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Government (federal/state/local) 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 June 12, 2008 $85 million in supplies meant for Katrina victims declared surplus An investigation by CNN's Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost discovered that FEMA gave away $85 million of new supplies meant for Hurricane Katrina victims. The items, ranging from clothes to cleaning supplies, sat in FEMA warehouses for two years before being declared federal surplus by the agency. The merchandise was then offered for free to other federal and state agencies, ending up in prisons, schools, the post office, and other agencies — but not Katrina victims. CNN also found that Louisiana declined the free items because an official there had not been contacted by any agency who wanted them, but community groups in New Orleans told CNN they desperately still need those supplies. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Report shows FAA behind in training new air traffic controllers An inspector general's report shows the Federal Aviation Administration is hiring more air traffic controllers than it can effectively train, reports Michael J. Sniffen of the Associated Press. "The Transportation Department's inspector general said the Federal Aviation Administration is so swamped with new hires that it has exceeded its own maximum trainee numbers at 22 percent of its 314 air control facilities. The FAA uses a database replete with erroneous information to manage the training program and has failed to implement remedial steps the agency itself promised in 2004, the IG report added." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 10, 2008 Overtime a strain on workers, county budgets Mary Beth Pfeiffer and John Ferro of the Poughkeepsie Journal compiled a two-part report examining overtime at the Dutchess and Ulster county governments. The report found correction officers and deputies at the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office earned $3.9 million in overtime in 2007 - a 21 percent increase from 2006 at a time when the sheriff's payroll grew by less than 4 percent overall, and that a nursing home accounted for more than one quarter of all overtime in Ulster County. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Taken for a ride An investigation by reporter Larry Lebowitz of The Miami Herald shows that local taxpayers were promised massive improvements to the county's mass transit system when they approved a sales tax six years ago, yet those promises have not been fulfilled. Local leaders have already spent half the money on routine maintenance, 1,000 new jobs, and office furniture among other things. "At the heart of the matter: The 2002 campaign avoided any mention of chronic financial problems that had plagued the transit agency, and it promised far more improvements than the tax could possibly deliver." County commissioners are now considering other options, such as a steep fare increase, to fund improvements to the transit system. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 04, 2008 Utility fund lines pockets at customers' expense Michelle Breidenbach and Tim Knauss, of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.), examined the previously undisclosed accounting of the National Grid fund, a little-known fund run by the power company. It spent $25 million of its customers' money on economic development projects — including image-making and branding, parties and promotion, and such gimmicks as a local public-TV "American Idol"-style show for small businesses. Government regulators who required the program provided no oversight on the spending, and the utility continued to keep secret many of the recipients. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 23, 2008 Obscure public agency lines pockets of private businesses Brian Joseph of the Orange County Register investigated the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, a public agency founded to finance "projects of public value." The agency "issued about $4.2 billion in tax free bonds in 2007, ranking behind only the states of California, Ohio and New York." Analysis of financial documents showed that much of that money has gone to benefit private businesses. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 19, 2008 Diversity fund lacks oversight KSTP-Minneapolis investigated Minnesota's School District Integration Revenue, a fund intended to enhance diversity in schools across the state. "Experts say that money has been budgeted with no clear purpose." A line-by-line evaluation of one district's budget revealed questionable spending, such as charges for food and candy amounting to over $24,000 per month. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Students investigate the suicide of a mentally-ill inmate A three-month investigation by journalism students at Humboldt State University looked into the suicide of James Lee Peters, a mentally-ill Native American inmate at Humboldt County Jail. With few people willing to talk, the students relied on public records obtained through the California Public Records Act to piece together what happened to Lee, and how the system failed him. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 15, 2008 D.C. security breaches An investigation by WTTG's Rick Yarborough and Tisha Thompson revealed serious security problems in the nation's capital. From the metal detectors that protect city government buildings to the firearms training of the D.C. Protective Service Police, WTTG's undercover and hidden camera investigations found serious security breaches. (Parts one, two, and three.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 12, 2008 Taxpayers foot bill for game warden convention A North American game wardens conference in St. Paul last year cost taxpayers nearly $400,000, even though it turned a profit for the convention organizers, reported David Shaffer of the Star Tribune. "Some of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' 204 conservation officers also solicited private donations for the conference — a practice one official says was improper — and all were required to attend. Officers were paid, and those from outside the metro area stayed in downtown hotels at state expense." The story has already prompted three state investigations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 May 05, 2008 City repair fund provides scant relief to tenants In a fourth installment of The Washington Post's Forced Out series, about abusive landlords who drive tenants from rent-controlled apartments, Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen report that D.C. government has widely misused a multi-million dollar fund to repair buildings when landlords refuse to do the work. "In the past three years, the (city) spent $617,000 on repairs at neglected apartment buildings — just four percent of the $16.5 million in the fund — even while its inspectors chronicled rampant code violations at complexes across the city." The city spent three times more repairing privately owned, single-family houses, some valued at $500,000 or more, including one that received a new front porch, 25 windows, fresh paint, roof repairs and a new garage door. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 29, 2008 "Business of the Bomb: The Modern Nuclear Marketplace" Michael Montgomery, of American RadioWorks, and Mark Schapiro, of the Center for Investigative Reporting, teamed up to explore the growing nuclear black market which is making it difficult to contain the proliferation of atomic weapons throughout the world. "Experts cite two ominous trends: an increase in the number of nations seeking to enrich uranium, and the emergence of international nuclear smuggling networks." The hour-long radio documentary can be heard here. (The program will be re-broadcast on KQED in the Bay Area April 30 at 8 p.m. PST. Check your local public radio schedules for broadcast dates in your area.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 28, 2008 The global food crisis A series by The Washington Post explores the causes and implications of the current global food crisis, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1970s. "A complex combination of poor harvests, competition with biofuels, higher energy prices, surging demand in China and India, and a blockage in global trade is driving food prices up worldwide." The impact is not limited to impoverished countries; consumers in the U.S. and other countries are feeling the impact of rising food costs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 24, 2008 High price of diplomacy with China The first of two investigative reports from the Center for Investigative Reporting's James Sandler examines the Bush administration's efforts to squelch legal proceedings against two high ranking Chinese officials accused of torturing members of religious groups, including Fulan Gong. The two accused officials are former trade minister Bo Xilai and Beijing’s Olympic Organizing Committee President Liu Qi. Despite the extent of the abuse allegations — including deaths and organ harvesting, the Bush administration claims the suit would have "immediate adverse foreign policy consequences." Supporting documents for the investigation can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 21, 2008 Pentagon emerges as puppeteer of favorable wartime coverage A report by David Barstow of The New York Times reveals how the Pentagon has used a cadre of retired military officers to "generate favorable news coverage of the [Bush] administration’s wartime performance...Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks." The Times successfully sued the Defense Department for over 8,000 pages of material that outlines the Pentagon's use of these analysts to "deliver administration 'themes and messages' to millions of Americans 'in the form of their own opinions.'" Many of the analysts have close ties to contractors operating in the war zone that are rarely disclosed in the context of their commentary. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 16, 2008 Safety issues ignored despite marked increase in nail gun injuries A Sacramento Bee investigation into the dangers associated with nail guns reveals a dramatic increase in injuries over the last decade. Andrew McIntosh reports that despite an increase in injuries — some resulting in death — the Consumer Product Safety Commission has done little to address safety issues. While many accidents go unreported, an April 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that injuries have "increased more than threefold in a decade, from about 12,000 in 1995 to about 42,000 in 2005." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 15, 2008 Industry controls state hospital regulation Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register explores the influence that the Iowa hospital industry exerts over state regulators and lawmakers. In Iowa today, a state license to run a hospital costs $10, just as it did in 1947. That's less than the cost of a state license to open a bait shop. And the state's Hospital Licensing Board is made up exclusively of industry CEOs. Those CEOs belong to a PAC that opposes issues such as mandatory criminal background checks on hospital workers, increases in licensing fees, and updated standards on new hospital construction. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post San Francisco emergency response times lagging Jim Doyle of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the city's emergency response system is failing to meet response goals. In February 2004, the city adopted a 6-1/2 minute standard for emergency response. Since then, at least 439 people have died while waiting for delayed emergency assistance. "The The Chronicle found that delayed emergency medical responses are the result of numerous causes, from chronic understaffing, language barriers and botched dispatches at the city's 911 call center to traffic congestion and unavailable nearby ambulances." 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 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 April 03, 2008 Declassified memo reveals claims to president's unfettered wartime power Dan Eggen and Josh White of The Washington Post report on the recently declassified 2003 Justice Department memo that was responsible for creating the "legal foundation for the Defense Department's use of aggressive interrogation practices" in the run up to the war in Iraq. The memo suggested that presidential power was nearly unlimited during a time of war and should override laws forbidding torture. The Post provides links to pdfs of the 81-page memo (part 1 & 2). 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 07, 2008 Worst nursing homes collecting bonuses Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register reports that some of the worst nursing homes in Iowa are collecting tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded bonuses that are supposed to reward quality care. The bonuses are paid through a little-known program that boosts the amount of Medicaid money received by homes that score well on certain "accountability measures." The Register's analysis of the program shows that 16 of the 23 homes that faced large fines last year for causing deaths or injuries are this year collecting quality-of-care bonuses from the Medicaid program. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Boys academy continues to operate despite abuse reports Investigative Reporter Paul Aker of WBNS-Columbus, found that the Central Ohio Boys Residential Academy, a camp for troubled youth, has a history of abuse but continues to operate. According to the report, "A former staff worker also claims to have seen children seriously hurt by COBRA workers, and often slammed into walls." The investigation revealed that allegations of abuse have resulted in several criminal cases against staff, and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services that licenses the academy was not aware of the criminal convictions. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 13, 2008 Complaints against contractors on rise in Florida, response slow Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that consumer complaints registered against state-licensed contractors have significantly increased since the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005. As a result, consumers are having to wait twice as long for resolutions to their complaints. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation cites insufficient resources and staff to handle the influx in a timely manner. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 05, 2008 State falls behind in routine fire safety inspection of schools Despite laws requiring regular fire safety inspection of the state's schools, an investigation by KNXV-TV (Phoenix) revealed that the Office of the Arizona State Fire Marshal have failed to complete the routine inspections. "A review of records for 200 schools in Maricopa County revealed more than 70 schools that have not been inspected for two or more years. We also found more than 30 schools with inspection reports indicating the facilities were not recommended for licensing at the time." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Fundraisers wield influence over North Carolina Board of Transportation Dan Kane and Benjamin Noilet of the News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) report that reforms introduced a decade ago and meant to repair the "scandal-plagued" Board of Transportation in North Carolina have done little to end the corruption. Despite laws introduced to curb their influence, fundraisers are still landing prime spots on the Board. "The 19-member DOT board remains a plum spot for big political fundraisers who continue to ignore conflicts of interest and the wider needs of the state beyond their own districts." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 25, 2008 Text messages sink Detroit mayor's sworn testimony Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is under investigation after M.L. Elrick and Jim Schaefer of The Detroit Free Press obtained text messages that contradict the mayor's testimony in a court case filed by a former deputy police chief, who claimed he was the victim of retaliatory firing. (See the chain of events in the case that cost the city $9 million.) The text messages, which the paper first sought in 2004, revealed details of an affair between Beatty and Kirkpatrick, which they denied in court, and damaging comments about the plaintiff's termination. Free Press tech columnist Mike Wendland explains the special message archiving service used by the City of Detroit and other government entities. 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 January 16, 2008 Racist jokes, porn found on DA's office computer Community leaders are calling for Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal to resign after Jeremy Rogalski of KHOU-Houston uncovered racist emails and sex videos on the D.A.'s county computer, along with evidence suggesting that Rosenthal used county time and resources in his political campaigns. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 10, 2008 Separation of church and state blurred by former Utah governor Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune reported that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt discussed incorporating Mormon doctrines and beliefs into state government when he was governor of Utah. When The Tribune started inquiring, Leavitt requested the state remove transcripts of his discussions from public display. PDFs of the minutes from the "seminary" meetings he held with other government officials are posted on The Tribune's website. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 17, 2007 Cheating rampant on Army exams Bryan Bender and Kevin Baron of The Boston Globe spent five-months investigating the Army's testing program "which verifies that soldiers have learned certain military skills and helps them amass promotion points." Cheating had been suspected since 1999, but the Army did not acknowledge the problem until June 2007. The Globe's investigation learned that the Army dismissed recommendations for increasing test security in 2001 while increasing the number of exams they offered online. Bender and Baron found that hundreds of thousands of completed exam packages had been downloaded over the years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 14, 2007 Rural business loans lead to huge losses for USDA Gilbert Gaul continued with The Washington Post's investigation of the USDA's farm subsidy loan program and found many shortcomings. Small companies that go out of business often default on their loans; since the 1970s, the loan program has seen nearly $1.5 billion in losses. Gaul used individual examples of USDA loans to illustrate broader problems within the program, such as financing jobs that have gone to illegal immigrants, "saving" jobs that would not be lost anyway, and lending money to businesses and people with bad credit who are likely to default on the loan. 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 04, 2007 Third-world workers exploited by U.S. security contractors Matthew D. La Plante of The Salt Lake Tribune reports on workers from developing nations who are are employed by private security contractors working for the U.S. in Iraq. Federal reports suggest that four-fifths of the armed contractors come from other countries, and some earn as little as $31 per day. Human rights advocates say it's exploitation. United Nations officials say it's a violation of international law. But the U.S. government says that, at a time when its military is stretched so thin, third-world security contractors will be standing guard over U.S. facilities for a long time to come." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 30, 2007 Property tax deliquency costs county The Dallas Morning News investigated the widespread property tax delinquency that plagues Texas. Reporters Kevin Krause and Molly Motley-Blythe attacked the problem from all angles, including which types of organizations are likely not to pay taxes, what sorts of excuses they use, and how the delinquency affects tax-run programs and other tax payers. Furthermore, the investigation reveals that some organizations still receive government funds, even though they've fallen behind on their property taxes. 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 27, 2007 Broken water meters costly in Atlanta Jeremy Redmond of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a large number of Atlanta-area residents and businesses have received outrageous water bills because of broken meters that the city has not fixed, even after multiple complaints. Atlanta entered into a new contract with a private company to repair and update all meters, but the company is not required to fix broken meters first. To verify the city's claims that meters are being fixed, the newspaper requested copies of monthly reports on the contractor's performance and meters that cannot be read or located, but the city has not yet provided the records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 20, 2007 Death rates rise at Kabul maternity hospital supported by U.S. training Maternal and infant death rates spiked at a major Kabul maternity hospital that was promoted as a model of U.S. medical training in Afghanistan. Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals that "the rate of normal-sized babies dying in labor and delivery at Rabia Balkhi jumped 67 percent last year." The statistics, including death rates from C-sections, raised concern at U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The same U.S.-funded healthcare program also spent $1.3 million on a no-bid contract for LeapFrog talking books "The idea was to teach illiterate Afghan women about hygiene, prenatal care, immunizations and nutrition from talking picture books popular with U.S. children." Documents from the CDC, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson are posted online. 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 November 08, 2007 Chicago transit pension fund in trouble Stacy Warden of the Chi-town Daily News investigated questionable policies in the Chicago Transportation Authority's pension fund, raising questions about CTA's claim that state funding policies had caused its current financial crisis. "Taking the first steps toward repairing the agency's pension fund, along with paying rapidly increasing employee wages and health care costs, will cost the CTA $101.4 million this year, accounting for 92 percent of the CTA budget gap. In 1994 the CTA pension fund was found to be robust enough to allow for reduced contributions, but a combination of reduced revenues, early retirement benefits and some of the highest wages in country have strained the system. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 02, 2007 Whistle-blowers punished by system meant to protect them A collaborative six-month investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and Salon.com details the failings of whistleblower courts, which are intended to protect employees who speak out against corruption and abuses in government agencies. Instead, this forum is used to punish those who speak out for the public good. The investigation "found that federal whistle-blowers almost never receive legal protection after they take action. Instead, they often face agency managers and White House appointees intent upon silencing them rather than addressing the problems they raise...At whistleblower court, employees lose nearly 97 percent of the time." 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 Abuses found in Detroit's tax-relief program David Josar of The Detroit News investigated possibly abuses by the the city's Hardship Committee, which grants millions in property tax exemptions intended for the poor but keeps no notes at its meetings, does not verify applicants' claims and has never been audited. The News' three-month investigation found that some exemptions were granted to property owners who owned multiple homes and luxury cars. The coverage led the Detroit City Council to call a closed-door session with city attorneys to discuss the committee's actions. As a result, one committee member was removed for granting a tax break of over $6,000 to her lawyer. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 24, 2007 Blackwater leaves dirty trail PBS' Bill Moyers Journal features Jeremy Scahill, author of a book about Blackwater, a private U.S.-based company that is one of the largest private security contractors in Iraq, where its assignments have included protecting individuals and guarding the U.S. embassy. Scahill's interview comes in the wake of Congressional hearings after the company's employees were implicated in the killing of 17 Iraqis. Scahill speaks on these topics, rebutting much of Blackwater founder Erik Prince's media blitz following the various investigations of that September incident. 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 October 10, 2007 Developer blows whistle on City Hall shakedowns Reese Dunklin of The Dallas Morning News tells the story of developer Bill Fisher, who became an FBI informant after his low-income apartment complex projects were rejected by the Dallas City Council. Before the vote, Fisher was told that in order to get millions of dollars in economic incentives, he would have to do favors for friends of Dallas Mayor Pro-Tem Don Hill. The FBI's case led to an indictment alleging that "Mr. Hill and his associates demanded and received about $225,000 in contracts and fees from the developer." The News story further reveals that Mr. Fisher has his own checkered past. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 05, 2007 Anti-poverty agency funded private jet trips to MTV awards In another installment of The Miami Herald's Poverty Peddlers series, reporters Scott Hiaasen and Jason Grotto reveal that the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, the county's largest anti-poverty agency, squandered millions of dollars on lavish parties, bad loans and insider deals. The reporters showed that public money for the poor went to pay for celebrities like Sean "Diddy" Combs and Shakira to fly to Miami for MTV award shows; the flights used a charter company run by a board member. 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 19, 2007 US exports unsafe products While much hoopla was made of the recall of certain Chinese-made products by the Consumer Product Safety Division, United States companies have been allowed to export unsafe products overseas, according to a report by Russell Carrollo of The Sacramento Bee. These items included very flammable children’s clothing, toys and wax crayons with toxic chemicals in them and other goods banned in the U.S., but deemed fit to ship. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 18, 2007 Animal shelter practices questioned Sarah Okeson of Florida Today investigated the Brevard County animal services department after questions have been raised about how the Animal Services & Enforcement Department is being run. Allegations include one employee who has been illegally selling animals from the shelters. An audit found that the ownership records of 43 animals were changed in the department's database with no other documentation other than a sticky note, and that whereabouts of at least 29 animals are unknown. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post BusinessWeek tallies payoff from lobbying BusinessWeek notes that, while scrutiny of federal earmarks and corporate lobbying has intensified recently,"no one outside the lobbying firms and corporate boardrooms has ever known just how much all those lobbyists bring in." Based on an analysis of nearly 2,000 earmarks that went to companies in fiscal 2005, the story by Eamon Javers estimates that, on average, companies generated roughly $28 in earmark revenue for every dollar they spent lobbying. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 12, 2007 Perks grew while budgets shrank in three Florida counties With tax cuts and the real estate bust forcing local governments to slash their budgets, Doug Sword, Anthony Cormier and Patrick Whittle of the Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Fla.) looked at spending in three local sheriff's agencies. They found a number of questionable expenses, such as a luxury SUV for Sarasota's sheriff with upgrades like climate controlled leather seats and a $2,000 navigation system. Here are the stories for the counties of Sarasota, Charlotte and Manatee. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 10, 2007 Flex-Fuel fleet remains shrouded in secrecy Kimberly Kindy, reporting for the San Jose Mercury News and the Sacramento bureau of MediaNews, adds more on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempts to create a fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles, which earned him international recognition but also handed a single-source contract to General Motors, a longtime political supporter. The latest story describes how the governor's administration has repeatedly refused to release documents that reveal the level of its involvement in crafting this fleet. In July, Kindy reported that the "green" cars still burn normal gasoline because they have no access to the cleaner ethanol blend, E85. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 31, 2007 One in five taxis cited in state inspection The Arizona Republic's M.B. Pell reports that one out of every five taxis in Arizona failed state inspections in the past year. Inspectors from the Department of Weights and Measures "conducted nearly 1,570 field inspections of cabs, citing 120 taxis and limousines for having improperly sealed, calibrated or installed meters. Among other citations, 126 vehicles had no insurance or too little insurance, and 95 drivers did not have valid driver's licenses, according to field inspection data." Of $196,400 in fines levied since 2004, $97,975 has been collected. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 27, 2007 Travel regulations don't touch executive branch officials Ken Dilanian of USA Today reports that many executive branch officials regularly still accept trips from companies and associations which stand to benefit from the agencies' decisions. Although members of Congress cannot accept these sorts of gifts according to the newly passed ethics bill, the restrictions do no apply to other branches of government. "More than 200 trips during the 12-month period [April 2006 to March 2007], however, were paid for by corporations or trade groups that are regulated by, or do business with, the department or agency." While these trips are permissible as long as there is no conflict of interest, records show that the interpretation varies widely. 