Investigative Reporting

Each year New Times writers and editors produce some of the nation's finest investigative journalism, taking top honors in national awards contests with their in-depth projects and special reports. Here are a few of our best recent efforts:

Miami New Times December 13, 2007 "The People Under the Bridge" After tough new sex-offender laws closely proscribed where convicted felons could live, the State of Florida came up with a novel idea: parking them under a bridge. The result was a bizarre community of criminals, hard-core and otherwise, setting up camp in the middle of town. This story won first place in the prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) contest. By Isaiah Thompson

Houston Press December 6, 2007 "Toxic Town" In the town of Somerville, Texas, years of pollution from a massive wood-treatment plant have led to contamination levels higher than those found at Love Canal--and rates of cancer and birth defects that officials say constitute a public-health emergency. By Todd Spivak

Phoenix New Times October 18, 2007 "Target Practice" Only two journalists were arrested in the United States in 2007 for exercising their First Amendment rights. They happened to be the executive editor and chief executive officer of Village Voice Media. After Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio put Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin in jail for publishing a story revealing massive abuses of the grand jury process, the paper responded with a series of articles that demonstrated--yet again--how Arpaio and his cohort, county attorney Andrew Thomas, had routinely violated the constitution in the name of law and order. By New Times editorial staff

Village Voice August 9, 2007 "Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11" Someone needed to give the tough-talking presidential candidate a reality check about what happened on that fateful day. We were happy to oblige. By Wayne Barrett

Houston Press July 19, 2007 "Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose" Thinking about investing in rare coins to protect yourself against an unstable economy? Before you purchase so much as a penny, read this investigative effort, which revealed the wide variety of scams used by the industry to reel in customers. The story was named a finalist for the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. By Todd Spivak

Seattle Weekly July 18, 2007 "What If They Weren't Gay?" Newly declassified documents put the lie to the government's claim of a Cold War homosexual conspiracy. By Rick Anderson

Phoenix New Times June 14, 2007 "Snake on a Plane" You won't believe what happened when the cops told the airline it had a murderer on board. By Paul Rubin

SF Weekly June 6, 2007 "Burnt Chefs" After the well-known California Culinary Academy was purchased by a large, for-profit education company, things changed at the elite cooking school. Class sizes mushroomed, tuition skyrocketed, and the academy's self-proclaimed ability to place graduates in top-of-the-line jobs was severely compromised. Strickland's story had all the ingredients of a scandal--and won first-place for investigative reporting in the California Society of Professional Journalist's annual contest. By Eliza Strickland

Miami New Times May 17, 2007 "Rapture of the Deep" The horrible story of how a ghostly shipwreck claimed new victims off Key Largo. By Tamara Lush

Dallas Observer March 8, 2007 "House of Death" A dozen men were tortured, killed and buried in a small house in Juarez. Three years later, the U.S. government was still trying to cover it up. By Jesse Hyde

Broward-Palm Beach New Times March 8, 2007 "Witness for the Intimidation" When the city bit a dog owner, our reporter saw it happen. When the man bit back in court, our reporter took the stand. By Bob Norman

Phoenix New Times December 14, 2006 "Jump Street" The City of Phoenix's chief financial officer jumped to his death from atop his moving Mercedes. But it was only the beginning of the mystery. By Paul Rubin

OC Weekly October 26, 2006 "The New Crips" An ex-drug dealer and burglar who's spent the better part of his adult life unemployed came up with a brilliant new scam: terrorizing small business owners with a wheelchair posse. And, as R. Scott Moxley revealed, he had the law on his side. By R. Scott Moxley

Westword October 12, 2006 "Made For Each Other" Just when the sad saga of JonBenet Ramsey had faded from memory, Colorado authorities thrust the case back into the limelight by arresting a publicity seeker named John Mark Karr for her murder. It was left to Alan Prendergast to write the definitive story of how a university professor with an agenda--and a history of fingering the wrong suspects — led the Boulder DA to make such a colossal blunder. By Alan Prendergast

Broward-Palm Beach New Times October 12, 2006 "Charlie Crist is NOT Gay" And other things the Republican Party wanted Florida voters to believe on election day. By Julia Reischel

Broward-Palm Beach New Times September 28, 2006 "Daddy's Girl" When multimillionaire investor Bruce McMahan discovered he had an adult daughter from a previous relationship, he welcomed her into his family. And then tried to marry her. The story made headlines around the world — and our Kelly Cramer was the reporter who broke it. By Kelly Cramer

Broward-Palm Beach New Times August 10, 2006 "Witness for the Intimidation" When the city bit a dog owner, our reporter saw it happen. When the man bit back in court, our reporter took the stand. By Bob Norman

Miami New Times June 8, 2006 "Pearl of the Antilles" Our woman in Guantanamo told the real story about a surreal place. By Emily Witt

Houston Press March 30, 2006 "Run Over by Metro" When Press, staff writer Todd Spivak investigated the city's bus company, he discovered that the agency had a habit of maiming and injuring the very people it was supposed to be serving. Spivak's reporting, which involved extensive interviews and the review of thousands of public documents, revealed that the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County hounded victims to settle accidents, fudged statistics, and rejected the safety recommendations of its own experts. For his efforts, he won the 2006 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award. By Todd Spivak

Phoenix New Times March 16, 2006 "Cracked Houses" People are pouring into Arizona, and homebuilders are only too happy to cash in on the boom. But as New Times staff writer Sarah Fenske reported after scouring through mountains of court cases and formal complaints, many of those new residents are realizing that their dream homes were built on shifting soil. As a result, cracked foundations are as common as cacti--and developers are being plenty prickly about fixing the multi-million-dollar mess they've created. Fenske's story was named a national finalist in the 2006 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Awards. By Sarah Fenske

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