The Scoop

Alan Trubow of the Austin American-Statesman obtained records through the Texas Public Information Act to find that “football coaches in the state’s largest high schools generally earn significantly larger salaries than the state’s teachers do, even many with graduate degrees and decades of experience.” At the largest schools, football coaches on average earn $30,000 more [...]

Andrea James of the Mobile Register used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain records on shipping incidents in Mobile Bay since 2000, finding “366 records of investigations, including those of at least 26 deaths and injuries. Those records support what experts describe as an increase nationally in accidents related to equipment failures such as [...]

Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe used FOIA to obtain documents showing that “the Bush administration is quietly remaking the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, filling the permanent ranks with lawyers who have strong conservative credentials but little experience in civil rights … only 42 percent of the lawyers hired since 2003, after the administration [...]

Paula Lavigne of the Dallas Morning News used federal records to show that “the United States Department of Agriculture does not know how often organic rules are broken and has not consistently taken action when potential violations were pointed out. … Problems continue to crop up, but there’s no way for the public to know [...]

Frank Phillips and Brian C. Mooney of the Boston Globe obtained state records showing that “the taxpayer cost of providing State Police security for Governor Mitt Romney’s out-of-state trips increased by more than 60 percent in the last year, as he tested the waters for a run for president.” The price of having state troopers [...]