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 Ohio bridges at risk The Columbus Dispatch examined each of the 35 bridges over the Ohio River connecting Ohio to neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia. Reporter Randy Ludlow discovered that seven are rated as structurally deficient. That group includes three of the four bridges owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The investigation revealed that highway officials have plans to close one bridge when the temperature drops to 5 below zero. The steel of the old bridge becomes so brittle in bitter cold that engineers fear it could fracture, raising the possibility of the span toppling. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 06, 2007 City liability databases offer up wide range of stories After a quick-hit investigation in to liability payouts for sewer damages, Marc Davis of The Virginian-Pilot continues to find stories within city liability databases. For instance, accidents involving city vehicles cost taxpayers millions. "The cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach paid about $7.5 million to more than 1,700 victims of vehicular accidents in 2004, 2005 and 2006, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis." Yet sovereign immunity protects these cities in other cases. Often, it is nearly impossible to get reimbursed for accidents caused by a city employee's negligence, especially if they happen at school. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 02, 2007 Insider deals boost Milwaukee County pensions A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that hundreds of Milwaukee County workers, including some high profile officials, boosted their pensions by $50 million by sidestepping county pension rules and IRS tax codes. Reporter Dave Umhoefer traced the self-dealing and cronyism that launched the breaks, which allow workers to pay to convert ineligible work service from summer seasonal jobs into lucrative retirement credits. Many can expect five- and six-figure pension gains over their lifetimes for comparatively modest payments for the credits. 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 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 24, 2007 Cities liability records expose wide disparities A quick-hit investigation by Marc Davis of The Virginian-Pilot looked at city liablitiy records and found "Virginia Beach paid 84 homeowners and businesses a total of $457,000 to fix damages or repay plumbing fees for sewer backups in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Among the other four cities - Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk - none has paid for more than 13 claims of sewer backup repairs over the same three years. And none has paid more than $48,000 total - roughly one-tenth of Virginia Beach's total." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 23, 2007 Pentagon dismissed requests for mine-resistant vehicles The Pentagon failed in its efforts to protect troops in Iraq, according to an investigation by Peter Eisler, Blake Morrison and Tom Vanden Brook of USA TODAY. The Pentagon has known for years that Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles could save lives for soldiers on patrol and in combat, but ignored appeals for such vehicles. USA TODAY found that the first requests for MRAPs came from Marines in December 2003. It was not until two months ago that the Pentagon finally backed supplying MRAPs for U.S. troops with thousands on order at a cost of nearly $2.4 billion. Some officials blame delays on adopting the MRAP for troop use on the belief that the war would not last this long. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 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 July 13, 2007 Lawmakers try to save earmarks despite new spending bill Earlier this year, Congress passed a major spending bill that it promoted as being stripped of all earmarks and a strike against pork-barrel spending. But even as the bill passed, a joint investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Times reveals top Democrats and members of both parties deluged government agencies with special requests to fund pet projects. CIR obtained congressional correspondence under the Freedom of Information Act showing 122 spending requests from 52 senators and 205 representatives in the wake of that "earmark-free" bill, including multiple letters from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. You can see the story from the Los Angeles Times here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 12, 2007 Contractors' murders blamed on Blackwater manager The gruesome 2004 massacre of four Blackwater USA security guards is being blamed on their Baghdad site manager, Tom Powell, accoring to documents obtained by The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer. Joseph Neff reports that memos reveal the Bravo 2 and November 1 squads were commanded by Powell to go on a mission despite being undermanned and underprepared. Bravo 2 disregarded directions to drive through Fallujah, instead skirting the city, and returned safely to Baghdad. November 1 drove through Fallujah as directed and was ambushed. All four guards were killed in the attack. The News & Observer's extensive coverage of the Blackwater killings can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 05, 2007 Nonprofit subsidizes Schwartenegger's lavish travel Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Time reports that much of Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger's travel is billed to "an obscure nonprofit group that can qualify its secret donors for full tax deductions." Not only do watchdogs claim these write-offs are "abuse of tax codes," but they also create a loophole to limits on campaign finance contributions since charities are not governed by disclosure rules and donors can contribute an unlimited amount. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 02, 2007 Job-creation subsidies go unchecked Steven Schultze and Joel Dresang of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that, while the state doles out hundreds of millions in subsidies to Wisconsin businesses for job creation, it fails to track if the money actually makes a difference. The Journal Sentinel investigation shows that thousands of promised jobs are not getting filled. Schultze and Dresang focused on 25 companies that got $80 million in subsidies. About 40 percent of the jobs they promised never materialized. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 26, 2007 Biotech developer scams Florida cities A seven-month investigation by Jason Grotto of The Miami Herald reveals how a Boston developer, Dennis Stackhouse, collected millions of dollars for a biotech park. He promised to create thousands of jobs in one of Miami-Dade's neediest neighborhood, but nothing was ever built. Part two of the series shows how Stackhouse received support for the project from community leaders despite the fact that his plan was riddled with problems. The Herald also found that Liberty City was not the first community to be scammed by Stackhouse. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 13, 2007 Mismanagement plaques Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District An investigation by Keith Matheny of The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun found questionable management practices by the local mosquito and vector control district. Following dozens of interviews and reviewing thousands of pages of documents, Matheny discovered that the agency, despite having nearly $13 million in reserves, planned to hike a tax on homeowners and property owners. On top of that, the agency's general manager paid $2.3 million more than budgeted for a new lab facility, and increased spending fivefold since 2000, while having fewer employees spraying for bugs such as ants and mosquitoes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 29, 2007 Delays impeded implementation of air defense system prior to 9/11 Michael Fabey of Aerospace Daily and Defense Report writes that the inability of the Pentagon and Canadian defense officials to keep a lid on costs and schedules may have cost them the opportunity to modernize their radar-based air defense system in time to possibly thwart the terrorist from completing their 9/11 attacks. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Police chief misrepresents crime report to city council Will Carless of voiceofsandiego.org reports that San Diego's Chief of Police delivered misinformation in his report to the City Council. "The chief's statements were made at the height of contract negotiations between the police department and the city. While the chief was painting a rosy picture of crime rates before four city councilmen, the police union was busy trying to convince the city that it was in dire straits." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 21, 2007 Fire chief retires while under investigation The fire chief of Aurora, Colo. is retiring following a KCNC-Denver reported that "he had apparently played golf during normal work hours on as many as 23 weekdays during an 8 month period." The city had suspended the chief pending its own investigation into the allegations, but the chief has said that he is retiring of his own volition. CBS4 also found allegations, posted on a former assistant city attorney's blog, accusing the chief of carrying on an affair with the attorney's wife. Brian Maass details the CBS4 investigation here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 15, 2007 ATVs: Deceptively Dangerous An in-depth special report by The Oregonian explores the dangers of ATVs. "Over the past decade, the machines have soared in popularity, with 7.6 million in use. The result: Record numbers of riders end up in emergency rooms and morgues as accidents kill about 800 people a year and injure an estimated 136,700." The multimedia report includes myriad documents and video footage detailing the reality of ATV safety issues and concerns. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Will parking violators pay in Peoria? Nishi Gupta of WHOI-Peoria, Ill., found the city was owed nearly $1.2M in parking fines. She reviewed thousands of cases and found many people owed hundreds, even thousands of dollars. The city would take them to court to collect, but it wasn't successful, despite numerous hearings and bench warrants. At times, the courts would close the cases with no consequences for those who decided not to pay up. After the story aired, Peoria's city hall adopted a policy to collect the fines from parking ticket deadbeats. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 11, 2007 Former meth labs declared "safe" still unfit for residence A report by Debbie Dujanovic of KSL 5 (Salt Lake City) details how seized homes in Salt Lake County that had once functioned as meth labs are being reopened and declared safe without proper clean up. Unsuspecting buyers are moving into contaminated homes because lax disclosure laws negate the need to report homes ever served as meth labs. Upon learning that their house had been a meth lab, one family discovered a child's bedroom had "levels 14 times above what the state considers 'safe.'" listing properities that were considered contaminated at one time. 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 27, 2007 Wasting Away: Superfund's Toxic Legacy The Center for Public Integrity has taken a look at the state of Superfund sites throughout the US. Twenty-seven years after the government developed a program to identify and clean up the worst of these sites, toxic waste remains a problem across the country. "A one-year investigation by the Center for Public Integrity reveals the beleaguered state of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund effort, uncovers the companies and government agencies linked to the most sites and tracks progress of the clean up." Included in the content are searchable databases on EPA contractors, sponsored travel and congressional correspondence with EPA officials. You can also search for detailed information about Superfund sites across the country. Federal procurement data for this series was provided by NICAR. Data on federal contracts and other federal awards, such as grants or loans, is available from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 25, 2007 OSHA decreases regulatory role under Bush The New York Times's Stephen Labaton (with contributions by Ron Nixon) reports that, under the Bush Administration, OSHA has moved away from its regulatory role in workplace safety. Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court. The agency has killed dozens of existing and proposed regulations and delayed adopting others.. Instead of regulations, companies are to use a "voluntary compliance strategy" that lacks any sort of enforcement power, according to critics. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sex and the CIA David E. Kaplan of U.S. News & World Report reveals how female spy veterans of the CIA are taking legal action for being disciplined over “close and continuing relationships” with foreigners. Kaplan reports on the CIA's secret disciplinary hearings and internal investigations, detailing how top female spies lost their jobs after falling in love overseas — while men with foreign relationships, they say, escaped scot-free. 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 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 April 09, 2007 NC state property commission dissolved In March of 2007, J. Andrew Curliss of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reported on the failings of the North Carolina Commission on State Property. The commission was created to sell off surplus land owned by the government in an effort to generate quick revenue. But in the three years since its inception, there had not been a single sale and the commission was rife with problems. On April 5th, the legistlature agreed to shut down the commission, which will free up over $160,000 of taxpayer money. The governor has said he plans to quickly sign the action into law. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 06, 2007 Rural Development grants finding way to urban areas Gilbert M. Gaul and Sarah Cohen of The Washington Post report that a majority of money from the USDA's Rural Development program is ending up in urban areas. "More than three times as much money went to metropolitan areas with populations of 50,000 or more ($30.3 billion) as to poor or shrinking rural counties ($8.6 billion)." The aid, originally intended for "farmland and backwoods areas that were isolated and poor," has been spent on everything from a popular tavern on Martha's Vineyard to wiring an affluent Houston suburb for internet service. The discrepancies exist because the regulations which determine which communities are eligible for the development funds differ for each of the 40 programs and are vulnerable to Congressional influence. Information about the data analysis done for this story can be found here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 22, 2007 On-duty death benefits denied to firefighters, EMTs Bill Dedman of MSNBC.com reports that more than three years after President Bush signed the Hometown Heroes Act of 2003, no benefits have been paid to families. The act promises federal benefits to the families of firefighters and EMTs who die of heart attacks or strokes on the job. "The U.S. Justice Department has denied all 34 claims that have been decided and has yet to act on more than 200 others, MSNBC.com has learned." Included is one widow's story of trying to collect the promised benefits. A Harvard study released March 22 states that the risk of heart attacks for firefighters on the scene are "up to 100 times the normal rate." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 20, 2007 Healthcare nonprofits spend millions in federal funds, operate in secrecy In a two-part series, Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register examined the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care, the largest of 53 federally funded Quality Improvement Organizations. The newspaper found that the tax-exempt Iowa foundation, which investigates complaints of poor patient care received by Iowa's 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries, reviewed only 12 complaints in 2005. That same year, the foundation spent $85 million and handed out more than half a million dollars to two former executives as severance pay. The Register also reported on the salaries and complaint investigations at all of the nation's QIOs, many of which operate as tax-exempt nonprofits. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Law firms profit from Empire Zone tax breaks Michelle Breidenbach and Mike McAndrew of the The Syracuse Post-Standard found some of the state's biggest and most politically connected law firms cashed in for millions of dollars through a state economic development program that was supposed to encourage new businesses. "At least 70 law firms cost state taxpayers more than $6 million in 2005, records show." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 14, 2007 Empire Zone tax breaks revealed Michelle Breidenbach and Mike McAndrew of the Syracuse Post-Standard report on the paper's victory in a lawsuit that forced New York state to reveal how it distributes $558 million in tax credits to businesses. "The state kept the dollar amounts secret for years, even as the public and state legislators questioned how some of the state's oldest companies managed to get into a program meant for new businesses." As a result of the lawsuit, the state of New York was forced to disclose the information, which revealed that wealthy power companies, mall developers and big box retail stores have grabbed the largest tax breaks from New York state's Empire Zone program. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Texas Youth Commission investigation The Dallas Morning News has posted a page dedicated to its continuing investigation into sexual abuse at Texas juvenile detention centers. Records obtained by the paper showed that young inmates were being sexually assaulted, and nothing was done to stop it, despite complaints and reports by staffers at the West Texas State School. Included on the page is Web-only video and documents from the Texas Youth Commission's report on the West Texas State School. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 08, 2007 Stolen Property Found In Home Of Denver's City Attorney Tony Kovaleski of Denver's 7NEWS revealed that stolen property was found in the home of Denver City Attorney Larry Manzanares. Manzaneres claimed he purchased the stolen laptop from a man in a parking lot. The laptop had gone missing from the City & County building in Denver. Manzanares had been placed on "investigatory leave" after the story broke. On Tuesday, he resigned his position on Tuesday following the 7NEWS investigation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 01, 2007 "Shame of the State" uncovers assisted-living horrors in Pennsylvania Ken Dilanian of The Philadelphia Inquirer found a long list of health and safety violations, a history of substandard care, and a system of state oversight that, until recently, often allowed deficient operators to violate safety rules with virtual impunity in the assisted-living homes of Philadelphia. Since 2000, at least 55 assisted-living residents have died across the state under horrible circumstances. Uncounted others were beaten or neglected at the state-regulated facilities. At least five were raped. With Nancy Phillips, Dilanian questioned the dysfunctional system that let a chain of horrors grow. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 19, 2007 N.C. state rep guilty of taking bribes for legislative favors In a follow-up to earlier reports, Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer report that former North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black pled guilty in federal court to "taking money for legislative favors." Black received $25,000 in cash, as well as a $4,000 check, from three chiropractors in exchange for legislation that favored them. He could face up to 10 years in prison for the charges. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 12, 2007 New conflict of interest concerns arise in state corruption case As part of a two-year investigation by The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade into the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation and corruption in state government, James Drew and Steve Eder have discovered that a conflict of interest was not disclosed when in a five-year, $384,000 contract was given to the accounting firm of Ciuni & Panichi. The contract was granted by the Turnpike Commission despite the fact that Vince Panichi and his wife had an existing financial relationship with Tom Noe, the commission's chairman. Since then, Noe, a former Republican fund-raiser, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his stealing from a rare-coin fund he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 07, 2007 Washington's $8 Billion Shadow Writing for Vanity Fair, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele uncover the influence of SAIC, a "mega-contractor" in Washington, D.C. SAIC, unlike other contractors, is often called upon for expertise "—expertise about weapons, about homeland security, about surveillance, about computer systems, about 'information dominance' and 'information warfare.'" Despite the fact that SAIC employs 44,000 people and was paid $8 billion by the US government last year, there is a shroud of secrecy around the company and its operations. Barlett and Steele shed light on the scope of SAIC's influence, the culture of the company and how its "biggest projects have turned out to be colossal failures." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 05, 2007 Politics play into road fund allocation Richard Rubin of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer investigated how politics determine how money is allocated from a North Carolina road fund. "The $15 million contingency fund is controlled largely by legislative leaders who distribute it to their colleagues' districts, and their own, without a comprehensive analysis of traffic, safety or population, according to an Observer investigation." The structure of the fund has come under criticism by those who feel the money is unfairly distributed, while its proponents believe it is an important resource for smaller communities. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Outsourcing the Government In the first article of a series examining government contracting, Scott Shane and Ron Nixon of The New York Times describe how independent contractors have become "a virtual fourth branch of government. On the rise for decades, spending on federal contracts has soared during the Bush administration, to about $400 billion last year from $207 billion in 2000." Concerns are mounting with regard to "propriety, cost and accountability" of these contracts. For example, less than half of all government contracts in 2005 were competitive. At the same time, government supervision of contract work is compromised by the fact that the government workforce responsible for oversight has remained level while the number of contracts has exploded. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 31, 2007 California Department of Justice Hid Millions in Contracts Michael R. Blood of the Associated Press found that the California Department of Justice improperly concealed tens of millions of dollars worth of contracts with lobbyists, consultants, legal firms - even couriers and parking garages - in violation of its own confidentiality rules. "An internal agency review, conducted at AP's request, found information on scores of contracts, many of them no-bid, was erroneously labeled "confidential" and omitted from computerized state records, shielding it from public view." Among the wrongly classified contracts included two no-bid contracts, worth as much as $489,000, for Washington lobbyists The Ferguson Group, more than $1 million in no-bid contracts for parking spaces for agency workers and a $132,000 contract to the research group WestEd of San Francisco for a survey of students. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 30, 2007 Probation Officers Overworked in Douglas County Ron Knox of The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World reported that probation officers in Douglas County were among the most overworked in the state - and by far the most overworked in similar judicial districts, based on his analysis of a state probation caseload database. Knox compared the number of adult and juvenile cases with the number of probation officers in each district to show that Douglas County probation officer manage "twice what the average probation officer around the state has to manage — making the officers’ jobs difficult." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 29, 2007 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 22, 2007 Ohio workers comp probe continues In a three-part series, Steve Eder and James Drew of The (Toledo) Blade report that, since early 2004, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has failed to fully investigate allegations of kickbacks and fraud in its managed-care section. The report, "Falling Down on The Job," is the latest installment in The Blade's two-year investigation into the state-managed workers' compensation system, which unearthed Ohio's "Coingate" scandal and resulted in numerous criminal convictions and reforms. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 20, 2006 Public money for Port of Seattle funds private profits In a 3-part series, Ruth Teichroeb and Kristen Bolt of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer report on how the Port of Seattle officials have brokered "generous no-bid deals with a company hired to run publicly owned facilities on the central waterfront, have failed to closely monitor those contracts, and have shouldered all of the financial risk for a decade." In addition, the Port of Seattle has invested millions in luring cruise ships to the area, yet profits are not going to the port authority or King County but to a third party that manages the cruise ship terminals. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 12, 2006 Tax dollars pay for religion behind bars Diana B. Henriques and Andrew Lehren of The New York Times report on the proliferation of faith-based rehabilitation programs funded by tax dollars and springing up in correctional facilities across the country. "Since 2000, courts have cited more than a dozen programs for having unconstitutionally used taxpayer money to pay for religious activities or evangelism aimed at prisoners, recovering addicts, job seekers, teenagers and children." Proponents of these programs look to President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative, "a high-profile effort to encourage religious and community groups to participate in government programs," as justification for the funding "so long as any direct financing is used only for secular expenses." Recent Government Accounting Office reports indicate improvements are needed in how grants to faith-based organizations are monitored. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 11, 2006 N.C. state pages stayed with convicted felon As part of an on-going investigation of Democratic state Rep. Jim Black, Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss of The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) report the coordinator of the state page program, Ann Lassiter, had arranged for student pages to stay with her son, a convicted felon. Rep. Black removed Lassiter from her position and allowed her to retire. A month later she was rehired as House historian, a position Black created for her. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 06, 2006 Ballot design may have caused undervote in Florida election Matthew Doig and Maurice Tamman of the Herald-Tribune analyzed every ballot cast in Sarasota County in an effort to understand the substantial undervote for the disputed District 13 congressional race. Their analysis points to ballot design as the culprit, although they discuss other theories offered to explain the dramatic 13 percent undervote, or "nearly twice as high as any competitive congressional race in Florida in at least a decade," according to this report. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 21, 2006 Police pensions pumped up by overtime pay Brian Sharp of the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., takes a look at the Rochester police department's overtime pay, an issue gouging the city's budget. Inflated wages due to overtime are being used to bolster the pensions of officers nearing retirement. The investigation included analysis of 10 years of salary records which are included with the story in an online database searchable by name, base or total pay. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Millions lost is ferry debacle Steve Orr, of the (Rochester, N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, investigates the failed project for a high-speed ferry intended to operate between Rochester and Toronto. Orr "reveals a troubling trail of political maneuvering, lax oversight and lack of follow-through" - issues that cost state taxpayers $14 million. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 20, 2006 Prince George's County officials abuse credit card privileges Cheryl W. Thompson of The Washington Post reports that officials in Prince George's County charged thousands of dollar in personal purchases to county-issued credit cards. " The Washington Post reviewed billing statements and other documents covering credit-card use over the past four years for officials in Prince George's, where there has been a move to heighten scrutiny of public spending.." The story details the abuses by specific county officials. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 14, 2006 Post-election mapping wrap-up
Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 01, 2006 Remaking U.S. Intelligence: Hubs, Outreach, Blogs, and Wikis David E. Kaplan and Kevin Whitelaw released Part One of a series in U.S. News & World Report on how reformers are trying to remake the U.S. intelligence community. In this week's issue, Whitelaw presents the first in-depth portrait of the secretive National Counterterrorism Center, which acts as the hub for foreign and domestic intel on terrorism and sifts through up to 5,000 terrorist suspect names each day. Kaplan reveals the intelligence world's most ambitious outreach effort since the height of the Vietnam War, with U.S. intelligence spending millions of dollars to generate new ideas from college campuses, corporate America, and the non-profit world. Kaplan also reports on the boom in wikis and blogs in U.S. intelligence, including the Intellipedia, the CIA Wiki, and 1700 CIA blogs. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 23, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer child welfare investigation leads to firings In response to The Philadelphia Inquirer investigation on the failures of DHS to protect children from abuse -- and death -- two officials have been dismissed. "Mayor Street forced out two top officials at the city's child-welfare agency Friday, acknowledging that his administration had not done enough to protect children from being killed by child abuse. Street said he decided on the dismissals after reviewing cases featured in an Inquirer investigation into children who were killed after child-welfare workers had received reports of family problems." The mayor credited the paper's investigation with bringing the department's failings to light. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 17, 2006 Family connections pave inside track to lobbying dollars An investigation by Matt Kelley and Peter Eisler of USA Today shows that "lobbying groups employed 30 family members last year to influence spending bills that their relatives with ties to the House and Senate appropriations committees oversaw or helped write...combined, they generated millions of dollards in fees for themselves or their firms." USA Today looked at "family ties between lobbyists and the 94 members of the House and Senate appropriations committees, as well as 250 top staffers who serve those members" as well as "thousands of pages of financial disclosures and lobbyist registrations, property records, marriage announcements and other public documents to identify which lawmakers and staffers had relatives in the lobbying business." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Despite reports of abuse, DHS fails to protect child welfare An investigation by Ken Dilanian and John Sullivan of The Philadelphia Inquirer shows gross failures by the Department of Human Services (DHS) led to the brutal deaths of children at the hands of their parents - parents who had been referred to DHS for abusive behavior. "Three years after a string of blunders by DHS were widely blamed for failing to prevent the torture-murder of toddler Porchia Bennett, an Inquirer investigation has found that young children are still regularly abused to death after coming to the attention of DHS. Although 3-year-old Porchia's death prompted the department to solicit expert advice on how to improve its investigative procedures, agency officials have failed to act on most of those recommendations." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 16, 2006 Lein sales a quick fix with dire consequences Over several months, Tom Meagher of the Herald News examined the records of a bulk sale of property tax liens that the city of Paterson, N.J., conducted to raise the revenue needed to balance its budget. While this resulted in a quick influx of cash for the city, the short-sighted plan cost the city millions in potential revenue and handed over control of hundreds of pieces valuable land to an independent developer. The developer has, in turn, begun to sell the lots for as much as 60 times what they used to pay - including non-profits intending to build affordable housing in the area Included with the story is an interactive map showing the properties described in the story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post "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 Nonprofits helped Abramoff clients for cash James Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt of The Washington Post present details from a new Senate committee report that says former power lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid conservative nonprofit groups to use their influence to benefit his clients. "The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff funneled money from his clients to the groups. In exchange, the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored the clients' positions." Grimaldi, Schmidt and R. Jeffrey Smith of The Post won a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for exposing the scandal that led to a prison sentence for Abramoff, who has agreed to cooperate with ongoing federal investigations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 10, 2006 Special benefits for religious groups Diana B. Henriques of The New York Times, with computer analysis by Andy Lehren and research by Donna Anderson, examined the quiet expansion of special benefits for religious groups. "In recent years, many politicians and commentators have cited what they consider a nationwide 'war on religion' that exposes religious organizations to hostility and discrimination. But such organizations - from mainline Presbyterian and Methodist churches to mosques to synagogues to Hindu temples - enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes. And the number is multiplying rapidly." An analysis of legislation passed by Congress since 1989 found more than 200 examples of special considerations for religious groups or their members, plus additional benefits created by court decisions and administrative rules. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 29, 2006 Polk County supervisors play favorites with grant money Bert Dalmer of the Des Moines Register has written about a grant program in Polk County, Iowa that "smacks of vote-buying, according to one government watchdog group...The money - $1.5 million, given from the beginning of 2004 to the present -- originates from gambling profits at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona." Regulations controlling how the money is doled out are scant, leaving discretion up to five county supervisors. "A Des Moines Register analysis of the handouts shows that the money has gone to labor unions, business groups, school fundraisers, after-prom parties, veterans' social halls, recreational clubs and other causes that are selected by each supervisor. Some programs for low-income housing, disaster training, child care and fire safety, meanwhile, have been turned down for cash." You can see a complete list of the Polk County community betterment grants - including recipient, amount, year and sponsor - here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 27, 2006 Dallas school credit card abuse includes misuse of federal grant funds In a follow-up to an earlier story on credit card abuse within the Dallas Independent School District, Kent Fischer and Molly Motley Blythe of The Dallas Morning News report that the money used to pay for many of the questionable purchases came from federal grants. "The Dallas Independent School District, already battered by a spate of financial scandals, could now face federal scrutiny for its spending of grant money. Public records show that educators used district credit cards to buy thousands of items of questionable educational value, spending money awarded to help educate the district's neediest kids." Approximately $80,000 of grant money meant for the education of underprivileged kids went to purchases that clearly violated federal regulations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 22, 2006 Records reveal extensive White House access to some of Abramoff's cronies Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press reports that recently released Secret Service visitor logs reveal extensive "inside access" to presidential aides by Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, both of whom are linked to Jack Abramoff. The records indicate at least 115 appointments since 2001, some lasting upwards of 12 hours. The release of the records came about in a settlement of an open records lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee. "Questions about Norquist's and Reed's access to the Bush White House surfaced after congressional and criminal investigations of Abramoff found evidence suggesting the lobbyist and his team gained White House access through the conservative activists." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post LA County Board of Supervisors - and their staff - handsomely compensated Troy Anderson of the LA Daily News reports on the Los Angeles County "Fab Five" - the five members of the county Board of Supervisiors. "With salaries and benefits that can reach $185,232 a year, each of the five members of the county Board of Supervisors also controls a $3.2 million annual operating budget and a staff of dozens." Increases in staff benefits and salaries have been called "egregiously high." These packages "grew by as much as 41 percent from 2002-03 to 2005-06, according to a Daily News analysis of the data. More than two dozen staff members received pay increases of 20 percent or more in that period." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 20, 2006 "Capitol Crime" Chitra Ragavan, Chief Legal Correspondent for U.S.News & World Report, has written "Capitol Crime," a detailed piece about MZM, a defense contractor implicated in the Rep. "Duke" Cunningham briberies. "Based on a review of hundreds of pages of court documents, private internal MZM records, and detailed interviews with a dozen key officials, shows how [Mitchell] Wade used his connections on Capitol Hill and inside the Pentagon to gather inside information and turn his company into a moneymaking juggernaut." The article focuses on the corporate side of Congressional corruption; the anatomy of bribery; and the rise and fall of a company built on hand shakes and favors. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 18, 2006 NY business incentive program wasted millions Mike McAndrew of The Post-Standard used Empire Zone records obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests to show that New York's program to attract new business spent $84 million in recent years on out-of-state power companies with old and dirty facilities and little or no job growth. For instance, taxpayers paid $22 million to NRG Energy for one year, and it did almost nothing to deserve it. "The New Jersey company added one-half of one employee. It operated Upstate electric plants built decades ago by someone else. Two of these plants are the state’s worst polluters and a third rarely operates. " The paper is suing the state for more detailed records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post CDC bonuses favor management, not scientists Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed awards recieved by the employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show that the most frequent large cash awards and performance bonuses are recieved not by scientists, but mostly budget analysts, accountants, computer experts and other administrative managers. "The 72 CDC employees who received five or more awards of at least $2,500 from 2000 through July 21, primarily work in non-science jobs. Some got $30,000, $50,000 and in one case more than $140,000 in cumulative bonus cash beyond their salaries." As the CDC faces morale problems and the loss of key scientific leaders, the distribution awards provides evidence, critics say, that the Atlanta-based agency is becoming more focused on management and bureaucracy and less on its public health mission. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 13, 2006 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 12, 2006 Ten Miami journalists take U.S. pay Oscar Corral of The Miami Herald reports that at least 10 South Florida journalists, including three from El Nuevo Herald, received regular payments from the U.S. government for programs on Radio Martí and TV Martí, two broadcasters aimed at undermining the communist government of Fidel Castro. The payments totaled thousands of dollars over several years. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 06, 2006 Council absences concern community An investigative story by Daniel J. Chacón of The Rocky Mountain News examined the number of committee meeting absences among Denver City Council members. The newspaper went through the minutes of hundreds of meetings to determine the number of meetings each member was supposed to attend and how many each missed since mid-2003, when the current 13-member council was formed. "Council members, usually in groups of six or less, pile around a table, often with mayoral appointees, department officials, business leaders and others by their side. But council members don't always show up, raising concerns that the vetting of major decisions is getting shoved to regular council meetings, one of the last steps in the process." 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 August 07, 2006 City officials in Iowa generously compensated "City managers and administrators in the Des Moines area and other large Iowa cities tend to be paid well above the national average - some by more than nearly double the national average," reported Jason Clayworth and Melissa Walker of the Des Moines Register. By looking at the compensation packages given to city government officials, the Register was able to uncover how city officials' pay is padded by bonuses and other perks such as car allowances. In light of this information, one lawmaker has suggested banning bonuses for all state employees. You can see the database of state employees' salaries here. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Valero seeks millions from TX counties L.A. Lorek of the San Antonio Express-News reports that counties in Texas may end up paying Valero - the nation's largest independent refiner - millions of dollars due to inflated property assessments. Valero contends that "most of its Bexar properties — everything from its corner store gas stations to its corporate headquarters — are worth about half the appraised amounts. That means if Valero wins its lawsuits, the Bexar County tax assessor would have to refund the company almost $8 million in property taxes." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 25, 2006 Indianapolis library expansion mired in mess of mismanagement The Indianapolis Star's Kevin Corcoran looks into the construction project to expand Indianapolis's Central Library which is now two years behind schedule and more than $50 million over budget. An extensive review of documents and interviews with involved parties suggest that the Library Board's decision not to employ a general contractor led to this debacle. A Marion County grand jury looked into conflict-of-interest concerns regarding three of the Library Board members. No charges have been filed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 17, 2006 Organic food standards backed by weak oversight Paula Lavigne of The Dallas Morning News found that "the United States Department of Agriculture does not know how often organic rules are broken and has not consistently taken action when potential violations were pointed out." Audits and inspection reports point to weak oversight of the certifying organizations that bestow official organic status on behalf of the USDA to more than 20,000 producers worldwide. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 05, 2006 Ag programs spend billions to prop up suburbanites, temporary price dips Dan Morgan, Sarah Cohen and Gilbert M. Gaul of The Washington Post analyzed payment records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an investigative series. People who don't farm at all have received $1.3 billion in government handouts since 2000, the investigation found. They also found that growers reaped benefits even in good years from a USDA program. "The subsidy is called the loan deficiency payment." "It is just cash paid to farmers when market prices dip below the government-set minimum, or floor, if only for a single day." Most of the money went to farmers who sold at higher prices. The LDP had become so ingrained in farmland finances that farmers sometimes wish for market prices to drop so they can capture a larger subsidy. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 30, 2006 Officials responsible for overseeing NASA expressed concerns regarding launch of Discovery Michael Cabbage of the Orlando Sentinel studied e-mails sent from NASA's Office of the Inspector General to an agency administrator and the chairman of an advisory panel that monitors NASA safety and found that "key officials responsible for overseeing NASA expressed serious concerns about launching space shuttle Discovery without additional work to prevent foam insulation from breaking off the ship's fuel tank." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 27, 2006 City Hall list reveals 'All-Stars' of insider clout Steve Warmbir, Art Golab, Natasha Korecki and Mark J. Konkol of the Chicago Sun-Times did a computer-assisted analysis of 5,743 requests for city jobs, promotions or transfers made to the mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs from 1989 to 1997 and found that "Tim Degnan, the mayor's friend and political adviser, is the biggest slugger, batting .825. More than eight out of every 10 times he made a request, Degnan got his person that city job, promotion or transfer." The reporters looked at the success rate of the top 15 people and groups submitting requests after the secret list became public in the federal prosecution of city officials accused of illegal hiring practices. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post CDC jet used primarily to shuttle official Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed the flight log of the jet leased by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found that "a luxury private jet leased by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use in emergencies has been used instead primarily to shuttle Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to dozens of news conferences and meetings." So far in 2006, leasing and using the aircraft had cost taxpayers $2.1 million. Other Cabinet members said they fly on commercial airlines. To read more: Immediate jet access necessary, CDC says and How Leavitt used CDC jet on one swing Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Murders cost Tenn. more than $110 million annually Melvin Claxton of The Tennessean has a three-part series on the price of murder in Tennessee, finding that "homicides cost state and local governments more than $110 million each year. The bill for Nashville alone, which has accounted for 17 percent of the state's homicides over the past two decades, exceeds $18.7 million annually." The paper's analysis of police and judicial costs puts the average murder case at $626,648. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 21, 2006 Firefighters earned millions in fire-watch duty Jack Dolan and Scott Hiaasen of The Miami Herald reviewed the fire department records and found that Miami-Dade County had a special program — "'fire watch,' an ostensible public safety program that has never saved a life that anyone can remember, but has put at least $4.3 million into county firefighters' pockets since 2000. " It required building owners to hire county firefighters to stand on ''fire watch'' at extremely high rates. The program also required large venues that host public performances to pay the department for fire protection and paramedic services. "Some big events get extraordinary attention from the county's top-ranking fire officials." Dade County Manager asked Miami-Dade Fire Chief to review his department's fire-watch policy and to look for potential reforms. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 19, 2006 Mayor's brother paid for promoting social service center Gregory Korte of The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed weekly billing statements and found that the brother of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory billed a federal anti-poverty program for working to bring a controversial social services center to the West End. "Dale Mallory, the West End Community Council’s former president and a Democratic candidate for state representative, has a $40,000-a-year contract to work on community development for the Cincinnati Empowerment Corp., a federally funded job training and development agency." The investigation showed that taxpayers paid Mallory for his work promoting Citylink, a one-stop social services mall proposed for five acres on Bank Street in the West End. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 08, 2006 Rating communities' performance Michael Mansur and Rick Montgomery of The Kansas City Star used Data Envelopment Analysis to analyze the budget and performance numbers from 18 area cities and rank how efficiently they provided eight municipal services. "Four cities tied in police services: Belton, Grandview, Liberty and Prairie Village. Three cities tied in fire and fire-and-ambulance services: Belton, Gladstone and Liberty. Four cities tied in municipal court services: Gladstone, Lawrence, Lenexa and Shawnee" The newspaper found most cities aren't doing well scoring themselves or even keeping key data, much less weighing it all against nearby peers. Read more about how the story was reported. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 05, 2006 Congressional travel adds up to $50 million An analysis of more than 25,000 travel disclosure documents over a 5½-year period by the Center for Public Integrity, American Public Media and Northwestern University's Medill News Service found that "members of Congress and their aides took at least 23,000 trips — valued at almost $50 million — financed by private sponsors, many of them corporations, trade associations and nonprofit groups with business on Capitol Hill." While some of these trips no doubt were educational, others appeared to be thinly veiled attempts by special interests to influence lawmakers and their advisers. Also see Top Gun of Travel and Rangel Trip Raises Ethics Questions. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 25, 2006 Income not checked for emergency food stamps Kathleen Chapman of The Palm Beach Post investigated the emergency food-stamp program in Florida after Hurricane Wilma and found that nearly 700,000 Floridians, many of whom were not really too poor to buy food, got in line for the stamps. "Florida didn't require proof of income to get the payments, and the state hasn't completed any large-scale audits since the money went out." The investigation also found that applicants who did report too much income to qualify were turned away. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 17, 2006 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 12, 2006 N.J. funds schools that manage money poorly Jean Rimbach and Kathleen Carroll of The (Hackensack, N.J.) Record analyzed audits of more than 100 state-funded preschools in New Jersey's poorest communities, reviewed tax returns, financial documents and contracts and interviewed dozens of state and local officials, owners and teachers to show that seven years after New Jersey launched its landmark program for disadvantaged preschoolers — with $561 million budgeted this year alone — the state continues to send tax dollars to programs that have flagrantly misspent or wasted money. The four-month investigation found sloppy bookkeeping at virtually every school, inflated rents, six-figure salaries and $900,000 in personal loans while some schools shortchanged teachers' wages and benefits and uninterrupted funding for schools showing clear financial distress, such as tax liens, negative bank balances, lapsed insurance policies and failure to meet payroll. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 10, 2006 L.A. county soft on employee discipline Troy Anderson of the Los Angeles Daily News reviewed records to show that in recent years county employees' firings or suspensions were softened by the Civil Service Commission. The commission overturned or reduced discipline recommended by county departments in nearly half of cases from 2001 to 2004. "Out of 17 sheriff's cases the commission considered in 2003, the panel reversed five discharges and reduced another to a suspension." Of 470 disciplinary appeals filed by county employees in health, probation, sheriff and children's services agencies in 2003 and 2004, 175 were settled or withdrawn. Of the remaining 295, 210 were still in the adjudication process and only had 85 had been considered by the commission. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 08, 2006 Tenn. legislative workers get hefty raises Nancy Amons of WSMV-Nashville compared databases of state employees' salaries in 2003 and 2006 to show that most state employees got a 9 percent increase over a three-year period, while some top executives took home raises of 45 percent and more. The investigation found that the clerks of the State House and Senate got increases of more than 25 percent, although they do not have any kind of performance reviews. Ten staffers in the legislature were found who make more than $100,000 a year each averaged a 20 percent increase from 2003 to 2006. "That's more than TWICE what the average state worker got during the same time period — 9 percent. " The state also has a record number of employees making more than $200,000 a year. This number of employees has increased from 2 in 2003 to 11 in 2006. The story includes achart of salary increases for the 25 highest-paid legislative employees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Serious problems with tornado sirens Bob Segall of WTHR-Indianapolis used county records to find there are serious issues with many of central Indiana's tornado sirens. The investigation found problems that included sirens that have failed thousands of times, to inoperable sirens, to local officials who have no idea whether sirens are working or even where the sirens are. "For example, on a single test date in October, 2004, records show 70 siren failures. But the week before, only one siren failed, and the week after, 23 sirens failed. " Records show sirens have failed to work properly 4,689 times over the past six years, both during regular Friday morning testing and during actual storms. There were several dates when more than half of them weren't working — at least 70 sirens listed as failing simultaneously. The story includes a sidebar on the coverage area and how they reported the story Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 02, 2006 Overtime a burden in N.H. town Andrew Nelson of The (Nashua, N.H.) Telegraph used city payroll records to look at overtime costs. While the city is laying off schoolteachers, it continues to pay $9 million a year in overtime and other extra pay to city employees. The investigation found that "nearly 50 city workers added at least 50 percent to their regular pay" and "more than 200 city workers added at least one-third to their pay. Only two of them work in schools, where administrators say they will cut more than 100 jobs in the next month to meet the mayor's budget targets." The bulk of the extra pay is in the traditional bastions of overtime: Nashua Fire Rescue ($3,098,945 in extra pay) and the police department ($2,514,591). But in percentage terms, the biggest winner was the solid waste department ($366,546, or 35 percent more than the base pay). A sortable database online includes every city employee and overtime pay. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 17, 2006 County dumps toxic materials, fails to clean up Asjylyn Loder of the St. Petersburg Times used local and state documents to show that Hernando County's public works facility served as a toxic dumping ground for years, and "instead of cleaning up the site, the county continued polluting. Instead of cracking down on the county's ineffective cleanup, the state allowed delay after delay." Despite hiring several consultants and hearing from residents and employees, government officials submitted reports late, cleanup efforts stalled and pollution continued. (Editor's note: For more about toxic dumping, look for the May/June 2006 issue of The IRE Journal which features several stories and resources for reporting similar stories.) 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 April 05, 2006 Agency's spy satellite technology loses relevance Michael Fabey of the DefenseNews looks into the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's fading imaging- and signals-intelligence program that reportedly has an annual budget of about $7 billion. "A satellite communications technology called spot beaming might help the NRO regain some of its fading signals-intelligence relevance, but imagery's place as an intel centerpiece may have gone with the Cold War. " The investigation found that images, which were useful when counting Soviet tanks or measuring the size of an East German air base, aren't much help against small terrorist cells. And people have learned to hide from orbital cameras by going indoors or underground when the satellites pass overhead. These drawbacks will not be overcome by the NRO's Future Imagery Architecture, a dozen-satellite constellation intended to provide photos of unprecedented resolution in visible and infrared spectra. The $25 billion-plus program, now set to launch around 2013, has been beset by delays and cost overruns. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 31, 2006 N.C. drinking water safety in doubt In a three-part series, Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer shows the "state's regulation of drinking water reveals disregard for safety of private wells, weak regulation of public water systems and widespread problems with lead testing." The series includes an interactive map and a sidebar about how the state closely followed Stith's investigation and began responding to problems before the stories were published. "Stith, along with reporters Catherine Clabby and Wade Rawlins and database editor David Raynor, examined a stack of paper records 8 feet high and acquired databases from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health and Wake County. The reporters also interviewed more than 100 people." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 29, 2006 Public records request frightens workers Tamara Koehler of the Ventura County Star reports on the paper's public records audit showing that 40 percent of county government agencies failed to comply with requests. "Ventura Unified School District employees feared for their lives when a young man walked into the office, asked for public records and refused to give his name." