Search results for:
Data shows heart attack death numbers declining
Stephen Smith of The Boston Globe used state data to show that “deaths from heart attacks in Massachusetts dropped by 24 percent in eight years,” a decline doctors attributed to increased usage of angioplasty and aspirin. “Nationwide, the number of people succumbing to heart attacks has also decreased, although at a somewhat slower pace than…
Read MoreStudy finds high levels of pollutants in Calif. family
Douglas Fischer of Alameda Newspaper Group spent nine months investigating chemical pollutants in a family that “lives at one end of the consumer-chemicals spectrum — they eat organic, avoid common household cleaners and pesticides, don’t have wall-to-wall carpets or large new appliances.” The paper consulted a commercial research ethics board, responsible for protecting study participants’…
Read MorePolice department ignores residency requirement
Gordon Russell of The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reports that while New Orleans has a residency requirement for its police officers, “dozens of Police Department sergeants and lieutenants and at least seven captains — the department’s highest civil-service rank — have been promoted in recent years despite claiming homestead exemptions outside the city.” The 10-year-old residency…
Read MoreInvestigation uncovers purchase card problems
Steve Lackmeyer and Ryan McNeill of The Oklahoman analyzed a never-completed 2002 audit of Oklahoma’s purchase card system. They found that for, “17 of the 20 agencies with cards at the time, receipts were not reviewed or verified to see whether the goods or services were received.” The state auditor is preparing to investigate the…
Read MoreAnalysis finds atypical campaign finance expenditures
Michael Cass of The Tennessean reports on an analysis of 2004 disclosure forms for all Tennessee legislators, which found political expenses in places not typically incurred. One expense was for “$1,414 to Interstate Liquors by Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-McMinnville.” The story includes detailed sidebars outlining what the law says, how to follow the money and…
Read MoreCompanies tied to bureau donate heavily to Republicans
Mark Naymik and Joseph L. Wagner of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer analyzed state campaign contributions to show that “top Ohio Republican officials and political committees have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions from companies managing money for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Almost two-thirds of the 212 companies hired by the bureau to invest…
Read MoreAnalysis of drunken-driving arrests reveal ‘ordinary people’
A team of reporters from the Detroit Free Press analyzed drunken driving arrests over a four-day period in May. They found those arrested were “… ordinary people taking ordinary chances.” The project looks at drunken driving from the perspective of a defense lawyer, bartenders and a deputy, as well as offering a sample of the…
Read MoreRestaurant prices outpace inflation in NYC
Jennifer Steinhauer and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times used restaurant price information from Zagat Guides and the paper’s own reviews to show that “in 1994, the average one-star meal cost $33; it now costs a little more than $50, pushing it outside many people’s weekend budgets. That is a 51 percent increase,…
Read MoreNumber of highly paid transit employees triples
Mike Adamick of the Contra Costa Times used salary data obtained after a legal battle to show that “the number of BART employees making at least $100,000 nearly tripled since 2000. During the same time period, overtime payments surged by 147 percent for the transit district’s highest paid employees.” The transit agency originally resisted the…
Read MoreContribution through multiple companies help corporate donors elude limit
Ben Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed campaign contributions to Gwinnett County commission races in the past two years, finding that “thousands of dollars in donations from companies sharing common addresses and company executives that appear to violate campaign contribution limits. Among them: nine companies headed by two developers whose firms gave to former Commission…
Read More