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Toxic dumping, public corruption investigations among winners Investigative stories about deceit in Cleveland’s public school district and an environmental disaster in New Jersey won the top prizes in the 2005 IRE awards, Investigative Reporters and Editors announced today. Those were among 15 prizes awarded by IRE. Other stories honored included a 17-year body of crime…
Read MoreJohn Hill of The Sacramento Bee found that the California Highway Patrol repeatedly shut down signature gathering at Department of Motor Vehicle offices across the state in response to the petition drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis in the spring of 2003. The move reversed a long-standing CHP practice of allowing local offices to routinely…
Read MoreMartha Mendoza and Christopher Sullivan of The Associated Press used federal records to show that the amount of unpaid federal fines has risen sharply in the past decade, in an investigation that examined federal financial penalty enforcement across the nation. Individuals and corporations regularly avoid large penalties for wrongdoing — sometimes through negotiations, sometimes because…
Read MoreCharles Forelle and James Bandler of The Wall Street Journal analyzed grant dates and stock movements and identified several companies with wildly improbable option-grant patterns. “The analysis bolsters recent academic work suggesting that backdating was widespread, particularly from the start of the tech-stock boom in the 1990s through the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform act of 2002.…
Read MoreAbraham Hyatt and Leslie Griffy of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, Calif., found that cities throughout that county don’t follow state law when it comes to public records requests. “Only one of the county’s seven cities supplied both of the public documents that The Tribune sought. Reporters asked for a directory of city employees’…
Read MoreMonica Rhor of The Orange County Register surveyed all 58 California counties and found widespread discrepancies in how the state’s restraining order laws are being enforced. The system has become a legal labyrinth in which rules aren’t the same as reality, procedures differ from courthouse to courthouse, and violators often benefit more than victims. “Eleven…
Read MoreHerb Jackson of the North Jersey Media Group analyzed five years’ worth of contribution and spending reports to show that, of the nearly $9.4 million Sen. Robert Menendez spent, less than one-quarter — or $2.2 million — went for expenses that most voters would consider actual campaigning, such as advertising, yard signs and bumper stickers.…
Read MoreRosalind Rossi, Mark J. Konkol and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated Chicago’s public high schools that are troubled by incidents of violence. “Wells, Hyde Park and Clemente are among eight high schools that each received more than 150 students from the attendance areas of troubled schools now tapped for closure and eventual rebirth.”…
Read MoreStuart Pfeifer and Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times investigated Gary Nalbandian, a seemingly political fundraiser in Southern California, and found band of donors have gotten badges and titles from law enforcement officials after raising tens of thousands of dollars. The granting of badges and titles to political supporters creates the appearance that they…
Read MoreDan Laidman and Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News used records from the City Attorney’s Office to show that, despite a decade of efforts to end harassment and discrimination within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the agency still faces frequent costly lawsuits. The number has ebbed and flowed over the years, but rose…
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