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post High salaries, free spending at N.Y. agency Michelle Breidenbach of The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard looks into the "high salaries and free spending of the public's money at the New York Power Authority," the state's publicly owned power generator. "NYPA's six trustees oversee a $2.2 billion budget that accommodates the patronage and pork-barrel spending that come with a state public authority as well as the pampering that comes with a private business. As a state public authority, NYPA's policies, practices and profits are separate from the rest of New York state government." After the stories were published, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki directed the agency to review its policies and the Assembly Energy Committee launched an investigation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 27, 2006 Federal fines go uncollected across the nation Martha Mendoza and Christopher Sullivan of The Associated Press used federal records to show that the amount of unpaid federal fines has risen sharply in the past decade, in an investigation that examined federal financial penalty enforcement across the nation. Individuals and corporations regularly avoid large penalties for wrongdoing — sometimes through negotiations, sometimes because companies go bankrupt, sometimes because officials fail to keep close track of who owes what under a decentralized collection system. "The government is currently owed more than $35 billion in fines and other payments from criminal and in civil cases, according to Justice Department figures." This is enough to cover the annual budget of the Department of Homeland Security. The story includes a breakdown of how much is owed by state. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Highway patrol policy changed during recall John Hill of The Sacramento Bee found that the California Highway Patrol repeatedly shut down signature gathering at Department of Motor Vehicle offices across the state in response to the petition drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis in the spring of 2003. The move reversed a long-standing CHP practice of allowing local offices to routinely grant permits for activities such as gathering signatures. "It ran counter to court precedent that government restrictions on free speech in public places must be narrow and serve a legitimate government interest like crowd control." The California Association of Highway Patrolmen contributed $150,000 to committees fighting the recall, and an additional $24,500 directly to Davis in the months leading up to the election. For two years during and after the recall, the CHP denied more than 100 applications to gather signatures or register voters at DMV offices. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 17, 2006 Dam threats in Hawaii underassessed Karen Blakeman, staff writer with The Honolulu Advertiser, used National Inventory of Dams data from IRE and NICAR for a story about the deadly failure of a privately owned dam on the Hawaii island of Kaua'i. Two bodies have been found and five others are missing. Blakeman reported that state safety inspections of dams across Hawaii are woefully behind schedule and the threats dams pose to people have been underassessed. "Federal records on dams in Hawai'i show very few have emergency action plans." (Editor's Note: IRE and NICAR offer the National Inventory of Dams to journalists.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 13, 2006 States make little use of provision to help hurricane victims Jenni Bergal of The Center for Public Integrity reviewed health records to find that states have barely used $2 billion provided in an emergency bill passed by Congress to help low-income hurricane victims scattered across the country. "Any state that took in Katrina evacuees could tap into the money to offer cash to those who had at least one child and met certain income guidelines qualifying them as poor." But more than five months after the bill was signed into law, only 12 states — including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — have taken Congress up on its offer. Federal Emergency Management Agency figures show that at least 320,000 of the more than 1.6 million people registered with the agency have addresses outside of the three hurricane-ravaged states. Every state, from Wyoming to Maine, has taken in Katrina evacuees, according to FEMA statistics. 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 08, 2006 County fails to monitor AIDS services program Norberto Santana Jr. and Tony Saavedra of The Orange County Register used data crunching, document digging and old-fashioned gumshoe work to reveal how Orange County bungled its fledgling AIDS program for African-Americans. The investigation found what the county hadn't bothered to look for when hiring an AIDS service provider. " Pastor Aubrey Keys, the person they put in charge had a long history of personal financial troubles calling into question his ability to ably manage federal funds." The reporters audited the county's books and also found Keys, who had disappeared when the AIDS funding ran out. He was unrepentent, as was the county. The story uses a local example to show how AIDS funding nationwide is being put in jeopardy by rogue programs and regulators who are missing in action. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 07, 2006 Federal cases shrouded in secrecy Michael J. Sniffen and John Solomon of the Associated Press used court records to show that despite the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of public trials, nearly all records are being kept secret for more than 5,000 defendants who completed their journey through the federal courts over the past three years. The investigation found that most of these defendants are cooperating government witnesses, but the secrecy surrounding their records prevents the public from knowing details of their plea bargains with the government. "Most of these defendants are involved in drug gangs, though lately a very small number come from terrorism cases." Some of these cooperating witnesses include multiple murderers and drug dealers but the public cannot learn whether their testimony won them drastically reduced prison sentences or even freedom. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Unpaid parking tickets and broken fire hydrants in Philly Two recent investigations by Jim Osman of KYW-Philadelphia uncovered hundreds of broken fire hydrants, while hundreds of millions of dollars are waiting to be collected from parking ticket deadbeats. Many hydrants were out of service, in some cases, for years. Some of the busted hydrants are next to buildings that house children, the sick and the elderly. "In Philadelphia, years of city records obtained by KYW show 25 percent of the cities almost 350 broken fire hydrants have been busted for six months or longer and still were not repaired. " In a separate report, Osman used city records to show that about $400 million have not been collected from parking ticket deadbeats who have ignored the law for years. "If collected, the total amount of unpaid parking tickets in the Delaware Valley would pay for five-thousand additional state troopers for one year or just as many teachers or could buy almost 800 new fire trucks." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 02, 2006 States progress in reform of lobbying laws Leah Rush and David Jimenez of The Center for Public Integrity report that 24 states have worked to strengthen or improve electronic disclosure systems since the Center's 2003 report, "Hired Guns." Meanwhile, federal lobbying disclosure laws have not changed in the past eight years. Political scandals, in many cases, were the catalyst for changes in state lobbying laws. The Center "evaluated the strength of lobbying disclosure laws nationwide found the federal law to be weaker than those of 47 of the 50 states." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post County officials surf Internet during public meetings Garrett Therolf and Matthew Waite of St. Petersburg Times used Internet records to show that three Pasco commissioners visited numerous Web sites during commission meetings over the past three years. The investigation found personal use of county computers has gotten rank-and-file county employees fired. "Like many other workplaces, the county uses software to track employees suspected of misusing their computers, and has fired people for it." The investigation also found that in Pasco, rules that prohibit county employees from misusing the Web do not apply to the commissioners. No state law regulates county commissioners' Web use; if there were, public officials could be punished for using the Web with "wrongful intent." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Lack of tough measures result in deaths Gregg Jones and Doug Swanson of The Dallas Morning News use a fatal 2004 truck accident near Dallas to illustrate many of the problems in the trucking industry. Miroslaw Jozwiak, a Polish immigrant, plowed the commercial truck he was driving into incoming traffic in 2004, killing 10 people, including three children. The investigation found that since interstate shipping was deregulated in the 1980s, the number of trucking and bus companies has soared from 230,000 in 1990 to more than 677,000 in 2004. "Competition among these companies has transformed the trucking industry into a magnet for immigrants, felons and others with poor employment prospects. It has also produced punishing conditions for truckers, many of whom are paid by the mile. " The political clout of the trucking lobby and of big retailers has helped block tougher laws to police the business. As a result, industry experts and watchdog groups say, untold legions of truckers work unsafe hours, or operate faulty equipment that inspectors fail to curb, or continue driving despite numerous traffic violations, or wipe out innocent people who try to share the road. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 23, 2006 Fla. fails to inspect elevators regularly John McCarthy of Florida Today reviewed reports by local, state and federal agencies to show the state agency that oversees elevators has failed to ensure proper inspections as state law requires, in a three-day series on elevator safety. The newspaper found that in Brevard County, 221 of 1,113 passenger elevators do not have a current operating certificate. " Ten have certificates that expired in 2002. Some have not been inspected for years — as far back as 1998 in one case — despite a state law requiring annual inspections." Among the buildings with delinquent certificates are high-rise condos, hospitals and even government office buildings. State records reveal 2,235 accidents in Florida since 2000 involving elevators and escalators regulated by the state Bureau of Elevator Safety. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Inequities found in property taxes Andrew Nelson, Bill Dedman and Matt Hersh of The Telegraph used city records to show that thousands of homeowners in Nashua, N.H. are paying too much in property taxes because of wide disparities between sale prices and the city's valuation of properties. Thousands more are paying too little, requiring other taxpayers to pick up the slack. Comparing the sale prices of those homes with the assessor's value, the investigation found 22.7 percent were overtaxed by at least 5 percent, 33.3 percent were undertaxed by at least 5 percent and 44.0 percent were close, pegged within 5 percent of their sale price. "If those homes that sold are representative of all 24,530 homes in the city — and the entire property tax system is based on the assumption that they are representative — then the owners of roughly 6,000 homes in the city are paying too much in property tax, about 8,000 are paying too little, and about 11,000 are paying about the right amount." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Dallas fails to collect parking fines Dave Levinthal and Molly Motley Blythe of The Dallas Morning News analyzed city records to show that Dallas City Hall, perennially strapped for cash, is owed at least $40 million in unpaid parking fines. As of November, the city had yet to collect on nearly 1 million outstanding parking tickets and their corresponding late penalties dating to 1988. "The money is owed by delivery companies and the federal government; city employees and average residents; and folks from every corner of the state and nation. " The investigation found the information recorded about illegally parked vehicles is inconsistent — several different names for the same company, for example — and sometimes incorrect. Also, 10 businesses each owed Dallas more than $30,000. Two of them owed more than $100,000. Dallas has cut dozens of jobs and raised property taxes because of meager budgets. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Library plagued by serious violations Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle used the internal library database from Seattle's new $169 million downtown library to show it is plagued by some serious security concerns. Hundreds of patrons are kicked out for repeatedly getting drunk, sleeping or more serious matters, like threats, sexual misconduct and assaults. "Records show 491 "code of conduct violations" serious enough to get a patron kicked out. Since June of 2004, documents show 22 incidents of sexual misconduct or public nudity; 60 threats of violence, including loud, racially-motivated or obscene rants; 76 cases of harassment, disruptive behavior, leering, stalking. " Guards documented seven cases of physical assault and at least 13 illegal drug incidents. Patrons have repeatedly been expelled for sexually inappropriate behavior. 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 14, 2006 Taxpayer money goes to gifts, travel Ryan J. Stanton of the Northwest Explorer, a weekly newspaper that covers the northern suburbs of the Tucson, Ariz., area, investigated how local officials are spending taxpayer money. For the five-part series, the paper reviewed town's travel and training expenses, bank statements and receipts. It found "Marana public officials have charged close to $200,000 on their town-issued credit cards in the last two and a half years" to pay for things such as expensive dinners, luxury hotel stays, tuxedo rentals, flowers and fruit baskets. Other stories look into town council retreats and finds officials spent thousands more than what three other municipalities of comparable size did for conferences and specialized training seminars last fiscal year. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Official invests despite possible conflict of interest Joni James of the St. Petersburg Times reviewed tax returns to show that Florida's elected insurance commissioner, Tom Gallagher, invested millions of dollars in insurance-related stocks in his last year on the post. "And as a member of the Cabinet in 2004, Chief Financial Officer Gallagher voted to approve a natural gas pipeline for an energy company whose stock he traded to the tune of more than $1-million before and after the vote." The investigation found that on the day Gallagher made the motion that AES Corp. of Virginia be permitted to lay pipeline under delicate coral reefs off Broward County, Gallagher held 1,000 shares in the company. The records also show that along the way, Gallagher has not been shy about buying and selling stocks whose interests overlap with his role near the top of state government. Also see: Follow up stories on Gallagher Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Highway plan too costly to execute Tim Darragh of The Morning Call investigated why the move to widen a local highway, Route 22, seemed highly unlikely, despite the backing of several powerful groups. "The widening plan has backers that include those who lobbied for and got construction of such landmark road projects as the completion of Route 33 from the Poconos south through the Lehigh Valley." The biggest hurdle to widening Route 22 is the project's enormous cost, which was estimated at $776 million in 2001, is already tens of millions of dollars more expensive because of inflation. The other problems inlude eminent domain, more pressing needs and a change in philosophy at the state Department of Transportation. The investigation also showed ways to improve the highway that would cost less and be completed sooner. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post School district loans are unreasonable burden on taxpayers Jeffrey Gaunt and Emily Krone of the Daily Herald , outside Chicago, analyzed 206 suburban school district loans to show many taxpayers repay those loans at rates higher than they would on their homes. The investigation found that, despite federal measures that keep government rates low, the district agreed that taxpayers will pay back $6.03 billion for the $3.34 billion borrowed. "In the most costly example, taxpayers will repay $3.09 per dollar — or three times the amount borrowed." The Daily Herald analysis revealed that many districts agreed to interest rates higher than available, got cash bonuses from their lender for doing so and many agreed to pay compounded interest rates -sometimes on the higher rates. Also see the complete analysis and series Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 06, 2006 Denver code enforcement cases on the rise Daniel J. Chacón of the Rocky Mountain News used local data to show that code-enforcement cases in Denver increased more than 12 percent between 2004 and 2005 and by more than 20 percent in five of the city's 11 council districts, according to data obtained under a Colorado Open Records Act request. "The number of total inspections, including those where no violation was found, nearly doubled from 26,303 in 2004 to 51,756 last year. " Denver has also implemented a new program which carries stiffer fines, and slaps property owners with a $150 fine for the first violation, $500 for the second and $999 for each one after that. Violations include everything from illegal dumping to running an auto repair shop on a residential lot. The two most frequent infractions are uncut lawns and junk cars. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 30, 2006 Miami transit OT draining county budget Jack Dolan, Larry Lebowitz and Scott Hiaasen of The Miami Herald analyzed local payroll data to find that “transit overtime pay — which is 1.5 times as high as regular hourly rates and cost taxpayers more than $129 million over the last five years — is a long-standing drain on county funds that has persisted despite decades of promises from county officials to bring it under control.” The paper found dozens of county bus and train operators who double their pay via overtime work. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 28, 2006 City pays millions for bottled water Cecilia M. Vega of the San Francisco Chronicle used public records to show that San Francisco, owner of a pristine reservoir in the Sierra Nevada with a reputation for producing some of the country's best-tasting tap water, has spent more than $2 million of taxpayers' money in the past 4½ years on bottled water. According to the records, Public Health spent $139,926 on bottled water; the Municipal Railway spent $65,780; and San Francisco International Airport spent $65,670. "During the 2004-2005 fiscal year, which ended June 30, $499,275 went to bottled water and related expenses — a slight increase from the $495,974 that the city spent the previous year. " The Los Angeles mayor recently ordered city agencies to stop using public money to buy bottled water for employees following media reports that the city had spent $90,000 on bottled water while its water agency was spending $1 million on an ad campaign touting the virtues of tap water. In August, Julie Patel of the San Jose Mercury News reported that schools in that area are buying bottled water for teachers and administrators: "bottled water flows so plentifully in teachers lounges, school offices and meetings that there's enough to supply each teacher, administrator and student services employee with more than seven eight-ounce glasses of water each school day." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 24, 2006 Federal list of safe structures flawed Richard Whitt of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Holiday Inn & Suites, where a fire killed a South Carolina man on Sunday, improperly made the U.S. Fire Administration's "National Master List" of structures deemed safe for federal employees while on government business. To get on the list, a hotel or motel owner has to certify that the building has smoke detectors and, if it's over three stories tall, sprinklers. The Marietta hotel was deleted from the list this week after a fire and fire investigators revealed that the seven-story structure had no sprinkler system in the rooms. "The cause of what fire officials are calling the worst hotel fire in Marietta history, which also injured 20 others, remains under investigation." The investigation found that, according to FEMA records, the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees there for one night in the past few months. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 20, 2006 City's weekly dam reports fabricated Greg Bruno and Jessica Gardner of The Times Herald-Record reviewed documents to show that inspection reports designed to prevent catastrophic failings at two New York City-owned dams in the Catskills were repeatedly fabricated, even as water officials publicly proclaimed the structures' safety. "Since September 2002, about 70 percent of the city's weekly inspections for the Neversink Dam in Sullivan County and the Merriman Dam on the Rondout Reservoir in Ulster County have been photocopies of previous reports. Not only are the inspector's observations unchanged from week to week — citing evidence like cracks, seepage and other structural woes — but the handwriting on each questionable form is identical. The photocopies suggest that observations made during weekly dam visits were put on forms before the inspections were conducted — if they were conducted at all." (Editor's note: The National Inventory of Dams, a database including dam location, condition, maintenance, and inspection reports, is available to journalists from IRE and NICAR. Other resources for covering dams are available on our Web site.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Aide might have violated ethics rules Thomas Peele of the Contra Costa Times used congressional financial disclosure statements, state and federal campaign finance reports, IRS records, congressional committee and staff disbursement records and other documents to show that Rep. Richard Pombo's top aide, Steven Ding, might have violated congressional ethics rules by not correctly reporting all of his outside political work and making too much money from California campaigns and consultants. "Steven Ding regularly worked for candidates and organizations with close ties to Pombo, a Tracy Republican who is chairman of the House Resources Committee." Despite being chief of staff to the Washington-based Resources Committee, and being paid more than $150,000 a year from the committee's budget, Ding worked primarily from California and commuted to Capitol Hill at taxpayers' expense when the committee was in session. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 11, 2006 Nation's mine rescue system falling short Ken Ward Jr. reports in the Charleston, W.Va., Sunday Gazette-Mail "the nation's miners face a mounting risk because of a rescue system that is growing ever short on personnel and is in major need of reforms." From 2000 to 2002, the number of safety teams approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration dropped by 10 percent. A team of reporters, including Tara Tuckwiller, Scott Finn, Eric Eyre and Dave Gustafson, have contributed to the series of stories. Other stories include a history of the safety violations at the Sago Mine, an analysis of data that indicates lightning strikes may have played a role in the accident, and a story questioning whether the mine had adequate state environmental permits. 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 Alito takes hard line on crime, immigration Amy Goldstein and Sarah Cohen of The Washington Post, with a team of reporters and researchers, categorized Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito’s rulings and compared them to other federal appeals court judges, finding that “Alito has taken a harder line on criminal and immigration cases than most federal appellate judges nationwide, including those who, like him, were selected by Republican presidents.” The analysis used data from the Appeals Court Database Project; a methodology is available. The full list of Alito’s cases used in the analysis is published on the Post’s Web site. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Ga. voter registration system unreliable Alan Judd, with data help from David A. Milliron, of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution compared a statewide voter registration database with a list of more than 100 commercial mailbox outlets in metro Atlanta, as well as voter registrations in the downtown business district and at government facilities, to identify flaws in the state's voter registration system. "Georgia relies on an honor system that assumes voters live at the addresses they submit when they register. These addresses determine voters' precinct assignments and, consequently, the elections in which they may cast ballots." The paper's analysis found many people whose listed addresses correspond to rented mailboxes, a high school's tennis court , homeless shelters and even the newspaper's headquarters. Such inaccuracies would be more than enough to make a differerence in November's city council election where five votes separated the two candidates. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 09, 2006 Some Colo. mines incur more violations than Sago Katy Human and Jeff Roberts of The Denver Post examined mine safety records for Colorado and found that its "eight underground coal mines paid fines totaling almost $500,000 for hundreds of safety violations in the past two years." One mine was cited 350 times last year for a total of nearly $50,000. In comparision, the Sago Mine in West Virginia, a more productive mine, was cited 208 times and fined about $24,000 during the same time. The report does say that Colorado's mines are "safer than the national average for several years when measured in terms of injuries, according to federal figures." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Ill. mine fined more than $500,000 last year Jeffrey Tomich, with contributions from Jaimi Dowdell, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch used federal data to show that “Illinois’ largest coal mine was fined almost as much for safety violations last year as the rest of the state’s mines combined.” The Galatia mine, owned by the American Coal Co., was fined more than $500,000 by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Proposal would push sex offenders out of half of Calif. urban areas Jim Miller of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise used geographic information system (GIS) software to study the impact of a proposal by Gov. Schwarzenegger and others to prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school in California. The analysis shows that "At least half of California's urban areas would become off-limits to registered sex offenders" and they "could be confined to scattered urban islands or to lightly populated rural areas." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 03, 2006 Corps ignored reports about levee problems Bob Marshall of The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reports the Army Corps of Engineers knew about "engineering mistakes that led to the canal levee failures that flooded most of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina" but dismissed them. "Documents, obtained by The Times-Picayune and provided to forensic engineers studying the levee breaches, show project engineers made a critical mistake in assessing soil strengths on the 17th Avenue Canal project, said Robert Bea, a University of California-Berkeley professor who is a member of the National Science Foundation team." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Water department pays for bottled water Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times reports the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which supplies and promotes tap water to the city, spent $31,160 for bottled water. Citywide, city officials spent $88,900 on bottled water, "despite a 1995 directive by former Mayor Richard Riordan that said: The city's tap water satisfies most needs, and bottled water should not be provided ordinarily at city expense.'" The city controller, who said she was stunned, "compiled the bills in response to a Public Records Act request from the Times." The department spends about $500,000 a year on for a report on the quality of its water — "The latest report brags that DWP water 'meets or surpasses all water quality standards.'" Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 23, 2005 U.S. secretly monitoring radiation levels at Muslim sites in D.C. area David E. Kaplan of U.S. News & World Report finds the U.S. government has been monitoring more than 100 "Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including mosques, homes, businesses, and warehouses, plus similar sites in at least five other cities" since 9/11 in search of a terrorist nuclear bomb. As part of the top-secret program, investigators went "on to the property under surveillance, although no search warrants or court orders were ever obtained, according to those with knowledge of the program." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 21, 2005 Bonus costing county millions Ron Fonger of The Flint Journal used Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act to show that Genessee County employees who qualify for additional pay based on length of service “cost county taxpayers $1.89 million” in the past fiscal year. “That’s extra pay on top of negotiated across-the-board raises or individual ’step’ raises that also come with seniority.” Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 20, 2005 Children die in spite of Okla. abuse reports Ziva Branstetter, Curtis Killman, Nicole Marshall, Omer Gillham and Ginnie Graham of the Tulsa World report in a three-part series on Oklahoma's failure to save at least 30 children who died from abuse and neglect in the past five years. The series detailed cases in which the Oklahoma Department of Human Services had prior reports of abuse and neglect involving children yet the children were not removed from the home and ended up dying from abuse and neglect. The paper also found the state had paid out at least $1 million during that time to settle lawsuits involving child welfare workers. Branstetter notes "Many states have laws allowing release of information following a child abuse death and this is what we used in Oklahoma to get the records." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 19, 2005 Taxpayer money used to defend city official David Josar of The Detroit News used records obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act to find that "Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie has spent more than $100,000 in taxpayer funds on a team of private lawyers and advisers to defend her in a lawsuit that accuses her of mismanagement and fraud in the handling of city elections." Typically city attorneys defend the clerk's office in legal proceedings, but Currie dismissed Detroit's own legal counsel and instead hired her own, submitting bills under the threshold required for a city council vote. