Breaking news: CIM just set a new record on The Washington Independent, breaching 1.1M page views and 800,000 readers for the “slow month” of August while The Iowa Independent and The New Mexico Independent scooped up prestigious awards from the Association of State Capitol Reporters and Editors:

 

• Iowa’s Jason Hancock, Chase Martyn, and Lynda Waddington walked away with first place in online beat reporting for their coverage of the Iowa Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling. Martyn also took third place for columns/commentary/news analysis on the issue. Hancock won third place for in-depth reporting for his investigation of the state’s toxic coal ash regulations.  And for The New Mexico Independent, Trip Jennings captured first place/single report for his work investigating an Albuquerque auditing firm with deep ties to Gov. Bill Richardson.

 

• TWI’s jump in the numbers was a team effort: Spencer Ackerman and Daphne Eviatar produced traffic-driving posts on the CIA inspector general’s report on torture; Ackerman discovered the previously unacknowledged torture technique of prolonged “diapering” of detainees, while besting the rest of the media in publishing declassified files that former Vice President Dick Cheney claims justify his argument that torture is an effective interrogation technique. David Weigel took on a prominent conservative blogger over followers of Lyndon LaRouche who have been showing up at town hall meetings comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler. And Mike Lillis delved into the record of  “bipartisan” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), unmasking the vitriolic health care reform opponent as a partisan and deeply conservative figure. Lillis’s story, picked up by Think Progress, helps explain the uphill battle Congress faces in passing a bipartisan health care bill.

 

Best regards,

David Bennahum

 

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has spent years cultivating his image as a moderate conservative who reaches across the aisle on important legislation. So as the health care debate heated up, observers were taken by surprise when the powerful Republican launched vicious— and false— attacks against Democratic health care reform proposals during a campaign swing through his home state. Mike Lillis reported that Grassley’s fiercely partisan stance should not have come as a shock. A look at his record, rather than his reputation in the Senate, reveals a partisan and deeply conservative figure. The story, picked up by Think Progress, helped explain the uphill battle Congress faces in passing a bipartisan health care bill.

David Weigel took on a prominent conservative blogger over the followers of Lyndon LaRouche who have been showing up at town hall meetings comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler. Weigel was the first to post a video of a woman at a town hall confronting Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., about Obama’s “Nazi” health care policies. Weigel identified the woman, who held a sign that depicted Obama with a Hitler mustache, as a LaRouche supporter. This prompted John McCormack of Weekly Standard to chortle that Democrats are smearing Obama as a Nazi, because LaRouche ran for president as a Democrat. Weigel dismantled this argument by pointing out that LaRouche and his supporters have been thoroughly rejected by the Democratic Party, and the arguments LaRouchies made on the issues of health care and global warming are squarely in line with those being made by mainstream conservatives.

Spencer Ackerman and Daphne Eviatar tag-teamed the report and produced numerous posts in the hours and days following the release.the CIA inspector general’s report on torture. Of note, Ackerman uncovered a previously unacknowledged torture technique: prolonged “diapering” of detainees. As Ackerman reported, the innocuous-sounding technique forced detainees to wear the same soiled diaper for up to three days, a practice found to be not only humiliating but also harmful to one’s health.

Ackerman also obtained documents that former Vice President Dick Cheney asked to declassify because he said they supported his claims that torture produced valuable intelligence that prevented terrorist attacks. TWI was the first to publishthese files, and Ackerman found that the declassified versions of the documents provided little evidence to support Cheney’s claims and, in fact, suggested the opposite—that non-abusive methods produced the most valuable intelligence. Ackerman’s takedown of Cheney was the No. 1 story on The Daily Beast’s “Cheat Sheet.”  It was cited widely across the Web, with links from The New York Times’ “Opinionator” blog, Andrew Sullivan’s “The Daily Dish,” TPM, and many others.

 

David O. Williams covered U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’ town hall meeting in the conservative mountain town of Edwards to discuss health care reform.The Democrat was greeted at times with boos and condemnation, but he pointed out that he’s bucked his own party on matters important to the district. For instance, Polis said he balked at an earlier plan to fund health care reform with a surcharge on the wealthiest Americans, something that would have affected some local constituents. Polis said he supports a public option but doesn’t want to force people to get rid of their private insurance.

