The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Mike Tolson of the Houston Chronicle examined lawsuits related to silicosis, an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to silica which is used by industry in dozens of ways. He found that “To attorneys who had earned millions from asbestos settlements, it represented the next potential windfall.” The lawyers did not need sick people, only…
Read MoreAndrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee found that “the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has spent more than $1 million in ratepayers’ money on partnership deals with the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs since 2002.” The public utility’s contracts with Maloof Sports, disclosed under the state’s Public Records Act, offer a rare glimpse into an NBA team’s…
Read MoreRobert Patrick of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch used court records and Department of Corrections data to show that prisoners who were sentenced to prison terms of double their lifetimes or more have been quietly released after doing only a fraction of their time in Missouri and Illinois. “In all, at least 189 murderers and 40…
Read MoreKaren Spiller of The (Nashua, N.H.) Telegraph found that payday loans with high interest rates — as high as 500 percent or more — are increasing in New Hampshire, the only state in New England not to regulate them. “Last year alone, more than 100,000 payday loans were written in the state for an average…
Read MoreLisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford Courant used military investigative records to show that unsuitable practices handling troops mental health “have helped to fuel an increase in the suicide rate among troops serving in Iraq, which reached an all-time high in 2005 when 22 soldiers killed themselves — accounting for nearly one in…
Read MoreSteve Kemme and Gregory Korte of The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed real-estate sales records and found that those who sold their homes for an urban renewal project in suburban Norwood made more than twice what their homes were worth — while those who had their properties taken by eminent domain made three times their appraised value.…
Read MoreLeslie Cauley of the USA Today found the “National Security Agency had been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.” Cauley’s sources say the agency uses the call data to “analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity” but that…
Read MoreJean Rimbach and Kathleen Carroll of The (Hackensack, N.J.) Record analyzed audits of more than 100 state-funded preschools in New Jersey’s poorest communities, reviewed tax returns, financial documents and contracts and interviewed dozens of state and local officials, owners and teachers to show that seven years after New Jersey launched its landmark program for disadvantaged…
Read MoreIn a continuation of the “Conduct Unbecoming” series, Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer examined “state pension and payroll records of eight King County sheriff’s deputies and found example after example of how such problem officers continued drawing salaries and earning service credits for years.” The investigation also found that “taxpayers have paid hundreds of…
Read MoreTroy Anderson of the Los Angeles Daily News reviewed records to show that in recent years county employees’ firings or suspensions were softened by the Civil Service Commission. The commission overturned or reduced discipline recommended by county departments in nearly half of cases from 2001 to 2004. “Out of 17 sheriff’s cases the commission considered…
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