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Child abuse fatalities went unreported
Tim Evans of The Indianapolis Star used state records to find that "the deaths of 10 Indiana children from abuse or neglect were not reported in the state’s 2004 child fatality report. If included, they would have brought the number to 66, making it the deadliest year on record". The paper compared the state records…
Read MoreCamera system ineffective in reducing accidents
Matthew Benson of the Fort Collins Coloradoan analyzed a decade of accident data to show the ineffectiveness of the camera system at reducing red-light running and preventing collisions. The number of accidents and accident rates, at a certain intersection in Fort Collins, Colo., have steadily increased in the years since the city installed a system…
Read MoreGun crime plea deals common in Del.
Mike 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 MoreBush’s re-election campaign contributers reap benefits in Ohio
James 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 MoreSuburbs pay for St. Paul’s mayoral race in Minn.
Tim 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 MoreCEO salaries soar at disabled workers’ expense
Jeff 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…
Read MoreFew minority businesses take advantage of federal program
Jeff Raymond of the The Brownsville Herald reviewed the Small Business Administration
Read MoreBreakdowns in equipment thwart forecasts
Debbie Cenziper of The Miami Herald used forecast verification reports to show that breakdowns in crucial weather-observing equipment are foiling forecasters at the National Hurricane Center — the nation’s first line of defense against tropical weather. "Buoys, weather balloons, radars, ground sensors and hurricane hunter planes, all part of a multibillion-dollar weather-tracking system run by…
Read MoreVast scope of priest abuse in Los Angeles
Jean Guccione and Doug Smith with contributions from William Lobdell of the Los Angeles Times tracked the assignments of 228 priests from 1950 through 2003 who have been named or identified as the subject of abuse complaints. The analysis reveals that because the accused priests moved around the archdiocese on average every 4.5 years, the…
Read MoreUnlicensed drivers responsible for deadly accidents in Va.
Bill Burke, with contributions from David Gulliver, of The Virginian-Pilot report that with swelling illegal migrant populations in Va., rogue vehicles being driven by unlicensed drivers have been responsible for a string of deadly accidents . "Since 2002, more than 90 people have been injured and 18 killed on the Eastern Shore in accidents involving…
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