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Trashing the Truth
A four-part Denver Post investigation found that the loss and destruction of DNA evidence nationwide has stalled the pursuit of justice in thousands of cases, including undermining efforts of prisoners to prove their innocence. In the absence of governmental statistics, reporters Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene compiled data and cases from lawyers and government records…
Read MoreBridge data adds context to collapse
Following the collapse of an I-35 bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, journalists turned to the National Bridge Inventory database, available from IRE and NICAR, to check the bridge’s inspection history. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press. and The Star Tribune reported that inspection data from 2005 showed that the Minnesota Department of Transportation deemed…
Read MoreInsider deals boost Milwaukee County pensions
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that hundreds of Milwaukee County workers, including some high profile officials, boosted their pensions by $50 million by sidestepping county pension rules and IRS tax codes. Reporter Dave Umhoefer traced the self-dealing and cronyism that launched the breaks, which allow workers to pay to convert ineligible work service from…
Read MoreChicago’s drug war toughest on minorities
A Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data shows that enforcement efforts in the the war on drugs hits minorities far harder than whites. Darnell Little reports that inner-city dealers are hit much harder than the more discrete dealings in suburban areas. Prison populations also reflect harsher penalties for minorities. Analysis of Chicago’s predominantly African-American neighborhoods…
Read MoreAttendance discrepancies skew economic impact figures
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports that inaccurate attendance reports could be skewing the economic impact that sports venues have in the community seeing as though turnstile counts are often lower than the published “official attendance” numbers. As the County Commission in Orange County, Fla. prepare to consider a $1.1 billion plan for a…
Read MoreFresno suffers more power outages than neighboring communities
California and other states require investor-owned utilities to publish reliability statistics, including the number of minutes the average customer goes without power each year. Brad Branan of the Fresno Bee looked at those numbers to find that “customers in the Fresno division of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. go without power longer than those in…
Read MoreAbuses at Texas state schools go unpunished
A Dallas Morning News investigation into disciplinary records of employees at state schools for the mentally retarded “ found hundreds of cases of abuse at the hands of those charged with caring for the mentally retarded
Read MoreOvertime tops $500 million in California state prisons
Inmate overcrowding and the increasing number of staff vacancies in California’s prisons are spiking overtime costs for the state’s corrections department, which spent more than half a billion dollars last year on overtime pay, according to analysis of payroll records by the San Francisco Chronicle. Tom Chorneau and Todd Wallack report that the surge —…
Read MoreShriners investigation
Over a year ago, online investigative reporter Sandy Frost began digging into whistleblower
Read MoreWithout limitations, campaing cash spent freely in Oregon
The Oregonian‘s Ryan Kost reports that Oregon lawmakers chose not to place limitations on how campaign money could be spent despite promised campaign finance ethics reforms. Two proposed laws limiting how campaign contributions could be spent were never passed, thus it remains legal to spend campaign monies on other things – from candy to airfare.…
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