Fifty-one inches: Terror, heartbreak and heroism as five souls brave the worst storm in U.S. history | Houston Chronicle

A gripping narrative that focuses on the plight of five people caught in the path of Tropical Storm Harvey. Story by Mike Hixenbaugh, David Hunn and Mark Collette

As Houston grew, officials ignored ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to spare thousands from flooding | The Dallas Morning News

“My embarrassment is that I knew enough that this was going to happen. And I was not smart enough, bold enough to fight the system, the politics, and stop it.” Story by Steve Thompson

Houston’s Floodwaters Are Tainted, Testing Shows | The New York Times

Scientific tests paid for by The New York Times found troubling levels of E. coli, lead, arsenic and heavy metals that wound up in homes. Story by Sheila Kaplan and Jack Healy

Government ill-equipped to monitor industrial plants damaged by Hurricane Harvey | The Houston Chronicle

“More than a dozen Texas chemical and refining plants reported damaged storage tanks, ruptured containment systems and malfunctioning pressure relief valves as a result of Hurricane Harvey, portending safety problems that might not become apparent for months or years, according to a Houston Chronicle review of regulatory filings.” Story by Mark Collette and Matt Dempsey

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below. Don’t forget to sign up for blog updates and check out more watchdog journalism from the great state of Texas.

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Texas cities unprepared for monster floods | San Antonio Express-News/Texas Tribune/ProPublica

With Hurricane Harvey bearing down on Texas and forecasters warning the storm could dump 20 inches of rain in some counties, it’s a good time to revisit news stories about the monster floods that keep striking Texas.

Hell and High Water and Boom Town, Flood Town by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune reveal why Houston is woefully unprepared for big storms.

The San Antonio Express-News detailed how the spread of parking lots, buildings and other forms of “impervious cover” worsens the impact of flood waters. “It’s only in the past two decades that San Antonio has had drainage regulations,” the newspaper reported. “Before that, developers were required to do very little to address excess stormwater runoff caused by their projects.” Stories by Vianna Davila, Brendan Gibbons, Neena Satija, Kiah Collier and Al Shaw

‘This is not hazing. This is rape’: Inside a Texas town’s football nightmare | The Daily Beast

How the quiet town of La Vernia is dealing with brutal hazing allegations involving the high school football team and casting blame.

“After the accusations came to light, other students harassed the alleged victims in the halls, calling them ‘rats’ and ‘snitches.’ … “High-schoolers were largely instructed by teachers to keep quiet about the allegations.” … At a school event that turned tense, La Vernia Police Chief Bruce Ritchey “hid behind a column in the very back of the room, where extra chairs were stacked, where no parents or reporters could see him.” Story by Olivia Messer

Former mayor Ivy Taylor sought unemployment benefits from the city of San Antonio | San Antonio Express-News

In an unusual move, ousted San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor sought unemployment benefits from the city, even though elected officials are ineligible for such benefits. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff called Taylor’s actions “really strange.”

“I lost two races. I should have thought of that when I lost,” Wolff joked. Story by Josh Baugh

Spring Hill ISD email offers details on scoreboard investor | Longview News-Journal

A controversial, $500,000 scoreboard at the Spring Hill Independent School District was supposed to be paid with private funds, not taxpayer dollars. But an email obtained under the Texas Public Information Act shows no private donations had been secured when officials announced taxpayers wouldn’t have to foot the bill for the scoreboard. Story by Meredith Shamburger

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below. Don’t forget to sign up for blog updates and check out more watchdog journalism from the great state of Texas.

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But how exactly do these lawyers get around anti-barratry laws? Who’s doing it? And who gets hurt?

Investigative reporter John MacCormack wrote an intriguing story that dives into the shady world of ambulance chasing. He names names and explains how lawyers team up with chiropractors to drum up business. The story is rich with interesting details about how the scam works:

Despite an ongoing legal battle by San Antonio to limit access to accident information, each morning, customers show up regularly at the police station to buy reports that allow them to identify accident victims.

