Investigations/Series
Lost water
(Florida Press Club award winner)
(The city of Panama City has lost 2.4 billion gallons of water over the past five years. The amount they lost, through leaks and other means, equates to at least $3.5 million in revenue.)
(This series was featured in the Fall 2009 edition of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) Journal)
P.C. missing 575 million gallons of water
Panama City's lost water hits 2.4 billion gallons
P.C. officials eye water losses
Records show slow response time to P.C. water leaks (Video)
Database of all reported Panama City water leaks since 2005
Florida's Great Northwest
(An economic development group that, despite getting 60 percent of its budget from public sources, says it does not need to comply with state Sunshine Laws. Further investigation shows that the group is doing work directly on behalf of public entities. As a result of my reporting, a provision placed in a state jobs bill will require economic development groups to report each year exactly how they spend taxpayer funded portions of their budgets.)
Does Florida's Great Northwest fall under Sunshine Law?
Gaetz asks for AG opinion on Florida's Great Northwest
Coley, too, asks for AG opinion on Florida's Great Northwest
Money ties Florida's Great Northwest to public entities
Gaetz: News stories led to 'sunshine' provision for economic development groups
'Project Nemo'
(An area economic development group announced they had a company that was very interesting in relocating to Panama City. They said they could not talk about any of the details because economic development is competitive, however, they still needed city and county tax breaks to lure the company to town. In addition, the city offered to pay $1.6 million to buy land for the company, despite leaders admitting they knew nothing about the plan, dubbed project NEMO. My reporting used property records to out NEMO's identity before the official announcement, discovered its president had bankrupted a past company, and lied about his talks with other cities.
'Project Nemo' revealed
Just how did Panama City woo Coast WET?
Proposed P.C. Business evolves from two-decade power struggle
Downtown development
(Without telling taxpayers, or their fellow board members, three city officials were planning a $24 million development. When the News Herald got a leaked map, those spearheading the plan said it was in its "conceptual stage" and they would tell people whose houses would be impacted later in the process. Further investigation found that, among other things, $1 million in tax dollars was already budgeted for the project while they were telling us it was just a concept. )
$24 million project planned for Panama City
Amid downplay, taxpayers incentivize $24 million development
Petroleum Discharge
(This series focuses on uncleaned petroleum leaks in Panama City and statewide. State records showed that more than 17,000 petroleum leaks were never addressed by the state, including a nasty one at a Chevron plant in our area. The state said they have no money to cleanup the spills.
Petroleum leaks at Chevron terminal left un-cleaned
Budget cuts contribute to uncleaned petroleum spills
Landfill Troubles
(Three landfills owned by the same owner had caused water and air pollution throughout our region. There were lawsuits pending related to two of the landfills, but the troubles with the one in Panama City were not known before my reporting.)
State to Millville landfill: Clean up
Landfill owner subject of complaints