Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: Austin American Statesman: A new Web page of investigative reports. Scottberkun.com: How to detect bullshit. Long post but there’s good information here. One of the best questions you can ask anyone making a claim is, how do you know that? Associated Press: How to do watchdog journalism.
John MacCormack’s story today about a South Texas legal scandal in Corpus Christi had a little bit of everything. There’s a fake lawyer who’s represented by a well-connected lawyer. There’s a judge with high aspirations who gives the fake lawyer probation. And there’s an angry district attorney who says the whole thing stinks. John’s been … Read more
Many readers who commented about our story that examined ride malfunctions at Kiddie Park in San Antonio reflected on their love for the old park, and their hope that its woes can be addressed. Here are a few examples: Kiddie Park holds a special place in my heart, but I was fearful taking my children … Read more
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: Knight Foundation: 25 nonprofit organizations formed an investigative news network, and EveryBlock’s source code is released. Safety Net: Watchdog journalism is suffering as thousands of journalists lose their jobs. Publish or Perish: Now that Twitter is writing the first draft of history, where does that leave journalists? Read … Read more
Nice to see Brooks Egerton at the Dallas Morning News used our new database of amusement ride injuries to check the safety record of the Texas Giant rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Texas. In his blog post today, Egerton discussed how the Texas Giant is closed and he was quickly able to check whether people … Read more
My appreciation for coffee has reached new, caffeine-fueled heights. Aaron Blanco of Brown Coffee Co. roasts fresh coffee a few blocks from my house in a small building on North Zarzamora Street near the Deco District. I swung by today on my day off and it’s always an adventure. As Aaron often preaches, the coffee … Read more
I just got off the phone with Tammy Haby, who I interviewed for this story about the safety record of Kiddie Park. Haby’s son, Holden, had his teeth knocked out in a roller coaster accident at the old park. “Thank you for bringing this all to light and sharing it with everybody,” Tammy said. “We … Read more
This archived story was posted online for our recent investigation of the thrill ride industry, and it links to internal documents at Fiesta Texas. The documents reveal how park officials were still working out the kinks of the flagship wooden rollercoaster, the Rattler, after the park’s grand opening in 1992. They tracked hundreds of injuries … Read more
Our second story in our series about the safety record of amusement parks in Texas focused on Kiddie Park, a San Antonio landmark that opened in 1925 but has fallen on tough times. In at least three incidents, the park’s aging rides malfunctioned or broke with scared children on board. One 6-year-old boy knocked his … Read more
Ten years ago (wow, I’m getting old) I wrote a series of stories about the safety record of San Antonio’s major theme parks — Six Flags Fiesta Texas, SeaWorld San Antonio, and Splashtown. I learned state officials keep a little-known database that tracks amusement-ride injuries in Texas. The database isn’t perfect. The injuries are self-reported … Read more