Among the 14 regular customers are national insurance and data base companies, and others, including Melgarejo’s company, S.A. Medical Consultants, for whom the information means quick cash.

Until late August, copies of police reports reprinted on red paper were being sold each morning out of a downtown print shop to telemarketers and case runners. The sales on Martin Street ended after the new law took effect Sept. 1.

San Antonio telemarketers use various ruses to gain the confidence of wreck victims, claiming to represent insurance companies, LULAC and even the United Way. Others come knocking on front doors with beer, barbecue and H-E-B gift certificates in hand.

To learn how the scam works, John told me he mostly relied on a court case involving one of the apparent victims, and by talking to chiropractors who view the practice as a blemish on their profession:

Some chiropractors resist the temptation to work with solicitors and telemarketers, and also refuse to buy wreck information, among them Mark Miller, owner of Miller Chiropractic and Rehab in San Antonio.

“I’ve been approached by at least three law firms in recent years, offering their people to work with, their solicitors,” he said.

“The way it works is the doctor pays the solicitor, the lawyer signs people up, and the lawyer pays a referral fee to the doctor of up to $500 or $600. They called it ‘an upfront payment toward future medical bills’ and it protects the lawyer from any issues,” he said.

Miller said he passed, even though it would have increased his business volume.

Read more about John MacCormack: Meet the real reporter in the new Netflix movie ‘The Most Hated Woman in America’

“It’s not illegal. It’s unethical. And I don’t want to be involved with a patient coming to me based on what some solicitor says. You can’t control that,” he said.

The article is a shining example of what happens when a journalist starts poking around a complicated topic, learns what makes it tick, and shares what he learned with readers. It’s what makes journalism so fascinating.

“This is why I love it,” John said.

The post Chasing the ambulance chasers appeared first on John Tedesco.

Express-News Reporter Scott Huddleston has written a story that reveals how some caretakers of the Alamo are splitting from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the nonprofit organization that oversees the historic mission in San Antonio:

Tensions within the group running the Alamo have fueled an unprecedented schism, casting uncertainty on the future of the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

Two members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas are forming their own nonprofit to benefit the Alamo, despite the DRT’s objections.

“I think the split has been a long time coming,” said Erin Bowman, the San Antonian leading the effort.

Related: How to find an investigative reporter in San Antonio

Conflicts within the DRT, which has run the state’s top tourist attraction since 1905, are frequent. But some say in-fighting among the Daughters is the worst it’s been in years, amid the pressure of raising a record $60 million for the state-owned Alamo in a down economy.

The post Another fight at the Alamo: The Daughters of the Republic of Texas are feuding appeared first on John Tedesco.

“Thank you for bringing this all to light and sharing it with everybody,” Tammy said. “We appreciate it.”

Express-News photographer Helen Montoya and I visited the Haby family and I also interviewed Tammy several times over the phone. The family was willing to share their story because it was a very scary incident and they didn’t want the same thing to happen to others.

Related: The troubled history of the Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Tammy admitted she had some initial reservations talking with a reporter when I first called their house.

“Celebrities, they’re always saying, ‘Well, they took my words out of context.'” Tammy said of the media. So it was nice to hear that the experience was positive for both her and Holden, who was excited to see his picture on the front page of the newspaper.

“It was very professional, and I just really appreciate that,” said Tammy, who said she was happy to let me quote her on my blog.

Related: How to contact an investigative reporter

There was a time when the memories of the accident were so raw that they couldn’t talk about it. Today, they felt comfortable sharing their story. And I think this is why the media can play such an important role in people’s lives. The reason why we come knocking on people’s doors is because these stories matter.

So thanks, Tammy and Holden, for letting me share your story.

The post Message from Holden’s Mom: Thanks appeared first on John Tedesco.

Related: Telling stories about the unthinkable: How three journalists shined a spotlight on child abuse

I”ve always thought one of the problems facing newspapers is that they have to go to press every day — even when there’s no engrossing stories to tell. There have been times when I “read” a paper in minutes because nothing grabbed me. Nothing made me think, “Wow, I didn’t know that.”

