Boating deaths, domestic spying and other investigations

SHOWCASE | September 261, 2005

A roundup of recent watchdog reporting around the U.S.

By Alex Kingsbury

Extra!Extra!, an online digest of stories collected by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), regularly highlights compelling works of investigative journalism around the country. From mistakes surrounding Hurricane Katrina to bulletproof vests that fail to stop bullets, here's a look at several recent Extra!Extra! stories.

A Newsweek investigation finds that "In the weeks before Hurricane Katrina, state emergency-planning directors repeatedly warned that the Bush administration's post-September 11 focus on terrorism was seriously

undercutting the federal government's ability to respond to catastrophic hurricanes and other natural disasters." Documents acquired by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball reveal that "out of 15 "all hazards" disaster-planning scenarios approved by DHS and the White House Homeland Security Council last May, only three involved natural disasters."

Associated Press reporters Frank Bass and Dirk Lammers write that businesses "from a Utah motorcycle dealer to an Ohio Subway sandwich shop - had received [Small Business Administration]-backed loans without being aware they had been drawn from the [9-11 terrorist attack] relief programs." The story has prompted calls for a congressional inquiry into how the monies from a $3.7 billion program aimed at mitigating the economic impact of September 11th wound up so far from Ground Zero.

Marine Corps Times staff writer Christian Lowe used the Freedom of Information Act and eight months of interviews to gather information about unsafe body armor issued to troops. He found that the Marine Corps "accepted about 19,000 Interceptor outer tactical vests from Point Blank Body Armor Inc. that failed government tests due to "multiple complete penetrations" of 9mm pistol rounds, failing scores on other ballistic or quality-assurance tests, or a combination of the two."

An investigation by the Columbia Missourian found that "between 2000 and 2004, Missouri led the nation in alcohol-related boating accidents, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Coast Guard." Reporters Bente Birkeland and Catherine Rentz Pernot reviewed Coast Guard data showing that the Lake of the Ozarks had "more alcohol-related accidents than anywhere else in the nation, including the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico."

IRE also highlights a series of articles from Knight Ridder (registration required), exposing a potential domestic spying outfit in California. The state's National Guard "has quietly set up a special intelligence unit that has been given "broad authority" to monitor, analyze and distribute information on potential terrorist threats." The special unit, according to reporter Dion Nissenbaum, was "involved in tracking at least one recent Mother's Day anti-war rally organized by families of slain American soldiers." Soon after the story broke, National Guard technicians erased a senior commander's computer hard drive, despite a request from a state senator to preserve all records related the unit.

Click here for the entire listing of Extra!Extra! items.

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