For an investigation of foreclosure rescue schemes, the San Diego Union-Tribune analyzed all quitclaim deeds filed in San Diego County between January 2007 and October 2008. The investigation led reporter Eleanor Yang Su to Apocalypse and Amerisian trusts, which are ran by convicted felon Edmundo Rubi. According to the article, “In some operations, homeowners quitclaimed…
Read MoreMatthew Hendrickson wrote a three-part series showing how Chicago children continue to be harmed by lead poisoning at alarming rates because of bureaucratic missteps — from kids being screened late to frustrated inspectors not having correct street addresses when tracking down those most at risk. Hendrickson also tested soil samples and found troubling amounts of…
Read MoreTisha Thompson at WTTG-Washington, D.C., found more than one-third of federal judges are at least 70 years old, the age at which the majority of states require their judges to retire. One judge is more than 101 years old and still hearing a full case load. Thompson created an interactive Web site with state-by-state comparisons…
Read MoreA 10-month investigation by producer Lauren Sweeney and reporter Melissa Yeager at WINK-Fort Meyers helped change policy at Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice. A worker at a juvenile justice center for kids with drug abuse and mental problems blew the whistle on his supervisor for obtaining a prescription for powerful painkillers from the staff doctor. Two separate…
Read MoreCary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that hundreds of loan brokers in Wisconsin have criminal records, including ex-drug dealers, armed robbers and a killer. In his latest installment of the ongoing “Easy Money” series, Spivak mined state and court records to find that many of these license holders have gone on to defraud…
Read MoreAn analysis of bank financial statements by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University and msnbc.com, sheds new light on just how dangerous conditions have become in many banks across the nation. Information is available on the BankTracker site and a related msnbc.com story by Bill Dedman.
Read MoreFollowing a disturbing pattern of child deaths, Brad Branan of The Fresno Bee investigated the Fresno County Child Protective Services. “Among California’s 20 biggest counties, Fresno County is one of the worst when it comes to meeting standards for child protection, The Bee found in an analysis of state data. The county’s Child Protective Services…
Read More“Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death” was a 14-month project using mortality records maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of 40,000 mysterious infant deaths over a 12-year period disclosed chaotic procedures police and coroners use to investigate unexpected deaths that usually are diagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The project went…
Read MoreSeveral Web sites and documents can help journalists track federal stimulus spending and the ongoing economic turmoil, according to Ron Nixon, a reporter for The New York Times. Taxpayers for Common Sense aims to provide more transparency in government spending. USA Spending is the federal government’s site for tracking all federal contracts, grants and awards.…
Read MoreIn the latest developments from the The Columbus Dispatch series “Test of Convictions,” a Columbus man was declared innocent and freed from prison after serving 25 years. He is the second inmate to be tested and released as part of the ongoing investigation of inmate DNA testing. Ohio lawmakers are introducing a bill with sweeping…
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