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Blog
In a third installment of the series “Cashing in on Kids,” Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the state of Wisconsin has overpaid parents and child care providers more than $13 million in recent years – including millions of dollars for bogus child care. But the state has a poor record of…
Read MoreThis extraordinary investigation exposes a pattern of cover-up, altered records, and secrecy surrounding a series of deaths inside a state-run mental hospital. KIRO-Seattle’s Team 7 Investigators dug into 29 recent cases of suicide or attempted suicide and found mentally ill patients repeatedly had access to the means to kill themselves without proper monitoring by state…
Read More“In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone,” according to a report by Brian Ross, Richard Esposito and Asa Eslocker…
Read MoreMark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna of Salon.com have launched “Coming Home,” a weeklong series that “focuses on preventable deaths at Fort Carson, a U.S. Army post in Colorado, among troops who have returned from combat tours in Iraq.” The series comes soon after the U.S. Army announced that January showed the highest soldier suicide rate…
Read MoreBarbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News report that a former police informant in Philadelphia claims that he and a narcotics officer lied about information used to convict alleged drug dealers. The informant, Ventura Martinez, said he fabricated information to earn money, fight the Philadelphia drug trade and to honor his close…
Read MoreGain the skills you need to become an essential part of any newsroom at the 2009 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in Indianapolis on March 19-22. Register today as early bird registration ends on March 6. From the beginner to advanced CAR specialist, you’ll sharpen your skills in data analysis, Web programming and reporting on dozens of…
Read MoreA watchdog report by Justina Wang of the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) looks at how the latest salmonella contamination exposes vulnerabilities in the protection of U.S. food safety. Despite calls for stricter oversight, the system remains inadequate. The article points out that “federal officials hold little power to force recalls or oversee the daily…
Read MoreWNYC-New York and ProPublica have started a Web site dedicated to providing “documents, data and original reporting to help citizens monitor the progress and effectiveness of the largest domestic spending bill in U.S. history.” The site, called ShovelWatch, can be found at http://www.shovelwatch.org/.
Read MoreIf you’re new to plumbing spreadsheets and databases, it’s likely that you might exhibit some anxiety about your new found skills. But take it from a seasoned professional, Maurice Tamman of The Wall Street Journal, don’t hesitate to share your data and check your work. Even if it means phoning up a competitor to see…
Read MoreOver 200 U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico since 2004, according to a report by Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle. “More U.S. citizens suffered unnatural deaths in Mexico than in any other foreign country — excluding military killed in combat zones — from 2004 to 2007, State Department statistics show.” Mexican Congressman Juan…
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