Investigators: Gym owner started deadly blaze that killed firefighter Scott Deem | The San Antonio Express-News

Local officials have released few details about a deadly blaze that killed San Antonio firefighter Scott Deem. But an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Express-News reveals that arson suspect Emond Javor Johnson was plagued by financial problems and confessed to starting the fire to get out of a monthly $2,500 lease at the Spartan Gym. Authorities arrested Johnson Wednesday. Story by Emilie Eaton, John Tedesco, Caleb Downs, Fares Sabawi and Kelsey Bradshaw

The Wall | USA Today Network

More than 30 reporters and photographers interviewed migrants, farmers, families, tribal members — even a human smuggler — to examine the feasibility of President Donald Trump’s border wall. “In this report, you can watch aerial video of every foot of the border, explore every piece of fence, even stand at the border in virtual reality.”

Harvey laid bare lack of resources, training at Houston Fire Department | The Houston Chronicle

When Houston firefighters rushed into Tropical Storm Harvey’s currents in late August, they were hobbled by a lack of resources, old equipment and a shortage of manpower ready to go when the storm hit, according to a Chronicle review of internal reports and emails, and dozens of interviews with firefighters and other officials. “Internal reports show fire department leaders should have known they weren’t prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.” Story by St. John Barned-Smith

Texas official after Harvey: The ‘Red Cross was not there’ | The Texas Tribune and ProPublica

“The Red Cross’ anemic response to Hurricane Harvey left officials in several Texas counties seething, emails obtained by ProPublica show. In some cases, the Red Cross simply failed to show up as it promised it would.” Story by Justin Elliott, Jessica Huseman and Decca Muldowney

Police responded to his 911 call for help. He died. What happened to Tony Timpa? | The Dallas Morning News

Dallas media organizations spent more than a year examining Tony Timpa’s mysterious death and fighting for public records from the city of Dallas and Dallas County after Timpa’s family complained that police were stonewalling. They discovered that Timpa, unarmed and frightened, died in the custody of police officers as they mocked him. Story by Cary Aspinwall

Kilgore College VP was told quit or be fired, files show | The Longview News-Journal

At the time of his June resignation, records obtained by the News-Journal reveal that former Kilgore College Vice President of Finance Duane McNaney was set to be fired over performance issues and “serious misconduct” — problems that weren’t previously known until the newspaper filed an open records request. Story by Meredith Shamburger

Amid staff exodus at health agency, some say chief has political agenda | The Texas Tribune

Dozens of experienced senior staff members have left Texas’ health and human services agency, saying morale has sunk after the arrival of Executive Director Charles Smith, a longtime ally of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “Current and former employees attribute the exodus to widespread dissatisfaction with the executive commissioner, whom they say lacks technical knowledge of the agency and pushes a political agenda backed by the governor.” Story by Edgar Walters

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.

The post Texas watchdog journalism roundup: Arson, the Red Cross and Trump’s wall appeared first on John Tedesco.

Texas weather can be wild and dangerous, as Hurricane Harvey is showing us this week, so here are some techniques that have helped me track the impact of storms, floods and other natural disasters in San Antonio and other parts of the state:

Weather forecasts and warnings

The National Weather Service provides so much useful information it’s hard to know where to start. For Bexar County, I usually check the service’s detailed “zone” weather page, which provides a snapshot of current conditions, forecasts and hazardous weather warnings.

Zone forecasts are available for all counties — you can find the ID number for your zone in this list of Texas counties. The list includes links to RSS feeds and profiles for each zone. Click on a profile, and you’ll see all current weather watches, warnings or advisories for that particular zone.

I follow my local office of the National Weather Service on Twitter and turn on mobile notifications when the weather turns bad. The forecasters in your area use Twitter to provide a steady stream of updates and weather data.

ICYMI: Here's a short summary of the peak winds & highest observed rain totals from #Harvey.

For a full listing: https://t.co/4vep1s1DY4 pic.twitter.com/omNlaa5C60

— NWS San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) August 29, 2017

AccuWeather Platinum is the best smartphone app I’ve found to keep track of the weather. It not only tells you when it’s going to rain in your location, it predicts the intensity and duration. It also offers an interactive Doppler radar map.