It sure was a pleasure to sit down with a steaming cup of coffee this morning and simply get lost in some compelling stories.

The post Sick puppies, a missing body and other gripping stories appeared first on John Tedesco.

In reality, the agency was often powerless to help consumers and it’s going to be dissolved.

Jennifer spent months digging into this story. Here’s the lede:

Hoses twist and snake through Jonathan Steiner’s home.

The makeshift plumbing lines run beneath furniture, across the living room and into the garage, where they block that door from closing completely. Air conditioning leaks out while bugs crawl in.

The hoses were supposed to be a temporary fix when the plumbing system failed and sprung leaks all over the house.

That was more than two years ago.

Related: Top five books every student journalist should own right now

After plumbers told Steiner the entire system needed replacing, the physical therapist couldn’t get his builder to make repairs in his four-year-old brick home, located in the Woodridge neighborhood near USAA. So Steiner turned to the state agency the Legislature created to resolve disputes between homeowners and homebuilders.

It didn’t help.

The Texas Residential Construction Commission agreed the builder is responsible for the plumbing fiasco, but the agency can’t force the company to fix it.

Jennifer uncovered some outrageous details, check it out.

The post Award-winning story shows how homeowners lose disputes with builders appeared first on John Tedesco.

It had been a long time since I last heard from John Putnam. I met him in person once when we attended a court hearing at an old, eerily quiet courthouse in Llano, Texas, but we’ve had countless conversations by phone. And when the phone rang at my desk at the San Antonio Express-News a few days ago and I heard John’s familiar voice, I was dumbstruck by the latest news:

Someone had stolen his sister’s ashes.

* * *

Laura Putnam was a bright 23-year-old graduate of Texas Tech University. Six years ago, she was spending a Memorial Day Weekend at the resort community of Horseshoe Bay, where her boyfriend, Justin Moore, asked her to marry him.

Someone driving a speedboat cut short their promising future. The speedboat’s sleek, curved hull struck the watercraft Laura was riding in and went airborne, knocking Laura into the water. Whoever was at the wheel of the speedboat fled as the two survivors, Justin and his cousin, yelled for help. It was night and they couldn’t find Laura. She was gone.

It took nearly two weeks for search parties to find Laura’s body. Then the Express-News assigned me to the story when game wardens discovered a damaged speedboat at the dock of local Budweiser beer magnates Berkley and Vincent Dawson, who live in San Antonio.

View Map of locations in the Laura Putnam case in a larger map

The Putnams had just learned about the discovery of the damaged boat when the phone rang at their house in Grapevine and the caller ID said: San Antonio Express-News. I was on the other line.

John still remembers how his family, numb from the loss of Laura, were very reluctant to talk to the media. John’s mom, Betty, didn’t see any point in talking to reporters. But John answered the phone. We started talking.

I kept in touch with the Putnams — mostly with John, who was about my age. Somehow, the Putnams realized I wasn’t calling them because I was a vulture. I called because Laura’s life mattered, it was unclear who killed her, and I was trying to figure out who was responsible for her death. The Putnams wanted the same answers. They realized the media could help find those answers by shining the light of public scrutiny on a murky, unsolved case.

I think it’d be very difficult to cover this story if I was a blogger and not a full-time newspaper reporter. Facebook and Twitter are cool, and for some stories, especially breaking news, they’re wonderful tools.

But Twitter is not going to pay me to stake out a grand jury, analyze court records, track down witnesses, and do everything else a reporter must do to cover a story like the Laura Putnam case. It was important, full-time work. I wouldn’t be able to do this in my spare time or as a hobby. Often, newspapers are the only organizations willing to pay for this kind of shoe-leather journalism.

Related: Sign up for updates from John Tedesco’s blog

David Simon, the creator of “The Wire,” explored this problem in a column he wrote for the Washington Post. Simon had read about a police shooting in Baltimore and the news brief contained scant details — not even the officer’s name was released. Simon had worked at the Baltimore Sun, where the paper’s newsroom has been gutted, and no one was challenging the Police Department. Simon started digging into the case, learned the officer’s name was Traci McKissick and found disturbing information about her track record.

