Posts Tagged ‘msnbc-com’
Decision 2010: Divided Congress on tap as Republicans take House
Americans who insisted they were tired of partisan divisions elected a divided Congress on Tuesday, giving Republicans control of the House of Representatives but handing Democrats a razor-thin hold on the Senate.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
Year-round schooling gains ground in U.S.
Kids from well-off families with access to tutoring and academic camps and travel keep learning when school’s out for the summer, while those without such advantages tread water or even sink, research shows. To slow the so-called spring slide, more U.S. school districts are moving to year-round classes, and by 2012, education groups estimate, more than 5 million pupils — about 10 percent of all children enrolled in American public schools — could be going to school year-round.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc)
If you’re on a mobile device, the sidebar box “Where does the summer break come from?” may not render. You can find it here.
Reporting: News organizations look at WikiLeaks material with different eyes
WikiLeaks.org tried to coordinate coverage of its highly anticipated release of secret U.S. documents from the war in Iraq by sharing the material with a select group of news organizations weeks in advance, but it couldn’t coordinate what they actually said.
In the end, the shadowy, decentralized organization couldn’t even coordinate the release of its own documents. Al-Jazeera, one of the news organizations that it had given the documents weeks ago, broke WikiLeaks’ embargo by publishing a six-minute video on its website late Friday afternoon. The New York Times, The Guardian of Britain and Le Monde, which also received the material under the embargo, followed swiftly with their extensive prepared reports.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
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Reporting: ‘Voluntary’ immigration program really isn’t
Cities and counties can’t stop U.S. immigration officials from sifting through local police records to root out illegal immigrants, even though Immigration and Customs Enforcement has characterized the program as voluntary since it started up two years ago, federal documents show. …
Officially old now
Word just came that an msnbc.com project I worked on several years ago is going into the Newseum. It’s an exhibit honoring what the Online News Association deems outstanding winners from the first decade of Online Journalism Awards.
The relevant item was part of a larger project I did on airline baggage screening in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It’s an interactive application we put together to show people what TSA carry-on baggage screeners really do and how complicated and nerve-racking their jobs really are. My contribution was the original idea, the research and the writing; much more talented people than I figured out how to actually put it together in a groundbreaking way (remember, this was back in 2002) and make it work.
People already call me a museum piece; I guess I am one now. You can find the interactive by clicking the box.
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Reporting: States working harder to collect online sales taxes
Sales taxes or similar levies have always been in place on most online purchases in most states. But they are almost never paid. And with their budgets in crisis, states are more determined than ever to get their share.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
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Reporting: Most U.S. gas lines don’t use latest inspection technology
Almost two-thirds of America’s natural gas pipelines — including the 30-inch main that exploded last week in San Bruno, Calif. — are susceptible to potentially deadly faults because they can’t use the industry’s best technology for testing and cleaning them, federal records show.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
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Reporting: Steel gas mains draw regulators’ scrutiny
Natural gas mains made of steel, like the one that apparently failed in Thursday’s deadly explosion in California, are considered especially susceptible to corrosion and leaking, leading regulators in some states to consider replacing them.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
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Reporting: Gulf Coast could be poised for comeback
After five years, there are still so, so many questions: Can the Gulf Coast make it all the way back — not just from Hurricane Katrina, and not just from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and not just from the recession, but from the toxic multiplier effect of all three?
The answer to all of those questions, Gulf Coast leaders, environmental scholars and economists say, is yes.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
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Exclusive: Last U.S. combat brigade leaves Iraq
Live reporting of this was an NBC News/msnbc.com exclusive:
NEAR THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER, Aug. 18, 2010 — The last U.S. combat troops were crossing the border into Kuwait on Thursday morning, bringing to a close the active combat phase of a 7½-year war that overthrew the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, forever defined the presidency of George W. Bush and left more than 4,400 American service members and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com and Richard Engel and Charlene Gubash/NBC News)
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Alex Johnson - Journalist at Large 