Digging 101
My Monday morning e-mail included a question about how the writer could look at the mug shot of another driver involved in a wreck. So I guess it's time for another public records request primer. Here's my response to the ...

How is crimereports.com working for you?
The police department's new online crime records have been a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I like the idea of searching recently updated crime stats. Unfortunately, when I log on, the site often says it doesn't have information ...

Paperwork!
I haven't been truly puzzled by any local public information policies for awhile. I guess I was due for this. Witnesses reported two vicious pit bulls in the 1600 block of Navarro on Monday. Police shot one of the dogs, ...

Christmas presents
Are you a box shaker? Do you hold presents up to the light to try to look through the paper? (I'm not saying this works, by the way. Nor am I saying I tried this when I was 10, or ...

Election day on the wide, wide world of web
How did democratic process even work before the dawn of the interwebs?  A time when we were unable to stare at the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN and Fox News all at once? Wait, they did this before cable? Before TV? Elections ...

By that you mean?
Every time I get a letter from the Attorney General's Office, I'm pretty excited. After all, it could mean information I requested months ago is soon to follow. But on average it takes me about five hours per paragraph to ...

galveston
I know this story has been circulated a lot, but it here it is again, for those of you who missed it. Of course I think this is a crummy idea because I'm a reporter. But Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas' ...

Film meets public record
I finally got to watch"Chicago 10" last night. The movie follows the MOBE and Yippie protests at the 1968 DNC, and the trial of eight men accused of organizing the demonstrations. Actors actually read portions of the court transcripts providing ...

Beer, bannanas and veg-friendly soups
What's more fun that rifling through the dregs at H-E-B for hurricane provisions? Rifling through the dregs at H-E-B looking for vegetarian-friendly hurricane provisions. If you google vegan emergency provisions, the results are mostly tonge-in-cheek: like tips about surviving dinner ...

Election season is winding up
Which means it's time for me to plug Opensecrets.org. The site has easy-to-search databases so you can look up who's donating money and who's getting it. I searched recent donations in Victoria and was not too surprised that most went ...