fiscal years of data available, gaming revenues among all tribes nationally increased about 30 percent while federal grants and loans to tribes and tribal entities jumped 44 percent. NOTE: The Federal Grants/FAADS data is available from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 16, 2006 "Caltrans: Road to Nowhere" A watchdog report by Kimberly Kindy and Natalya Shulyakovskaya of The Orange County Register looks at how the California Department of Transportation "has repeatedly displaced property owners for highway projects that went nowhere -- from the abandoned widening of Pacific Coast Highway through Orange County to Hayward’s failed freeway loop near the San Francisco Bay. Along the way, Caltrans used eminent domain to buy thousands of homes and businesses it didn’t need, holding onto them for decades." This has resulted in neglected and abandoned proprerties all over the state of California. In addition to unnecessarily displaced families, these failed projects have resulted in millions in lost tax revenue for the state. Shulyakovskaya includes a detailed description of the data analysis done for this story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 13, 2006 D.C.'s trendy neighborhoods riddled by robberies Allison Klein and Dan Keating of The Washington Post looked at police data and found that some of the liveliest neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. are also the ones riddled by the greatest number of robberies. "The Washington Post analyzed years of police statistics, focusing sharply on crimes this year, and found the biggest share of robberies happening at night and on sidewalks in neighborhoods north of downtown, including Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights and the U Street corridor." A detailed graphic is included with the story showing, among other statistics, when and where these crimes are committed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 10, 2006 Faith and foreign aid Farah Stockman, Michael Kranish, and Peter S. Canellos of The Boston Globe, with Globe correspondent Kevin Baron, examined the complete database of USAID prime awards from 2001 to 2005, containing more than 52,000 funding actions, to reveal that USAID gave more than $1.7 billion to 159 "faith-based" organizations. The percentage of USAID funds to NGOs that are faith-based doubled from 2001 to 2005, and 98.3% of the faith-based funds go to Christian groups. Bush's orders altered the longstanding practice that groups preach religion in one space and run government programs in another. The administration said religious organizations can conduct services in the same space as they hand out government aid, so long as the services don't take place while the aid is being delivered. The newspaper found many Christian groups are leveraging their proselytizing and missionary activities with US funding - doing the bare minimun, if that, to separate out their church and state functions. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 09, 2006 Ambulance diversions at St. Louis area hospitals Deborah L. Shelton and Jaimi Dowdell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch used local data to revisit a topic the paper first examined five years ago: ambulance diversions from full hospitals. “Five years after Missouri hospital officials vowed to get a handle on the problem, many emergency departments in the St. Louis area still regularly turn away ambulances. Half of the time in the first seven months of this year, at least one hospital was diverting ambulances.” Included is an interactive presentation illustrating how often hospitals turn away ambulances. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 03, 2006 State SAT score rankings are misleading Student reporter Sarah Rabil at The Daily Tar Heel analyzed state SAT rankings to take into consideration the impact of poverty and participation on these rankings. "An analysis by The Daily Tar Heel shows that the percentage of students taking the SAT in a given state dramatically affects a state's average score. Poverty levels also are an indicator of a state's average performance on the test, the analysis shows. After taking out the effect that poverty and participation have on each state's score, North Carolina ranks 16th in the nation - a jump of 22 positions from its unadjusted 2006 ranking." Included is a graphic showing state rankings with both adjusted and unadjusted scores. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 02, 2006 High cost of US subsidy bailouts for cotton farmers In an extensive investigation into cotton farming and US subsidies, reporters Dan Chapman and Ken Foskett with CAR specialist Megan Clarke of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution take a look at the impact of this "multibillion-dollar entitlement" program on farming here and abroad. They also look at how "farmers game the system to evade subsidy limits, and the difficulties regulators face trying to detect fraud and abuse in increasingly complex farming transactions." Their investigation included hundreds of interviews and extensive data analysis "including 182 million USDA subsidy transactions from 1994 to 2005...Clarke calculated payments by state, county and farmer. She examined USDA data on loans and insurance losses, and bankruptcy, land value and welfare payment records." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 28, 2006 Quality cardiac care correlates with wealthier counties in US A story by Robert Benincasa and Jennifer Brooks of the Gannett News Service shows that the best cardiac care is typically found in higher-income counties. "Using data provided by hospitals to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and covering the period of October 2004 through September 2005, GNS rated the nation's hospitals on heart care. The ratings show how often they gave standard treatments to heart attack and heart failure patients who were supposed to get them." The data used for their analysis came from the US Department of Health and Human Services. It can be found here . Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 13, 2006 Oklahoma campaign donors ranked Mick Hinton, Randy Krehbiel and Curtis Killman of the Tulsa World used state campaign finance data to find the top donors to Oklahoma elections during the current cycle. Enid attorney Stephen Jones led the list with $73,600 in contributions this year, followed by energy and real estate executives. The reporters also noted, "Several of those who made the top 10 list did not return calls seeking comment. In the past, their contributions have remained less public before a rule went into effect requiring computerized filing by candidates and political action committees." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Ground war costs dominate defense budget The most recent Pentagon contract data show more payments for logistics, support and ground vehicles and less money for aviation programs, compared to a year ago. "One year of wartime operations equals about four years' worth during peacetime, analysts say. In Iraq, with the harsh environment, the ratio has been more like one to five." Michael Fabey of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report analyzed 1.5 million defense contracts and related revisions found in the federal contract database available from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 01, 2006 Student data from financial aid forms shared with FBI Jonathan D. Glater of The New York Times reports that, as part of post-9/11 counterterrorism efforts, that Federal Education Department shared personal information obtained on student loan applications with the FBI. "Under the program, called Project Strikeback, the Education Department received names from the F.B.I. and checked them against its student aid database, forwarding information...Neither agency would say whether any investigations resulted." This story was broken by Laura McGann, a graduate student at the Medill School of Journalism "as part of a reporting project that focused on national security and civil liberties." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Aviation deaths down but accidents increasing for Army Michael Fabey of Aerospace Daily reported that while aviation-related deaths have decreased, serious accidents have seen a dramatic increase in 2006 over the past three-year period. Analysis of the Army's aircraft records database revealed this trend. "The largest increase, percentage-wise, has been in the number of incidents involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - which only relatively recently have been used by the Army and included in the database - and ground-related aviation mishaps. The Army reported 113 such mishaps in 2006, which was 25 percent more than the 90 reported in fiscal 2005 and a 126 percent increase compared to the three-year average of 50, the Army reported. Class B accidents increased by 50 percent for the year and more than 150 percent compared to the three-year average." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sex offenders loosely monitored in Delaware Andrew Tangel and Mike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal found that sex offenders in the state of Delaware have been inadequately monitored. By mapping "the addresses of more than 1,200 moderate- and high-risk sex offenders, 1,900 child care centers and 350 public and private schools", Tangel and Chalmers found hundreds of instances where sex offencers were living within 500 feet of day cares - but day care centers don't count as schools under Delaware's lax version of Megan's law. They also found that 40% of sex offenders do not keep their addresses up-to-date in the system. Included in this report are details on how this investigation was done. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 15, 2006 |
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