May 2009
16 posts
Philly Board of Revision of Taxes member fired →
philly.com
We did an extensive series about this a little while ago.
Miami Herald: FBI joins probe of Guatemala lawyer's death →
mcclatchydc.com
U.S. officials have confirmed to The Miami Herald that the FBI has joined the investigation of a murdered Guatemalan lawyer who — in a postmortem video — accused President Alvaro Colom of ordering his death. (via)
Architecture critic changes city's decision
Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Inga Saffron criticized the city in her architecture column for building an unadorned span to replace the old South Street Bridge.
Within days, the city reversed course and will incorporate decorative elements.
The human cost of a newspaper investigation
Sometimes, it’s not a glib feel-good story.
“Philadelphia Academy Charter School founder Brien N. Gardiner, under federal investigation in connection with his management of the school, committed suicide yesterday afternoon, police said. … Gardiner founded Philadelphia Academy in Northeast Philadelphia in 1999; he also opened the Northwood Academy Charter School in 2005, and at one time was chief executive of both charters.
He later became a consultant at Philadelphia Academy. That contract was terminated last spring, after The Inquirer disclosed that the Philadelphia School District inspector general was investigating allegations of financial mismanagement, nepotism, and conflicts of interest at the school.
A federal criminal investigation … was launched later last spring.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 2009.
Loans to cities escape scrutiny →
tennessean.com
A Tennessean investigation into the loan program has found that despite touting itself as a “nonprofit governmental” entity, the fund doesn’t play by the rules of government. It won’t disclose how much Seivers is paid, nor the details of his outside consulting business and potential conflicts of interest. (via)
The results of newspaper investigation - A Progression.
“Girl wasted away under DHS care,” The Inquirer, October 2006.
“Mother sentenced to 40 years in death of Daniel Kelly,” The Inquirer, April 2009.
“Two plead guilty to perjury in Daniel Kelly case,” The Inquirer, May 2009.
Executive Privilege from the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer - "Easley's secret flights skirted the law." →
newsobserver.com
The lede: “While he was governor, Mike Easley turned a small group of influential North Carolina businessmen into his own private air service, an arrangement Easley kept secret.”
Thanks to Andy Bechtel for the link.
“Construction workers had been dying at a rate of one every six weeks in the $32 billion building boom on the Las Vegas Strip. But deaths stopped last year after the Las Vegas Sun exposed serious safety flaws on the sites and detailed how lax oversight by safety regulators failed to prevent accidents.”
—The Las Vegas Sun, another recipient of a Pulitzer Prize.
“It only stopped for one reason. It only stopped for the same reason that everything else stops in this case,” Zauzmer told jurors. “The publicity starts in The Philadelphia Inquirer in November 2003 and that was the end of the scheme.”
—Fumo: Guilty on all counts, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 17, 2009.
