Cheated and ripped off - Chapter 9 Exercise A

           During my time working for Hot Topic Inc. there were several times that I was cheated and witnessed upper management take advantage of other members of the staff in their Huntington Mall location.

            I was hired into Hot Topic as the assistant manager in November 2009 after I was forced out of management at Steve and Barry’s when the company went bankrupt.  When I first entered this company, I thought I would love the job.  Working in an environment that had a love of music in the same place I could use my retail management experience seemed like a perfect fit.

            After working through the holiday season I started to notice that there were many members of the staff that seemed to misunderstand or misread the schedule which resulted in them getting written-up or terminated from the company.  By the time March 2010 came around, I started playing closer attention to my general manager and how she created the schedules.   During this time I heard from some of her friends that she was looking for a reason to terminate me.

            In the middle of March, one of my friends on the job was terminated for not showing up to work for a scheduled shift.  Luckily, every day that I worked I printed out the schedule from our main computer.  I discovered that our general manager was changing the schedule and not letting anyone on the staff know about it in order to terminate the people that she did not like.

            With the evidence in hand, I set up a meeting with our district manager and spoke to him about what was going on inside of his company.  He did not seemed at all concerned and sided with his general manager who had worked for the company for a number of years instead of myself, an assistant manager who had only been with the company five months.  After that I turned in my keys and left the company .

            Within the last month, I spoke to the current assistant manager at Hot Topic and he informed me that the general manager had been fired for doctoring the schedules and for being on the clock while she was not on mall property.  I would like to think that my investigation set off the district and region managers to start looking for problems within the location.

Tri-State Airport Authority Meeting - April 15, 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE:  As part of my Reporting Public Affairs class at Marshall University, I have been asked to pick an organization and sit in on their meetings for the next three months.  I have chosen to cover the Tri-State Airport Authority.  Once a month I will write an article that will convey what happened at those meetings.

            The Tri-State Airport Authority met on April 15 to discuss finances, upcoming airport renovation projects and the adoption of new airport rules and regulations.

            At the start of the meeting, Financial Director Don Wiseman brought forward selecting a budget committee for the upcoming fiscal year.  Wiseman moved to use the same three budget committee members that held the positions for the previous year.  The three board members agreed to continue with their positions and the board approved.

            After the budget committee was selected, Wiseman spoke about the airport’s finances for the month of March.  Unlike February, the expenses for March were higher than the income by $22,841.  Wiseman contributed this to the year-to-date fuel sales.

            Wiseman also spoke about Allegiant Airways decreased enplanements versus that of U.S. Airways which have increased.  Airport Executive Director Jerry Brienza said that these numbers were due to Allegiant adding more flights.  Brienza said if you looked at the numbers, Allegiant’s passenger rate was actually up.

            Wiseman spoke about Tri-State Airport’s recent audit and said that they were compliant and there were no bad findings that could contribute to them losing any federal funding.

            During the meeting, Second Vice President Kevin Gunderson was promoted to First Vice President by the board and Marc Sprouse took the position of Second Vice President.

            As for updates to the airport, Brienza spoke about the installment of monitors in the airport lobby that could show advertisement.  He said this could be a new source of revenue.  There is also a Master Plan Update going into affect.  The last one accomplished by Tri-State Airport was in 2003.  This update could include the Southside Development Plan which could encompass the creation of a brand new terminal, control tower site and a direct link to Interstate 64.  This Master Plan Update could go underway as early as July.

Meeting minutes versus newspaper article

            For this project, I chose the Cabell County Commission and the meeting that was held on March 4, 2010.  The article about the commission meeting was in the Herald Dispatch and was written by Christian Alexandersen.

            The article written for the Herald Dispatch only focused on one part of the commission meeting.  This was the bids for a new ambulance station in Milton which would serve the city and the surrounding areas.  Alexandersen wrote about the bid process and the possible location for the ambulance station.   Within the article, there were interviews with two of the commissioners about their feelings concerning the ambulance station and the bid prospects, as well as numbers of what it typical when it comes to construction bids like these.

            While the ambulance station was a major part of the Cabell County Commission meeting, it is not the only topic that was discussed.  There were several new employment appointments, such as Denise G. Bias as a full-time EMT and Samuel Stowasser as a full-time Alternative Sentencing Officer for Home Confinement.

            There were also reappointments to the planning commission and a grant application approval for $15,000 toward improvements to the courthouse.  Another grant application for $2,000 toward a literacy program was also approved.  The Cabell County Commission also moved to approve increasing the county’s contribution to KYOVA from $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 for the development of a comprehensive multi-modal metropolitan transportation plan.