Google provides a real-time, interactive map of public alerts for a wide variety of emergencies.

Measuring rainfall

The National Weather Service offers hourly weather observations, including rainfall totals, for the past three days at the San Antonio International Airport, the main site for weather stats in Bexar County.

The weather service also compiles archives of observations and data for the San Antonio area, and it issues public information statements with more rainfall totals, river flooding and other statistics.

Floods and traffic

Bexarflood.org provides an interactive map of low water crossings and their current status. You can sign up for alerts when a crossing closes or opens. The city of San Antonio also posts emergency street closures.

The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service offers an interactive map of current and predicted river levels. Each site on the map is color-coded to show where major flooding is expected to occur.

TexasFlood.org, a state website, provides a similar river-level map that lets you add additional layers of data, such as weather advisories and Doppler radar images. You can set up an account and sign up for email or text alerts when specific gages show a river or creek is flooding.

Drive Texas is a map provided by the Texas Department of Transportation that shows current traffic conditions on Texas highways and roads. The map shows any flooded roadways.

Rescues and emergency responses

The San Antonio Fire Department’s “active calls” page shows a list and location of emergencies firefighters are responding to, including high-water rescues.

Broadcastify provides a digital feed of police and firefighter radio traffic at departments across the United States. The scanner traffic is available on its website and through a smartphone app.

The Texas Department of Public Safety provides daily situation reports about any emergency conditions in the state and how officials are responding. The reports cover everything from hurricanes to droughts.

CPS Energy provides a map showing the location of current power outages in its service area and the number of customers without power.

Did I forget anything? Contact me or leave a comment below if I missed any useful resources and I’ll be sure to add them to the list.

The post Web tools to track weather, flooding and natural disasters in Texas appeared first on John Tedesco.

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. ShotSpotter’s CEO argues that city leaders are taking too narrow a view of the program and missing its benefits. Story by Vianna Davila

We Sent Alex Jones’ Infowars Supplements To A Lab. Here’s What’s In Them | Buzzfeed

Austin conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ wildly popular suite of Infowars health supplements probably won’t kill you. But extensive tests provided to BuzzFeed News have shown that they’re little more than overpriced and ineffective blends of vitamins and minerals that have been sold in stores for ages. Story by Charlie Warzel

Congressional candidate Roshin Rowjee, challenging Louie Gohmert, holds no medical license, has been disciplined by Texas Medical Board | Tyler Morning Telegraph

Roshin Rowjee, the Lufkin man who plans to challenge incumbent Congressman Louie Gohmert in the March 2018 GOP primary, is presenting himself as a medical doctor. But the Tyler Morning Telegraph has confirmed that Rowjee has never been licensed to practice medicine, has been disciplined by the Texas Medical Board for offering medical advice over the internet, and continues to operate a website offering medical advice.

“I knew this was going to come up in due time, but that is garbage,” said Rowjee, who nevertheless confirmed each of the specific allegations. “It’s absolute garbage.” Story by Jamie Clyde

City records raise doubts about repairs, inspections of Austin garage after car plummets off seventh floor | Austin American-Statesman

At first glance, the incident appeared to be a freak accident. But it was the second time in less than a year that a vehicle drove through steel cables and over the side of the Littlefield Garage. A review of code enforcement documents show that after the first incident, officials only looked at the portion of the garage’s ninth floor where that driver went overboard, took a certified engineer’s word as proof the repairs had been made and then closed the case. Story by Philip Jankowski

Meet the expert who helps Texas cops justify extreme behavior | The Texas Observer

Gilbert Flores’ hands were raised when two Bexar County deputies shot and killed him. A former cop who’s trained thousands of state police officers explains why he thinks that’s OK. Story by Michael Barajas

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below. And don’t forget to check out more watchdog journalism from the great state of Texas.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for August 16, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

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. Story by Guillermo Contreras

A pass to poison | The Texas Tribune

“How the state of Texas allows industrial facilities to repeatedly spew unauthorized air pollution — with few consequences.” Story by Kiah Collier and Ryan Murphy

Mr. Smith goes to Greenland | BuzzFeed

“This Congressman doesn’t think climate science is real. He just went on a secret tour of the melting arctic.” Story by Zahra Hirji

