Susan Carroll Fellowship
Bill Dedman of MSNBC.com reports that the U.S. government took 5 years to react to warnings made in 2000 that firefighters’ PASS alarms were failing to perform as intended. These units sound an alarm and flash lights if a firefighter has been motionless for 30 seconds. Documents made public under the Freedom of Information Act…
Read MoreDave Savini of CBS 2 – Chicago investigates a breach of security at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Insufficient tracking of employee ID badges at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport have created a gaping hole in airport security. The badges enable employees of the airport to access high-security areas without being screened . A database obtained from Chicago’s Department…
Read MoreInvestigative Reporter Jeremy Rogalski and the 11 Investigates team discovered that local general aviation airports in the Houston area have almost no security funding or regulation. As a result, the team was easily able to walk onto unattended small and medium-size jets. One expert described the planes as “flying weapon(s)” because they could be used…
Read MoreWriting 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 “
Read MoreJohn Brennan and Jeff Pillets at The (Bergen County, NJ) Record went deep into the financial underpinnings of a developer’s promise to transform the state’s most infamous landmark from smelly garbage dumps and swamps into an Emerald City of golf courses, luxury condos and resort hotels. They emerged with a compelling story about the way…
Read MoreIn 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…
Read MoreRichard 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…
Read MoreA three-day series by Andy Hall of the Wisconsin State Journal looks at budget cuts in Wisconsin schools which threaten funding aimed to aid vulnerable students. Citing a lack of money, increasing numbers of Wisconsin schools are pulling out of a state program credited with boosting the scores of vulnerable poor and minority students. In…
Read MoreThomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service found that the average weight of NFL athletes dropped more than a pound last year, reversing a 20-year trend in which pro football’s behemoths steadily gained bulk at the rate of more than a pound per man per year. According to the Scripps Howard News Service study of…
Read MoreMichael 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…
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