October 4th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data
Shawn Boburg and Benjamin Lesser of the Bergen Record used local data to find “dozens of North Jersey officials working overlapping hours, raising questions about whether they have enough time to protect the public against shoddy construction and about the number of hours they’re billing towns each week.” Among the practices the paper found were [...]
October 3rd, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data
Jason Riley of the Louisville Courier-Journal analyzed completed murder cases from 2003 to 2005, finding a disparity between Jefferson County and the nation: “Get arrested for murder in Jefferson County, and the odds are good that you won’t spend more than a few years in prison – if you serve time at all. … prosecutors [...]
October 2nd, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data
Bert Dalmer of the Des Moines Register used local data to show that money from a county grant program “has gone to labor unions, business groups, school fundraisers, after-prom parties, veterans’ social halls, recreational clubs and other causes that are selected by each supervisor. Some programs for low-income housing, disaster training, child care and fire [...]
September 28th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data
Kent Fischer and Molly Motley Blythe of the Dallas Morning News used local school district records to find that “educators used district credit cards to buy thousands of items of questionable educational value, spending money awarded to help educate the district’s neediest kids.” Wal-Mart gift cards, PlayStation2 consoles and MP3 players were among the items [...]
September 26th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data
Dan Klepal of the Cincinnati Enquirer used local data to find that “crime is creeping from the inner city to outer ring and more affluent neighborhoods such as Oakley, Hyde Park, Mt. Adams and North Avondale.” More than half of the city’s neighborhoods have seen doubt-digit increases in serious crimes since 2000.