CAR
Lobbyists can spend unlimited amounts to honor lawmakers
A USA Today analysis shows lobbyists paid $35.8 million in 2008 to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members. “Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can…
Read MorePentagon billed over $2.7 billion to unnamed contractors
“The Pentagon spent more than $2.7 billion on ‘miscellaneous items’ in 2008 for which the contractor was listed as ‘not available’ — a rare omission for Defense Department documentation — according to an Aerospace Daily analysis of an independent national database of government contracting data,” according to a report by Michael Fabey of Aerospace Daily…
Read MoreCommercial real estate losses threaten local banks
“Commercial real-estate loans could generate losses of $100 billion by the end of next year at more than 900 small and midsize U.S. banks if the economy’s woes deepen, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal.” Maurice Tamman and David Enrich report that losses on commercial real-estate loans are much greater than loses…
Read MoreHandicapped accessibility a problem at many CTA stations
An investigation into the handicapped accessibility of Chicago Transit Authority stations by a team of reporters from Columbia College Chicago found that “41 percent of the stations designated fully accessible were not.” Using FOIA, the students reviewed over 2,000 ADA-related complaints filed against the CTA from Jan. 1, 2004 through Feb. 28, 2009. Some of…
Read MoreVacant homes, neighborhoods plague the Rust Belt
“An analysis by The Associated Press, based on data collected by the U.S. Postal Service and the Housing and Urban Development Department, shows the emptiest neighborhoods are clustered in places hit hard during the recession of the 1980s — cities such as Flint, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Indianapolis.” Dan Sewell and Frank Bass…
Read MoreProject identifies top lenders at center of financial meltdown
A project by the Center for Public Integrity delved into the financial crisis by analyzing 7.2 million subprime loans made from 2005 through 2007. The analysis revealed 25 lenders responsible for nearly $1 trillion in subprime lending during that time. Their reporting uncovered “that at least 21 of the top 25 subprime lenders were directly…
Read MoreAirports with high rates of bird strikes pinpointed
National Public Radio combined the Federal Aviation Administration’s wildlife-strike reports with airport activity figures to calculate airport “strike rates,” an industry measure that is not publicly available and that standardizes bird strikes according to the amount of traffic at an airport. They also provided an interactive map for Web users to find out strike rates…
Read MoreSarah Cohen discusses data visualization in reporting
Steve Myers of Poynter interviewed Sarah Cohen, database editor for The Washington Post‘s investigative team, on her use of data visualization as part of exploratory reporting. Cohen spoke on the topic at the 2009 CAR Conference in Indianapolis. Download the tipsheet from her presentation here (pdf).
Read MoreSpeeding tickets quadruple in Florida county
An analysis by The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun found that a driver’s likelihood of getting a speeding ticket in Sumter County increased nearly 400 percent since 2003. According to the article written by Matt Dixon, “In 2007, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office doled out 4,794 speeding tickets, or a 391 percent increase over the 975…
Read MorePolicing schools in Tulsa
A two-part series by the Tulsa World analyzes crime on public school campuses. Since 2005, Tulsa schools have called city police more than 9,450 times. Reasons for the calls include assaults, drug use, weapons found and burglaries. Child abuse was the leading reason for the calls, as teachers and counselors are increasingly finding abused children.
Read More