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Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post obtained memos from the Interior Department suggesting officials may have ignored the environmental risks of a plan to reduce water flow through the Grand Canyon at night when there is low demand for hydroelectric power. The department proceeded with the plan despite warnings that it would harm endangered species…
Read MoreAn investigation by Jake Bernstein and A.C. Thompson of ProPublica explores how small community banks around the country are failing after years of profiting off commercial real estate and development loans. Silver State Bank of Nevada was closed by the FDIC in September. “The bank made its biggest bets not on home mortgages, but on…
Read MoreAccording to a report in the Houston Chronicle, lobbyists spent more than $12 million in the last four years wining and dining Texas lawmakers and other state workers, including trips to pricey resorts across the country. Using lobby disclosure data, reporter Matt Stiles found that state senators and representatives had accepted at least $3.5 million…
Read MoreIn a two-part series, Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found a trail of phony businesses and child-care providers who were tapping into taxpayer subsidies for child care in Wisconsin. Rutledge reviewed thousands of pages of documents, and also obtained records from whistle-blowers that the county and state refused to release. Her findings revealed…
Read MoreLess than a week after Washington state’s Bank of Clark County failed, The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) used public records and inside sources to uncover the decisions that sent this financial institution into what one insider called the bank’s “death spiral.” Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. documents, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council documents and county land records…
Read MoreWillamette Week, the alt-weekly based in Portland, Ore., broke a story about Portland Mayor Sam Adams. After 16 months of reporting, Willamette Week compiled evidence that Adams had lied in 2007 about having sex with an 18-year-old legislative intern. In an interview last week, Adams again denied having sex with the young man but as…
Read MoreJoin colleagues for a night out at Indianapolis’ famous Jazz Kitchen at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20. It’s a great opportunity to hear jazz music and network with some of the best reporters in the nation. The Jazz Kitchen has become a hot spot in Indy and offers a mix of local and national…
Read MoreThree major investigative reports that used social science research methods as key parts of their probes were named today as winners of the 2008 Philip Meyer Journalism Award. Scripps Howard News Service took top honors for “Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death.” Reporters Thomas Hargrove, Lee Bowman and Lisa Hoffman found administrative inconsistencies in the…
Read MorePresident Barack Obama has wasted no time in taking a strong stand in favor of openness and transparency in the federal government. “All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA and to usher in a new era of open government,” President…
Read MoreSupporters from Barack Obama’s home state held a celebration this week that was paid for, in part, by the same lobbying firms the president-elect banned from donating to his campaign and inaugural committee, Bloomberg’s Jonathan D. Salant and Kate Andersen report. Seven firms that earned a total of at least $30 million in lobbying fees…
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