Santa Fe Reporter honored for using public data to list the wealthy
Corey Pein of the Santa Fe Reporter set out to find the wealthiest among Santa Fe residents… His story won first place in the AltWeekly Awards for Innovation/Format Buster.
Rosland Gammon for businessjournalism.org, July 21, 2010
SF Reporter: Tea and Private Security
Imagine a complex lawsuit. It involves the intersection of religion, business and private security, which could be hard to wrap your head around.
But, Corey Pein did just that. His cover story in this week’s Santa Fe Reporter looks at the evolution of the Sikh dharma sect in New Mexico. Pein joined us from our Santa Fe newsroom to talk about how the death of the groups leader several years ago led to a split among followers today.
KUNM News, July 8, 2010
KHALSA vs. KHALSA
A Simmering Lawsuit Could Decide The Fate Of A $1 Billion Sikh Empire
The siege on the second floor was the most dramatic moment of a coup, years in the making, that went down seven months ago in dusty Española.
The modesty of the setting belies the stakes: control of a large private army that has won more than $3.5 billion in government contracts, ownership of a trans-Atlantic natural foods empire and, not least, the fate of an influential decades-old religious sect called Sikh Dharma.
Santa Fe Reporter, July 7, 2010
Taking Dictation
Local pols cheer dead communist ruler
Picture Mr. Rogers stumbling into a James Bond flick. That basically captures the situation of Santa Fe’s affable mayor, David Coss, who just found himself at the center of an international affair involving a corrupt majority-Muslim state, its American Jewish lobbyist, a dead KGB general, Arianna Huffington and British Petroleum.
The saga came to a head shortly after May 10, which Coss had declared “Heydar Aliyev Day” in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe Reporter, June 23, 2010
Unclaimed Veterans Buried
Vets’ remains were sitting in boxes, unclaimed by family
Some may have been homeless at the time of their death, according to John Garcia, New Mexico’s Veteran Services Secretary.
Watch a video of the ceremony…
SFReporter.com, June 3, 2010
Las Cruces man claims unfair debt collections forced him to move
“In particular, [Verizon's] representative stated that she knew where [Burrows] resided and said ‘I am gonna blow your mother fucking house up.’”
SFReporter.com, May 25, 2009
Follow-ups by Consumerist, ABC News, Huffington Post
Leyba Murder Trial Day 3 (Video)
“I wanted to go back and see if they were OK. But the police…sometimes they don’t know the situation. I was afraid.” … For background on the case, read this SFR cover story, and this follow-up.
SFReporter.com, April 26, 2010
What You Missed At The Santa Fe Tea Party
SFR was on the scene for the Tea Party tax protest yesterday. Most noteworthy was the soundtrack: Incredibly earnest patriotic songs—including a John Philip Sousa march or two—played far too loud over the Plaza.
Muckrakersguide.com, April 16, 2010
The Anti-Wireless Witch Hunt
Many “electrosensitive” individuals have multiple psychiatric disorders, [Denver psychologist Herman] Staudenmayer says. “They have a disorder of belief which, when extreme, is a delusion,” he says. “They’re very vocal. They’re very advocate-oriented. There’s a hotbed [of them] in Santa Fe.”
Santa Fe Reporter, 2009-2010
Indian Diplomat Says No Concrete Deal Made In Uranium Talks With Richardson
Last week, SFR reported that Gov. Bill Richardson discussed possible uranium exports to India, a growing nuclear power and US ally, in a meeting with Susmita G. Thomas, India’s Consul General in San Francisco.
Through a spokesperson, Richardson said he “didn’t recall” that aspect of the meeting. But in an email today to SFR, Consul General Thomas adds another confirmation to the nature of the discussions.
SFReeper.com, April 6, 2010
THE STIMULUS SPIN
Which Projects Did Your Government Pay For?
[B]usted plumbing doesn’t exactly scream “recovery.” Indeed, the run-down innards of the Recovery Office suggest a Potemkin stimulus—with a propagandistic online facade masking real economic rot.
