Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
A look at enterprising journalism at the San Antonio Express-News and how it’s done.
Have you heard of the nuclear accident at the SL-1 military facility that killed three men in 1961? Some readers of the San Antonio Express-News know about it. And today they questioned claims by nuclear plant owner CPS Energy that no one has ever been harmed by operations at a nuclear plant in the United … Read more
Express-News Reporter Guillermo Contreras has been covering an unusual scandal at the Bexar County courthouse: Thousands of stolen airline tickets were sold at a discount to county employees — including judges and other public officials: What happens in Las Vegas may stay in Vegas, but how you got there apparently doesn’t — at least not … Read more
As CPS Energy seeks to invest in an expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant, the San Antonio Express-News set up a timeline of the plant’s history and safety record. You can check out what we’ve found so far, and also submit information in an online forum. We’ll plug relevant events into the chronology. … Read more
Texas relies heavily on property taxes to raise revenue, and homeowners have a right to protest the appraised value of their land set by county officials. The lower the appraisal, the lower the tax bill. Express-News Reporter Karisa King has been examining a county database that tracks protests filed by homeowners. She obtained the data … Read more
The San Antonio Express-News is investigating CPS Energy’s plans to invest $5.2 billion in a proposed expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Matagorda County. Here some more resources about the project and the nuclear plant: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Includes links to inspection reports and enforcement actions at STP. San Antonio Current: … Read more
A team of journalists working for Hearst-owned newspapers and television stations across the country have spent months investigating the little-known but deadly problem of medical errors in the United States. The stories reveal that more people die every year from medical mistakes than car accidents. At the San Antonio Express-News, Database Editor Kelly Guckian analyzed … Read more
Meg Marco at the Consumerist blogged about a quirky New York Times article that offered car maintenance tips — from 1907. In the process, she highlighted the usefulness of an awesome research tool: Digital, searchable newspaper archives dating to the 1800s. We were poking around the NYT archives when we stumbled across this gem, car … Read more
Even people living outside Texas have heard of Don’t Mess with Texas, the public relations campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT wants to persuade litter bugs to stop throwing trash out of their cars. Buy what exactly do people tell TxDOT when they report a litterer? In her newspaper column today, Peggy Fikac … Read more
The crackly radio chatter of police, firefighters and paramedics doing their jobs has always been a lively soundtrack in the newsroom. But Columnist Scott Stroud explains how the scanner traffic in San Antonio is about to grow quieter: Related: Fake Steve Jobs misses the real point Starting today, reporters at the Express-News and other local … Read more
Using the Texas Public Information Act, reporter Karisa King obtained a huge database that tracks property tax protests in Bexar County and San Antonio. She analyzed the data and here’s what she found: Everybody wants lower property taxes. But those with the least ability to pay rarely protest their appraised values, while owners of upscale … Read more