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Manhattan homeowners pay lower taxes Josh Barbanel of The New York Times used local tax and real estate data to show that "average taxes on Manhattan co-ops and condos are lower than they would be if they were taxed the way some of the most heavily taxed houses are. But it is prewar co-ops that have the greatest tax advantage." The paper examined the sale of 68,000 Manhattan properties, comparing them to city tax files, according to the explainer. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post December 07, 2005 City gives federal money to unqualified homebuyers John Estus of The Daily O'Collegian at Oklahoma State University found that "Nearly $110,000 in federal funds intended to help poor Stillwater residents buy homes of their own was given to middle-class buyers who did not qualify" in an eight-week investigation that has prompted a state audit of the program. Estus also revealed the program gave nearly $39,000 in city funds not regulated by federal guidelines to homebuyers who would not have qualified as low-income if the federal rules had been applied. Among those buyers was the city official administering the Homebuyer Assistance program at the time. Stillwater Community Development officials frequently balked at Estus' requests for loan recipient applications and other records until an assistant city attorney told the officials to release the records. 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 Lack of federal oversight of theme park rides Florida Today and WKMG-Orlando used data from a 3-axis accelerometer and data collection device to test the effects of Central Florida's G-forces on theme park rides. They also examined figures on estimates of injuries and deaths involving fixed-site rides and found that state and U.S. agencies only inspect and regulate mobile amusement rides, the kind that travel to county fairs and church festivals. "But, apart from dictating construction and safety standards, they do not directly monitor fixed-site rides in Florida, such as those at major theme parks. " The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that from 1997 through 2004 there were 22,000 injuries and 24 fatalities. The report also examined a 2002 study by the British government that found incidents occurred when G-force levels were within established limits of human tolerability. See how the story was reported. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Thousands of dollars collected in per diems Steve Neavling, formerly of The Bay City Times, reviewed records to show that Bay County paid more than $350,000 to citizens and politicians for serving on its boards in the past four-and-a-half years. Many of these meeting lasted less than 15 minutes and dozens lasted less than five minutes. "A bulk of the per-diem payments — $260,000 — came from boards and committees for three agencies: The Bay Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health Authority and Region VII Area Agency on Aging. " Often times per diems went beyond meeting payments, with some board members getting paid for signing checks, visiting with employees and attending luncheons, conferences and meetings of other boards. 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 Calif. system's additional pay offsets student fee hike Tanya Schevitz and Todd Wallack of the San Francisco Chronicle examine how much the University of California system really pays its administrators. "In addition to salaries and overtime, payroll records obtained by The Chronicle show that employees received a total of $871 million in bonuses, administrative stipends, relocation packages and other forms of cash compensation last fiscal year. That was more than enough to cover the 79 percent hike in student fees that UC has imposed over the past few years." The project includes a database of the system's highest paid employees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Wash. program's flaws exposes public, vulnerable adults Ruth Teichroeb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated state records to show the flaws in a state-funded program that pays for-profit companies to supervise dangerous developmentally disabled adults. The program has the state paying for-profit companies to look after developmentally disabled people placed its Community Protection program. "While the program does protect the public in many cases — most of the clients are sex offenders — it has left vulnerable adults at risk of abuse and represents a loss of personal rights for those who don't seem to fit the program's guidelines." The three part series found that the placements are not court-monitored, there are no appeals, and for many families or guardians in desperate situations, the only alternative is losing all state help. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 16, 2005 Tenn. lottery subcontractor has ties to official Phil Williams of WTVF-Nashville uncovered questions about whether politics helped at least one man strike it rich off of Tennessee's lottery. Last year, the company Tec-Print LLC, owned by a politically connected businessman, J.W. Gibson , was awarded a multimillion-dollar printing subcontract by GTECH — the contractor that runs Tennessee's online games. This despite the fact that Gibson's company had no experience and did not even exist before GTECH put it into the printing business. Gibson is, by his own admission, a good friend of State Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis who heads the House subcommittee which is responsible for any lottery legislation. "The investigation also found that even before Tennessee's lottery was approved, Gibson and Miller went to GTECH offices in Atlanta together to discuss opportunities for minority businesses. " Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 15, 2005 Car stipends guzzling cash Tawnell Hobbs and Kent Fischer of The Dallas Morning News reviewed district records to show that more than 2,300 school district employees are getting car stipends this year, at a total cost of nearly $3.7 million. This despite the fact that their job description does not include travel. "In a year when DISD cut some elementary school counselors and gave teachers small raises while trying to close a $28 million budget deficit, the $3,684,798 for car allowances has escaped the ax. " According to calculations, dozens would have to drive more than 950 miles a month to justify the size of their stipends, using DISD's reimbursement rate of 35 cents a mile. Car allowance recipients, like all DISD employees, also get reimbursed for mileage when they travel outside the district. DISD paid $404,000 in mileage reimbursements in 2004-05 in addition to the amount it spent on car allowances. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Agency credit card overcharged for unofficial expenses Steve Neavling of The Bay City Times and the Detroit Free Press reviewed bills at the tax-funded Area Agency on Aging to show that the agency credit cards were charged for expenses running from a dozen roses to 14 out-of-state trips to locales such as Boston, San Francisco and Puerto Rico. "The regional agency that oversees services for senior citizens has used agency credit cards for $155,000 worth of meals, trips and gifts for employees and board members since 2001. " The board voted to remove a former member of the agency's Advisory Committee because, it said, he pestered staff members, hurt the agency's reputation and overcharged for attending meetings. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 11, 2005 Convicts on St. Louis official's payroll Jake Wagman, with contributions from Steve Bolhafner, Mark Learman and Matthew Fernandes, of St. Louis Post-Dispatch examined St. Louis City Treasurer Larry Williams' hiring practices to show that his payroll includes employees with criminal records, political connections and, sometimes, both. " Of about 200 employees in the treasurer's office, at least five have been convicted of felonies and at least one for misdemeanor assault. " At least a dozen more workers in the treasurer's office have connections to the city's Board of Aldermen, the city Democratic Committee or Williams' own campaign for office. As the treasurer, Williams is the city's banker and controls and supervises more than $1.5 billion in public funds. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 07, 2005 Decades of dumping of weapons pose threat John M.R. Bull of the Daily Press examined Army records to show that the previously classified weapons-dumping program was far more extensive than ever suspected and that chemical weapons that the Army dumped at sea decades ago are ending up on shore in the United States. The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels. The investigation found that "these weapons of mass destruction virtually ring the country, concealed off at least 11 states - six on the East Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Few, if any, state officials have been informed of their existence. " Furthermore, with records missing, and some destroyed, the Army is unaware of the exact locations of the dumped weapons. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post November 04, 2005 Child abuse fatalities went unreported Tim Evans of The Indianapolis Star used state records to find that "the deaths of 10 Indiana children from abuse or neglect were not reported in the state's 2004 child fatality report. If included, they would have brought the number to 66, making it the deadliest year on record". The paper compared the state records on child deaths to media accounts and other sources. Deaths discovered by paper that were not in the report include two cases investigated and confirmed as abuse or neglect by child protection workers. At least eight other deaths apparently were not investigated or counted, though their circumstances were similar to others that were scrutinized. See how the story was investigated. 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 28, 2005 FEMA awards millions in extra payments after Katrina Sally Kestin, Megan O'Matz and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel continue their investigation into waste and fraud swirling around Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster aid, this time focusing on Hurricane Katrina. In three Louisiana parishes, FEMA issued more $2,000 aid checks than there are households, at a cost to taxpayers of at least $70 million. And in 36 parishes and counties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, FEMA awarded $102 million to at least 51,000 more applicants than local officials said were displaced by the storm. " In Mobile, Ala., residents coached each other on the right words to use when calling FEMA to get the $2,000. Many who received the money never had to leave their homes. Some had minor roof leaks. "The newspaper's findings are based on a review of $1.46 billion in FEMA claims paid through Sept. 22 and interviews with officials from 54 counties and parishes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 14, 2005 Breakdowns in equipment thwart forecasts Debbie Cenziper of The Miami Herald used forecast verification reports to show that breakdowns in crucial weather-observing equipment are foiling forecasters at the National Hurricane Center — the nation's first line of defense against tropical weather. "Buoys, weather balloons, radars, ground sensors and hurricane hunter planes, all part of a multibillion-dollar weather-tracking system run by the federal government, have failed forecasters during nearly half of the 45 hurricanes that struck land since 1992." Records show that forecasters have predicted tracks hundreds of miles off course, anticipated weak storms that grew all powerful, and powerful storms that eventually grew weak. The story includes information on how this story was researched and reported. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 13, 2005 Metro officials spend excessively on travel in Mich. Steve Neavling of The Bay City Times reviewed records to show that the Bay Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent about $200,000 since 1999 on airfare, lodging, rental cars, valet parking, out-of-town meals and other travel expenses. These expenses came at a time when the agency was forced to reduce the schedules of bus routes and offered employees an early-retirement buyout to trim a $320,000 deficit. "The review of Bay Metro records is part of a Times ongoing examination of travel and meal expenses incurred by public agencies in Bay County. The first story revealed that the county's Road Commission spent more than $75,000 since 2001 on meals and travel expenses. " Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post October 10, 2005 Open records survey carried out in Ky. The Kentucky Press Association, The Associated Press, various newspaper and professional groups and several university student programs carried out a public records survey to determine whether public offices are allowing citizens to view government documents. "More than 100 students, volunteers and newspaper employees visited four local government offices on Oct. 21 seeking specific public records. They were told to act as any ordinary citizen when making their requests in the government offices." The survey showed that while most offices abide by the state's Open Records Act, compliance is not consistent. A request to inspect the city budget was readily met whereas a request made to the County Jail led to jail employees becoming intimidating. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 07, 2005 Generous deals for Wash. dentists Michelle Nicolosi of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Washington state's dental board has been slow to act and has cut generous deals with some of the state's most complained-about dentists. The P-I investigation found that dentists were allowed to continue working in Washington with little restriction long after they lost licenses in other states, or were caught running dangerously unsanitary clinics, or had repeatedly injured patients. Dental board members and staffers from other states reviewed actions taken by the Washington's dental board and agreed that Washington has given some dentists much more leeway than they deserve. "The board appears to discipline dentists in a way that doesn't adequately protect the patients of Washington state,"said dentist Peter Hartmann, a past president of the Dental Board of California. "With few exceptions, none of these people should be practicing dentistry on the unassuming public," said Dr. Robert Pattalochi, former president of the Wyoming Board of Dental Examiners. 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 Disaster plans lacking in Hudson Valley area Greg Bruno of the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., looked into disaster plans for communities of the Catskills and Hudson Valley, finding that three-quarters of them would be unprepared. "Of the 75 communities that provided their plans for review, only 25 percent are updated or specific enough to be useful in a catastrophe, according to state emergency planning standards." The paper found some plans don't include basic information, such as shelter locations and phone numbers for first responders; others are generic or fill-in-the-blank documents; and some planners have not studied possible disaster scenarios. "Only 16 communities are in the process of reviewing and revising their plans." The story includes a chart detailing the results for each town and information about how the story was researched and reported. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Hospitals not prepared for worst quake scenario Duane W. Gang and David Olson of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise examined state, county and hospital emergency plans and found that Inland California counties were unprepared to provide medical services after a large earthquake. "A major temblor could leave multiple hospitals damaged and unable to treat their own patients, let alone the thousands of injured." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 28, 2005 Navy contracted for planes in CIA operation Seth Hettena of The Associated Press reports the Navy issued contracts for planes "reportedly used to fly terror suspects to countries known to practice torture." The AP says documents from the Department of Defense, obtained through a FOIA request, involve more planes (33) than previously reported. While there was "scrutiny in 2001, but what hasn't been disclosed is the Navy's role in contracting planes involved in operations the CIA terms 'rendition' and what Italian prosecutors call kidnapping." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post September 22, 2005 Missteps, fraud have plagued FEMA Megan O'Matz, Sally Kestin, John Maines and Jon Burstein of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel continue the paper's investigation into FEMA. "The handling of aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina is only the latest in a series of missteps and fraud that has plagued this tax-funded government agency. The Sun-Sentinel took a look at 20 recent disasters and found mismanagement and misallocation abound." Among the findings: thousands of claims in Cleveland for damaged washers and dryers after a thunderstorm when the city received only 73 complaints; claims of smoke damage in Los Angeles from wildfires that were 30 miles or farther away; and $9 million paid to people up to 37 miles away from a tornado that touched down in South Florida. The package includes more information about how reporters reseached the agency. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Tax break backfires for some Fla. residents Maurice Tamman of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune examines the effects of Florida's "10-year-old Save Our Homes constitutional amendment, which limits the annual increase of a homesteader's taxable property value." He finds that "over the years, the program that was supposed to save little old ladies from being forced from their homes has turned into a cash cow largely for the rich." Today, millionaires are paying the same as middle-class families, people who want to move can't afford to lose their tax breaks and counties are experiencing uneven income based on recent construction. The weeklong series includes an interactive map using Google Maps API that allows readers to see how neighbors' taxes compare. 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 Contributors get the contracts in Ohio James Drew and Mike Wilkinson of The (Toledo) Blade examine the relationships between Ohio politicians and the businesses that do work for the state's Department of Transportation. "Over the last decade, a Blade investigation shows, those firms have contributed more than $1 million to politicians, political parties, and political action committees. In the last five years, those same firms have received more than $400 million in ODOT contracts." The second part of the three-part series finds that Democratic Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman, a critic of the state's so-called "pay-to-play system," has gotten about 13 percent of his campaign cash from "the same engineers and consultants that have pumped money for years predominately into GOP campaigns in the state." 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 Disaster planning focused on terror threats In a Web exclusive report, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball of Newsweek report that state emergency management directors have complained FEMA has concentrated too much on preparing for terror threats and not enough on natural disasters. "Internal Homeland Security documents obtained by Newsweek lend support to the state directors' complaints. Out of 15 'all hazards' disaster-planning scenarios approved by DHS and the White House Homeland Security Council last May, only three involved natural disasters, one document shows." (Note: For more stories looking at what went wrong in the Katrina disaster, please see IRE's Katrina resources page.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 12, 2005 Mapping tornado sirens allows look at disaster planning Sarah Okeson of the Peoria, Ill., Journal Star mapped tornado sirens and looked at how much of the county they cover, as well as geocoding the county's schools and nursing homes and looking for gaps in the coverage. "The National Weather Service thinks Peoria is adequately prepared for a tornado or other disaster." Okeson describes in a NICAR-L posting that "I went to all 80 of the county's tornado sirens with a GPS device and then put the locations on my computer and converted them to a shapefile. I drew buffers around the sirens and calculated how many people in the county weren't covered by comparing the siren coverage area to the census blocks." 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 Legislators leasing vehicles Chris Casteel of The Oklahoman used rarely-scrutinized records detailing congressional office expenses, finding that “Rep. John Sullivan is leasing a sport utility vehicle in his congressional district for $1,242 a month at taxpayer expense. Rep. Frank Lucas rented a car in December in Oklahoma City and paid more than $1,500 for it out of his congressional office account.” Both lawmakers opted to rent or lease rather than seek reimbursement for using their personal vehicles. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 29, 2005 Disparities in distribution of fed transportation money Erica Werner of The Associated Press analyzed county-by-county spending in California contained in the recently-passed federal transportation bill, finding “vast disparities in how the money was doled out, and perhaps no contrast was more stark than between California’s two fastest-growing counties. Riverside County has five times as many people as Placer County. But residents of Placer County, which connects Sacramento and north Lake Tahoe, are getting five times as much money per person in special projects as residents of Riverside — $261 each in Placer compared with $47 per capita in Riverside, half the statewide average of $95 per person.” Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 23, 2005 Day cares fall below standards Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register checked state child care facility inspection records to find that "at least one in 10 licensed centers — including several newer programs — failed to meet several of the state's minimum standards for health and safety during their last licensed renewals." Many of the programs receive only sporadic oversight, with inspectors visiting as little as once a year. "Licensing records do not always include details of abuse allegations or document how centers resolve serious safety issues, such as complaints about lack of supervision." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 19, 2005 Police helped hide sexual abuse cases involving priests Joe Mahr and Mitch Weiss of The (Toledo) Blade reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed dozens to find that Toledo-area police helped the local Catholic diocese hide cases of sexual abuse by priests. "Beyond past revelations that the diocese quietly moved pedophile priests from parish to parish, The Blade investigation shows that at least once a decade - and often more - priests suspected of rape and molestation have been allowed by local authorities to escape the law." Some alleged abusers were never investigated, while officials prevented the release of case files for other investigations. "The cover-up has been confirmed by former police officers and the diocese's former spokesman, Jim Richards, who said church leaders 'knew who to call in the police department' to keep cases quiet." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post E-mails reveal early hiring concerns Mark Pitsch of The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal used Kentucky's Open Records Act to obtain emails showing that "less than three months before the state hiring investigation began, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's deputy chief of staff and the transportation personnel director confided to each other in e-mails that laws may have been broken." The state's Attorney General, who is investigating hiring practices under Fletcher, was unaware of the emails until the paper published them. 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 State lax on enforcing weight limits on trucks Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer, with assistance from database editor David Raynor and news researcher Brooke Cain, reports that "the state Department of Transportation has ignored a series of increases in truck weights approved by the legislature and failed to protect more than 1,000 bridges that are not strong enough to routinely handle the added weight." As North Carolina legislators increased weight limits four times since 1993, the state did not identify and update information on bridges affected by the changes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 16, 2005 Politics plague state's safety aid program Rick Hepp of The (Newark) Star-Ledger analyzed state and federal spending on homeland security in New Jersey, finding that politics can make a big difference: Somerset County towns in the past three years "have received more than $2.7 million in federal Homeland Security grants designed for 'first responders,' but only $235,000 from New Jersey." The state money was controlled by the governor's office, often as a way to "reward Democratic Party loyalists. That was not a good equation for Republican-dominated Somerset County, which got 1 percent of the state grants between 2002 and 2005." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 15, 2005 Most schools fail spending requirement Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle used Census data to show that a new Kansas requirement that school districts spend 65 percent of their money in the classroom will require a lot of changes: "An Eagle computer-assisted analysis of 2003 Census data found that only 30 of the 302 school districts in Kansas met the 65 percent standard, under the definitions used by the U.S. Department of Education. Wichita, the state's largest district, has one of the lowest classroom spending percentages in the state and compared to districts of similar size across the country. At 56.1 percent, Wichita is No. 276 on the list of 302 Kansas school districts." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Rise in disability retirements plague funds Beth Musgrave and Delano R. Massey of the Lexington Herald-Leader used local records to find that the city's pension fund for police and firefighters is ripe for abuse: "Police officers who have run afoul of the law or departmental policy have retired on disability pensions before internal investigations could be completed or discipline handed down." More than a third of pension benefits go to disabled former employees, while the comparable figure for state police is 3 percent. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 African-American voter turnout high Nancy Cook Lauer of the Tallahassee Democrat used local voter data to show that federal oversight of elections in five Florida counties meant to ensure African-American participation seems to have worked: "voting behavior in the five counties under federal scrutiny - Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough and Monroe - pretty much reflects voting behavior in the state as a whole." Nearly two-thirds of black voters in those counties went to the polls last November, slightly higher than the turnout for the entire state. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 08, 2005 Hurricane related building codes going unchecked Steve Myers, Bill Finch and Brendan Kirby of the Mobile Register surveyed local governments to find that "numerous jurisdictions in Mobile and Baldwin counties have not been enforcing significant portions of their building codes, those designed to protect residential homes from hurricane damage." Only two communities enforce the highest level of wind-resistance protection, and they adopted those standards last year. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Honorary program gives political insiders cop-like badges Trent Seibert and Brad Schrade of The Tennessean use state department records to investigate an "honorary captains" program that gives campaign donors, political insiders and friends troop-like badges. "Officials say the program is an atta-boy, a way to recognize people's contributions to the state. But critics say it's an invitation for the well-connected to brandish their influence and avoid getting tickets." The report also found the grandson of a powerful Bredesen supporter was under the impression that the badge was supposed to get him out of a drunken-driving arrest in January in Lauderdale County. Although he waved it at a trooper, he was ticketed. The story includes a sidebar listing recent honorary captain recipients. The governor ended the program in response to The Tennessean story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Some furniture purchases seem unneeded Rebecca Walsh of The Salt Lake Tribune used Utah's open records laws to review furniture purchases for state employees moving into two new office buildings. "Many of the dozens of chairs and desks and filing cabinets and bookcases replace stapled-together fixtures from years ago. But other bills might make taxpayers shift in their own seats - a $1,487 flat-screen TV monitor in the administrative services conference room, $20,000 to frame Senate president and member portraits and the $6,000 tab for each legislative staffer's mahogany-colored cubicle." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Weapon seizures increase at airports Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain data on weapon seizures at airports, finding that "daily for the past three years, passengers at U.S. airports surrendered an average of 14,000 potential weapons. That is enough to arm every passenger on 33 filled-to-capacity Boeing 747 jumbo jets - every day." Smaller airports have a higher rate of weapons being turned over, even though most prohibited items are collected at larger facilities. The haul includes nearly 5 million knives and more than 1,000 guns. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 State provided child counseling contracts to felon Susan K. Livio and Mary Jo Patterson of The (Newark) Star-Ledger investigated the background of Corey Davis, who got nearly $700,000 in state contracts to provide child counseling services despite the fact that "the budding entrepreneur had a felony drug conviction and owed thousands of dollars in child support to two women. Some of the people he employed also had criminal backgrounds. But the state blindly nurtured Davis until learning one of his mentors had cracked up a car last summer, injuring a 6-year-old boy." The state launched a criminal investigation after the paper began asking about Davis. