How was your NICAR26?
Charles Forelle and James Bandler of The Wall Street Journal analyzed grant dates and stock movements and identified several companies with wildly improbable option-grant patterns. “The analysis bolsters recent academic work suggesting that backdating was widespread, particularly from the start of the tech-stock boom in the 1990s through the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform act of 2002.…
Read MoreAbraham Hyatt and Leslie Griffy of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, Calif., found that cities throughout that county don’t follow state law when it comes to public records requests. “Only one of the county’s seven cities supplied both of the public documents that The Tribune sought. Reporters asked for a directory of city employees’…
Read MoreMonica Rhor of The Orange County Register surveyed all 58 California counties and found widespread discrepancies in how the state’s restraining order laws are being enforced. The system has become a legal labyrinth in which rules aren’t the same as reality, procedures differ from courthouse to courthouse, and violators often benefit more than victims. “Eleven…
Read MoreHerb Jackson of the North Jersey Media Group analyzed five years’ worth of contribution and spending reports to show that, of the nearly $9.4 million Sen. Robert Menendez spent, less than one-quarter — or $2.2 million — went for expenses that most voters would consider actual campaigning, such as advertising, yard signs and bumper stickers.…
Read MoreRosalind Rossi, Mark J. Konkol and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated Chicago’s public high schools that are troubled by incidents of violence. “Wells, Hyde Park and Clemente are among eight high schools that each received more than 150 students from the attendance areas of troubled schools now tapped for closure and eventual rebirth.”…
Read MoreStuart Pfeifer and Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times investigated Gary Nalbandian, a seemingly political fundraiser in Southern California, and found band of donors have gotten badges and titles from law enforcement officials after raising tens of thousands of dollars. The granting of badges and titles to political supporters creates the appearance that they…
Read MoreDan Laidman and Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News used records from the City Attorney’s Office to show that, despite a decade of efforts to end harassment and discrimination within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the agency still faces frequent costly lawsuits. The number has ebbed and flowed over the years, but rose…
Read MoreSteve Painter and Brent D. Wistrom of The Wichita Eagle analyzed campaign reports and found gambling contributions to legislative campaigns over six years were up by more than 300 percent, while the same period saw no change in Kansas’ gambling laws. Well-financed gambling interests are waging an increasingly expensive political war over where Kansans will…
Read MoreKaren 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…
Read MoreRonald Campbell of The Orange County Register reviewed more than 10,000 pages of court records, financial reports and other documents and found that former associates of imprisoned charity telemarketing king Mitch Gold have raised more than $83 million in four years for dubious charities. Fundraisers and managers kept almost all the cash, leaving just 7…
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