In an age when newspapers are downsizing and some are disappearing, Simon asked: Who’s going to spend the time and money to uncover this kind of information? He wrote:

There is a lot of talk nowadays about what will replace the dinosaur that is the daily newspaper. So-called citizen journalists and bloggers and media pundits have lined up to tell us that newspapers are dying but that the news business will endure, that this moment is less tragic than it is transformational.

Well, sorry, but I didn’t trip over any blogger trying to find out McKissick’s identity and performance history. Nor were any citizen journalists at the City Council hearing in January when police officials inflated the nature and severity of the threats against officers. And there wasn’t anyone working sources in the police department to counterbalance all of the spin or omission.

After many stories about the Putnam case, one day I found myself in a courtroom in the small town of Llano with the Putnam family, sitting at a polished bench that looked like a church pew, and watching a young man named Robert “Triple” Corrigan III admit his guilt in Laura’s death.

Corrigan, who had no prior criminal record, received a six-month jail sentence, but had to stay out of trouble for 10 years or risk going to prison. After he was arrested in Austin on a charge of driving while intoxicated, he tried to commit suicide and suffered irreparable brain damage. There were no happy endings in this case.

After that, I didn’t hear from John in awhile. He friended me on Facebook and I caught up with him a bit. Then he called me last week about Laura’s stolen ashes — burglars had broken into his parents’ new home in a Fort Worth suburb, mistaken the urn for a jewelry box, and stolen it.

The Putnams were devastated. But John contacted a local TV station. And minutes after that broadcast aired, an anonymous tip came in and the urn was found near an oil well site, not far from the Putnams’ house.

The point of this blog post isn’t to claim the mass media is infallible. It isn’t. But many of us become journalists because we want to tell important stories that would otherwise go untold.

“This is the most relieved I’ve been in a long time, period,” John told me after the urn was recovered. “You guys really helped.”

John, you can call me anytime.

UPDATE: I got another call from John, who had gut-wrenching news. His mom, who had been suffering from depression after Laura’s death, committed suicide.

I still have the card Betty Putnam gave me several years ago, thanking us for sticking with the story of her daughter’s death. I hope a day will come when my phone rings, John will be on the line, and he won’t have any news about yet another tragedy or tribulation his family is forced to endure.

They’ve been through enough.

The post A tragic death, a stolen urn, and how the media helped appeared first on John Tedesco.

Last week, state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and Mayor Phil Hardberger announced an effort to fix a city ordinance that was meant to protect San Antonio’s diminishing tree canopy from urban sprawl. A loophole in the ordinance allows real estate developers to bulldoze trees for ranching and farming.

For those who want to learn more, here’s a YouTube video of the April 3, 2009, press conference, and a collection of news stories that followed the twists and turns of this issue:

There were several follow up stories:

Related: Why is state Sen. Carlos Uresti facing charges? This news story had the answers months ago

Villarreal and Hardberger don’t think the bill has a very good chance of becoming law at the Texas Legislature, where the real estate industry has a strong lobby. You might ask them, why bother? And you might ask the journalists covering this issue, why bother writing about it if nothing is going to change?

As the reporter who learned about the loophole, I still think it’s a public service to figure out what’s going on at West Pointe, and share that information with a few hundred thousand of my closest friends who read the newspaper.

Related: How to reach John Tedesco, investigative reporter in Houston, Texas

Really, that’s all journalism is about, despite what you may have heard from Rush Limbaugh. It’s about digging up facts, putting the pieces together, learning something new about how the world works, and telling people about it.

That, in itself, is a worthy cause.

The post Local officials try closing loophole in San Antonio’s tree ordinance appeared first on John Tedesco.

This is Military City, USA, and there’s lots of interest in the case and concern about it. Here are links to official sources, and stories by the San Antonio Express-News and other media:

I’ll post more links in the coming weeks. Feel free to contact me if you have information about the case.

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