The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register analyzed California campaign finance data to find that the top 100 donors gave more than $150 million to candidates and political committees in 2003 and 2004. Donors also helped put California in the stem-cell business. “Some 26 wealthy couples and individuals contributed more than half the campaign money…
Read MoreJohn Diedrich and Bob Purvis at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detail a sharp rise in the number of murders in Milwaukee this year, finding that “through Friday, 72 people have been killed this year, compared to 49 at that time last year. In response, police last week beefed up patrols in the hottest parts of…
Read MoreAlan Levin and Robert Davis of USA Today reviewed hundreds of documents on air ambulance crashes and analyzed a database they created from the documents. They found that since “2000, 60 people have died in 84 crashes — more than double the number of crashes during the previous five years.” Despite this surge, air ambulance…
Read MoreTroy Anderson of the Los Angeles Daily News reports on soaring property tax revenues in Los Angeles city and county. “The revenues have been a boon for local governments, with homeowners paying $9.5 billion in property taxes in fiscal 2004-05, compared with $6.7 billion in 2000-01.” Property owners have been paying differing rates since the…
Read MoreNate Carlisle and Jessica Ravitz The Salt Lake Tribune report on the state of fire inspections in public schools, following a fire that destroyed Wasatch Junior High School. The school was old and did not have modern fire safety features. “Yet state records show the last time inspectors examined the school was four years ago.”…
Read MoreClifford J. Levy and Michael Luo of The New York Times used state Medicaid data to find that “the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse…
Read MoreJane Stancill and David Raynor of The (Raleigh/Durham) News & Observer analyzed state payroll data to find that “there are already more than 2,200 state and University of North Carolina system employees who are paid more than $100,000 in state money a year; more than two-thirds of them work at the universities.” Pay for university…
Read MoreMichelle Keller and Kevin Spear of The Orlando Sentinel used county pool inspection data to show that “at least one in eight failed tests for chlorine, meaning they could pose a health risk for swimmers who use them.” The findings roughly mirror an early federal study and the paper’s previous surveys of inspection reports. “This…
Read MoreMike McAndrew of The (Syracuse) Post-Standard investigates the “Power for Jobs” program, finding that more than a third of the businesses receiving state-subsidized electrical power in the program failed to deliver the jobs they promised. Cooper Crouse-Hinds was awarded 5,000 kilowatts of subsidized power; in return they agreed to retain all of its jobs and…
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