The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Punishment for child porn charges lax
A computer-assisted investigation by Steve Daniels of WTVD-Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville (N.C.) compared data from the state court system with data from the state prison system to find that “only 30 percent of people facing child pornography charges in North Carolina between 2003 and mid-December have been sentenced to prison time. Twenty-six percent have been…
Read MoreN.C. state rep guilty of taking bribes for legislative favors
In a follow-up to earlier reports, Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer report that former North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black pled guilty in federal court to “taking money for legislative favors.” Black received $25,000 in cash, as well as a $4,000 check, from three chiropractors in exchange…
Read MoreOversight lax on school fire drill law
Ben Jones of The (Appleton, Wis.) Post Crescent reports that area schools are failing to comply with a state law that requires they do monthly fire drills. A change in state law resulted in school no longer having to file annual fire drill reports with the Department of Commerce. Oversight now rests with the local…
Read MoreFlorida requires no training for executioners
Kevin Begos of The Tampa Tribune reports that executioners in Florida “aren’t required to have training, certification or any qualifications other than being at least 18 years old, according to Florida’s interpretation of lethal injection guidelines.” The Tampa Tribune received a copy of the state’s execution guidelines through a public records request. The protocol is…
Read MoreHouston burglary hot spots mapped
Dave Fehling of KHOU_Houston reports on the city’s burglary trends. “Analyzing raw numbers from the last two years, a special mapping program found five hot spots.” Further analysis of the data showed that the hot spots covered a higher concentration of apartment complexes, where it is easier for unfamiliar faces to move around unnoticed. The…
Read MoreInsurance settlements often undercut victim’s expenses
Investigative correspondent Drew Griffin, of CNN
Read MoreThe Dominican Steroid Problem
As spring training opens around baseball, Mike Fish of ESPN.com takes a two-day look at the state of Major League Baseball’s fight against performance-enhancing drugs in the Dominican Republic with a series of stories and reports. (The articles are also available in Spanish.)
Read MoreDodd outpaces rivals in race for money
Jonathan D. Salant and Kristin Jensen of Bloomberg report that Sen. Christopher Dodd has outpaced his political rivals in the race to raise money for a presidential bid. A third of the $3 million he raised in the last quarter of 2006 came from the financial-services industry — the industry he oversees as chairman of…
Read MoreWisconsin’s coal-burning plants pump out more greenhouse gas
Thomas Content and Lee Bergquist of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report on how Wisconsin is responsible for disproportionate contributions to global warming. By examining public records, they found that coal-burning power plants generate greenhouse gases about one-third faster than the national average. Wisconsin is one of twelve states that relies on coal for the majority…
Read MoreSchool bus drivers in Ohio have questionable driving records
Using a database of school bus drivers and public records searches, Randy Ludlow and Jill Riepenhoff of the Columbus Dispatch found that more than 150 school-bus drivers have records of drunken driving and drug abuse. “State laws, practice and policies make it virtually impossible for school officials to review complete driving histories maintained by the…
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