The early bird deadline for 
It's time for the NICAR 2026 T-shirt contest!
A running investigation by The Fresno (Calif.) Bee found that Fresno County had millions of dollars worth of contracts with Genesis Family Center, a nonprofit social-service agency headed by two sisters who had been convicted of embezzling the agency’s money. Even after the convictions, the agency continued to engage in questionable spending practices, such as…
Read MorePresident Obama has nominated several top campaign contributors for ambassadorships, according to a report by Jonathan D. Salant and Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg.com. “Even with his pledges to change government, Obama is following the tradition of his predecessors by offering some ambassadorships to top campaign backers, including four of the 12 nominations this week. The…
Read MorePaul Sloth, a reporter with The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., proved that a little hands-on CAR training can go a long way. Less than a month after attending the optional CAR training at a Better Watchdog Workshop in Madison, he’s already completed two spreadsheet-based stories. After only a few hours of training in Excel,…
Read More“The Pentagon spent more than $2.7 billion on ‘miscellaneous items’ in 2008 for which the contractor was listed as ‘not available’ — a rare omission for Defense Department documentation — according to an Aerospace Daily analysis of an independent national database of government contracting data,” according to a report by Michael Fabey of Aerospace Daily…
Read MoreA six-month Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch investigation found that a 35-year-old federal law created to protect academic records is being used at some schools to shield athletics-related documents including NCAA violations. Reporters Todd Jones and Jill Riepenhoff sent public-record requests to all 119 colleges in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division 1-A) to gauge their openness…
Read MoreAn investigation by CNN’s Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost led to a major policy change in how much the U.S. Postal Service will pay for an employee’s home. The investigation also prompted an inspector general’s review that criticized how much the agency spends to relocate employees. CNN revealed how the agency was buying homes costing…
Read MoreWhile early-bird registration has ended, you have not missed your opportunity to attend this great training event. On-site registrations will be accepted beginning Wednesday evening from 4-6 p.m. and will continue Thursday – Saturday during the conference, being held at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, 700 Aliceanna Street. Learn from the best in the business, including…
Read MoreThe Statesman Journal recently ran a two-day package that showed how the newest and least experienced teachers in the Salem-Keizer School District work in the highest poverty schools, which was based on a data analysis by the newspaper. Salem-Keizer is the second largest school district in Oregon, with about 40,000 students. Using raw data from…
Read MoreBuilding on IRE custom training, reporter Craig Smith of the Santa Fe New Mexican produced a two-part look at the financial challenges of arts organizations. The first installment gave an overview of the financial picture, while the second story examined salaries and funding for arts organizations. The second piece included a full listing of more…
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