Boy Scouts executives splurge on conference

Tony Saavedra and Teri Sforza of The Orange County Register report on internal travel records showing that executives of the Boy Scouts ran up a tab of over $27,000 at a four-day conference in Key West, Fla. held last January. The Orange County Boy Scouts chapter picked up most of the tab, although they were reimbursed by other chapters within 30 days. Expenses included alcohol, greens fees and chartered fishing expeditions, some of which were reimbursed after The Register raised questions about the charges.

Eric Longabardi, reporting for "The Enterprise Report" at ERSNews.com, reports on the "secret FAA airmen files" of Mohamed Atta, the lead pilot in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The files, posted on the site, and additional exclusive materials provide details about the extensive flight training that helped Atta earn a commercial pilot's license in the U.S. Longabardi writes that the records show that Atta and his co-conspirators had far more sophisticated skills than previous media accounts acknowledged.

Beth Kormanik of The (Jacksonville, Fla.) Times-Union evaluated the daily calendars of city council members from June 1, 2005, to Dec. 1, 2006 and found dozens of meetings that violated Florida's open meetings laws. "The computer-assisted analysis documented 307 scheduled meetings, excluding committee and full council meetings. Forty-seven calendar listings dealt with specific items of city business such as the Cecil Field referendum, city contracts and downtown traffic but were held without prior public notice and without a written account of the proceedings." As a result of the investigation, State Attorney Harry Shorstein has recommended a grand jury investigation of the city council's open meeting practices, siting "a culture of blatant disregard."

The Center for Public Integrity has published "one of the most comprehensive resources on U.S. military aid and assistance in the post-9/11 era. 'Collateral Damage' couples the reporting of 10 of the world's leading investigative journalists on four continents with a powerful database combining U.S. military assistance, foreign lobbying expenditures, and human rights abuses into a single, easily accessible toolkit."

Jennifer LeFleur, computer-assisted reporting editor for The Dallas Morning News writes a online column every other week that helps readers understand how they can access, and benefit from, public records. An archive of her past columns can be found here.

John Froonjian of The Press in Atlantic City, N.J., dug into insurance contracts in the Pleasantville school district to uncover a web of insider deals and millions wasted in a struggling district that gets two-thirds of its funding from the state. The Press found that in Pleasantville, school board contracts, political fundraising and private jobs are intertwined. The process has produced apparent conflicts of interest, possible violations of the state's pay-to-play law, defiance of election-finance laws and potential violations of the federal law designed to protect personal medical information. The Press investigation followed a successful lawsuit to gain access to minutes of the school board's executive sessions, many of which were missing or had never been recorded.

The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y., presents stories from a two-month investigation into toxic vapor releases related to toxins improperly disposed of near Victor, N.Y., more than 17 years ago."State officials, drawing upon numerous visits and hundreds of water samples over the last 15 years, have mapped the damage: a mile-long plume of contaminated groundwater that underlies about 50 Victor homes and borders dozens of others. The principal contaminant, TCE [trichloroethene], can harm the central nervous, immune and reproductive systems, impair fetal development and cause cancer in people who are exposed to sufficient quantities." The Democrat and Chronicle website fleshes out the story with interactive graphics and links to documents related to the situation.

An investigation by the Associated Press uncovered that the California Transportation Department classified nearly 300 contracts worth over $13 million - and many of them not competitively bid - as confidential without proper authority. The General Services Department grants the authority to classify contracts. "The agency was unaware Caltrans listed confidential contracts in its records until notified by AP." An earlier AP investigation has found many California Justice Department contracts mistakenly labeled confidential, whic the CJD attributed to employee error. The issue of confidential contracts is being considered by a state Senate subcommittee to address concerns with how agencies track expenditures and improve transparency.

A special report by Andrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee reveals problems with paramedics and EMTs in the state of California. Substance abuse is on the rise among paramedics, including theft of morphine on hand to treat patients in the field. Additionally, lax oversight of the paramedic and EMT licensing systems have led to fired paramedics being rehired as EMTs. The story had led to state legistlative action to tighten the licensing process, as well as a criminal forgery charge related to licensing fraud in Santa Clara County. The package includes online copies of documents obtained under the California Open Records Act.

Aaron Lee of the Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance used FOIA to obtain complaints to the state department of motor vehicles about vanity license plates that had been issued to Virginia drivers, as well as subsequent correspondence between the DMV and the plate holders. The story reveals a host of complaints against many of the vanity plates and detailed the process plate owners are faced with to keep their plates if they appeal. The News & Advance also discovered a surprising lack of oversight by the state when it came to issuing many plates in the first place.