Williams also reported that citizen activists in the Garfield County community of Battlement Mesa are pressing county officials to increase the setback distance separating drilling operations from a residential neighborhood there.  Although the state’s oil and gas conservation commission has jurisdiction over such matters, state regulations are running up against local drilling rules, Williams pointed out, meaning the battle over how close oil and gas drilling operations can get to homes may end up being decided by Colorado’s attorney general.

The legal battle over Amendment 54, a controversial “clean government” ballot initiative approved last year, was fast-tracked to the Colorado Supreme Court, John Tomasic reported. Billed as a measure to prevent pay-to-play schemes in state government, the amendment would prevent campaign contributions from anyone working under a state contract, likely including some union members and their families. “This [amendment] was designed to prevent the political expression of anyone with a state contract,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs told Tomasic. The state Supreme Court may hear the case this fall.

Ernest Luning responded swiftly to shifts in the state’s political landscape late last week, reporting that former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is readying for a primary challenge to Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. He also noted that Ken Buck, the Weld County district attorney who successfully prosecuted the murderer of transgender woman Angie Zapata in Greeley, withdrew from the Senate race on the Republican side just days after word emerged that the National Republican Senatorial Committee  was in favor of former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, who is expected to enter the race in September.

Jason Hancock’s ongoing examination of coal ash dumping in Iowa continues. He reported that students at three state universities vowed to press their respective administrations to change policies about how and where they dump the coal ash they generate. In response to Hancock’s original reporting on coal ash, the universities said they would not change their ways. But now students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have formed a statewide student environmental alliance, and coal ash is at the top of their agenda.

Chase Martyn tracked developments in the special election for a state House seat that has attracted not only a lot of attention from conservative organizations inside and outside the state but also a lot of money. While groups such as the Iowa Family Council and Iowans for Tax Relief have been pushing for Republican Stephen Burgmeier, the most notable development has been an $86,060 ad buy for Burgmeier by the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-gay-marriage group. Thata’s a sizable amount for a rural state legislative race.

Minority homeowners in Des Moines were three times more likely to receive high-cost subprime mortgage loans from Wells Fargo & Co. than white homeowners, according to research reported by Jason Hancock. The Des Moines-based Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Chicago-based National People’s Action compiled data showing 46 percent of African-American and 35 percent of Latino homeowners in the Des Moines area that received a mortgage from Wells Fargo were given high-cost, subprime loans. Only 20 percent of white borrowers were given these loans.

As the national debate on health care reform stewed over the past few weeks, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been in the spotlight for comments he made at a town hall gathering in Winterset where he repeated the myth that the reform efforts would result in “death panels” where the elderly and infirm would be evaluated for euthanasia. After The Iowa Independent initially reported the comments, the Republican lawmaker seemed to retreat from them slightly. But as Jason Hancock reported, during a recent town hall forum in Pocahontas, Grassley danced the line between killing the rumor and continuing to spread it. Grassley said anyone who claimed the bill would allow the government to make end-of-life decisions for older Americans is not being truthful. But he added that his constituents have every right to be concerned about the end-of-life provision because of fear of health care rationing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is working on its massive dioxin cleanup in the Saginaw River watershed, said it wants to include in the effort a cross-section of those affected by the contamination downstream from Dow Chemical’s Midland plant. But as Eartha Jane Melzer reported, minority communities that are most likely to feel the impact from the dioxin are not represented on the EPA’s Community Advisory Group. Melzer reported on a Michigan Department of Community Health study that noted African-American and Latino communities are less likely to be aware of local fish consumption advisories and more likely to eat local catfish and carp that are generally more toxic. 

Todd A. Heywood reported that the Michigan House Judiciary Committee voted to give itself subpoena power, something it currently lacks. The move could signal that House lawmakers want to take more aggressive action to compel Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to answer questions first raised by Heywood in his examination of mortgage fraud cases that were forwarded to the attorney general’s office. Cox has refused to answer what action his office has taken on the cases.

Ed Brayton took top traffic with his post on the withering criticism that former national security officials and military officers have leveled at Rep. Pete Hoekstra, accusing him of politicizing the debate over a possible plan to transfer Guantanamo detainees to a maximum-security prison in Standish, Mich. The Republican congressman had told a crowd in Standish they had “much to fear” if the detainees came to Michigan. The officials who have worked on the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals responded in an open letter  that said Hoekstra “spread fear in order to score political points, and perpetuate the Bush/Cheney era strategy of seeking political victories instead of doing what’s right to protect the country.”

