The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Eleanor Yang of the The San Diego Union-Tribune used calendar records obtained under the California Public Records Act to show that UC San Diego Chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, has served as a director for 10 corporations and nonprofit organizations, while running the university for the past year and a half. Fox spent more than 180…
Read MoreJack Dolan, Larry Lebowitz and Scott Hiaasen of The Miami Herald analyzed local payroll data to find that “transit overtime pay — which is 1.5 times as high as regular hourly rates and cost taxpayers more than $129 million over the last five years — is a long-standing drain on county funds that has persisted…
Read MoreCecilia M. Vega of the San Francisco Chronicle used public records to show that San Francisco, owner of a pristine reservoir in the Sierra Nevada with a reputation for producing some of the country’s best-tasting tap water, has spent more than $2 million of taxpayers’ money in the past 4½ years on bottled water. According…
Read MoreFredric N. Tulsky, with staff writers Julie Patel and Mike Zapler, data analyst Griff Palmer and research librarian Leigh Poitinger, of the San Jose Mercury News , reviewed every criminal appeal originating out of Santa Clara County Superior Court for five years to show that the Santa Clara County’s criminal justice system is systemically troubled…
Read MoreRandy Ludlow of the The Columbus Dispatch reports that nearly five years after more than a quarter of TRW brake plant’s 400 workers contracted respiratory illnesses, dozens remain disabled and out of work. Federal investigators concluded the outbreak was workplace-related but did not determine the exact cause. Ludlow reveals that TRW Automotive, a $10 billion…
Read MoreRichard Whitt of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Holiday Inn & Suites, where a fire killed a South Carolina man on Sunday, improperly made the U.S. Fire Administration’s “National Master List” of structures deemed safe for federal employees while on government business. To get on the list, a hotel or motel owner has to…
Read MoreWill Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting, writing for Salon.com, reviewed court and financial records and found that a judge nominated by President Bush to one of the highest courts in the nation has apparently violated federal law repeatedly while serving on the federal bench. Judge James H. Payne, a Bush-appointed chief judge in…
Read MoreMc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed bankruptcy records, county licensing records and complaints filed with the local consumer affairs division to show that Palms West Shutter & Screen Inc., a company supplying hurricane shutters, had taken about $1.5 million in deposits from 672 Palm Beach residents before it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy…
Read MoreBrad Branan of the Tucson Citizen used court records to show that Arizona school bus drivers with criminal records or multiple moving violations are escaping state regulatory enforcement and putting children and other motorists at risk. The investigation found that drivers with criminal records or multiple traffic violations are among the most accident prone at…
Read MoreLisa Hammersly Munn, Binyamin Appelbaum and Ted Mellnik of The Charlotte Observer used county records in a three-part series that looks into the rapidly rising numbers of home foreclosres, and the effects on neighborhoods where failed home loans have concentrated since the advent of easy credit by government and lenders. “Home loan failures have more…
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