November 26th, 2004 | by Derek | published in Broadcast, Local Data
Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle used records kept by schools to find that violent incidents in high schools are not being reported to the police. In five Tacoma high schools that KIRO looked at, “there were 468 students disciplined for fights, 180 assaults and 123 violent threats” yet police were called just 13 times for fights, [...]
November 15th, 2004 | by Derek | published in Broadcast, State Data
Ron Regan of Cleveland’s NewsChannel5 found that at least 450 of Ohio’s 1,700 dams are considered unsafe. Dams have to be inspected once every five years by state officials, and some of the “high hazard” dams have no emergency plan as required by the federal government.
November 10th, 2004 | by Derek | published in Broadcast
Dateline NBC followed local food inspectors as they inspected schools across the country and tracked critical violations, following up on a piece aired in the spring. They concluded that many of their findings - food items being stored at incorrect temperatures, mice droppings and flies in food prep areas, dirty dishes - were oftentimes not [...]
November 5th, 2004 | by Derek | published in Broadcast, State Data
Nancy Amons of WSMV-TV in Nashville used state data to find that “13,434 Tennesseans have been convicted of driving drunk at least five times. Of those, 150 have a ‘dirty dozen’ DUI’s.” Two individuals have 19 DUI convictions each, tops in the state. Separately, the station calculated the average prison sentence for felony DUI offenders [...]
October 26th, 2004 | by Derek | published in Broadcast, DIY, State Data
Scott Dodd and Ted Mellnik of the Charlotte Observer, along with Stuart Watson of WCNC-6News, checked voter registration records in North and South Carolina, finding that “as many as 60,000 voters may be registered to cast ballots in both Carolinas — and officials aren’t checking.” The states don’t share information on registered voters, and up [...]