A Republican state lawmaker has proposed a plan to save the state’s wetland program from threatened budget cuts, but as Eartha Jane Melzer reported, it could involve some important tradeoffs, including weakening of current state regulations. The lawmaker, state Sen. Patty Birkholz, said her plan keeps wetland regulations intact, which will make the permitting process more efficient. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm had put the program on the chopping block to save the state money, and the state has been preparing to layoff its wetlands-management staff.

 

Andy Birkey covered developments in Minneapolis as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted to eliminate its ban on openly gay and lesbian clergy. Social conservatives immediately condemned the move, and one Minneapolis pastor said that a small tornado that ripped through south Minneapolis as the ELCA was meeting was a warning from God to keep the ban in place. During the convention, 95 Lutherans came out of the closet, Birkey reported. The sentiment, first expressed by Minneapolis pastor John Piper, blossomed among theologians and members of the religious right. Matt Kaufman, a blogger for Focus on the Family, said, “God may have chosen an unusually dramatic means to convey” his displeasure. A Georgia preacher, likewise, said he had “no trouble at all ascribing responsibility for the storm to God.”

The same tornado caused a stir around Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Chris Steller, who is keeping a close eye on Pawlenty’s growing national profile, reported Pawlenty was on FOX News talking about health care reform, among other issues, when the tornado tore through town. The governor was criticized for not cutting his appearance short to deal with the disaster unfolding outside. Steller noted that an hour after his appearance on Neil Cavuto’s show, Pawlenty sent out his first Twitter dispatch since June — not about the tornado, but about his appearance on FOX.

Paul Demko attended a “teletownhall” sponsored by the anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List at which Rep. Michele Bachmann repeated the “death panels” myth, attacked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and called on participants to get down on their knees and pray that health care reform fails. “That’s really where this battle will be won — on our knees in prayer and fasting,” she told the listeners. Demko’s coverage was picked up by The Huffington Post, Time, and a host of social networks to bring nearly 50,000 readers to the site. Demko also covered the health care town hall Bachmann held last week in Lake Elmo, where Bachmann entreated, “Let’s not destroy the greatest health care system the world has ever known.”

 

Last week, the NMI team offered complete coverage of the 50-count indictment against former New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three others for allegedly mismanaging millions of dollars in public funds. Trip Jennings and Heath Haussamen drove traffic with their analysis of the indictments, which centered on the charge that Vigil-Giron fabricated a letter to help cover up a vast money laundering and embezzlement scheme. 

Marjorie Childress, meanwhile, set the record straight by reporting that two lobbyists named in the scandal were not, in fact, currently contracted to lobby for the City of Albuquerque, as the mainstream media and the indictments themselves have noted. Childress reported that the misinformation stemmed from the faulty public-disclosure database currently being maintained by incumbent Secretary of State Mary Herrera. The Santa Fe New Mexican credited NMI with the important fact-check.

Marjorie Childress captured the attention of national media as the only reporter at Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s town hall last week to note that the Democrat expressed willingness to push through health care reform by using the budget reconciliation bill. Only 51 votes are needed to pass a budget reconciliation bill, whereas others are susceptible to a filibuster, which requires 60 votes to override. Bingaman was the first of the so-called Gang of Six senators to express an appetite for this strategy, and Childress’ coverage was quickly picked up by The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo. Childress went on to confirm with Bingaman’s staffers that the senator’s remarks were “very much in line with what he thinks,” although he had “no clear head count” on how many Democratic senators would support such a move.

Following the news that Gov. Bill Richardson won’t be charged in the federal investigation into allegations of pay-to-play deals involving a California financial services firm, Heath Haussamen talked to local experts who pointed out that Richardson isn’t in the clear yet. Federal and state investigators are still looking into allegations surrounding an investment scandal that began in New York and involves prominent Richardson friends and donors, an analyst told Haussamen.

 

GOOD NEWS:

For now, federal stimulus funds are stabilizing Colorado schools as they prop up current programs and lay the groundwork for more ambitious future change.

Leaders in the Colorado Senate finally came to an agreement to fund live broadcasting of their chamber’s proceedings after dickering over the summer whether the deal was going to happen at all. As John Tomasic reported, there were a few lingering issues over general Web access for legislative staffers, but a deal was hammered out and funding secured for this important transparency project.