            While there were many things going on at the meeting, I can understand why Alexandersen chose to narrow the scope of his article to only write about the bids for the construction of an ambulance station.  It seemed from the minutes that this was what the main point of discussion was.

Huntington City Council approves 2011 budget

            Huntington City Council passed the 2011 fiscal budget after making $867,861 in cuts which will lead to 20-day furloughs for city employees and an estimated 10 layoffs.

            The budget, which was approved on March 22, took the region’s recession-weakened economy into account and worked on ways to make the budget work while eliminating furloughs and layoffs that would effect the police and fire departments.

            In the proposed budget, furloughs and layoffs were projected within the fire and police departments. The Police Department was expected to layoff eight civilian employees which would have left the department with only one civilian employee.  The Fire Department was also going to have to layoff all three of their civilian employees.  These layoffs would have left the clerical work in the hands of the officers of these departments.

            In the approved budget, council members decided to make the cuts elsewhere and restore money to the Huntington Fire and Police Departments.  After restoring $432,155 to the fire department’s $10.1 million budget and nearly the same amount to the police department’s budget, these two entities will now be saved from the layoffs and furloughs that were expected by the projected budget, yet the police and fire departments will still have to make combined reductions of over $300,000 after the elimination of the furloughs and layoffs that were outlined in the mayor’s proposed budget.

            While the fire and police departments have been saved from furloughs and layoffs, the money added to their budgets, according to Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe, will have to be cut from departments and services.  Other options include a one percent occupation tax or raising the city’s user fee from $3 to $4.  This $1 increase in the user fee could raise $1.5 million in the next year.

            This one percent occupation tax could be implemented under the home rule plan, which was started in 2008.  Under this plan, if the one percent occupation tax were approved then the weekly $3 user fee would have to be repealed.

            Other reductions include $26,573 for legal, $32,971 in building maintenance, $27,918 in finance, 35,987 in engineering, $155,596 in the motor pool, $100 in purchasing, $102,345 from the floodwall, $198,871 from police, $120,000 from fire and $165,000 from personnel.

            Another cut that appears within the approved budget is for the Huntington-Cabell-Huntington Animal Shelter.  There will be a $25,000 reduction from the usual $100,000 contribution.  This budget reduction will result in the layoff of one part-time dog warden position and the inability to fill one full-time dog warden position that is currently vacant according to Shelter director Anita Asbury.

            As a way to increase funding, Wolfe will bring a “revenue-generating” proposal to council members that could eliminate the need for furloughs and layoffs.

            When Wolfe is ready to present his plan, the Huntington Finance Committee will hold three meetings.  The first of these meetings will allow for Wolfe to explain his plan to the committee while the second meeting will allow for comments from the public.  At the third and final meeting, there will be committee debate and a vote on whether the proposal will move on to the full council.

            The Financial Committee hopes that Wolfe will be ready to start these meetings within a few weeks because the approved Huntington city budget will take effect on July 1 when the 2011 fiscal year begins.

City of Huntington Proposed Budgets by Major Departmental Expenditure and Share of Total Budgets 2009-2011

Revenue Source	Amount 2009	%	Amount 2010	%	Amount 2011	%
Police	10,982,695	26%	11,594,788	26%	10,741,819	27%
Fire	9,991,781	24%	10,486,344	24%	10,121,153	26%
Insurance Programs	8,200,075	20%	8,423,317	19%	8,423,317	21%
Streets	1,954,792	4%	2,538,246	6%	2,142,703	5%
Contributions	1,439,949	3%	1,404,260	3%	1,194,534	3%
Other	8,648,558	21%	10,171,921	23%	6,919,213	17%
Total	41,217,850	100%	44,618,876	100%	39,542,739	100%

Source: City of Huntington

United Way works through the recession

            Fundraising during a recession can seem daunting, but the United Way of the River Cities amplified their fundraising effort and reached 80 percent of its 2009 campaign goal.

            Nearing the end of 2009, the United Way of the River Cities had only raised $600,000 toward their goal of $1.4 million.  It was then that the board decided to extend the deadline until the end of January 2010.  This extension gave them time to raise $1.1 million which was much closer to their goal.

            “The country’s economic situation has most certainly affected our region,” said Executive Director Laura Gilliam. “It has made it difficult to raise funds.  We experienced a fundraising shortfall of approximately 20 percent during 2009.”

            The United Way’s fundraising team consists of 16 volunteers from the community that are affiliated with local businesses including St. Mary’s and Cabell Huntington Hospital, as well as regional banks and other organizations.