Cost of corruption leaves Crystal City struggling | San Antonio Express-News

“With five former city officials now awaiting sentencing for federal public corruption crimes, the city leaders who replaced them last year are struggling with the financial mess they inherited.” New audit shows Crystal City’s budget is $2 million in the red. Story by John MacCormack

American Dream Denied | Dallas Morning News

“America is supposed to offer the promise of upward mobility for those willing to put in the labor. So why are nearly 31,000 Dallas residents, and their families, working full time but still mired in poverty? The Dallas Morning News editorial board has researched for months to learn more about the city’s working poor, the obstacles they face and how the city can restore faith in a path to the middle class.” Story by the Dallas Morning News editorial board

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for July 23, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

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

Two more liquor regulators leaving troubled TABC | The Texas Tribune

“Two fresh departures from the troubled Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission bring to five the number of high-level officials calling it quits since The Texas Tribune began publishing a series of stories about lavish spending, mismanagement and regulatory overreach at TABC.” Story by Jay Root

Dallas police in ‘crisis situation’ fueled by low morale, pension mess, veteran exodus | Dallas Morning News

“Community leaders in Pleasant Grove tell anyone calling 911 to say they saw a gun or a knife — whether they did or not. It’s a tactic Bonnie Mathias learned from a police officer to trigger a quicker response from authorities. And as the Dallas Police Department continues to shrink, the chairwoman of the Texas Organizing Project of Pleasant Grove said her neighborhood is bracing for slower response times. ‘Our officers are spread so thin that response times are just ridiculous.'” Story by Tasha Tsiaperas and Naheed Rajwani

Military still booting troops with service-related mental health disorders for misconduct | San Antonio Express-News

“Greco belongs to the multitudes of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans separated from the military for misconduct while coping with mental health disorders connected to their service. During a recent five-year period, tens of thousands of troops with diagnosed conditions received less than honorable discharges, stripping them of some or all of their medical, housing, education and additional benefits that could ease their re-entry to the civilian realm.” Story by Martin Kuz

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for July 9, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

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.” Story by Adam Zuvanich

Texas Couple exonerated 25 years after being convicted of lurid crimes that never happened | The Intercept

“The couple’s prosecution in 1992 was part of a wave of cases across the country amid an episode of mass hysteria known as the Satanic Panic. Beginning in the 1980s, accusations flew that the childcare industry had been infiltrated by bands of Satanists hell-bent on brainwashing and sexually abusing young children. The Kellers’ exoneration closes a decadeslong chapter of profound injustice for a couple that paid an exceptionally high price for the credulousness of local law enforcement.” Story by Jordan Smith

A question of restraint: Texas police rarely faulted as 289 suspects died in their custody | Austin American-Statesman

“Even when officers violated use-of-force policies – using banned tactics, for example, or failing to promptly summon medical help for an injured prisoner — it was rare for them to be charged with a crime. Over the past decade, it happened just a handful of times, a six-month investigation by the American-Statesman has found. It was equally uncommon for officers to face discipline from their departments, such as suspensions or reprimands.” Story by Tony Plohetski and Andrea Ball

Dannenbaum, target of FBI probe, has controversial history along border | San Antonio Express-News

“Bitter feelings still linger in Brownsville more than a decade after the city’s port paid millions of dollars for a bridge that was never built to Dannenbaum Engineering, the statewide engineering company whose offices the FBI raided in April.” Story by Richard Webner

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for June 25, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

Human matter found on surgical tools forces BAMC to close operating rooms | San Antonio Express-News

“Brooke Army Medical Center, the flagship of the Army’s health system and famous for its burn ward that has treated hundreds of war victims, has closed more than half its operating rooms and reduced elective surgeries after it found improper sterilization last month of instruments in 73 cases, including 16 incidents in which fragments of organic material such as bone, skin or blood were left on surgical tools.” Story by Sig Christenson.

Texas Voter ID Law Led to Fears and Failures in 2016 Election | ProPublica

Jacquelyn Callanen, the election administrator for Bexar County, said she is still furious about the state’s performance in handling last November’s vote. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years,” she said. “This was the most complicated and emotionally charged election I have ever seen.” Story by Jessica Huseman.

