Mapping
Tracking gang activity in Tennessee
The Tennessean‘s three-part series on gangs reveals a growing problem across the state, particularly in suburbia and small towns. Law enforcement is overwhelmed and schools are ripe recruiting grounds in what’s part of a national trend of gangs expanding their influence to areas outside the urban core to sell drugs. The newspaper gained access to…
Read MoreTulsa County’s poorest spend most on lottery tickets
Using Oklahoma Lottery Commission sales data and U.S. Census Bureau data, the Tulsa World found that some of Tulsa County’s poorest areas spend the most money on lottery tickets per capita, according to a report by Gavin Off. An interactive map showing income vs. lottery spending can be found here.
Read MoreMany bad bridges not receiving stimulus funds
“Tens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges carrying 100 million drivers a day must wait for repairs because states are spending stimulus money on spans that are already in good shape or on easier projects like repaving roads, an Associated Press analysis shows.” An interactive map gives details state-by-state on bridge projects funded by…
Read MoreIowa air pollution levels nearing federal limits
“The air across Iowa is so polluted that the state is perilously close to violating new federal limits aimed at protecting human health. Yet Iowans have no way of knowing what chemicals they are breathing because of a limited – and often inaccurate – system of monitoring pollution statewide, a Des Moines Register investigation found.”…
Read MoreHigher poverty schools get newer teachers
The Statesman Journal recently ran a two-day package that showed how the newest and least experienced teachers in the Salem-Keizer School District work in the highest poverty schools, which was based on a data analysis by the newspaper. Salem-Keizer is the second largest school district in Oregon, with about 40,000 students. Using raw data from…
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 MoreHousing program fails to aid low-income families
A story by William Heisel of the Los Angeles Times focuses on the failures of the federal government’s efforts to revitalize the housing market and to increase affordable housing. For a decade, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has been giving local governments homes to refurbish and resell to low-income buyers. The story…
Read MoreTulsa County siren coverage is spotty in areas
As many as 24,800 Tulsa County residents live in areas not reached by outdoor tornado sirens, a Tulsa World analysis found. Many of those residents live in the county’s remote north or southwestern sections where farms have yet to give way to residential developments. Included with the story are searchable databases listing all the tornadoes…
Read MoreFixing D.C.’s Schools: The Charter Experiment
A series by The Washington Post takes a hard look at charter schools in Washington, D.C. Approximately one-third of city’s children attend these independent, nonprofit schools. The investigation shows that much of the $1.6 billion in local and federal money spent on charter school over the past 12 years has gone to the purchase and…
Read MoreTacoma area voters split their tickets
Ian Demsky of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. found that nearly a third of the voters in Pierce County cast their ballots for Democratic president-elect Barack Obama and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. The article includes maps of the areas that went for Obama and Rossi and the county’s results of both races.
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