Criminal justice

I received a letter this week from my alma mater, Northwestern University, notifying me that my notes, records, interviews — even my grades — from my senior year investigative journalism class were subject to a subpoena by the state of Illinois.

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The political window is about to close: Today's the last day to become a candidate in the 2010 state elections. What we know so far is that the ballot will have a fireworks show at the top, with contested and well-financed gubernatorial primaries on both sides. A couple of statewide Democratic races will be competitive, but with incumbents seeking reelection on the Republican side, there's little action there.

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Is NYC bigger than Texas when it comes to releasing government records?

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A rundown of the data we've published so far — and a look ahead.

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Find the highest and lowest performers in Texas. Learn why nearly 500 campuses failed to meet minimum standards — and how the state inflated the rankings in the top category.

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Most money was on a run for governor or attorney general, but — as you’ll hear — Ronnie Earle wants to be a part of the legislative process and thinks the Lite Guv position suits him best.

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Stiles and Thevenot collaborate on the salaries paid to superintendents, and even compare them on price per student… Ramsey’s look at redistricting and next year’s elections… Aguilar’s report on jails, brought to you by the federal agency that’s in the ag business… Rapoport’s peek at the power behind Texas pre-kindergarten programs… Smith’s conversation with Dan Patrick, in three parts… Grissom’s narrative on a circular immigration and deportation route financed by two governments… Ramshaw finds doctors agreeing on public policy and split on strategy and tactics… Hu’s latest Stump Interrupted puts the camera on Farouk Shami… Hamilton’s story on two retired cops who are taking on cargo theft in Texas… And Kreighbaum and Stiles pop open the itineraries of your folks in Congress. The best of our best from December 12 to 18, 2009.

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Writing about congressional travel required days of tedious work because the information isn't easily accessible.

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Texas has the worst rates of cargo and heavy equipment theft in the country. Yet while criminals are raking in billions of dollars each year, the state has never had an organized system to address the problem.

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Members of the Texas congressional delegation took more than 200 privately funded trips, at a cost of more than $350,000, in 2008 and 2009.

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School superintendent salary data offers a unique window into the vast diversity of Texas districts, from massive to miniscule, and the way they pay their chief executives. One new trend: Performance pay.

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Can Texas lottery winners sell all of their payments to private finance companies? State attorneys say no. A state appeals court says yes. The Texas Supreme Court will decide.

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Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years.

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Some Texas sheriffs are looking to an unlikely source to get them out of the hole as private prisons win away federal contracts for inmates and put the financial squeeze on county jails.

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Alberto Gonzales — remember him? — in Esquire.

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Gotta hand it to these young Republicans for not letting a bitter battle between their bosses get in the way of polite pleasantries on the street.

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Data: Make it available. Make it usable. Make it meaningful. Share.

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How we built the red-light camera app. Download the data and build your own — or embed ours as an iframe.

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What are state and local governments in Texas doing to make raw data available to the public? Not much.

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The season for speculating is drawing to an end. Politicians, it’s time to stake your claim.

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