Posts by hdcoadmin
Data links sports success and affluent booster clubs
As school sports leaders prepare to discuss new rules regarding booster club spending, Eric D. Williams of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., used data analysis to help demonstrate how money influences a school’s ability to produce winning teams and state champions. The newspaper surveyed state title winners from Class 3A and 4A schools from…
Read MoreArizona 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…
Read MoreNumerous South Florida restaurants cited for critical health code violations
Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that nearly 2,500 restaurants in South Florida were cited for critical violations by state inspectors between July 2006 and January 2007. Since 1997, there has been a 66 percent increase in the number of confirmed food-borne illnesses tied to restaurants. “In December, the state issued disciplinary…
Read MoreUnethical deals in N.J. school district
John Froonjian of The Press in Atlantic City, N.J., dug into insurance contracts in the Pleasantville school district to uncover a web of insider deals and millions wasted in a struggling district that gets two-thirds of its funding from the state. The Press found that in Pleasantville, school board contracts, political fundraising and private jobs…
Read MoreThe politics of life and death
Dan Horn of The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed the 6th Circuit court’s death-penalty decisions since 2000 to show that 6th Circuit judges consistently voted along partisan lines, and that “a federal death-penalty appeal can be a game of chance.” A review of every 6th circuit death penalty decision since 2000 found that judges appointed by Republican…
Read MoreDecreasing enrollment in Denver Public Schools
Burt Hubbard and Nancy Mitchell of Rocky Mountain News found that about a fourth of school-age children ages 5 to 17 in Denver don’t attend the city’s public schools. Analyzing data from Denver Public Schools, suburban school districts, private schools and the U.S. Census Bureau, the study found that an estimated 15,700 students bypassed Denver…
Read MoreFBI’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…
Read MoreRecurring health violations uncovered in NC university cafeteria
In a quick-hit investigation, Corey G. Johnson of the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, uncovered a history of sanitation violations in the Methodist University student cafeteria. “Since Sodexho opened the Green and Gold Cafe in October 2002, 19 inspection reports have pointed to recurring improper sanitation of food contact surfaces and the need to use approved cleaning…
Read MoreQuestions raised about Marine deaths at an-Nasiriyah
Eric Longabardi of ERSNews.com reports on exclusive photos from the battle at an-Nasiriyah in Iraq. Additional photographs used in the Pentagon’s investigation were obtained by ERSNews.com through a FOIA request. The battle, in which 18 Marines were killed, is the largest single loss of American troops since the beginning of the war in Iraq. While…
Read MoreNC 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,…
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