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An investigation by Thomas Hargrove and Gavin Off of Scripps News Service found that “taxpayers pay millions of dollars every month to educate tens of thousands of high school students who rarely or never show up for class, part of a growing trend of high absenteeism at privately operated schools.” Most charter schools are funded…
Read MoreAn investigation by David Andreatta of the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) revealed that “more than $1.6 million in taxpayer money was paid last year to municipal employees in Monroe County for work they performed strictly for their unions, including dozens of labor leaders who have not toiled in their government jobs in years.” Many…
Read MoreChris Halse of KIRO-Seattle recently used federal transportation data to uncover design flaws in high-end recreational vehicles. Learn how Halsne obtained and analyzed the data in this article from Uplink, IRE and NICAR’s online computer-assisted reporting newsletter. This story is available as free site content. Uplink subscribers get full access to the articles and blog…
Read MoreThe 2008 Election Day is upon us! IRE and NICAR have compiled a list of resources to aid in your coverage of stories as they unfold on this historic election day. Included you will find relevant tipsheets and stories, databases, articles on election coverage from Uplink and The IRE Journal, and other helpful websites. Please…
Read MoreThe Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind. published the first section of a 12-part investigation into how federal dollars are spent the northeast region of the state. The Journal Gazette, using numbers from the Census Bureau and the Federal Procurement Data System, tracked the $5,618,386,731.89 the government spent on goods and services in 11 counties…
Read MoreAlison Young of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the airline regulation language protecting animal safety excludes the thousands of animals transported by breeders, farms, laboratories and pet stores. The U.S. Department of Transportation defines the word “animal” to mean one “that is being kept as a pet in a family household in the United States,”…
Read MoreExpanding on an article published in October, ProPublica’s Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times, have found that the California nursing board has been slow to revoke or suspend the licenses of registered nurses with criminal backgrounds in the state. The board relies upon nurses to report their own criminal…
Read MoreThe Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind. found that 2,172 voters in Indiana’s Allen County had names and birthdates identical to those in Florida. The newspaper performed its analysis cross-referencing the voter registration databases in Allen County with the Florida secretary of state’s election division. Duplicates were examined by hand. Middle names or initials that…
Read MoreFor JudicialReports.com, Mark Lagerkvist examined the “paradox cloaked in robes” that allows New York judges to accept large campaign gifts from lawyers who have pending cases in their courts. The initial story focused on one law firm that gave $157,000 candidates for Supreme Court – including five-figure contributions to nine sitting justices. The follow-up explored…
Read MoreMayor Ron Dellums said late Tuesday he is asking state Attorney General Jerry Brown to conduct an independent probe of the police department’s handling of journalist Chauncey Bailey’s killing in August 2007. Read the Chauncey Bailey Project’s online story or see the related video story from KTVU-Oakland, Calif..
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