Santa Fe Reporter, April 7, 2010
BORN POOR?
Santa Fe Economist Samuel Bowles Says You Better Get Used To It
“Prior to about 20 years ago, most economists thought that inequality just greased the wheels of progress. Overwhelmingly now, people who study it empirically think that it’s sand in the wheels.”
Santa Fe Reporter, Feb. 3, 2010
THE BAILOUT LINE: What Would You Do With $250,000?
In an interview for SFR’s new cover story, “Born Poor,” Santa Fe Institute economist Samuel Bowles suggested that the government invest directly in individuals, perhaps by giving everyone a lump sum to use however they wish—say, $250,000.
SFR wondered what people would actually do with a cool quarter-mil, if it dropped in their laps. So, we asked.
SFReeper.com, Feb. 3, 2010
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Ongoing Coverage Of Santa Fe’s Domestic Violence Epidemic
[These stories reveal] a shocking persistence of domestic violence, habitual abuse and resistance to meaningful reform at all levels of enforcement and treatment for perpetrators as well as insufficient support for victims.
Santa Fe Reporter, 2009-2010
MY OH MAYAN!
2012 May Indeed Be The End Of The World As We Know It
“My only friend is my little dog, and I worry about when I should put her to sleep so she won’t suffer during the 2012 catastrophe.”
Santa Fe Reporter, Nov. 18, 2009
TEA PARTY ON
Santa Fe Is No Place To Launch A Conservative Uprising–Or Is It?
“A year ago, there was so much hope for the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party had become so marginalized. Now, it’s sort of reversed. Some of the problem was the Democrats’ own fault because we did ignore this anger of the voters,” former state Sen. Grubesic says. “The Tea Party of New Mexico, their voice is amplified because we’re so corrupt.”
Santa Fe Reporter, March 3, 2010
THE THORNBURG VARIATIONS
Behind Santa Fe’s Devastated Mortgage Company Lies An American Story Of Triumph And Loss
“Investment bankers from New York always got confused: ‘Where? New Mexico? Do I need a passport?’” Ron Chicaferro, who moved from California to join Thornburg, recalls.
Santa Fe Reporter, 2009-2010
MAN UP
There Is Another Side To The Domestic Violence Story
A wealthy, fit and handsome 47-year-old executive at Thornburg Investment Management, [Joshua] Gonze…supports a controversial cause known as “fathers’ rights.” Less known is that for years, Gonze has been able to suppress and counter domestic abuse claims made by two former spouses.
Santa Fe Reporter, Dec. 16, 2009
GILDED CAGES
Even Santa Fe Women Of Wealth And Status Get Trapped By Domestic Violence
To get a better sense of the scope of the problem across demographic lines, SFR requested more than a year’s worth of domestic violence reports from the Santa Fe Police Department in three patrol areas that cover downtown and the northern hills—areas of the city that have some of the higher property values.
Santa Fe Reporter, Oct. 14, 2009
“IF I WAS TRYING TO KILL YOU, I WOULD HAVE”
And Other Stories From Santa Fe’s Domestic Violence Epidemic
Almost every official interviewed for this story believes New Mexico also has come a long way from the days when violence in the home was a family secret, when a man could beat his wife bloody knowing no one would stop him.
Or not.
Santa Fe Reporter, Aug. 5, 2009
EVERYONE KNEW
A Family Headed Toward Tragedy—While Santa Fe Watched
Detective Tony Trujillo, who is investigating the Lovatos’ murders, calls it a “textbook” domestic violence case. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t any police intervention [when] it could’ve been prevented,” Trujillo says. “It’s a pattern—a cycle, they call it…There is a history between mom and dad, also.”
Santa Fe Reporter, July 8, 2009
RELATIVE RISK
The real reason Randy Leonard didn’t get the Police Bureau.
Was [City Commissioner Randy] Leonard suggesting the cops were leaking info about his daughter to pressure him to drop his bid for the Police Bureau?
