Now is a good time to investigate the bridges in your state and community: NICAR has just updated the National Bridge Inventory.

Current through 2011, the data can help you assess the soundness of bridges in your area. Key fields can be used for an overall indication of a bridge's quality. There are also fields detailing the year the bridge was built and the feature intersected, for example if the bridge goes over a body of water or if it intersects with another highway or roadway.The records represent the most recent inspection for each bridge (which could be ...

IRE members elected seven new directors to the IRE board on Saturday evening at the organization's annual conference in Boston.

The newly elected members are: Manny Garcia of El Nuevo Herald, Sarah Cohen of Duke University, Mc Nelly Torres of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Rob Cribb of The Toronto Star, Stuart Watson of WCNC-Charlotte, Ellen Gabler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Andrew Donohue of VoiceofSanDiego.org.

Executive committee members were chosen by the board after the meeting. They are: David Cay Johnston, president; Andrew Donohue, vice president; Sarah Cohen, secretary; Lea Thompson, treasurer; and Mc Nelly ...