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By Gavin Off, Tulsa World I drive by an elementary school on my way to work every day. More than once there’s been a police cruiser idling in the school’s parking lot with lights flashing and the officer standing nearby. Although those incidents never involved a major crime, on several occasions this year the Tulsa…
Read MoreIn its on-going watchdog series “Clout Goes To College,” the Chicago Tribune reveals a “jobs-for-entry scheme” at the University of Illinois’ law school. Internal emails “show for the first time efforts to seek favors — in this case, jobs — for admissions, the most troubling evidence yet of how Illinois’ entrenched system of patronage crept…
Read MoreRenae Merle of The Washington Post reports that a backlog of delinquent mortgages threatens the nation’s economic recovery. “It masks the full extent of the foreclosure crisis and threatens to depress prices even further just as some parts of the country are hinting at recovery. For lenders, it could portend even more financial losses tied…
Read MoreRon Koziol, a co-founder of Investigative Reporters and Editors and a member of the Arizona Project team, died Saturday, June 13, of congestive heart failure. He was 74. Koziol was a longtime police reporter at the Chicago Tribune. In 1975 he helped found IRE, and he was a member of the group of reporters who…
Read MoreDavid Cay Johnston, author and journalist, and Leonard Downie Jr. of The Washington Post won seats on the IRE Board of Directors at the 2009 IRE Conference in Baltimore. (See voting results online) Four incumbent candidates were re-elected to the 13-member board: Lise Olsen of The Houston Chronicle, Cheryl Phillips of The Seattle Times, broadcast…
Read MoreAn investigation into the Church of Scientology by Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin of The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times alleges “a culture of intimidation and violence” under the church’s leader, David Miscavige. The Times interviewed “executives who for decades were key figure in Scientology’s powerful inner circle.” Church leaders have refuted the claims made…
Read MoreCompanies that received multimillion-dollar deals with CalPERS, California’s giant public pension fund, pumped more than $300,000 into a union campaign fund overseen by Sean Harrigan while the long-time California labor leader was one of the giant pension fund’s board members from 2000-2004, The Sacramento Bee’s Andrew McIntosh reported in an examination of the deals.
Read MoreExecutive Privilege, a series by The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), detailed questionable dealings by former North Carolina governor, Mike Easley. “Starting in 2003, Easley took at least 25 flights on private jets, some in apparent violation of campaign laws and ethics rules, documents and interviews show. Some flights were free. The value of others…
Read MoreRon Koziol, a co-founder of Investigative Reporters and Editors and a member of the Arizona Project team, died Saturday, June 13, of congestive heart failure. He was 74. Koziol was a longtime police reporter at the Chicago Tribune. In 1975 he helped found IRE, and he was a member of the group of reporters who…
Read More“Of the 2.1 billion gallons of water that flowed through city water mains in fiscal year 2007-2008, 26 percent went unbilled – or unaccounted – for,” according to an analysis of utility records by The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.). Based on the retail rate of water in Panama City, the lost revenue from the…
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