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Aide might have violated ethics rules
Thomas Peele of the Contra Costa Times used congressional financial disclosure statements, state and federal campaign finance reports, IRS records, congressional committee and staff disbursement records and other documents to show that Rep. Richard Pombo’s top aide, Steven Ding, might have violated congressional ethics rules by not correctly reporting all of his outside political work…
Read MoreForeclosures growing burden on low-income communities
Lisa Hammersly Munn, Binyamin Appelbaum and Ted Mellnik of The Charlotte Observer used county records in a three-part series that looks into the rapidly rising numbers of home foreclosres, and the effects on neighborhoods where failed home loans have concentrated since the advent of easy credit by government and lenders. “Home loan failures have more…
Read MoreNation’s mine rescue system falling short
Ken Ward Jr. reports in the Charleston, W.Va., Sunday Gazette-Mail “the nation’s miners face a mounting risk because of a rescue system that is growing ever short on personnel and is in major need of reforms.” From 2000 to 2002, the number of safety teams approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration dropped…
Read MoreCollege boosters wield powerful influence
Mike Fish of ESPN.com examines the role of the college booster, finding “It’s a love-hate relationship that binds a college and its boosters. They are often the first ones pointed to when recruiting violations surface. And the first ones called upon when facilities need an upgrade. With their money comes their two cents. Some call…
Read MoreUFW strays far from Chavez’s legacy
Miriam Pawel of the Los Angeles Times examines the current state of United Farm Workers to find that Cesar “Chavez’s heirs run a web of tax-exempt organizations that exploit his legacy and invoke the harsh lives of farmworkers to raise millions of dollars in public and private money.” Pawel’s reporting finds there is little to…
Read MoreVehicle planned for Marines said to be ‘dangerous’
Joseph Neff of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reports that a vehicle the Marines plan to use for transport of troops and mortars may be inadequate. The vehicles, called Growlers, look “a lot like a Vietnam-era jeep. But this model, a modified dune buggy, costs $127,000 each and doesn’t have armor. Some experts worry…
Read MoreGa. hotel bill for Katrina evacuees tops $19 million
Yolanda Rodriguez of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with assistance from Craig Schneider, Leon Stafford and database editor David A. Milliron, used a FOIA request to show that “Georgia hotels have billed taxpayers more than $19 million to house evacuees who fled after hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast last year.” The agency has paid…
Read MoreCongressmen tried to stop investigation
Richard A. Serrano and Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times used documents to report that “Reps. John T. Doolittle and Richard W. Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas to oppose an investigation by federal banking regulators into the affairs of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz.” The lawmakers inserted regulatory…
Read MoreAnalysis of high court shows just 29 abortion rulings
Keith Epstein and Doug Stanley of the Tampa Tribune analyzed Supreme Court voting data archived by Michigan State University political science Professor Harold J. Spaeth, finding that “since 1953, the Supreme Court has formally ruled on abortion, a privacy issue, only 29 times. Abortion-related cases account for only 0.5 percent of all rulings handed down…
Read MoreProbe into meth epidemic wins top Meyer award
Major investigative reports on the nation’s methamphetamine epidemic, systemic failures in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the loss of Florida’s wetlands are winners of the first Philip Meyer Awards. * First Place: The Oregonian for “Unnecessary Epidemic” * Second Place: The Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau for “Discharged and Dishonored” * Third Place: The St.…
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