“I don’t want to talk about her, but yeah,” Leonard said by phone Monday from New York City where he was courting Major League Soccer officials with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.
Willamette Week, Oct. 29, 2008
UNLUCKY STRIKE
The Oregon lottery is going into detox—and our state budget is along for the smoke-free ride.
For a while after quitting, she was afraid to go into a bar. If she did, she would keep her back to the poker machines. Eventually their spell faded.
“You’ll never get ahead on these fucking things,” Tammy says.
Willamette Week, Oct. 8, 2008
[Pein:] You write that former Seattle Times editorialist Michelle Malkin is “a pundit with the appearance of a Bratz doll but the soul of Chucky.” Which Beltway pundit has the darkest soul?
[Frank:] I’m not going to go there. Some of these guys have a good sense of humor.
Willamette Week, Aug. 13, 2008
ADVICE FROM THE PORTLAND NANNY STATE:
No Solo Street-Crossing Until Age 10 … Among Other Suggestions
Why is the government discouraging “spontaneous sleep-overs”? What possible purpose does this advice serve, except to encourage the kind of timid infantilism that makes people helpless before their masters?
WWeek.com, June 17, 2008
DRUG OF CHOICE
Internet addiction: the seedy underbelly of the information superhighway.
How does one distinguish between a bona fide addict and an office worker who for eight hours a day uses email and Microsoft Word and sneaks in a game or three of solitaire?
One sign is that addicts come to think their computers have human emotions. They intuitively understand the meaning of each click, tap and beep. They sense when it takes too long to start up a program. “They know when it’s sick,” says Block. “It’s like knowing your wife’s favorite rose.”
Willamette Week, Feb. 27, 2008
GRAVY TRAIN
Earl Blumenauer and the ”transportation mafia”
“If this were money coming from a company seeking a big defense contract, and then—oh, what do you know—they got it, people would be jumping up and down,” says Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics. “It’s hard to get worked up about a mass transit project. It serves a large number of people.”
Willamette Week, Sept. 19, 2007
F***TAXES
Is fair just another four-letter word? Our analysis of the FairTax, Georgia’s hottest revenue-raising initiative since the poll tax.
The good news, such as it is: You’re no longer paying income taxes. The bad news? Unless you’re already a millionaire, you’re going to be nickel and dimed until the day you die. And when you do, the government will add 30 percent to the cost of your coffin.
Welcome to life under the “FairTax.”
Metro Spirit, July 4, 2007
WOULD JESUS GO TO WAR?
How one Fort Gordon soldier’s Christian faith overwhelmed his conscience and led him away from the military life
This is the story of how one man, until recently an Army analyst stationed at Fort Gordon, left the military through the soul-searching process of declaring himself a CO. This is not easy. The military doesn’t just let its soldiers walk away…
We asked him to print an edited version of his CO application.
Metro Spirit, June 26, 2007
BIN LADEN’S NEXT TARGET?
Augusta is spending millions to guard its fire hydrants from terrorists. Whatever it takes to protect our precious bodily fluids.
The enormous expense required to defend our nation’s fire hydrants, and with them our precious bodily fluids, begs the question: Does this make any sense whatsoever?
“We have received no threats against the water supply at all, particularly here in Augusta,” says FBI Agent Ed Reinhold, who runs the bureau’s local office.
Metro Spirit, May 23, 2007
FOLLOWERS OF THE ANTICHRIST
Inside an Augusta church that proclaims there is no sin, and worships a man calling himself the Antichrist who wants to be president of the world
Jesus Christ Man smiles. He is polished and engaging. No Charles Manson.
He speaks against the “Jewish doctrines” of baptism, circumcision, communion and the laying of hands. “Jesus of Nazareth was not a Christian. The apostles were not Christian. They were Jews,” he says. He denounces televangelists — some of them miracle-working “sorcerers” — who preach that people should sacrifice earthly pleasures.
