Readers we surveyed express a keen interest in our newsroom keeping watch over their tax dollars. We're more than happy to oblige. To wit: my story about the city mailing bills that, if someone were to pay one — and many did — would net the city 11 cents after accounting for the paper and … Continue reading City mails hundreds of 60-cent bills
False info from a source, and how we dealt with it
As it turns out, my source for a story that ran in Tuesday's paper -- the Ohio EPA -- gave me incorrect information. To compensate, we're correcting the original story on the web (although it looks like the sub-headline hasn't been changed) and we're running a second story in the same place, 1A downpage, that … Continue reading False info from a source, and how we dealt with it
Credit unions vs. banks: the fight started late last year; here we catch up with the data
New credit union data provided an occasion to discuss, with an A1 story, the differences between the two forms of banking — and the PR war that's been fought since the Occupy movement started pushing credit unions last fall. I also reported that the ubiquitous local bank, Security National, took a $100 million TARP bailout … Continue reading Credit unions vs. banks: the fight started late last year; here we catch up with the data
Stories finalist for AP investigative award
My work on the aftermath of the anti-narcotic bill (see the immediately previous post) has been chosen as one of the top three examples of investigative reporting done at newspapers of our size in Ohio. Three investigative reporting finalists were chosen in each of the five circulation-size categories. That's among more than 3,000 entries. The … Continue reading Stories finalist for AP investigative award
Medications still hard to come by for those in pain
Continuing one of my stories last summer, I reported Sunday that people are still having a hard time finding doctors to treat chronic pain. And doctors are still wondering what's legal. It's safe to say nearly all doctors in the Miami Valley have stopped prescribing strong pain medication for fear of showing up on the … Continue reading Medications still hard to come by for those in pain
I saw the first minutes of an innocent man’s freedom after 20 years in prison
Roger Dean Gillispie leaves a bus with supporters to face his parents' home, which he hadn't seen in 20 years. According to a U.S. district court decision six days ago, Gillispie was wrongly convicted of nine counts of rape in 1988. Photo by Teesha McClam, used courtesy of Dayton Daily News. Though he likely could … Continue reading I saw the first minutes of an innocent man’s freedom after 20 years in prison
Coverage of anti-fracking group
Three members of an anti-fracking group based in Yellow Springs have traveled around the state and the country to teach others about the possible dangers of fracking and to join protests against it. Photo by Brandon Smith-Hebson, used courtesy of Dayton Daily News. To accompany a Sunday front-page centerpiece on fracking, once again I joined … Continue reading Coverage of anti-fracking group
Four churches leave denomination
An elder at a Presbyterian church shows off the sign he had printed — with the logo of the denomination his church just joined. The denomination they left had founded the church more than a century before. Photo by Barbara Perenic, used courtesy of the Springfield News-Sun. This is at least the second time my … Continue reading Four churches leave denomination
Wide reach for home explosion story
Hello, folks -- just a quick update today, from the middle of a day of story research. The story on the Fairborn home explosion got a lot of play in news outlets across the country over the weekend — a Google News search returned "554 similar articles" to the Washington Post's version of my story. … Continue reading Wide reach for home explosion story
Home explosion leaves bloodbath in its wake
Two men digging for a water line Saturday afternoon struck a gas line and blew up a house in Fairborn. This was what was left of the duplex they were working on. Photo by Brandon Smith-Hebson. MONDAY A.M. UPDATE: A 75-year-old man was found dead in the rubble on Sunday. It was my day off, … Continue reading Home explosion leaves bloodbath in its wake
Pollution hasn’t invaded drinking water wells, testing in response to our article shows
Today's paper features the results of health district tests of private drinking water wells near pollution seeping from a New Carlisle landfill. Good news: the comprehensive VOC test returned negative results, so people aren't drinking vinyl chloride. The landfill is a U.S. EPA Superfund site, and is leaching the carcinogen into … Continue reading Pollution hasn’t invaded drinking water wells, testing in response to our article shows
Deconstructing a bill: on the education beat
Allie Conley, a high school student at Emmanuel Christian Academy, qualified for the Ed Choice program, getting what is sometimes called a private school voucher. If HB 136 is signed into law, Ohio's voucher system stands to grow significantly larger. Photo by Marshall Gorby, used courtesy of the Springfield News-Sun. I was an education reporter … Continue reading Deconstructing a bill: on the education beat
A dose of science disguised as news
Despite a question about smoking added to the state's death certificate form in 2007, it's wildly unclear just how many deaths can be attributed to smoking — or any disease — because of error in determining cause of death. Photo by Bill Lackey, used courtesy of the Springfield News-Sun. I was told to find out … Continue reading A dose of science disguised as news
Two months and four hundred handwritten pages later…
Larry Shaffer, health inspector for the Clark County Combined health district, washes his hands before starting his inspection at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. Clark County health inspections reveal some dire situations in the area's commercial kitchens. Photo by Bill Lackey, used courtesy of the Springfield News-Sun. Here's my front-page story today on restaurant inspections. It … Continue reading Two months and four hundred handwritten pages later…
New Carlisle landfill on ODH’s watch list
An employee speaks with the owner of Scarff's Wholesale Nursery. Scarff's drilled four wells in an attempt to avoid pollution seeping from a nearby landfill, and still had to be connected to city water. Photo by Marshall Gorby, courtesy of the Springfield News-Sun Big splash on the front of today's News-Sun: my story on a … Continue reading New Carlisle landfill on ODH’s watch list
A setback for the truck-maker in Navistar v. EPA
International trucks on display at a show in China, April 2011. Creative Commons-licensed photo by Flickr user SimonQ. In a followup to my story last month, I just wrote about a development in Navistar v. EPA, the lawsuit that the truck company with the local manufacturing arm filed against the environment agency. How this setback … Continue reading A setback for the truck-maker in Navistar v. EPA
Mosquito story has legs!
A U.S. Army officer separates male and female mosquitoes to test for the presence of disease in the South Pacific. Creative Commons-licensed photo from the Flickr account of the U.S. Army's Korea outpost. Hey everyone. This is the story with the greatest traction I've had so far in my career: At least five newspapers and … Continue reading Mosquito story has legs!
Pill Mill story
Springfield Psychologist Owen Ward says he now spends most of his time trying to find doctors who will prescribe his patients pain medication for their physical injuries. Doctors say the former House Bill 93, a copy of which Ward holds, has had a chilling effect on the prescription of pain medication. Photo by Marshall Gorby, … Continue reading Pill Mill story
Full story on Navistar v. EPA
While it made the lead story on the front of the local page today, my piece on Navistar suing the EPA got cut because of length. I'm posting the whole story here. Navistar's new engines recirculate a larger amount of exhaust back into the cylinders than has been done before, which cools combustion, limiting the … Continue reading Full story on Navistar v. EPA
Mercury poisoning saga
Joel Hogue tests mercury vapor in bags containing clothes removed from the Moore family home. Some bags tested around 100 times the limit considered safe. Photo by Barbara J. Perenic, courtesy of the Springfield-News Sun. Hey everyone. Check out my initial article and followup to the story of the family that had to leave its … Continue reading Mercury poisoning saga
Brandon Smith 