Inflation

Here is an inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Budgets

Budget Resources

* Dave Herzog's "Twenty tips for covering and writing about budgets": http://www.projo.com/words/tip408.htm
* Dave Herzog's "Writing Better Budget Stories": http://www.projo.com/words/tip415.htm
beat and check out the "government info" links): http://www.powerreporting.com
* Robert Niles' "Statistics Every Writer Should Know": http://www.robertniles.com/stats/
* George Landau's percent-change calculator: http://www.newsengin.com (click on "free tools")
* Guidestar's "Donor's guide to the charitable universe": http://www.guidestar.org/index.html
* "The Spreadsheet Page": http://www.j-walk.com/ss/index.html
* Census Bureau information on state and local government finances, school spending, etc.: http://www.census.gov/econ/www/go0200.html
* National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting: http://www.nicar.org

Small claims court

Civil Courts

Here are the records for Seminole County foreclosures. Here is foreclosure process.

Here is Orange County foreclosure information.

Here is information about purchasing Orange County Court records.

Trials

Testimony

On television court dramas, witnesses give clear answers to direct questions. After all, the entire story has to wrap by the top of the hour. In real life, testimony isn’t always so easy.

Put yourself in the jurors’ seat for this exchange between Kristen Neuhaus and prosecutor Barry Disney during the trial of George Tiller Monday. Tiller is charged with performing abortions in an illegal business relationship with Neuhaus, another doctor.

In the following video, Neuhaus appears to take pains to keep from saying she “worked” for Tiller, even has she compares what she did in Wichita to a doctor she “worked for” in Kansas City, Kan. This video lasts less than three minutes. Jurors have had to listen to days of this kind of testimony.

Covering courts and Leonard Charles

Leonard Charles accosted a woman at a video store on Christmas Day, then came back and threatened to kill the clerks. After being convicted at trial, would he get the maximum time in prison? He might have, if the proper paperwork had arrived.



Previously on “Common Law”, we heard preliminary hearing testimony from women who said they were threatened by Leonard Charles on Christmas Day at a west Wichita video store. When Charles went to trial, a jury found him guilty, though of a less serious crime than he was facing. His public defender Lacy Gilmour explains:



A woman is stranded. A man offers to help. Then he follows her home. It happened to Autumn McDowell at the Family Video store near 29th and Tyler. It was Christmas Day. She and the video store manager described their frightening experiences recently for Judge Jeff Goering at a preliminary hearing.

Elections and exit polls

Here is a story on the dangers of exit polls.