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Loan deal raises questions Mike McGraw and Michael Mansur of The Kansas City Star uncovered documents showing that a city housing agency provided what experts called a "sweetheart" loan to a group redeveloping an apartment building. The recipient defended the financing, although "neither the original loan documents nor later changes in the agreement were ever made public by recording them at the Jackson County Courthouse - standard procedure for such real estate transactions." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Water supplies threatened by gasoline contaminates Ron Hurtibise of the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports on Florida's efforts to clean up gasoline leaks in Volusia and Flagler counties, finding that "In 20 years, the state has spent $2.3 billion on cleanup strategies that often haven't worked. Old, steel gas station tanks, easily corroded in porous sandy soils, faithfully serviced generations of Florida motorists but paid no respect to the water supply vital to the state's growing population." Remediation efforts are successful for some spills but not at others, "despite outlays of hundreds of thousands of dollars, reams of paperwork and thousands of hours of employee work time." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 State employees benefit from huge housing perks Duane Pohlman of WEWS-Cleveland investigates why department of natural resource employees are receiving huge discounts on state-owned homes. "On Kelley's Island, where houses rent for thousands a month, a park ranger is renting an entire Cape Cod from the state of Ohio for just $201.50 a month." The department admits that the discounts are based off of outdated estimates on the properties. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Bill could make wetlands easier to destroy Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite of the St. Petersburg Times used a social network analysis program analysis and documents to show that "a developers' lobbyist helped write a state bill that would make it easier to get a permit to destroy wetlands of 10 acres or smaller. When it passed, the builders persuaded 15 members of Congress to send Gov. Jeb Bush a letter urging him to sign it. He did." The measure's sponsor was warned by Bush that the legislation could hurt her legislative career. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post August 02, 2005 Adoption deal raises concerns over surrogate program Kevin Corcoran of The Indianapolis Star investigates a child welfare case involving a surrogate mothers program. The program granted an adoption to a 58-year-old, single, schoolteacher who was approved, despite "the absence of a legally required study of [Stephen F.] Melinger's New Jersey home or a period of preadoption supervision by an Indiana-licensed agency, court records show." The investigation includes sidebars further investigating the surrogate mother in the case, the adopted father, and a sidebar about the judge from Indianapolis who tightened the rules to disallow the adoptive father from taking the infants to New Jersey. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 27, 2005 Nice neighborhood ruined by state program Dunstan McNichol at The (Newark) Star-Ledger writes about how a state program to build new schools and real-estate speculators have taken a once stable neighborhood and turned it into a haven for squatters and drug dealers. Frustrated residents said they were offered too little for their houses and now they can't get a similar house nearby. Real estate speculators swooped in, bought up some houses and sold them to the state at high profits. And now, the program that was supposed to build a high school on the block is running out of money and it's uncertain if or when the school will be built. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Thousands of city employees tied to mayor's re-election Nearly four out of every 10 city employees in Chicago registered voters for groups that advocated for Mayor Richard Daley's re-election, a Chicago Tribune investigation found. The Tribune compared city payroll data with the rosters of political groups that register voters in the city. "The analysis suggests extensive connections between city jobs and the mayor's political operation, a finding consistent with federal prosecutors' allegations that Daley administration officials rewarded campaign supporters with jobs and promotions," according to the Tribune. Under a 1983 federal court decree, all but about 1,000 of the city's 38,000 jobs are supposed to be filled based on merit. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 26, 2005 Calif. donors use 527 groups to bypass regulations Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register analyzed California campaign finance data to find that the top 100 donors gave more than $150 million to candidates and political committees in 2003 and 2004. Donors also helped put California in the stem-cell business. "Some 26 wealthy couples and individuals contributed more than half the campaign money for Proposition 73, the state's $3 billion bet on the biotechnology frontier." Individual donors got around campaign finance legislation by writing their checks to so-called 527 groups, which operate outside normal campaign-finance rules. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 25, 2005 Lack of inspection data raises concerns for Utah school safety Nate Carlisle and Jessica Ravitz The Salt Lake Tribune report on the state of fire inspections in public schools, following a fire that destroyed Wasatch Junior High School. The school was old and did not have modern fire safety features. "Yet state records show the last time inspectors examined the school was four years ago." State records show that some Utah schools have no record of fire inspections since the 1980s. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Failed oversight helps surge in air ambulance crashes Alan Levin and Robert Davis of USA Today reviewed hundreds of documents on air ambulance crashes and analyzed a database they created from the documents. They found that since "2000, 60 people have died in 84 crashes — more than double the number of crashes during the previous five years." Despite this surge, air ambulance companies and the federal agency that oversees them failed to take steps that might have averted tragedy and saved lives. The FAA issued a warning to air ambulance companies requesting that they adopt better safety practices, following this investigation. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 22, 2005 Medicaid fraud plagued by lack of oversight Clifford J. Levy and Michael Luo of The New York Times used state Medicaid data to find that "the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse that the state had never looked into." Examples of the potential fraud include a dentist who billed for as many as 991 procedures a day and a Buffalo school that sent more than 4,000 students "into speech therapy in a single day without talking to them or reviewing their records." Medicaid fraud has turned into a $44.5 billion target and the Times investigation uncovered "numerous indications of fraud and abuse that the state had never looked into." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 21, 2005 Inspection data shows problems often found with pools Michelle Keller and Kevin Spear of The Orlando Sentinel used county pool inspection data to show that "at least one in eight failed tests for chlorine, meaning they could pose a health risk for swimmers who use them." The findings roughly mirror an early federal study and the paper's previous surveys of inspection reports. "This year's Sentinel survey found chlorine violations at mobile-home parks in Lake County; hotels and motels along U.S. Highway 192 in Osceola County; apartment and condo complexes in Seminole County; beachside motels and resorts in Volusia; and at subdivisions, apartments and condos in Orange County." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post State, university employees' salaries swell Jane Stancill and David Raynor of The (Raleigh/Durham) News & Observer analyzed state payroll data to find that "there are already more than 2,200 state and University of North Carolina system employees who are paid more than $100,000 in state money a year; more than two-thirds of them work at the universities." Pay for university employees has arisen as an issue now that UNC system is searching for a new president. 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 14, 2005 Disability program plagued with problems Maxine Bernstein and Brent Walth of The Oregonian investigated Portland's police and firefighter disability progam, finding that "the city's system is an open checkbook, with rules that allow injured police and firefighters to collect checks until they retire, even if they can earn a living in another job." One in nine Portland police officers and firefighters is on disability and half of those have been receiving benefits for more than 10 years. "A claim for lost wages in Portland costs $37,390 a year on average — seven times that of police and firefighters statewide.' Trustees of the program sued to prevent the paper from obtaining certain financial records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Prison chief drove state-issued car, despite suspended license Brad Schrade of The Tennessean uses state vehicle fuel logs to show that Correction Commissioner Quenton White drove his state-issued car across Tennessee while his driver's license was suspended for not paying a speeding ticket. "White, 45, who had headed the state's prison system since 2003, turned in his resignation yesterday to [Gov. Phil] Bredesen, the man who hired him." The story includes links to fuel logs for White's car and White's letter of resignation. White also had a sexual harassment claim against him, which was confirmed yesterday by Bredsen. 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 State wastes millions to acquire land R.G. Dunlop of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal has a series on the state's land condemnation system, finding that "Kentucky has squandered millions of tax dollars buying land for highway construction because of an outdated condemnation system that it has refused to fix for decades." In some cases, the state paid owners much more than their land was worth; in others landowners had their initial compensation reduced, leaving them to repay the state. The paper sued the state Transportation Cabinet for its condemnation records in April 2004 and went to court again to enforce an attorney general's ruling to produce the data. The series includes links to excerpt from a letter, memo and report used in the reporting of the story. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Possible conflicts abound in South Carolina legislature Jeff Stensland of The State reviewed financial disclosure forms from South Carolina state legislators to find that "about 20 lawmakers raked in more than $2.4 million in attorney fees by representing clients in front of state boards and commissions last year." Many of the cases involved worker's compensation claims but others were before the state's insurance or revenue departments. The paper listed each of the lawmakers and their fees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Human smuggling networks linked to terrorist groups Pauline Arrillaga and Olga R. Rodriguez of the Associated Press reviewed court records from Mexico and the United States as part of an investigation into "the many pipelines in Central and South America, Mexico and Canada that have illegally channeled thousands of people into the United States from so-called 'special-interest' countries - those identified by the U.S. government as sponsors or supporters of terrorism." Individuals affiliated with Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers were among those who attempted to or were able to cross the border into America. "Even when caught, illegal immigrants from those countries and other nations are sometimes released while awaiting deportation hearings, then miss those court dates, according to the AP's investigation, which also documented deep concerns about security threats along the lightly patrolled, 4,000-mile U.S.-Canada border." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Cable barriers fail to prevent deaths Scott North, Diana Hefley and Lukas Velush of The (Everett, Wash.) Herald used Washington state transportation data to show that a stretch of I-5 where a cable barrier separates the opposing lanes of traffic may not be preventing as many accidents as other areas. In one three-mile section, "vehicles went over, under or through the cable barriers in seven of 35 accidents along the median ... That means the barriers didn't work in one out of five accidents. The rate is more than triple what the data suggest has occurred along the other seven miles of cabled highway examined." Overall, the cables stopped 91 percent of cars that went into the median. 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 City denies request for records David Madrid of The Arizona Republic reports on the results of a public records request the paper made asking council members in Surprise, Ariz., "to verify the miles and percentage of driving they do for city business" since the council was set to approve a 289% increase in car allowances. The paper's request "was denied on the grounds that the information is not a public record. Council members aren't required to keep track of mileage or to document auto expenses." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 07, 2005 Regulators drop toxic chemical warning after plant lawyer complains Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette used the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain records showing that a plan by West Virginia environmental regulators to warn residents of Wood County about the spread of the toxic chemical C8 from DuPont Co.'s Parkersburg plant was killed after complaints from a DuPont lawyer. The paper reported that a state science adviser "insisted that DuPont review, edit and approve all C8-related statements issued by the state." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Contamination levels still high years after discovery Wade Rawlins of The (Raleigh/Durham) News & Observer reports on toxic chemicals that have been contaminating local water sources for the last 15 years. "Ward Transformer spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals on its 11 acres at the edge of Raleigh-Durham International Airport." Investigators knew in 1978 and 1979 of the high levels of contamination, but have done nothing to clean it up, documents show. (Editor's Note: For tips on reporting similar stories, IRE offers "Covering Pollution: An Investigative Reporter's Guide." The book, produced in cooperation with the Society of Environmental Journalists, shows reporters how to tap into resources for local investigations into environmental pollution.) Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 06, 2005 Dog owners receive majority of tickets Chris Barge of the Boulder Daily Camera analyzed city animal enforcement records to show that "roughly seven out of every 10 tickets written by Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks rangers over the past three years have cited dog-related violations." About a quarter of all dog-related infractions occurred in the Wonderland Lake management area - mostly for having unleashed pets. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post July 05, 2005 Police department ignores residency requirement Gordon Russell of The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reports that while New Orleans has a residency requirement for its police officers, "dozens of Police Department sergeants and lieutenants and at least seven captains — the department's highest civil-service rank — have been promoted in recent years despite claiming homestead exemptions outside the city." The 10-year-old residency rule has suffered from lax enforcement and poor record-keeping make it difficult to tell exactly how many officers live outside the city. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Investigation uncovers purchase card problems Steve Lackmeyer and Ryan McNeill of The Oklahoman analyzed a never-completed 2002 audit of Oklahoma's purchase card system. They found that for, "17 of the 20 agencies with cards at the time, receipts were not reviewed or verified to see whether the goods or services were received." The state auditor is preparing to investigate the purchase card system following the Oklahoman probe. The story also includes a side bar detailing the lack of rules the state has over cards issued to state employees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Analysis finds atypical campaign finance expenditures Michael Cass of The Tennessean reports on an analysis of 2004 disclosure forms for all Tennessee legislators, which found political expenses in places not typically incurred. One expense was for "$1,414 to Interstate Liquors by Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-McMinnville." The story includes detailed sidebars outlining what the law says, how to follow the money and personal spending of campaign finances. 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 24, 2005 Thousands of civilians risk lives running bases, protecting officials Producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria of Frontline worked with the Center for Public Integrity reporters André Verlöy and Bob Williams on "Private Warriors," a collaborative effort between Frontline, RAINMedia and the Center for Public Integrity. The documentary investigates private contractors servicing U.S. military supply lines, running U.S. military bases, and protecting U.S. diplomats and generals. "There are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and approximately 20,000 private security forces." The investigation includes transcripts of interviews and a frequently asked questions section. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post City fails to enforce refuse policy Kevin Rothstein of the Boston Herald obtained city data through public records request showing that "trash-disposal scofflaws owe Boston $3.1 million in fines dating back to 2000 ... and the Menino administration admits its toothless enforcement policies are allowing property owners to ignore the penalties and let garbage pile up citywide." Poorer neighborhoods of Boston have some of the largest problems with excess garbage. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 23, 2005 Lobbyists use nonprofits to finance congressional travel Bob Williams and Stephen Henn of the Center for Public Integrity investigate lobbyists who sit on the governing boards of nonprofits. Lobbyists are not supposed to pay for congressional travel, but the investigation found "that a favored way to evade the prohibition on picking up the tab is to do so through charitable non-profits..." The investigation includes a map detailing the most popular congressional junket locations, a list of the top companies and lobbying firms, and a summary of their findings. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 22, 2005 Private interests pay for state officials' trips David White of The Birmingham News used state records to show that since November 2002, more than 20 state lawmakers and executive officials have taken trips paid for by private interests. "Lawmakers took trips to places such as Australia, the Bahamas and California and got tickets for the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Talladega Superspeedway." Reports of the trips are filed with Alabama's Ethics Commission if the cost exceeds $250 a day per person. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Calif. budget crunch doesn't affect best-paid workers Todd Wallack of the San Francisco Chronicle uses state employee data to analyze California's highest paid workers. "Close to 2,000 state employees earned more than $132,000 last year, up from 1,021 in calendar year 2002 and 1,194 in 2003, according to data from the state controller's office." The story includes a chart and a sortable list of California's 2,000 highest paid employees. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 21, 2005 City pays private attorneys millions Steve Neavling of The Bay City Times has a six-part series on Bay County government spending on private attorneys. "Between 2001 and 2004, the county paid private lawyers nearly $1.13 million — more than twice the amount spent by each of four other Michigan counties with similar populations. And that does not include the more than $470,000 Bay County spent on attorneys to defend lawsuits." The paper used county billing records to show that the staffer who oversees legal work "routinely turns to outside lawyers, who charge up to $140 an hour to handle lawsuits, bankruptcy cases, property transfers and union negotiations." With a graphic showing how much outside firms were paid. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 20, 2005 Experts cast doubt on cause Jason Method and James W. Prado Roberts of the Asbury Park Press raised questions in the airplane death seven years ago of a pilot who was about to buy Marlboro Airport, now the center of a massive political bribery scandal. The NTSB ruled the 1998 crash death of Lino A. Fasio an accident due to a probable bird strike, but five experts who reviewed the report and new photographs of the wreckage for the Press said there is no evidence to support the government's claim. "There have been six known fatal accidents involving birds in civil aviation in the United States in the last 15 years. But in every case - except Fasio's - investigators found solid evidence of birds or bird remains." The series includes 14 chapters, ranging from a bird theory to sabotage claims. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Accident-victim law saves lives Suzanne Hoholik of The Columbus Dispatch used state data to show that a 2002 Ohio law intended to direct accident victims to trauma hospitals was working as intended: "More injured people are being taken to trauma centers, and fewer are dying in small, rural hospitals. Trauma experts believe as many as 900 lives a year are being saved statewide." The paper found that "the number of injured patients transferred from community hospitals to trauma centers increased 22 percent from 2001 to 2004." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post School fails to submit project warnings Dave Altimari and Grace E. Merritt of The Hartford Courant obtained records showing that "at least four University of Connecticut officials were aware of problems found in a 1999 audit of a $1 billion construction program but not disclosed to state legislators. Most of those problems were never fixed, and the school failed in subsequent years to submit details of the critical report to lawmakers, who voted in 2003 to approve an additional $1.3 billion to UConn for more building projects." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 17, 2005 More firefighters being disciplined Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News used documents obtained under a California Public Records Act to show that 13 Los Angeles city firefighters were disciplined for inappropriate behavior last year and nine others remain under investigation. "Last year, seven firefighters were disciplined for horseplay or hazing; two for creating a hostile work environment; one for ethnic or sexual harassment, and three for other types of inappropriate conduct. " As many as 22 firefighters, with cases pending, could be disciplined for similar behavior in 2004. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Questionable hiring practices uncovered at local police department KING-Seattle uncovers questionable hiring practices at a new urban police department. Reporter Paul Aker found background investigations for newly hired officers were incomplete and likely flawed. They also found the officer that conducted the department's background investigations for hiring had been "suspended and reassigned" for having sex on duty at his former police department. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Meth crisis moves to Mexico Steve Suo of The Oregonian investigates America's methamphetamine crisis, now rooted in Mexico, where drug cartels are illicitly obtaining tons of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient needed to make the potent stimulant. "Mexico's imports of the cold medicine have vaulted from 66 tons to 224 tons in the past five years, customs records show. That's roughly double what the country needs to meet the legitimate demands of cold and allergy sufferers," an analysis by The Oregonian found. This story follows a five-part special investigation by The Oregonian titled Unnecessary Epidemic that ran in October. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 16, 2005 Congressman's sale of home to contractor questioned Marcus Stern of the San Diego Union-Tribune investigates a defense contractor's relationship with U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and how the contractor "took a $700,000 loss on the purchase of the congressman's Del Mar house while the congressman, a member of the influential defense appropriations subcommittee, was supporting the contractor's efforts to get tens of millions of dollars in contracts from the Pentagon." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 15, 2005 Hispanic organization evolves into a political powerhouse Mark J. Konkol, Scott Fornek, Fran Spielman and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times used local payroll and voter registration data to show the clout of Chicago's Hispanic Democratic Organization: "1,173 men and women are certified to register people to vote on HDO's behalf. And 482 of those HDO deputy registrars — or 41 percent — also have city jobs." More than 50 of them earn more than $74,000 a year from the city. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Sexual harassment claims inconsistent Brad Schrade of the Tennessean asked state officials to provide documentation on their response to claims of sexual harassment, identified by Gov. Phil Bredesen as a problem. "When Bredesen's office becomes involved in a complaint, as it did when the governor's top lobbyist was demoted last month, notes are purposely not taken or are shredded, or case documents are not released. When other state departments handle cases, reports are generally kept on file as public records, according to a Tennessean review of available state documents. Indeed, state harassment investigators are trained to take notes and document the facts of a case." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 14, 2005 Lobbyists banking billions on no-bid contracts Greg B. Smith of the New York Daily News used state data to show that "in the state Department of Transportation alone, lobbyists schmoozed the agency on nearly $1.3 billion in contracts in the past two years ... only a handful of these contracts were awarded competitively with sealed bids, a process that significantly restricts influence-peddling." Lobbyists are not required to detail efforts made to win government contracts for their clients. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Ex-con funds retirement with leftover campaign money Ted Sherman of The (Newark) Star-Ledger reports on how former Essex County Executive Tom D'Alessio, after serving time on political corruption charges, converted leftover campaign funds into a non-profit foundation that helps support his retirement. "Last year, the foundation reported it gave out $37,750 in contributions of $500 or so to dozens of organizations like the March of Dimes, the United Way and the Boy Scouts. It also paid D'Alessio an $81,708 salary as executive director, leased a $45,665 Mercedes-Benz for him and purchased a $432,000 luxury condominium on Marco Island along Florida's Gulf Coast." New Jersey law permits the practice even though it bars former political candidates from simply taking leftover funds. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Bridge safety ratings drop despite high funding Bruce Golding, Jorge Fitz-Gibbon and Dwight R. Worley of The Journal-News used state and federal data to show that "safety ratings for the Tappan Zee Bridge have dropped back to some of the lowest levels in a decade despite an infusion of at least $316 million." The span is New York's most profitable, generating about $45 million in "excess revenues" a year, but is nearing the end of its planned 50-year life. "In addition to the drops in the deck and structural ratings, federal records show the Tappan Zee's guardrails have not met acceptable standards in three of four categories since at least 1994." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 13, 2005 Overpayments, conflict of interest plague juvenile system The Detroit News investigates a juvenile system plagued with overpayments and conflicts of interest. Using court filings and campaign records, Joel Kurth reports on findings, which include allegations of payments for fictitious youths, relatives of some county officials benefited from contracts, more than $300,000 in overpayments to contractors and hackers accessed a computer system used to verify bills. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Private money funds legislators' trips James R. Carroll of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal examined congressional travel records for Kentucky and Southern Indiana to show that "in a little more than nine years, the cost of privately paid trips for lawmakers in the area and their aides totaled nearly $1.5 million." Two Kentucky lawmakers have suspended such travel after the recent spate of stories disclosing details about the trips. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 09, 2005 Driving after losing your license not uncommon Andy Nelesen of the Green Bay Press-Gazette used county data to show that driving after losing your license (known as OAR) isn't uncommon: "In 2003 and 2004, more than 250 people racked up more than one OAR case in one year." In one extreme case, a man has been arrested for driving without a license at least 52 times since 1993. