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August 2008 - Posts

Friday, August 29, 2008 5:51 AM

The Courageous Kid

It's not often that we feature stories about funerals on News Gems, but Mike White's "Funeral for a Teen Whose Bravery Touched So Many" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette grabbed my heart. White does an amazing job of using simple words to richly describe the
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Thursday, August 28, 2008 5:33 AM

Back to Burma

Remember how Cyclone Nargis devastated much of Burma (Myanmar) in early May, killing perhaps more than one hundred thousand people? The story has disappeared from the headlines because few American journalists have ventured into the totalitarian country
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008 5:33 AM

Hurricane Warning

As Hurricane Gustav strengthens and heads toward the Gulf of Mexico, "New Orleans Repeating Deadly Levee Mistakes" by AP's Cain Burdeau raises alarming issues. Signs are emerging that history is repeating itself in the Big Easy, still healing from Katrina:
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:11 AM

Two Fighters

I like columnists who go out of their way to do their own original reporting. Few do it better than the Los Angeles Times' Steve Lopez, who has a knack for finding compelling stories in places far from the corridors of power. For this column
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Monday, August 25, 2008 6:09 AM

Failing the Mentally Ill

"Broken Trust" by Eileen Kelley and Dan Horn of The Cincinnati Enquirer shows how city and state inspection systems designed to protect mentally ill nursing home residents broke down at two facilities. Cincinnati police Officer Aaron Layton was hunting
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Friday, August 22, 2008 6:21 AM

Fun with Politics and God

As we head into the convention season, two Web sites are covering politics in fun ways. PolitiFact.com, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, checks the accuracy of statements made in the presidential candidates' speeches
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Thursday, August 21, 2008 5:50 AM

Empty Classrooms

In 2001-2005, Milwaukee Public Schools spent $102 million building new classrooms, science labs and libraries to revamp neighborhood schools and thus reduce the costs of busing by convincing parents to choose nearby schools. In an excellent series, "Subtraction
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 1:18 AM

Asking Tough Questions

On July 17 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 11-year-old Lakeisha White was struck and killed by an unmarked patrol car driven by Sheriff’s Detective Ron Killings. Local police said it appears that Lakeisha darted out in front of Killings, but on August 3 Daily
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Tuesday, August 19, 2008 6:31 AM

More Description Stars

A big thanks to everyone who responded to Thursday's News Gems post about the best describers in American newspapers with suggestions of more great writers. (And our apologies to everyone who tried to leave a comment but couldn't; we're working on
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Monday, August 18, 2008 6:07 AM

Mortgage Fraud

On August 12 we featured a Miami Herald investigation into Medicare fraud in South Florida. Today we'd like to highlight another Miami Herald series, "Borrowers Betrayed," on how Florida became the national leader in mortgage fraud. The series, written
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Friday, August 15, 2008 6:42 AM

The Battle for Georgia

"Georgia Soldiers, Civilians Break Down on Road to Battle," by Megan K. Stack of the Los Angeles Times, is a gritty report that brings us face to face with Georgian troops as they are overwhelmed by Russian air assaults. Stack wastes few words as she
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Thursday, August 14, 2008 6:40 AM

The Best Describers

Which newspaper writers are the best at describing people and places? I have three nominations, all of whom we've featured in News Gems before. Jeffrey Fleishman of the Los Angeles Times has been writing wonderful dispatches from Egypt and the
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008 6:36 AM

The Mexican-American Connection

The power of video storytelling on the Web is ably demonstrated by "Border Stories," a collection of documentaries about the complexities of life along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. From Texas to Tijuana, these videos capture the human
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:39 AM

Medicare Fraud

A six-month Miami Herald investigation has found rampant Medicare fraud in South Florida. A wide-ranging series of reports by Jay Weaver shows that corruption flourishes while regulators do little to stop it. Consider this statistic: In 2005, South Florida
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Monday, August 11, 2008 5:55 AM

Notable Narratives

Newspaper readers recently have been treated to three excellent narratives. "The Long Haul," a 7-part series by AP's Sharon Cohen, recounts a Minnesota National Guard unit's 22-month deployment for training and combat in Iraq. Cohen follows several soldiers
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Friday, August 08, 2008 6:23 AM

Wildfires

Julie Cart and Bettina Boxall of the Los Angeles Times have written an exceptional series on the soaring costs of Western wildfires, "Big Burn." They examine the causes, including drought, shrinking snowpacks, the spread of nonnative grasses and the Forest
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Thursday, August 07, 2008 5:46 AM

Death of a Runner

Lucas Sang was a hero to his neighbors near the Kenyan city of Eldoret, an Olympic runner known for his kindness and generosity. Yet when ethnic fighting engulfed Kenya after its tainted elections last December, Sang chose to lead a rampaging mob
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008 6:16 AM

After the Raid

On May 12 nearly one-third of the people in Postville, Iowa, were detained in a federal immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. The raid made headlines for a few days, but the repercussions continue. Nigel Duara of The Des Moines Register
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 5:02 AM

The Poisons Around Us

The Center for Public Integrity has recently released two great investigations that show how consumers and workers are being exposed to toxic hazards. "Perils of the New Pesticidies" by M.B. Pell and Jim Morris reveals that the number of reported human
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Monday, August 04, 2008 5:53 AM

Diploma Mill

Two years ago Bill Morlin of The Spokesman-Review broke a major story about a diploma mill ring based in Spokane. Morlin stayed on the story as a federal task force investigated the ring and eight members pleaded guilty to federal crimes. But Justice
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Friday, August 01, 2008 6:32 AM

Goodbye Mr. Newton

"The Petabyte Age: Because More Isn't Just More -- More is Different" in the July 16 edition of Wired takes a fascinating look at how our ability to process enormous amounts of data has forever changed science as well as business, medicine and technology.
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