July 24th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Local Data, Paper Trail
Debbie Cenziper, Susannah Nesmith and Tim Henderson of the Miami Herald have a four-part series on spending by the Miami-Dade Housing Agency, which “became an unchecked cash machine for developers and consultants and its own leaders and failed the families it was meant to serve.” Among its failings: “the Housing Agency paid more than $12 [...]
July 24th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Paper Trail, State Data
Michele Marcucci and Rebecca Vesely of ANG Newspapers used California licensing records, police logs, coroner’s reports and Social Security information for nursing care homes in three local counties to find “a care system whose low standards, poor funding and limited oversight spell trouble for the more severely disabled people it is now expected to serve [...]
July 21st, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in FOIA, Paper Trail
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 [...]
July 19th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in Paper Trail
Kevin Wack of the Portland Press Herald analyzed state records to find that “seventy-three dams around Maine are in violation of a law that requires up-to-date emergency plans in case they are threatened by floods.” In most of those cases, the dam owners have never complied with the state law, but no fines have ever [...]
July 17th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in FOIA, Paper Trail
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 [...]