Gaps in Wisconsin tornado warning system identified

After tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the state earlier this month, Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that thousands of southeastern Wisconsin residents are out of range for tornado warning sirens. Using mapping software, Poston plotted nearly 75 siren locations in Milwaukee and Racine counties and then overlayed census data to identify gaps in the warning system.

AP's Charlotte correspondent Mitch Weiss identified 24 nuclear reactors located in areas of severe drought that could potentially force reactors in the Southeast to reduce power or shut down later this year. The drought threatens the rivers and streams that supply massive amounts of cooling water. Weiss reports that, while utility officials issue public assurances about the plants' operability, documents reveal warnings about potential shutdowns and the expense of buying power from alternate sources. His analysis and mapping covered 104 nuclear reactors nationwide.

An investigation by Brad Branan of the Fresno Bee shows that the Fresno County fire district is failing to meet the national standard for response time when called, leaving residents and property in peril. An analysis of about 1,500 fires over a 21-month period revealed frequent failure to respond in the 5-minute window. One district only met that national standard on 16 percent of their calls. The county cites too few stations as their main problem. A graphic maps the stations with the percentage of fires they respond to within five minutes.

According to a USA Today report by Brad Heath, "Since 2000, roughly 450,000 people — enough to populate a city the size of Atlanta — moved to Western areas endangered by wildfires." Heath's analysis combined historical fire data from the USGS Forest Service, Census population data, fire modeling software used by researchers and a wild and urban interface map to discover this dangerous migration.

A four-part series by Binyamin Appelbaum, Lisa Hammersly Munn and Ted Mellnik of The Charlotte (N.C) Observer profiles Beazer Homes USA and the failure of starter-home neighborhoods in the Charlotte area. As it sold homes and arranged mortgages, the company crossed the line between selling to people who could barely afford homes and selling to people who couldn't. The series features an up-close look at what went wrong in one neighborhood. It also includes an interactive map that allows readers to check foreclosure rates in their neighborhoods.

Dave Fehling of KHOU_Houston reports on the city's burglary trends. "Analyzing raw numbers from the last two years, a special mapping program found five hot spots." Further analysis of the data showed that the hot spots covered a higher concentration of apartment complexes, where it is easier for unfamiliar faces to move around unnoticed. The IRE and NICAR Database Library assisted with data analysis and mapping for this story.

Andrew Tangel and Mike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal found that sex offenders in the state of Delaware have been inadequately monitored. By mapping "the addresses of more than 1,200 moderate- and high-risk sex offenders, 1,900 child care centers and 350 public and private schools", Tangel and Chalmers found hundreds of instances where sex offencers were living within 500 feet of day cares - but day care centers don't count as schools under Delaware's lax version of Megan's law. They also found that 40% of sex offenders do not keep their addresses up-to-date in the system. Included in this report are details on how this investigation was done.

In a three-part series, Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer shows the "state's regulation of drinking water reveals disregard for safety of private wells, weak regulation of public water systems and widespread problems with lead testing." The series includes an interactive map and a sidebar about how the state closely followed Stith's investigation and began responding to problems before the stories were published. "Stith, along with reporters Catherine Clabby and Wade Rawlins and database editor David Raynor, examined a stack of paper records 8 feet high and acquired databases from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health and Wake County. The reporters also interviewed more than 100 people."

A team or reporters and editors with the Gannett New Jersey newspapers and Gannett News Service examine loopholes in Megan's Law in a three-part series. The investigation found that New Jersey's law stands as one of the weakest in the nation in immediately warning residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. "In New Jersey, it can take prosecutors and judges months to notify people if a notorious rapist has moved next door — if they warn you at all. " Monmouth and Ocean counties were home to 1,220 registered sex offenders in January, according to State Police information. The names and addresses of just 253 were posted on the state's Megan's Law Web site; most of the rest are known only to law enforcement. Because of the growing number of residency restrictions, an unknown number of sex offenders may be forced from their homes this year, thus making them shift from inner-city enclaves to suburban neighborhoods. The team who worked on this project includes James W. Prado Roberts, Robert Benincasa, Michelle Sahn, Alan Guenther, Abbott Koloff, Arielle Levin Becker, Ledyard King, Paul D'Ambrosio and Laura Rehrmann.

Matthew Haggman, Lisa Arthur and Tim Henderson of The Miami Herald analyzed home sales over the past five years and found South Florida has gone through the most explosive housing boom in its history. "The land rush has transformed just about every corner and corridor of the region, sending prices skyward since 2000 — more than 150 percent in Pompano Beach, more than 200 percent in Hallandale Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, and 250 percent in North Bay Village. " But it is predicted that South Florida's 5-year run of annual price jumps of anywhere from 12 percent to more than 20 percent is ending. Prices have wobbled in recent months, with sellers lowering their expectations. Houses are sitting longer on the market — the average time needed to sell a single-family home in Broward County has jumped from 34 days six months ago to 53 days.