Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
A look at enterprising journalism at the San Antonio Express-News and how it’s done.
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
San Antonio police cut pricey gunshot detection system | San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio police officers have made only four arrests and confiscated seven weapons that can be attributed to an expensive, highly touted gunshot detection system called ShotSpotter. That’s $136,500 per arrest. Read more …
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
In Trump era, coal plant south of San Antonio off chopping block | San Antonio Express-News
From the air, the San Miguel coal mining operation 50 miles south of San Antonio looks like a scene from the industrial revolution. One of the five worst polluters in Texas, it produces lignite, the lowest grade of coal. But the San Miguel plant might be saved from extinction under the Trump administration. Read more …
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
The aftermath of HB2 is not just seen in closed clinics. It’s seen most vividly in the lives of women like Peña and Soto, whose voices often go missing in the noisy battle over abortion, which remains one of the most contentious issues of modern times. Read more …
If you read weather updates on Facebook from the San Antonio Express-News, then you’re keenly aware that it’s summer and the forecaster is not happy about it. “There is no weather,” a typical forecast reads. “There is only this. Always this. Unchanging. Eternal. Forever. This.” Then there was this gem: “It’s mostly sunny and almost …
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
Decision to ‘end this’ after 12-minute standoff left Gilbert Flores dead | San Antonio Express-News
After a 12-minute confrontation with a belligerent, knife-wielding man who said he wanted to die, two Bexar County sheriff’s deputies turned to each other and agreed on “ending this,” according to their sworn civil depositions obtained by the San Antonio Express-News. But the deputies decided to open fire moments after the man, Gilbert Flores, raised his arms in apparent surrender. Read more …
The Texas Highway Patrol Museum was a weird place. It used to sit on a busy street corner near downtown San Antonio. Yet whenever I drove by, I hardly ever saw anyone inside. More than once I wondered, what’s the deal? I found the answers in the IRS Form 990 — the publicly available tax …
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
Lack of sharing, limited resources impede identification of migrant remains | San Antonio Express-News
“Funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, reporter Aaron Nelsen and photographer Julysa Sosa traveled more than 3,000 miles for three weeks chronicling a caravan of Central American mothers and other family members on a heart-wrenching journey: trying to find out what happened to their loved ones, who disappeared while making the dangerous trek to the United States. But many are denied even the bitter closure of burial because lack of shared DNA databases, international conflicts and shifting immigration policies are preventing the identification of an untold number of remains.” Story by Aaron Nelsen Read more …
Investigative stories across Texas that uncovered hidden facts and held officials accountable.
Ticket to the Top | San Antonio Express-News
“How tiny St. Anthony Catholic High School got involved in a questionable recruiting pipeline that included the University of the Incarnate Word, a talent scout and a booster to land star Nigerian basketball player Charles Bassey, one of the top big men in the country.” Read more …
Low-income landlord David Starr gets tax breaks despite allegations of poor living conditions | San Antonio Express-News
“Over the last 25 years, Starr has used property tax breaks, state tax credits and tax-exempt bonds to build a real estate empire throughout Texas and in Florida, Illinois, Kansas and other states. Most of his local complexes have been financed through two nonprofits he runs: American Opportunity for Housing and American Agape Foundation. Those nonprofits have a long history of allegations of poor and sometimes dangerous living conditions, according to court filings, complaints filed with the city of San Antonio and interviews with more than a dozen current and former residents. Read more …
Investigative stories across Texas about the death of San Antonio firefighter Scott Deem; the prolific and dangerous use of Tasers by police; and efforts to keep a killer nurse behind bars. Read more …