            According to the United Way, the key to successful fundraising is a combination of fun, enthusiasm, careful planning and broad-based participation.

            “The majority of funds raised comes from contributions from individuals and corporations,“ Gilliam said.  “We also receive funding from federal and state grants, grants from private foundations, and as the result of special fundraising events.”

            The money raised by the United Way goes toward four focus areas including: Learning and Earning, Families and Children, Health and Wellness and Basic Needs/Unforeseen Hardships.

            The focus of the United Way of the River Cities is to better the human condition in the Tri-State area and they feel it is important to know that the money raised stays within the community and addresses the needs of local people.

            “Most of the funds raised in the community are distributed to partners such as those listed on our website,” Gilliam said. “That list changes, however, from year to year.  In addition, we provide support to Success by 6, the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, and the Financial Stability Partnership.”

            For more information on the United Way of the River Cities visit their Web site at www.unitedwayrivercities.org.

Tri-State Airport Authority Meeting - March 18, 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE:  As part of my Reporting Public Affairs class at Marshall University, I have been asked to pick an organization and sit in on their meetings.  I have chosen to cover the Tri-State Airport Authority.  Once a month I will write an article that will convey what happened at those meetings.

            The Tri-State Airport Authority met on March 18 to discuss finances and upcoming airport projects such as extending the taxiway and creating an Interstate 64 exit specifically for the airport.

            At the opening of the meeting, Financial Director Don Wiseman reported on the financial operations of the airport for the month of February and delivered a summary of bank account balances, passenger statistics and gallon fuel usage.

            The overall expenses were slightly under budget and the enplanements for this year were up by 965 from 2009 and by 2,657 from 2008.  As for fuel usage, 1,312 more gallons were used in general aviation in comparison to that of February 2009.

            There was to be an approval of the Airport Directors Compensation Package, but due to the absence of two board members, the board decided to table the discussion until the next meeting.

            Maintenance Manager Bob Maynard updated the board on the runway extension project and said that 90 percent of the brush has been removed from the site and that completion of the building foundation and lighting was 40 percent complete.

            R.W. Armstong, who will be doing the Master Plan Update for the airport spoke about the possibility of buying homes and land to make a direct link from Interstate 64 to Tri-State Airport.

            The board also discussed the emergency exercise held on March 13.  This was a tri-annual exercise that consisted of 170 victims and approximately 1000 emergency responders.  During the mock disaster, Tri-State Airport unveiled its new Oshkosh Striker 1500 fire truck. 

 

Investigative journalism in the age of technology

            The state of journalism is constantly changing due to the economic uncertainty this country is experiencing and could make an older establishment rely on new technology to survive.

            The outlook of journalism staying the way that it has always been is doubtful.  At this time, newspapers and magazines are cutting their bottom line and eliminating staff positions.   The era of "big business" journalism could be on its last leg.  This new era of journalism may be just as much about entrepreneurship as it is about writing.  Creating a Web site and working from home could be the new wave.   Journalists creating a new online format for news and possible relying on income made from advertising on their Web site could be the new trend.

            It is safe to say that our society is already turning toward the Internet to get their fix on everything that happens in the world.  This is where blogging will come into play.  At this time, most of the writers in the blogosphere have turned their attention to entertainment media and writing about their own life experiences.  There is a chance that these people who have an interest in writing will eventually make the change from covering gossip to forming a viable source of investigative journalism.

            According to members of the Harvard Kennedy School, investigative journalism has not only started to slip away from the standard printed newspapers.  They believe that broadcast journalism is losing its touch for investigative pieces as well.  Radio has never been a regularly used forum for investigative journalism and television has the tendency to trivialize its reports to the point that they are hardly useful to the public anymore.

            When looking at blogging as the next viable source for investigative journalism, one has to wonder if this is just another trend.  A recent study by Yahoo! News stated that Web sites like Twitter and Facebook are already starting to lose popularity.  Blogging could be another trend that will just go by the wayside.  When searching through blog listings it is not uncommon to find blogs that have been abandoned after only a few posts have been written.  Other times, bloggers just post erratically and do not keep a regular writing schedule that will keep readers coming back.

            Even though blogging has the potential to strive or fail, it is possible that investigative journalism evolving into a completely online medium may not be out of the question.  There is a good chance in this economy that the hard copy form of the newspaper could be a thing of the past.  In reality, most people get their news from the Internet anyway.  Statistics from Socialnomics.net, a social media blog, states, “24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.”  It would make sense for newspapers to cut their losses with the hard copy format and invest more into building reader-friendly Web sites.