Metro Spirit, March 8, 2007
Deputy apologizes for threatening journalist over MySpace story
It was just another day on the job for journalist Corey Pein, but then it all changed.
“It’s not the kind of thing you get every day,” he said of the threat he received after writing an article about three Richmond County deputies’ MySpace pages.
The threat reads, “Well thanks to your coworker’s thoughtlessness my coworker was terminated.”
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t get caught speeding or stepping out of line. We will be sure to show him how (expletive) life can really be.”
[The deputy was suspended for 30 days.]
HIJACKING THE PIRATE MENACE
Washington wraps its political ambitions in the Jolly Roger.
Despite their impressive exploits of late—seizing oil platforms off the coast of Nigeria and, memorably, firing rockets at a cruise ship off Somalia—modern maritime pirates have been robbed of the mystique that once made them stars of the criminal underworld.
Slate.com, Sept. 12, 2006
DEALING WITH MYANMAR
More countries are finding it in their interest to do business with Myanmar’s generals. Is this the beginning of a new era of economic cooperation?
Most of the [new] Salween [River] dam’s electricity will be sold here, even though supplies continue to be unreliable on the Myanmar side…
Last year, Thailand’s demand for natural gas came to 437,900 barrels a day. Nearly a third of that growing demand was met by imports from Myanmar.
What all this means is that if Thailand is to keep its air-conditioning units blowing and its factories humming, it has little choice but to deal with the junta.
IHT ThaiDay, April 26, 2006
IT’S A BITCH
Scrounging, sleeping, scratching and fighting. Life goes on.
This is Hyena’s year. She doesn’t know this, and even if someone told her, she probably wouldn’t grasp the implications. For though she possesses a low-to-the-ground sort of wisdom, she doesn’t speak Thai, English or any of the Chinese dialects.
The last time it was her year, in 1994, she would’ve been just a pup, or smaller still—pre-cellular.
IHT ThaiDay, sometime in early 2006 (Year of the Dog)
CATALOGUE OF CRUELTY
No bad deed goes unrecorded in a reporter’s diary of border life
One Thai officer told [author Phil] Thornton that Burmese hearts tasted “sweet like deer.” In case you were curious.
IHT ThaiDay, January 17, 2006
REBELLIONS ON PAPER
One local writer found that, even in an environment as hostile as Myanmar’s, literature can survive
Perhaps the most important thing that [author Emma] Larkin discovered was evidence of hope. Throughout Myanmar, there are hidden libraries of original writing—the secret histories of her book’s title. These, according to Orwell, are not supposed to exist…
“Orwell believed that the imagination is stunted in a totalitarian society, but I think, really, that he’s wrong,” Larkin says.
IHT ThaiDay, August 12, 2005
FOOD-FOR-FIGHTERS DEAL: Mission Indefinite
Offset agreements have become common in the arms trade, particularly in Asia since the end of the Cold War. These agreements provide an affordable way for countries like Thailand that lack a developed defense industry to obtain military equipment…
In 1996, when Thailand bought eight F-18 fighters from McDonnell Douglas, the company accepted part of its payment in rubber, fruit and frozen chickens.
IHT ThaiDay, June ?, 2005
IS AL-JAZEERA READY FOR PRIME TIME?
The “Fox News of the Arab world” plans to take on Rupert Murdoch and friends with a new English-language service — unless the Bush administration succeeds in squashing it.
Considering its audience and how state-controlled Arab media has been in the past, Al-Jazeera is more radically Western than it is fundamentalist.
Salon.com, April 22, 2005
BLOG-GATE
Many important questions from ‘Memogate’ remain unanswered – often because they were never asked.
Ultimately, we don’t know enough to justify the conventional wisdom: that the documents were “apparently bogus” (as Howard Kurtz put it, reporting on Dan Rather’s resignation) and that a major news network was an accomplice to political slander.
Columbia Journalism Review, Jan./Feb. 2005
What I’ve Been Reading Fresh From My Paper’s Blog