When his son’s call for help turned deadly, Ali Amron challenged the police, and won | Austin American-Statesman

“Criminal justice reformers and some police leaders themselves are questioning whether long-standing law enforcement tactics, such as quick and aggressive scene control and a never-back-down mentality need to be re-visited — particularly in low-stakes encounters.” Story by Eric Dexheimer and Andrea Ball.

Donations from real estate industry fuel San Antonio political races | San Antonio Express-News

“The industry’s influence has become a topic of contention in the race, as officials seek approval for an $850 million bond package to help manage Bexar County’s booming population and exploding development. The infrastructure, public safety and other projects planned with that money could be a windfall for the sector. Story by Richard Webner.

Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for May 4, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

Pot found in truck that hit church bus near Leakey, DPS says | San Antonio Express-News

“Jack D. Young had taken prescription pills and was in possession of marijuana when he crashed his pickup into a church bus March 29 on U.S. 83, killing 13 people, according to court records released Tuesday that also bolstered reports that he was texting while driving.” Story by Zeke MacCormack.

Embattled TABC chief Sherry Cook is stepping down | Texas Tribune

“The move comes after The Texas Tribune reported that Cook and others at the agency had been jet-setting around the country to attend conferences at swanky resorts from Florida to Hawaii.” Story by Jay Root.

Texas police withheld records of their son’s death. Now they know why | Austin American-Statesman

“Civil rights attorneys say that Texas’s unfriendly law enforcement open records law, when combined with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, create a potent legal Catch-22 that can thwart police accountability.” Story by Eric Dexheimer.

How to spend $850 million | San Antonio Express-News

“San Antonio voters will go to the polls May 6 to decide on a bond issue that will fund everything from street repairs to affordable housing. Here’s a look at the six propositions on the ballot.” Story by Vianna Davila.

District 9 San Antonio City Council candidate sues opponent over residency | San Antonio Express-News

“Patrick Von Dohlen, one of the 10 candidates seeking the open District 9 City Council seat, on Monday said he’s asking the district courts to declare opponent Lynlie Wallace an ineligible candidate. The San Antonio Express-News exposed Wallace’s residency issues — that she lives in Austin, not the District 9 home she declares is her primary residency. Much of Von Dohlen’s court filing is based on stories and columns from the Express-News.” Story by Josh Baugh.

How many doses of lethal injection drugs does Texas have? | Texas Tribune

“With execution drugs in short supply across the nation and increasing secrecy about the companies that provide them, The Texas Tribune is keeping track of movement in the state’s supply.” Interactive story by Jolie McCullough.

Former Alamo manager had to repay credit card charges | San Antonio Express-News

“Ian Oldaker, the Alamo’s former chief operations officer, resigned in March after agreeing to repay more than $1,600 in personal expenses that did not qualify for reimbursement, according to records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News through the Texas Public Information Act.” Story by Elena Mejia Lutz and Scott Huddleston.

The post Must reads: Texas watchdog journalism roundup for April 22, 2017 appeared first on John Tedesco.

No one knew what happened to her. And it’s likely no one ever would if it hadn’t been for a series of investigative articles written by San Antonio Express-News reporter John MacCormack, who realized it was a murder case before the police.

Director Tommy O’Haver said the reporter in the movie is a fictional composite of MacCormack named Jack Ferguson, played by Adam Scott.

“We had to compress so much of that story, and obviously the real investigation was far more complicated,” O’Haver told Express-News entertainment columnist Jeanne Jakle. “So we had to create a composite character for John. A lot of the stuff the reporter does in the movie, he didn’t actually do during the investigation. We also had to fit everything into an hour and a half.”

Without seeing the movie, I think it’s safe to say the truth about the reporting is going to be more interesting than fiction. Here’s a video and transcript of my Q&A interview with MacCormack as he looked back on the O’Hair story.

Who was Madalyn Murray O’Hair?

MacCormack: Madalyn Murray O’Hair was a formerly famous atheist who had achieved prominence in the early 60s when she filed a lawsuit alleging that school prayer and school bible reading was unconstitutional. It was one of three suits filed in a short time frame in the early ’60s. Hers was the third. They all three made the same legal claims. And the Supreme Court decided in favor of each one of them. However, O’Hair came out of all this identified as being the one who had filed the most important suit and she took advantage of it and basically became a professional atheist. And she appeared on talk shows, she established various atheist organizations, eventually settling in Austin. And she was quite prominent in the ’60s and ’70s. 

