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High-risk drivers make up majority of DUI offenses
Matthew Junker of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review used arrest data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to determine that fully 56 percent of the people arrested last year were in the most intoxicated category under Pennsylvania’s .08 DUI law. “Statistics for the law’s first 11 months — from Feb. 1, 2004, to the end of…
Read MoreBaseball doctor overstates credentials
Duff Wilson of The New York Times found errors in Dr. Elliot Pellman’s stated credentials and education. Pellman is the medical adviser to Major League Baseball, whose testimony praised the recent congressional hearing on steroids. Pelman “has said repeatedly in biographical statements that he has a medical degree from the State University of New York…
Read MoreEmergency fund used by legislators
Eric Eyre and Scott Finn of the Charleston Gazette examined records of a contingency fund controlled by West Virginia’s governor, finding that “Hardy County received $6.7 million from the contingency fund since 1997 – more than any county in the state – even though the county ranks 42nd out of 55 counties in population.” The…
Read MoreHispanic girls lack high school sports participation
MaryJo Sylwester, in her swan song at USA TODAY before joining the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, used federal education data to help illustrate the comparative lack of participation in high school sports by Hispanic girls. “Nationally, about 36% of Hispanic sophomore girls played interscholastic sports, compared with 52% of non-Hispanics for the 2001-02 school year.” Money…
Read MoreInmates awating trial drive up costs
Curtis Johnson of The (Huntingdon) Herald-Dispatch used Cabell County court and jail records to show that .”inmates facing felony charges, most of whom were awaiting trial, accounted for 62 percent of the month’s bill. That’s important, because if convicted, the state takes over the cost of their imprisonment.” The records show that “reducing the jail…
Read MoreCounty jails outdated fail to meet standards
Leon Alligood of The Tennessean reviewed state data to report on overcrowding in county jails. He found that “a total of 26 of the 129 jails statewide have been ‘decertified’,” because of varying reasons, ranging from unhealthy living conditions, to out-dated facilities. Of the 26 jails that were decertified, the average age of the facilities…
Read MoreGovernor’s office political dealings in question
Alan Judd of The Atlanta-Jounal Constitution investigated claims that the Georgia governor’s office put heat on the state’s consumer regulatory office over dealings with a major car dealership and donor to the governor’s campaign. “In the Bill Heard Chevrolet case, Hills’ inquiry became a key point in a series of events that, Smith says, undermined…
Read MoreWal-Mart cashes in incentives, while many employees taking in medicaid
Sydney P. Freedburg and Connie Humburg of the St. Petersburg Times used state records to show that “Wal-Mart and four other large companies that receive state incentives have an estimated 29,900 employees or their family members enrolled in Medicaid. The figures suggest taxpayers may be double-subsidizing low-wage employment by paying companies to create jobs and…
Read MoreTrain delay rates climbing
Sewell Chan and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times studied delays on New York’s subway system, finding that “a typical weekday rider on the subway today is likely to experience a train delay roughly once every three weeks, compared with about once every five weeks in September 2003, when the number of stalled…
Read MoreOil tanker regulations ignored, trimmed back
Eric Nalder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated the inner-workings of a tanker fleet owned by the third-largest oil company in the nation, ConocoPhillips. The series was inspired by a mystery spill in Puget Sound. The company had denied that its ship, the Polar Texas, was the spiller, while the U.S. Coast Guard said the oil…
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