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Lowell Bergman, Jane Perlez, Kirk Johnson with other contributing reporters of the FRONTLINE/World and The New York Times examined the growing conflict between the local people and the Yanacocha Mine in Peru along with tours of gold mines in the American West, Latin America, Africa and Europe to provide a rare look inside an insular…
Read MoreRick Anderson of Seattle Weekly examined King County’s internal jail records to show that deceptive administrative tactics hid a spike in local jail deaths this year, including what turned out to be two preventable suicides. Record requests showed that among the 13 deaths in a 27-month period were that of a man who died from…
Read MoreDonald L. Barlett and James B. Steele report, in the Oct. 31 issue of Time magazine, that more and more companies are walking away from the promise of retirment benefits, leaving millions of Americans at risk of an impoverished retirement. "The investigation looks at how Congress let it happen and the widespread social insecurity it’s…
Read MoreJames Drew and Steve Eder with contributions from Mike Wilkinson, Christopher D. Kirkpatrick, Jim Tankersley, and Joshua Boak of The Blade report that the Ohio business leaders and lobbyists who contributed at least $4.1 million to President Bush’s re-election campaign last year collected more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars for their companies and clients.…
Read MoreMike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal analyzed 115,000 felony cases overseen by Attorney General M. Jane Brady during her 11-year tenure, to show that plea deals involving gun crimes are common in Delaware. The newspaper found that "of the nearly 16,000 weapons-related cases filed from 1994 through 2004 — years Brady served as…
Read MoreLauren Markoe and Seth Borenstein of Knight Ridder Newspapers conducted a computer database analysis to show that a Defense Department purchasing program called prime vendor is costing taxpayers 20 percent more than the previous system. " Run by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the program is based on a military procurement strategy to speed delivery…
Read MoreStephanie Hooper of The Telegraph examined records obtained from the Nashua Police Department, as part of their six-day “Gangs of New Hampshire” series, to show the budding gang activity in Nashua and southern New Hampshire. The report that comes in three installments, unraveled the workings of a local chapter of one of the nation
Read MoreSally Kestin, Megan O’Matz and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel continue their investigation into waste and fraud swirling around Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster aid, this time focusing on Hurricane Katrina. In three Louisiana parishes, FEMA issued more $2,000 aid checks than there are households, at a cost to taxpayers of at least…
Read MoreTim Nelson and MaryJo Sylwester of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press analyzed nearly 12,000 campaign contributions to show that St. Paul, Minn., suburbs are paying for most of the mayoral race. According to the analysis, suburban residents have made 52 percent of the campaign contributions to the two general election candidates so far whereas donations…
Read MoreJeff Kosseff and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian found that executive pay has soared at nonprofits that often give disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage. "In Texas, one of the biggest nonprofits paid $4.6 million to a management firm founded by its CEO. In Baltimore, another charity’s top executive earned more than $700,000…
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