In 1995, O’Hair, her son and her granddaughter disappeared. How did you get involved in the story?

MacCormack: The assignment was a casual mention by my then-boss, Fred Bonavita, the state editor, that it had been a year since Madalyn Murray O’Hair had disappeared and why didn’t I check into things and see how the case was going? I, frankly, wasn’t even aware that she had disappeared because there was no commotion made, no police complaints filed, nothing when she disappeared. The organization just kept it very, very mum. So I didn’t know she was gone and I knew very little about her at that time. 

How many stories did you write?

MacCormack: Well, there were about 80 to 100 stories over three years and about five of them really mattered. The first one was just laying out that she was gone. And I met a few critical sources who would help me later. But it didn’t go very far. And no one had any idea whether she had fled to the South Seas with atheist money or whether she had been captured by the Christists or the CIA or the Vatican as various theories were floating around.

In November of 1996, I looked at the 990 (tax) forms filed by several of her atheist organizations. And they revealed that some $600,000 had disappeared at about the same time as the O’Hairs had disappeared. So when you add a lot of money into the plot of disappeared persons it gets more interesting.

What were the major breakthroughs?

MacCormack: The next big development was that I was approached by a private investigator named Tim Young who proposed that we collaborate because his specialty was finding people who didn’t want to be found. And he frankly thought it would be rather easy to find them. …

The most critical breakthrough for us came in June of 1998 when I got an anonymous call from someone who basically told me that the O’Hairs had been killed and that another party named Danny Fry had disappeared with them. By this time we were pretty much working the theory that they were dead because Tim Young hadn’t been able to find no sign of life anywhere on the globe. So with the introduction of Danny Fry — who was kind of an alcoholic low-life con man from Florida — into the plot, and the fact that he had disappeared, this really made things more interesting.

Related: How a journalist solved the murder case of the ‘most hated woman in America’

It was in this phone call that we were told to pay attention to a guy named David Waters, who was an ex-con who had worked for the O’Hairs a few years earlier, had stolen about $50,000 from them, and O’Hair had pressed the case against Waters, and he had been convicted. And she had also devoted an entire issue of the American Atheist newsletter to David Waters and his horrific, shameful past. Because he had done some very, very bad things in his past. Including being convicted of murder.

So now we had a murderer, we had four disappeared people, we had $600,000 gone somewhere. So it was beginning to get much more serious for Tim Young and I.

In August of 1998, Tim Young and I had a split. He felt it was his duty as a private investigator to go to the police with the information we had. Because we had a pretty coherent theory now. And I had no confidence in the police. I’m speaking of the Austin police, who had pretty much ignored the case. They treated it as a voluntary disappearance by a person, which isn’t a crime. So Tim and I had a — not acrimonious — but it was an unfriendly split. I decided I was going to keep reporting. He went to the Austin police. They ignored him. And from then on I worked alone. 

How did you find out Danny Fry had been killed?

MacCormack: In October of ’98, I happened across a small story that was generated by AP in Dallas, based on a (Dallas) Morning News story about the third anniversary of the discovery of a nude, headless, handless body beside the Trinity River. It had been found in October of ’95. And I just, somehow, fortunately thought to myself, ‘That’s the same weekend that Danny Fry disappeared, and you know, why not?’

To make a long story short, I tried to exclude Danny Fry from being that person. … Nothing could exclude him. So I called the sheriff’s office in Dallas County and I said, ‘Look, I might know who your missing guy is.’ And they’d invested hundreds of hours and hundreds of missing person’s reports trying to find out who this was. So they were kind of cautious about talking to me but they wanted to do it. So I flew up there. We all sat in a little room. And I walked them through the O’Hair disappearance. And to them it was like science fiction. But eventually they came to see that there was a possibility that this headless, handless guy might be my Danny Fry who had disappeared in Texas after coming from Florida. So that was a big, big development. They didn’t laugh me off or anything, they took me seriously.