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Lack of oversight fuels fraud suspicions Miles Moffeit of The Denver Post used purchasing and accounting records to find that "since 2001, Jefferson County employees have handled millions of dollars in transactions without competitive bidding, close supervision or contracts - and sometimes in conflict with policies." In one example, the county's technology manager made $3.7 million in equipment purchases on his credit card as part of a program to build computers from parts. "The large credit-card charges are not illegal, though in some cases they appear to have violated county policy. But the lack of review over those purchases is part of a pervasive breakdown in financial oversight involving portions of the county's $500 million budget." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 08, 2005 Art collectors go untaxed in Washington An investigation by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found that "millions of dollars in purchases by Washington art collectors have gone untaxed, and that an agent's effort to collect that revenue was squelched by upper management at the Department of Revenue, then suspended late last year." A week after the Post-Intelligencer first reported the story, the Department of Revenue announced that it will begin to aggressively pursue art collectors who do not pay the taxes they owe on works purchased out of state. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post June 07, 2005 D.C. subway system suffers from mismanagement Lyndsey Layton and Jo Becker of The Washington Post obtained and reviewed documents and data on the performance of the DC-area subway system, finding that "trains break down 64 percent more often than they did three years ago, and the number of daily delays has nearly doubled since 2000. Although the vast majority of trains are on time, more than 14,400 subway riders a day are inconvenienced by a delay or a mechanical problem that forces them off broken trains." The second piece of a four-part series revealed that "time and again, records show, the public transit agency has disregarded the advice of experts and failed to address safety issues." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Stipend boosts school official's pay Rosalind Rossi of the Chicago Sun-Times, with assistance from Art Golub and Dave McKinney, used Illinois state records to find that "the highest-paid public school employee in the state last year was the No. 2 person — the man in charge of finance — at a one-school district in north suburban Lincolnshire." James Hintz took home more than $300,000 in part because of an arrangement that paid him a six-figure "stipend" for health insurance that could be used for anything. The stipend also helps to boost Hintz's pension, which is based on his compensation during his final years of employment. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Florida wetlands vanishing In a two-part series, Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite of the St. Petersburg Times report on the destruction of Florida wetlands. The Times analyzed satellite imagery to determine the acres of wetlands lost to urban development. Their investigation uncovered that the federal agency primarily responsible for regulating wetland in Florida failed to keep records on how many acres they were allowing to be destroyed and doesn't track projects they were requiring to make up for the destruction. "... since the policy took effect in 1990, at least 84,000 acres of Florida wetlands have disappeared..." The Times found a system that creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the destruction. "The corps approves more permits to destroy wetlands in Florida than any other state, and allows a higher percentage of destruction in Florida than nationally." The series includes interactive graphics and a complete methodology on how the series was done and tracks how pressure from Congress is used. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Motor Vehicle Bureaus use varies Michele McNeil of The Indianapolis Star used state data to show that "at least 30 motor vehicle license branches do as little business as those in the 12 small towns already scheduled to close." In addition, the paper found that the number of cars and trucks processed by branches fluctuates wildly. "For example, the average number of transactions handled per employee last year was 2,966 at the Virginia Avenue branch in Indianapolis, compared with an average of 9,777 at the Plainfield branch." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 June 02, 2005 Amnesty execs contribute maximum to Kerry Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Times used Federal Election Commission records finding that the top leadership of Amnesty International contributed the maximum of $2,000 to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. Amnesty International describes itself as nonpartisan. William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty USA and Joe W. "Chip" Pitts III, board chairman of Amnesty International USA, "gave the maximum $2,000 allowed by federal law to John Kerry for President." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 31, 2005 Police chases lack restrictions Eunice Trotter, Tom Spalding and Mark Nichols of The Indianapolis Star built a database of reports on police chases, showing that "police are virtually unrestricted when they chase suspects. They pursue fleeing vehicles at high speeds and usually for traffic infractions." One of five chases resulted in an injury or death, and state police chases averaged 88 mph. The paper analyzed records from nearly 1,000 chases in 2003 and 2004. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Prisoner complaints ignored by officials Norman Sinclair, Melvin Claxton and Ronald J. Hansen of The Detroit News report that "Michigan lawmakers and prison officials have stymied investigations of sexual abuse in women's prisons, stifled inmate complaints and stripped away the rights of assaulted prisoners to sue for damages." Ten years after federal officials highlighted a problem with assaults of female inmates by guards, the number of complaints has risen slightly. Some of those complaints "have lingered for months and even years, while others were closed within days without talking to crucial witnesses or the Corrections employee accused." Michigan's Corrections Department also "has left staffers with criminal backgrounds or multiple complaints of sexual abuse on the job for years." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Former security chief spent thousands on state issued gas card Eric Eyre and Scott Finn of The Charleston Gazette continue their investigation of Neal Sharp, West Virginia's former homeland security chief, reporting that "Sharp purchased gasoline with his state credit card at least 30 times on days he wasn't working." In all, Sharp charged $6,764 to his state-issued credit card between July 2003 and March 2005. "On a single day in October 2004, he purchased 38 gallons of gas during three stops at service stations in Charleston and Beckley. Another day later that month, he bought 24 gallons of gas during two stops near his home in Poca." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 27, 2005 Governor ignores clemency board recommendations Amanda J. Crawford and Ryan Konig of The Arizona Republic analyzed state records on clemency, finding that "the number of inmates recommended to the governor for shortened prison terms by the Board of Executive Clemency has skyrocketed" during the past 10 years. "But in the vast majority of cases, even in those where the trial judge agrees with the board that a sentence is too long, the governor has rejected the board's recommendations." Arizona "has more people per capita in prison than any other Western state, tougher sentencing laws than most states and no parole." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Cities, counties ignore misdemeanor warrents to save money Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle reports on why many criminals with outstanding misdemeanor warrants don't have to worry about going to jail. The KIRO-Seattle investigative team analyzed 145,000 active misdemeanor warrants in Washington. They found "a growing number of cities and counties ... don't want to pay for the cost of jail time or transportation of a criminal with a misdemeanor warrant. Instead, they routinely tell the deputy to let the criminal go right there on the spot." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 26, 2005 Sheriff deputized friends, family, supporters Christine Hanley of the Los Angeles Times reports on an Orange County Sheriff who deputized friends, family and political supporters. "Of the original 86 reserve deputies, 29 had contributed to Carona's inaugural election campaign in 1998 and his re-election campaign in 2002." The Times used hundreds of documents received through public records requests and provided by other sources, along with interviews to uncover the appointments, which were rushed to avoid tougher training requirements. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Felons registering, voting in Oklahoma Nolan Clay and John Perry of The Oklahoman used state voter data to show that "about 2,500 felons may be registered to vote. About 1,100 may have voted in last year's general election. An exact count is difficult — in part because voters sometimes sign the wrong lines in poll books." The paper found that Oklahoma election officials have ignored records on felons provided by prosecutors in and outside the state. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 State lobbyists on course towards record earnings Arthur Kane and Mark P. Couch of The Denver Post used state records to show that "Colorado lobbyists have earned more than $7.5 million so far this year, sending some of the most influential people at the statehouse well on their way to another year of record earnings." A worker's compensation measure received the most attention from lobbyists, with more than 250 lined up either for or against it. "Over the past decade, the amount special interests paid lobbyists has increased every year, nearly tripling from $7.56 million in 1995 to $20.95 million last year. During that time, lobbyists were paid $147 million to influence legislation and spent more than $14 million lobbying." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 24, 2005 Heavy trucks wearing down roads Pat Stith of The (Raleigh/Durham, N.C.) News & Observer reports on how the state relaxed laws to allow overweight trucks to destroy roads, while the enforcement of heavy trucks has also declined in the past five years. "... [S]tate lawmakers voted 10 times for bills that benefit trucking interests at the public expense." Fines for overweight trucks have dropped by half since the last legislation on the issue in 1981 and "about 100 fewer officers prowled the state's back roads to weigh trucks with portable scales or were available to work at the weigh stations on North Carolina's interstates." The series includes an interactive calculator that calculates how an overweight truck can damage the road. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 20, 2005 Domestic violence cases dropped despite attorney general order Rick Brundrett of The State continued the paper's investigation in South Carolina domestic violence cases, finding that "more than a third of the most serious criminal domestic violence cases statewide have been dropped in the four years since South Carolina's attorney general ordered prosecutors not to drop any unless absolutely necessary." That amounts to nearly 4,000 charges since July 1, 2001. Another 1,400 charges were pleaded down. "Victim advocates said the high dismissal rates partly explain why the state has led the nation in recent years in the rate of women killed by men." This follows the paper's earlier work on pre-trial intervention. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Many to blame for social programs mess Karen Augé of The Denver Post used state records to show that "nearly every agency, contractor and department that touched the state's new $200 million computer benefits system in some way contributed to its debacle." Colorado's new system was a year late when it came online last fall, and the contractor and state officials have blamed each other for its failures. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Sex offenders clustered in impoverished areas Brady Dennis and Matthew Waite of the St. Petersburg Times mapped the locations of registered offenders to show that "9 of 10 people in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties live within a half-mile of a sex offender." Most are clustered in poor areas, and state law restricts some offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 Detroit mayor spends on city's dime M.L. Elrick and Jim Shaefer of The Detroit Free Press continues their investigation into personal expenditures made by Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on the city's credit card. Numerous Freedom of Information Act requests uncovered expenditures including an $850 steakhouse dinner and $11,644 he spent on Super Bowl hotel rooms. On the mayor's first day on the job "the mayor charged $52.55 for Pearl Moon swimwear and $265 at the Four Seasons Spa for him and bodyguard Mike Martin". The story also includes information on how the story was orchestrated and what the law says about open records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Review finds hundreds of deficient bridges in Utah Lee Davidson of The Deseret Morning News used federal data to review deficient bridges in Utah. "Federal data, based on state inspections, show that 256 bridges in Utah were considered structurally deficient in 2004. Another 250 were functionally obsolete." Despite the high number of deficiencies, Utah's bridges are rated Ninth best among states, federal data shows. 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 May 17, 2005 Delay gives more to colleagues than any other legislator Jonathan Salant of Bloomberg Markets analyzed Federal Election Commission records finding that House Majority Leader Tom Delay "gave more money to U.S. congressional candidates than any lawmaker in the last decade ... the Texas representative has contributed $3.5 million to 432 congressional candidates ..." After Delay, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is next in helping out colleagues. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Dateline analyzes America's most dangerous roads Dateline NBC analyzed five years of federal crash data to uncover the deadliest roads in America. "There are 400,000 miles of two lane highways in the United States, many with a disproportionate share of accidents." The most dangerous road they found was Florida's US-19, a six-lane highway stretching 30 miles up the coast. The highway has incurred 100 fatalities in the last five years. The story includes a searchable database, searchable by state, county and road, listing road fatalities, speeding accidents and drinking related accidents. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Front-runner grabs majority of contributions Andrew Conte and Mark Houser of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review analyzed and mapped campaign contributions for the Pittsburgh mayoral race. They found that "nearly two-thirds of the $1.2 million raised by front-runner Bob O'Connor ... has come from outside the city." A lot of O'Conner's contributions were found to have come in large chunks. The story also features a graphic detailing the analysis. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 16, 2005 LAPD spends millions over overtime budget Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News obtained overtime expenditures from the Los Angeles Police Department and used Excel to analyze the data. He found that the LAPD has already overspent their overtime budget by $8 million with two months still remaining in the fiscal year. "The Los Angeles Police Department spent $62.8 million through April 30, although it had budgeted $54.7 million for 1.2 million overtime hours for the fiscal year that ends June 30, documents show." The biggest chunk of the expense was found to be from court-related activities. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 13, 2005 Highway project costing taxpayers millions more than originally projected Kimball Payne and Bob Evans of the Hampton Daily Press uses a large number of documents, maps and thousands of e-mails to investigate a federal highway project that is projected to be completed two years past the original completion date and have an added cost of twice what the Virginia Department of Transportation had projected. "E.V. Williams has already been paid $25.9 million more than its original bid of $64.7 million. By the end, VDOT estimates the added costs will double, creating a 77 percent overrun." The series is divided into eight sections: Money, Design, Delays, Infighting, Contract, Bridge, Magruder and Next. A timeline detailing "The roadmap to chaos" is also included with the piece. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Special interest groups paying for congressional travel Jeff Zeleny, Mike Dorning and Michael Tackett of the Chicago Tribune reviewed travel records for Illinois' congressional delegation, finding that "at least 835 trips taken by either Illinois Congress members or their staff highlight the uneasy intersection between private dollars and public policy that raises questions about whether a special interest group is trying to influence legislation. And there is little enforcement considering lawmakers file reports within Congress." The paper found that two Chicago Democrats had not filed any reports since 2000, despite taking at least 30 trips between them. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 12, 2005 Police fail to report missing children Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service analyzed data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find that "dozens of police departments across the nation failed to report at least 4,498 runaway, lost and abducted children in apparent violation of the National Child Search Assistance Act passed by Congress in 1990. Seventeen of these unreported children are dead, 131 are still missing." Twelve percent of the more than 37,000 children reported missing to the NCMEC between 2000 and 2004 were not reported to the FBI. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Security chief's use of plane, helicopter questioned Eric Eyre and Scott Finn of the Charleston Gazette obtained flight records showing that West Virginia homeland security chief Neal Sharp "flew on the state plane or helicopter to attend meetings, scout disaster training sites and inspect emergency equipment" nineteen times in 19 months and chartered five additional private flights, prompting a state investigation. "All told, Sharp's agency was charged for 26 trips on state aircraft and chartered planes. The flights cost more than $60,000." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 11, 2005 State spends millions transporting recovering heroin addicts Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle uses receipts for methadone delivery cabs obtained through the Open Records Act to shed light on a system that is spending millions transporting recovering heroin addicts in taxicabs. "Washington taxpayers spend $2.8 million each year for transportation of heroin addicts to treatment clinics that's over and above the cost of serving up counseling and doses of methadone." The story includes links to pdf files detailing the transportation charges by county. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Marine Corps issued flawed armor Christian Lowe of the Marine Corps Times used the Freedom of Information Act to show that "the Marine Corps issued to nearly 10,000 troops body armor that government experts urged the Corps to reject after tests revealed critical, life-threatening flaws in the vests." The Marines obtained about 19,000 pieces of armor from Point Blank Body Armor Inc. that failed government tests, with a Marine program manager signing a waiver to permit their use. The story prompted the service to issue recalls for the vests. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 09, 2005 State legislators spend lavishly due to leeway in laws Jennifer Dixon and Victoria Turk of The Detroit Free Press used state campaign finance records to show that "Michigan legislators have dipped into campaign cash to buy cars, jewelry, expensive gifts and entertainment in possible violation of federal tax codes." The IRS is investigating whether the spending, which lawmakers defend as necessary, constitutes a personal benefit. One state senator "has spent roughly $64,000 in campaign contributions to buy a sedan and a sport utility vehicle, new tires, insurance and license plate tags, and to pay for repairs." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Potential terrorism targets find lax security efforts David Kocieniewski of The New York Times uses public records to investigate the homeland security threat, specifically along a two-mile stretch, deemed the most vulnerable by terrorism experts. The investigation looked into "... a chemical plant that processes chlorine gas, so close to Manhattan that the Empire State Building seems to rise up behind its storage tanks." A reporter and photographer for The Times spent five minutes snapping photos in front of the plant without being questioned. "... New Jersey officials have spent more than $350 million in state tax money on counterterrorism, building an apparatus that is run by seasoned law enforcement experts and is generally well regarded. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 06, 2005 U.S. legislative leaders take frequent trips on corporate jets R. Jeffrey Smith and Derek Willis from The Washington Post analyzed federal campaign expenditure records to find that top congressional leaders "flew on corporate-owned jets at least 360 times from January 2001 to December 2004." Members of both parties took part in the practice, although leading Republicans flew more often than Democrats. "The records show that flights were provided by some of Washington's largest corporate interests, including tobacco, telecommunications, business consulting, securities, air transport, insurance, pharmaceutical, railroad and food companies." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 04, 2005 Fewer women in top Kentucky posts Elisabeth J. Beardsley of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal studied demographic patterns among top Kentucky officials, finding that "the share of top government posts held by women shrank when Gov. Ernie Fletcher took over from Gov. Paul Patton." Women held 36 percent of top government jobs at the end of Fletcher's first year in office, down from 42 percent in the final year of Patton's term. The Courier-Journal also studied demographics of the state legislature and state judgeships to find that women are underrepresented in both instances. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Head Start execs spend lots on trips, gifts Susan Vinella of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reviewed spending records from Ohio's largest Head Start agency to find "executives and board members spending tens of thousands on meals, trips and gifts. Many of the expenses were paid with government money that the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland receives for its annual budget, which tops $50 million." Trips to Puerto Rico and Hawaii were among the expenses detailed, as were gifts from Tiffany & Co. worth $1,300. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post May 02, 2005 Governor took gifts from lobbyists James Salzer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution used state records to show that "Gov. Sonny Perdue has championed limiting the gifts that lobbyists can give legislators and other state officials, but he has accepted airplane rides, NASCAR tickets and dinners from lobbyists." Among the gifts was a 30-mile flight to Atlanta Motor Speedway and dinner and drinks from a tobacco lobbyist. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 28, 2005 Fired officers earning compensation during long appeals John Diedrich of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that since 1994, "Milwaukee has paid more than $2.1 million in pay and benefits to 30 fired officers who were not reinstated, including six whose cases were still pending as of Friday." Fired officers don't have to repay wages earned while they appeal their firings. Milwaukee firefighters, in contrast, lose their pay while on appeal and get back pay if they are reinstated. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 26, 2005 Parolees living in state nursing homes Chris Fusco and Lori Rackl of the Chicago Sun-Times used state documents to show that sixty-one criminals on parole from the state's prison system are living in 37 nursing homes alongside vulnerable people who have virtually no way of knowing they're there. "The Sun-Times found an example of this in southwest suburban Bridgeview at Midway Neurological & Rehab Center, formerly called Century Village. Among the 404-bed facility's residents is Louis White, 35, a convicted second-degree murderer who also was convicted of sexually abusing a girl in 1999." The story provides a graphic detailing the number of offenders in each facility, age ranges of the offenders and the types of offenses the parolees committed. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post County workers cashing in on overtime Mickey Ciokajlo and Todd Lighty of the Chicago Tribune used Cook County payroll data to find that "more than 100 county workers were each paid $50,000 or more in overtime last year, with one industrious nurse pulling down $187,500 in extra pay. Oak Forest Hospital nurse Usha Patel, who earned the overtime on top of her regular $92,700 salary, also led county employees in overtime pay in 1996, when the Tribune last totaled up the tab." Overtime spending by the county has more than doubled during the past eight years. Nearly 60 employees, many in health-related jobs, doubled their regular pay through overtime. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post City officials spending with little oversight Jim Davis of The Fresno Bee used city expense reports to show that "Fresno Mayor Alan Autry and the City Council spent tens of thousands of dollars in the past four years on meals, hotel bills and other expenses with little oversight and less public debate." Autry had the city pay for 422 business meals in the first 11 months of 2004, records show. "The mayor and council members rarely turn in receipts when asking to be reimbursed for meals. The city doesn't require receipts for meals that cost less than $9 for breakfast, $14 for lunch and $19 for dinner. Almost no rules are in place to regulate how elected officials spend their expense allowances. The reimbursement form they sign each month asks only that the money be spent on 'official business.'" Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 25, 2005 City insiders' tickets dismissed at much higher rate than most Patrick Lakamp of The Buffalo News analyzed 24,000 parking ticket hearings, finding that most Buffalo residents pay the majority of their fines, whereas as a select few city insiders get their fines dismissed. "They just write letters to the city's parking enforcement director. Two-thirds of the time, their tickets go away." A deputy commissioner of jurors saved $1,205 when 95 percent of his contested fines were waived. The story also includes a sidebar detailing the city's biggest benefactor Paul G. Gaughan, deputy commissioner of jurors in Erie County. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post FEMA contracts with criminals Megan O'Matz and Sally Kestin of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that "government inspectors entrusted to enter disaster victims' homes and verify damage claims include criminals with records for embezzlement, drug dealing and robbery." The paper found the names of more than 100 inspectors for the Federal Emergency Management Agency through public and confidential sources; 30 had criminal records. "The story is the latest in the paper's investigation into FEMA's mismanagement of hurricane relief funds. Read more about the story in the upcoming May/June issue of The IRE Journal." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 22, 2005 Web site lists day-care violations, not punishments Robin Farmer of the Richmond Times-Dispatch used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate licensed day-care centers in Virginia. Parents can look-up online if their child's center has violations, but the site does not reveal whether the center has been punished for them. The Times-Dispatch found that "nearly 95 percent of 2,600 centers had at least one violation last year. There are more than 600 standards for centers to meet." The story also includes two sidebars, the first lists the day-care centers appealing their sanctions, and the second lists information that is not available on the state's Web site. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 18, 2005 U.S. implements secret policy to win over Islam David E. Kaplan of U.S. News & World Reports details how the White House is implementing a secret policy to intervene not just in the Muslim world, but within Islam itself, and how Washington has set up a program of political warfare unmatched since the height of the Cold War forty years ago. The project details how the U.S. government is quietly funding Islamic schools, mosques, think tanks, and media around the world. The piece also includes a graphic detailing the United States' projects to influence Islam globally, and two sidebars, the first describing the role of rocket scientists in the strategy, and the second examining Sufi, a moderate sect of Islam and an enemy to al-Qaeda and other extremists organizations. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 15, 2005 Armor shortage due to Pentagon missteps Joseph Tanfani, Tom Infield, Carrie Budoff and Edward Colimore of The Philadelphia Inquirer studied the availability of armor for military vehicles in Iraq, finding a shortage "had more to do with Pentagon missteps than any lack of industrial capacity." The importance of vehicle armor is highlighted in casualties: "Since May 1, 2003, when the United States declared an end to major combat operations, attacks on vehicles have accounted for as many as 40 percent of the 1,037 deaths of soldiers attributed to hostile action." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 14, 2005 Housing authority spending practices questioned Brian Meyer of The Buffalo News used city records to show that "the agency that runs public housing in Buffalo set aside nearly $124,000 last July for trips, credit card spending, cell phones, insurance and stipends for its seven volunteer commissioners for this fiscal year. ... This is the same Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority that plans to abolish its police force and lay off all 26 officers by July 1 in order to balance its budget." Among the perks are health and dental insurance for five of the seven commissioners. