{"id":9,"date":"2008-10-16T00:46:27","date_gmt":"2008-10-16T00:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johntedesco.net\/blog\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2023-03-08T14:39:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T19:39:36","slug":"clips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/johntedesco.net\/blog\/clips\/","title":{"rendered":"Clips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stories and multimedia projects by John Tedesco<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfair Burden: Huge corporations are saving billions on Texas taxes, and you’re paying for it<\/a><\/h3>\n

May 12, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Unfair<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas law promotes billions of dollars in tax breaks for the well-connected and big corporations while everyday Texans struggle with job losses, stagnant wages and the economic fallout from the pandemic<\/a>. …<\/em><\/p>\n

Abuse of Faith: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms<\/a><\/h3>\n

Feb. 10, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Abuse<\/a><\/p>\n

The sordid backgrounds of these Southern Baptist ministers didn’t stop them from finding new jobs at churches and working in positions of trust<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

A day of death and heroism in Sutherland Springs<\/a><\/h3>\n

Nov. 12, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Death<\/a><\/p>\n

On the Sunday that changed everything in Sutherland Springs, Lorenzo Flores and his girlfriend, Terrie Smith, had just parked at a Valero gas station on U.S. Highway 87 when Flores glanced across the road and saw the man with the rifle<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

Adrift: An investigation of the hot air balloon industry<\/a><\/h3>\n

March 10, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Adrift:<\/a><\/p>\n

When 15 passengers boarded a hot-air balloon last July and put their lives in the hands of pilot Alfred \u201cSkip\u201d Nichols, they might have taken for granted that the Federal Aviation Administration had made sure their pilot was drug-free and fit to fly.<\/em><\/p>\n

They were horribly wrong<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis: SAPD officers use force at higher rates against minorities<\/a><\/h3>\n

May 29, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

\"SAPD<\/a><\/p>\n

Signs of a disparity in how minority suspects are treated by San Antonio police have existed for nearly 20 years, when SAPD began tracking in 1998 how often officers subdue suspects. Police records show that disparity still exists<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

Up in Flames: Flares wasting natural gas<\/a><\/h3>\n

August 24, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Up<\/a><\/p>\n

Oil and gas companies rushing to drill in the Eagle Ford Shale since 2009 have burned and wasted billions of cubic feet of natural gas \u2014 enough to meet the needs for an entire year of every San Antonio-area household that relies on the fossil fuel<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Little donated cash aids state troopers<\/a><\/h3>\n

Oct. 9, 2011<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

From the outside, the Texas Highway Patrol Museum doesn\u2019t look like a multimillion-dollar telemarketing operation<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Cause for alarm<\/a><\/h3>\n

March 11, 2007<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cause<\/a><\/p>\n

City records show the Fire Department’s mission of protecting lives and property is clashing with San Antonio’s appetite for new land.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the past six years, firefighters rushed<\/em> to inner-city blazes far more quickly than to fires in popular outlying areas that attract thousands of new homeowners.<\/em><\/p>\n

Delays on the city’s edges plague rich and poor alike, from the exclusive enclave of the Dominion to low-income neighborhoods like Sunrise, a struggling community on the far East Side.<\/em><\/p>\n

San Antonio annexed many of these neighborhoods despite protests by residents, who complained the city would fail to provide swift fire protection.<\/em><\/p>\n

The city’s own records reveal that most of the time, those fears came true<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

Fleet but fatally fragile<\/a><\/h3>\n

May 21, 2006<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fleet<\/a><\/p>\n

Miss Pretty Promises collapsed near the finish line and struggled to rise on her shattered forelegs.<\/em><\/p>\n

A pickup rushed to the crippled racehorse. Two men sprang out and shielded the filly from the crowd with a crinkled tarp as the vet went to work.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was April 28 \u2014 opening night for live racing at Retama Park. In the stands, many people had gasped when horse No. 4 with the crisp yellow silks tumbled in front of them on the dirt track.<\/em><\/p>\n

A covered trailer soon whisked the concealed horse away and onlookers clapped and cheered, as if they were rooting for a football player who was limping bravely off the field.<\/em><\/p>\n

But Miss Pretty Promises never would run again<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

Losing Ground<\/a><\/h3>\n

Oct. 16, 2005<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Losing<\/a><\/p>\n

An obscure Texas law written for developers has cost San Antonio millions of dollars, stripped parts of the scenic Hill Country of trees and blocked attempts to protect the region’s water supply<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

Good idea gone bad?<\/a><\/h3>\n

May 11, 2003<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Good<\/a>
\nImagine a government subsidy that cures San Antonio’s poorest neighborhoods.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks to this multimillion-dollar pill, new homes breathe life into dying parts of town. Families move in, proud of their investment.<\/em><\/p>\n

You might say good things about such a program.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now imagine how the same subsidy puts buildings on valuable land that would have been developed anyway, and stops local government from collecting $658 million in tax revenue – enough money to build three SBC Centers, and then some.<\/em><\/p>\n

And imagine one of the city’s top lobbyists taking a cut of the tax pie for himself.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to San Antonio’s complicated world of tax increment financing — TIF, for short — where each ambitious project comes with a price<\/a> …<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Adrift<\/h3>\n