Danny Fry’s relatives weren’t the type who were comfortable with police. So I got three of his relatives to contribute blood samples, and the lab tested it all, and voila, in January of ’99, it turns out that the headless, handless body was Danny Fry. And that pretty much closed the door on the O’Hairs being alive anywhere.

So I wrote another story basically laying out the picture of them being taken to San Antonio, Danny Fry’s with the O’Hairs, he’s making calls from the same places that they’re known to be. And he’s dead. So, ergo, they’re likely dead. And this really inspired the FBI to get involved. So they threw a lot of manpower at it. And within a couple of months, they’d arrested David Waters, and they’d arrested a second ex-con named Gary Karr, who was a real cold-blooded snake. So the FBI got involved hardcore and then the story proceeded from there.

At this point, the only thing that was really missing, the critical component, was proof of their deaths. It’s hard to prosecute someone for murder when you don’t have a body. So that hung over the case for a long time. No one knew where the bodies were. 

How did authorities find out where the bodies were?

MacCormack: David Waters decided, basically, it was over. He was in state custody on a state offense. And he made a deal with the feds that if they put him in federal prison, which apparently is a lot nicer place than state prison, that he would cooperate. And that was the deal they cut. So Waters gave a very long statement describing everything, and eventually also walked them out there and said, ‘There’s the spot.’ And they dug and they found the bodies. … They kind of knew they found Madalyn Murray O’Hair when the turned up a titanium, artificial hip. And the DNA tests proved that these were the bodies of the three O’Hairs plus Danny Fry’s head and hands all buried in the same hole. And that kind of brought things to an end. 

What’s it like as a reporter solving a murder mystery?

 MacCormack: Well, as a newspaper reporter, most stories are short-lived and you never really figure everything out. And it ends up, you know, you’re just further into the murk. With this story, it went on for three years. I wrote 80 to 100 stories. And it kept getting better and better and better the longer we pushed and searched. Not every day. There were long periods of no progress. But at the end of the day we managed to take a complete mystery, everything was confused, and we pulled it all the way into the sunlight where you had a clear idea, a clear story of what happened. And it solved a very complex murder case, which doesn’t happen every day. So it was very satisfying.

But I don’t confuse it with more important reporting about social issues. This was just a whodunit that was just a hell of a lot of fun to report, a lot of work and at the end of the day, very satisfying.

The post Meet the real reporter in the new Netflix movie ‘The Most Hated Woman in America’ appeared first on John Tedesco.

Here’s what we found out in a five-month project called “Adrift.”

If you had the idea that balloons are light as a feather and safer than other forms of air travel, it’s not your fault. I came across claims that balloons are safer on several ballooning websites that are simply incorrect.

Despite the peaceful, romantic image of the sport, balloons suffer higher crash rates than other types of aircraft.

While there’s no question most flights in the United States are carried out safely, the average accident rate for balloons was 15 crashes per 100,000 flight hours from 1993 to 2006. That’s twice as high as the average crash rate for other general aviation aircraft — seven crashes per 100,000 flight hours.

The same pattern emerged in more recent federal data from 2012 to 2014 — the crash rates were nearly identical, and still twice as high for balloons.

Related: Mechanical problems with your plane? Check its safety record online

The NTSB also published a report that compared the crash rate of air-tour operations for balloons, airplanes and helicopters from 2004 to 2009. Balloons had “very high accident rates” during that period, the report noted, that were higher than fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

But the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t require balloon pilots to take drug tests or undergo medical evaluations like other pilots. In fact, it rejected proposals from its own expert and the National Transportation Safety Board that would have mandated drug tests for commercial balloon pilots.

On the day of the crash near Lockhart, Nichols had been on a “witches’ brew” of prescription medications in his system that included the painkiller oxycodone, Valium, and a muscle relaxant that’s prohibited by the FAA.

We compiled all the documents released by the NTSB and our Freedom of Information Act requests into a vast, searchable library on DocumentCloud. Type in keywords for things like “DWI” or “Valium” to find official records that discuss those topics about the crash near Lockhart.

There’s already been excellent reporting on this terrible story. Publishing a project like this helps tie everything together in a long narrative that helps drive home just how egregious this tragedy was — and how it could have been prevented.

The post Adrift: Hot-air balloon pilots face little scrutiny from FAA despite higher crash rates appeared first on John Tedesco.