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post House members hire family, pay with campaign funds Larry Margasak and Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press reviewed federal campaign filings to find that "dozens of lawmakers have hired their spouses and children to work for their campaigns and political groups, paying them with contributions they've collected from special interests and other donors." The AP identified about 50 House members who pay their spouses or children to work on campaigns and raise money for them. Similarly, Richard Simon, Chuck Neubauer and Rone Tempest of the Los Angeles Times found that "at least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds." Both stories were possible because House members file electronic reports; senators do not. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 13, 2005 Connections land luxury seating at professional sporting events Marcia Gelbart of The Philadelphia Inquirer used city records to show that more than 1,000 seats in luxury suites at professional baseball and football games went "mostly to people with clout." Among the top recipients were members of the city council, aides to Mayor John Street and members of his family. Street has distributed another 72 tickets to non-profit groups and police officers. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post State officials hire relatives Tim Smith of The Greenville News used state records to show that "relatives of two South Carolina Department of Transportation commissioners have been hired at the agency, but the board members said there was nothing improper about their employment." The two relatives are part-time employees, but one has worked for the agency since 1999 and earns about $50,000 a year for her 20-hour-a-week position helping direct a training program. The paper used the state's Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 12, 2005 State official under investigation after defects went undetected Jason Method of the Asbury Park Press reported Sunday that a construction official charged in an FBI bribery sting also is under investigation by a state agency for failing to detect several potentially deadly defects at a townhouse complex, such as inadequate fire walls. Residents also complained about other serious defects, including carbon monoxide leaking into a house from a natural gas-fired water heater that was installed without an exhaust pipe. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 11, 2005 FEMA paid for too many funerals Sally Kestin, Megan O'Matz and John Maines of the Sun-Sentinel used federal records to show that "the federal government has paid funeral expenses for at least 315 deaths" in the wake of hurricanes in South Florida last year, "including those of a man who shot himself and a stroke victim hospitalized more than a week before the last storm hit." A state official said that the actions of the Federal Emergency Management Agency constituted a "Free Funeral Payment Act". The total cost of the funerals was $1.27 million, according to the paper's analysis of FEMA data. The paper is suing to force disclosure of the names of all recipients of FEMA aid related to the hurricanes. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post April 08, 2005 County practice of selling brains scrutinized Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle uncovered, using the state's Open Records Act, an alarming trade arrangement between the county medical examiner's office and a medical research institute for human brain specimens. "In the past seven years, the medical examiner's office received more than $1 million for collecting brains of people with schizophrenia. In return for the money, county pathologists shipped at least 180 brains to a private research facility." The investigation also exposed a practice that only requires consent by phone to get the okay from family members for "brain-tissue donation." The story includes links to the text of the agreement between Stanley Institute and the King County medical examiner, charts detailing money paid by Stanley Institute and the medical examiner, and an e-mail from a county official explaining the county's position on the matter. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 City purchases raise questions Sarah Bahari of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviewed spending data for the city of Southlake, finding that city employees spent about $77,000 in 2004 at Lowe's and Home Depot stores. "Employees routinely bought inexpensive items — screws, shovels, trash bags and cleaning supplies. They also made pricier purchases — dozens of pieces of plywood, a washing machine, drills and concrete mix. A handful of times, records suggest, employees divided purchases among multiple trips, possibly to sidestep competitive bidding. Southlake was unable to provide complete documentation showing why employees needed some items, and purchase orders were filled out one week to three months after the actual purchase, documents show. It is impossible to determine whether every purchase was appropriate." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 April 05, 2005 Highly connected, highly paid official's job questioned Sean P. Murphy and Connie Paige of The Boston Globe tracked the activities of Massachusetts' director of the Department of Labor, Angelo R. Buonopane, finding that his "work days average two hours and 51 minutes, according to Globe reporters who observed him over a series of days during February and March. On many days he does not come in at all." Buonopane, who earns $108,000 a year, "has no obvious duties. ... Last week, a spokesman for Secretary of Economic Development Ranch C. Kimball, to whom Buonopane reports, could not provide a description of Buonopane's duties." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Legislators took gifts, trips from lobbyists Nolan Clay of The Oklahoman used state disclosure reports to find that "Oklahoma politicians, their aides and relatives accepted at least $125,000 worth of meals, drinks, football tickets and other gifts last year." Many of the freebies were associated with the state's college athletic programs, including season tickets to football games at Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State University. Golf outings and tickets to the NCAA Final Four basketball games were among the other gifts given by lobbyists and colleges. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 30, 2005 Emergency fund used by legislators Eric Eyre and Scott Finn of the Charleston Gazette examined records of a contingency fund controlled by West Virginia's governor, finding that "Hardy County received $6.7 million from the contingency fund since 1997 - more than any county in the state - even though the county ranks 42nd out of 55 counties in population." The link? Delegate Harold K. Michael, D-Hardy, chairman of the House of Delegates Finance Committee, which helps steer the contingency money. "The governor's contingency fund was set up to help out West Virginians during disasters — floods, fires and ice storms. But during the past eight years, more than $72 million has been spent on items that were hardly emergencies." A PDF chart shows how much went to recipients in each county. Another story details $8 million in state education funds that state officials didn't request. "Legislative leaders won't say exactly what they earmarked the money for. And state schools Superintendent David Stewart doesn't have a clue about the purpose of the funds. Stewart said the $8 million came with just one caveat: that it can be released only on orders from Harold K. Michael, D-Hardy, chairman of the House of Delegates Finance Committee." 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 Oil tanker regulations ignored, trimmed back Eric Nalder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated the inner-workings of a tanker fleet owned by the third-largest oil company in the nation, ConocoPhillips. The series was inspired by a mystery spill in Puget Sound. The company had denied that its ship, the Polar Texas, was the spiller, while the U.S. Coast Guard said the oil matched the vessel's cargo. The investigation revealed a much wider pattern, that on the West Coast important reforms following Exxon Valdez spill are being undermined, ignored, violated and, in the case of tug escorts, trimmed back through the influence of the oil company. The P-I revealed through interviews and internal company documents a wide pattern of misconduct and dangerous behavior aboard a number of the company's huge ships, vessels that regularly carry nearly 40 million gallons of oil over some of the roughest seas in the world to refinery ports in Washington and California. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 24, 2005 Detroit high on list of top spenders Kathleen Gray and Marisol Bello of The Detroit Free Press used federal data to show that "Detroit spends more on city government than most of the nation's big cities." The city ranks fourth in government employees per capita and fifth in overall general fund spending per capita, "behind New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago, spending $1.7 million for every 1,000 residents." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Mayor spends taxpayer money on meals Joseph L. Wagner and Martin Stolz of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reviewed local records to show that "Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden has dunned taxpayers for more than $20,000 for meals over four years, including $1,943 for 66 private meals he had with his assistant, Tina Turick." The mayor of neighboring Solon also spent thousands on meals and gifts during the past five years. "Beachwood City Council's Finance Committee has never examined Gorden's credit card statements, said Chairman Fredric Goodman. He said that over the years, he looked at a few of Gorden's credit card statements, but he asked no questions." 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 City program accountability questioned Toni Coleman of the St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed data on the city's Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grant program, finding that "accountability under STAR is uneven because of the program's complicated structure. Most projects go through a structured review process, for example, but individual City Council members circumvent that if they want. In addition, some of the money is earmarked for cultural improvements, but city officials have a pattern of breaking their own guidelines for how to use it." The city council has taken some of the STAR money and given council members the right to dispense it as they want, often under less scrutiny. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 22, 2005 FOI requests improve, but some agencies still lag Colleen Krantz of The Des Moines Register and Janet Rorholm of The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette report that a newspaper audit of public records in Iowa shows that "law enforcement agencies in Iowa provided greater access to their public documents during a recent investigation by Iowa newspapers than the agencies did five years ago, yet police departments and sheriff offices still violated the law by withholding records about a third of the time." City clerks and county government agencies provided better access to records this time, according to the audit, which was assisted by Drake University journalism students. A searchable database of results is available. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 21, 2005 Chicago recycling program success exagerated Laurie Cohen and Dan Mihalopoulos of the Chicago Tribune, along with Gary Washburn, used city records to show that "less paper, plastic, metals and other recyclables were salvaged from Chicago's household garbage in the last two years than at any time since the program's earliest years." The paper's investigation found that the city "has quietly begun allowing nearly 30 percent of Chicago's residential waste to bypass the expensive sorting centers built a decade ago to pull out recyclables." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 18, 2005 State officials overspending, despite fiscal crisis Louis Hansen and David Gulliver of The Virginian-Pilot obtained spending records from Virginia's Department of Game & Inland Fisheries showing that "officials regularly traveled to conventions, bought expensive sporting goods and routinely exceeded limits on their state-issued charge cards ... Oversight of the department's use of charge cards appeared lax: 19 different employees exceeded their state-imposed monthly limits, many repeatedly." The spending came at a time when Virginia agencies were instructed to hold down spending. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Legislators double salaries with expense checks Bonna de la Cruz of The (Nashville) Tennessean analyzed state data to find that "twenty-seven Midstate lawmakers double their salaries or better by collecting state expense checks whether they incur the expenses or not. The expense checks - which are taxed by the IRS as income because they are not linked to any documented cost - add as much as $28,000 to the $16,500 official salary paid to legislators." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 16, 2005 PACs make up large chunk of campaign contributions Jennifer Talhelm of The (Columbia) State reviewed campaign contributions to South Carolina state lawmakers during the final six months of 2004, finding that "36 cents of every dollar ... given to House and Senate lawmakers in the last two reporting periods of 2004 was tied to businesses, PACs or other special interest groups. During that time, a third of lawmakers raised all or almost all their campaign money from such groups. PACs and businesses legally can give up to $1,000 per election." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Expunged records raise concern over judicial fairness Steve Myers of the Mobile Register reveals the existence of hundreds of court cases where convictions were removed from the public record. "The practice of expunging records came to the forefront recently due to the case of Mobile County school board President David Thomas, who was arrested for drunken driving in 1998. Before he was ever scheduled to appear in court, a Mobile municipal judge ordered that Thomas stay out of trouble for a year and that the DUI record be expunged. The file was held from public view until recently, when the Mobile Register learned of its existence and asked that it be opened. Hundreds of other expunged city cases - 268 last year alone, according to police - remain closed and are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Register." The practice appears to happen much less frequently in the state courts. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 11, 2005 Problem cops keep badges through troubled system Ron Menchaca and Glenn Smith of the Charleston Post and Courier investigated South Carolina's agency that oversees law enforcement, finding "endemic failures in the state's system for tracking police officers that allow problem cops to keep their badges despite histories of misconduct and even criminal behavior... Until three years ago, the state turned a blind eye toward misconduct, allowing police departments to hire virtually whomever they wanted. Being charged with serious crimes such as manslaughter, kidnapping and criminal domestic violence didn't stop some cops from finding law enforcement work in South Carolina." A second story shows how problem cops keep getting hired in South Carolina, while a third details how budget cuts have hampered the state's ability to police its own police. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 09, 2005 Millions misspent by housing authority Michael Biesecker and Pat Stith of the Raleigh News & Observer reviewed records from the Durham Housing Authority, finding that the agency "improperly spent millions for temporary labor, auto repair, landscaping and legal advice. Other financial records requested by The N&O are missing, officials say." The authority paid more than $2.3 million for temporary workers without soliciting bids for the work or signing contracts. In contrast, Raleigh's housing authority paid $183,960 on similar work between 2000 and 2004. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Nonprofits not required to follow sunshine laws Matthew Hirsch of the San Francisco Bay Guardian investigated nonprofit city contracts and found that San Francisco is spending billions on nonprofit contracts without adequate oversight. "Since 2002 ... the city has distributed more than $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations ..." The nonprofits receiving the contracts, unlike city agencies, do not have to comply with sunshine laws. "They're run by nonelected boards that often meet behind closed doors, effectively making public policy decisions without direct public input or oversight." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 08, 2005 Officials fail to act on abuse claims Michelle Roberts of The Oregonian found that warnings about abusive behavior by state parole officer Michael Lee Boyles went unheeded for years, and Oregon officials acted only after the suicide of a young man supervised by Boyles. "State officials received repeated and detailed warnings from a family raising concerns about Boyles and his behavior with another boy on his caseload. The warnings, received and responded to at a high level within the juvenile department, were earlier and more detailed than previously known. Top juvenile department officials promised to investigate Boyles, according to a letter sent to the family, and to remove the child in question from his caseload. But documents show neither happened." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 07, 2005 Delays, inconsistencies plague veteran affairs Chris Adams and Alison Young of Knight-Ridder Newspapers sued the Veterans Administration to obtain records never before released to the public. They showed that "injured soldiers who petition the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for those payments are often doomed by lengthy delays, hurt by inconsistent rulings and failed by the veterans representatives who try to help them." Knight-Ridder compiled a database comparing VA regional offices, finding "wildly inconsistent results" in providing care to vets. Ted Mellnik of the Charlotte Observer assisted with formatting the database for display on the Web site; here's how the series was done. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Serious workplace violation fines low Marc Chase of The (Northwest Indiana) Times used OSHA data to investigate workplace safety violations. They found "that fines at or below the minimum are the rule, not the exception, in cases involving what OSHA considers serious violations. The average fine from 1991 to 2003 was $862.74 per serious violation, $637.26 less than the minimum of the penalty range during that time period." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 04, 2005 New York City employees still use cars, despite mayor's boast David Seifman of the New York Post obtained city records to show that "more city workers are commuting in their government-owned cars, despite Mayor Bloomberg's boast that his administration is slashing spending while maintaining services." The number of civilian NYC employees who commuted in their city-provided cars increased 11 percent from 2003, even as the overall workforce increased only slightly. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 03, 2005 Ohio drunk driver program flawed Sheila McLaughlin of The Cincinnati Enquirer evaluated an Ohio program that requires drunk drivers to put special license plates on their vehicles, finding that "a year after Ohio started requiring the special tags, a sampling of more than 300 local cases and interviews with lawyers, judges, police officers and legislators indicate that the law is unevenly administered, enforced and monitored." Among the problems are that repeat offenders don't always get the plates and that police have no way to track who has them or should. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 02, 2005 Land deals raise nepotism concerns J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal used local property records to find that the grandson of a former Las Vegas mayor has been able to quickly profit from land deals that may have involved inaccurate appraisals. Scott Gragson "has obtained a total of 104 parcels in 20 land exchanges with the county. In each case, he gave the county privately held land that had been appraised at an equal value. Raising the question of whether inaccurate appraisals have shortchanged the public, Gragson has been able to flip at least 10 of the 104 parcels for profit less than a week after acquisition." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Problems with judiciary system plague city Jerry Mitchell of The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger reports that the Hinds County judicial system "at times resembles an elephant balancing on toothpicks. A yearlong investigation by The Clarion-Ledger has uncovered many long-term problems that have not been addressed." The county had fewer prosecutors and fewer indictments in 2004 than similar-sized cities. "Between 1998 and 2003, the percentage of dismissed cases increased from one in five to one in three. That includes dismissals, inactive and remanded to files. That means if a suspect is indicted today in Hinds County, he has a one in three chance of seeing his charges go away." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post March 01, 2005 Prison health care company faces harsh criticism Paul von Zielbauer of The New York Times spent a year investigating Prison Health Services, a private company that provides medical care in many of New York's state prisons. "A yearlong examination of Prison Health by The New York Times reveals repeated instances of medical care that has been flawed and sometimes lethal. The company's performance around the nation has provoked criticism from judges and sheriffs, lawsuits from inmates' families and whistle-blowers, and condemnations by federal, state and local authorities. The company has paid millions of dollars in fines and settlements." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 24, 2005 Unsafe bridges put public safety at risk Dani Dodge of the Ventura County Star used Federal Highway Administration data to show that "twenty-eight of Ventura County's 485 bridges are considered 'structurally deficient' ... Bringing just 15 of those bridges up to standard would cost $50 million." A map shows the location of the troubled spans, and a sidebar describes the condition of bridges nationwide. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post 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 February 17, 2005 High donations pour in through campaign finance loophole Michael Cooper of The New York Times found gaps in New York's campaign finance laws. "Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money." The Times uncovered a growing number of corporate donors topping the $100,000 mark, well above the $5,000 corporate limit for state campaigns. "Several election lawyers said that sending money directly from housekeeping accounts to individual campaigns appeared to be illegal. But Lee K. Daghlian, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said the law does not specifically prohibit such transfers, so they are permissible in some cases, as long as they do not violate contribution limits." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Local government pays big for unsuccessful game Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "more than $1.5 million of taxpayers' money has been spent subsidizing a lightly attended college football game played annually at Qualcomm Stadium since 1999." The Gold Coast Classic continues to receive government support despite a series of unpaid bills during the past several years. "The city apparently didn't know there were that many claims and judgments against the Gold Coast game." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 16, 2005 Cost overruns deplete constuction funds Dunstan McNichol of The (Newark) Star-Ledger analyzed data from New Jersey's School Construction Corporation since 2002, finding that "the six urban projects under the SCC have cost, on average, 45 percent more than 19 schools built without the agency's oversight during the same period." One-fifth of the spending is due to massive cost overruns and change orders on repairs. The SCC's chief, Jack Spencer, said urban schools cost more to build and that "numbers are like little children; you can make them say anything you want them to say." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 15, 2005 High pay for civilian contractors Kevin Begos and Phoebe Zerwick of the Winston-Salem Journal used details from federal contracts to contractors in Iraq to calculate a basic labor rate of $350,000 a year for a "liaison officer under the contract that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Charlotte's Zapata Engineering to help dispose of captured munitions. It's 10 times what the average soldier or member of the National Guard earns, even for full combat duty." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 10, 2005 FOI investigation finds most comply, but not entirely Mark Chellgren of the Associated Press reported on an investigation led by the Kentucky Press Association and the Associated Press into "whether public offices are allowing citizens to view government documents. The investigation "showed most are obeying the state's Open Records Act, but compliance is not uniform." The results were mixed, varying from a smile for a city budget request to intimidation when requesting a list of current inmates at the Motgomery County Jail. Also included is a list of participants in the investigation, as well as a section on how the investigation was done. Jim Hannah of The Kentucky Enquirer, Gregory A. Hall of The Courier-Journal, Herb Brock of The Advocate-Messenger and Bill Estep and Lee Mueller, both of the Lexington Herald-Leader, followed up the AP story with their conclusions to the investigation. They found that cities responded the best to public record requests, while jailers were the worst. "Kentucky turned down requests to see a list of inmates seven out of 10 times, the Oct. 21 audit showed." 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 Home-health care problems put patients at risk Paul Garber and Danielle Deaver of the Winston-Salem Journal investigated home-health care in North Carolina, finding that "fewer than 200 of the 1,200 agencies licensed to provide home-health care in North Carolina are inspected on a regular basis," and there were more than 400 reported cases of abuse, neglect or theft by employees since 2000. In addition, "home-health agencies - unlike nursing homes, adult-care homes and mental-health group homes - are free to hire people listed on a state registry of workers who have committed such offenses against patients." The paper built a database of state inspections and criminal claims that can be browsed. 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 School aid declining in Ohio Doug Oplinger and Dennis J. Willard of the Akron Beacon Journal used state data to show that spending in some Ohio school districts has declined in the past two years after five years of increases. "Data obtained from the Ohio Department of Education show that in the 2003-04 school year, one in three districts had fewer inflation-adjusted dollars to spend per pupil than in 2001-02. That counts state and local money plus the small share that comes from the federal government." Smaller revenues combined with increasing enrollment is raising the prospect of higher local taxes to pay for schools. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Fire response times on the rise Bill Dedman investigated nationwide fire department response times, staffing, and civilian and firefighter fatalities for The Boston Globe and found that while firefighters are being laid off and fire stations are closing, firefighters are taking longer to respond to fire alarms. Among the resources Dedman used was a database called the National Fire Incident Reporting System, maintained by the U.S. Fire Administration. The online presentation includes a ranking of fire departments, supporting documents and spreadsheets. 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 Sex offenders living near schools Robin Erb of The (Toledo) Blade used Ohio's sexual offender registry to show that "one in four of Lucas County's more than 600 registered sex offenders live within 1,000 feet of a school," a violation of state law. The paper used mapping software to plot the residences of sex offenders and their distance from schools in the Toledo area. "The problem is this: While laying out the new rule, lawmakers never gave sheriff's deputies the power to enforce it. It only allows neighbors or school boards to go to court and ask a judge to order an offender living within that proximity to move." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post February 02, 2005 Taxpayer money used to repay loan on senator's land Chris Casteel and Tony Thornton of The Oklahoman used federal campaign finance data and local property records to show that "Oklahoma taxpayer money was used in 2002 to buy property in McAlester from then-state Sen. Gene Stipe, a transaction that allowed him to repay a $50,000 loan that had been illegally funneled into the 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts." The price was more than double the property's assessed value at the time. "Taxpayer money was directed to the project from the city of McAlester and from the state, when Stipe was still a powerful senator." Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post January 28, 2005 Panel warned of attacks 30 years ago Frank Bass and Randy Herschaft of The Associated Press, using declassified documents, found that a panel established by President Nixon warned of dirty bombs and the vulnerability of commercial jets. "The panel's experts fretted that terrorists might gather loose nuclear materials for a "dirty bomb" that could devastate an American city by spreading lethal radioactivity across many blocks." The panel was established in the wake of the 1972 terrorist attacks at the Olympics in Munich. The full panel met only once, but its experts gathered twice a month over nearly five years to identify threats and debate solutions. Links to key documents (PDF) are provided. Direct LINK to This Extra! Extra! Post Agency withholds Iraq contract details Kevin Begos of the Winston-Salem Journal reports on the secrecy surrounding a "$236 million contract |
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