            While the future of investigative journalism may be based on the Internet, blogging and online journalism may not be the only alternatives.  With the invention of new technologies like the Amazon Kindle and the Apple Ipad, buying and reading books on the go has become easier than ever.  This means that a new form of investigative journalism could be taking a little bit from the old school and adding it to a new form of technology.

            In the past, writers like Upton Sinclair have used the novel as their weapon of choice for uncovering problems that were found around them.  In Sinclair’s 1906 novel, The Jungle, he wrote about the atrocities that were going on within the United States meatpacking industry.  This novel caused a public uproar that lead to the Meat Inspection Act and the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.

            With the invention of the Kindle and Ipad, investigative journalists of the future could be putting their own time and money into finding the story and writing with the hopes that they can sell the rights for a book.  This could once again be a viable way for journalists to make money. 

            While the state of journalism is constantly changing and its future in a hard copy medium may be on its way out.  Investigative journalism is not something that is going to completely disappear into the ether.  There will always be a need for investigative journalists whether everyone is interested in their articles or not.  It is in the best interest of people all over the world to be invested in the potential corruption in the world around them.

The State of Huntington

     In his State of the City address on Feb. 13, Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe laid out a worst-case scenario when it comes to how to handle a recession-weakened Huntington.

            Wolfe announced during his address that furloughs and layoffs could be in the near future.   This is unless there was an occupation tax or sales tax adopted which could eliminate the need for layoffs.

            Layoffs and furloughs could be necessary because when compared to this year’s original budget; the proposed budget shows an 11 percent reduction in spending.  This loss comes from the expectation that the business and occupation tax, as well as the $3 user fee for anyone who works in the city to bring in nearly $2.3 million less than expected.

            Furloughs, which consist of taking required, unpaid time off, would start in September or October for all city employees.  While furloughs may be necessary for the city employees, a more extreme measure to save money may take place within the police and fire departments.

            In lieu of police officers being laid off, many clerical workers could lose their jobs and have their hours picked up by the officers who would be pulling double duty.  This proposal would leave eight civilian employees without jobs.  This means that only one civilian employee would be left within the department. 

            The fire department faces the same outcome with a proposal to lay off all three of their civilian employees.  This would leave the department with no civilian staff.

            The main concern with replacing the clerical staff in these departments with officers is there will be less police patrolling the streets and the 3.9 percent decrease in the crime rate in the past year will be a loss.

            While the city is facing hard economic times, Wolfe did touch on some of high points in the past year.  A $1 increase in the user fee has led to the much-needed paving of streets and the purchase of equipment for the Street and Traffic Engineering Department.

            Wolfe also mentioned the success of the Weed and Seed program which has been showcased at national conferences and has led to a 13.5 percent increase in drug-related arrests.

            Even as Wolfe laid out proposals for a worst-case scenario, he ended his address with hope that the citizens of Huntington will work through this hardship and leave the city a better and more beautiful place.

The Good, The Bad and The Budget

            Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe released his 2010-2011 proposed budget to city council on Saturday, Feb. 13.

            The proposed budget is much lower than that of the past two years.  This year’s it is nearly $1.5 million less than the 2008-2009 budget and $5.1 million less than the 2009-2010 budget.

            When taking a look at the 2010-2011 proposed budget one can see that all but three expenditures have had their budgets cut.   Among these three expenditures, two of which had no change in their budget. These were the insurance programs and city council departments.  Most notably of these three departments, the mayor, is not scheduled for cuts, but instead has the only raise in the budget, which is $1,692.

            There are several key items that were addressed within the $39.5 million budget.  Some of these include furloughs, layoffs and paving projects.

            Furloughs, or required, unpaid time off, would start in September or October.  These 20-day furloughs would be for all city employees with only Mayor Wolfe and 11 representatives of the city council left exempt.  These furloughs are expected to save $1.1 million for the city.

            Layoffs are anticipated within the police and fire departments.  The police department is expected to layoff eight civilian employees, which will leave the department with only one civilian employee.  The fire department may have to cope with laying off all three of their civilian employees.  These layoffs would leave the clerical work in the hands of the officers of these departments, which will have to pull double duty.

            These layoffs and furloughs are in relation to the $852,969 cut in the police department budget, as well as the $365,191 cut to the fire department.

            The biggest cut in expenditures comes in the form of grants, which is losing $2,142,703 with the police department coming in second.

2008 Presidential Election campaign fundraising in the Huntington, Ashland and Ironton area

A large fundraising base is often regarded as an advantage when it comes to winning a political campaign, but numbers for 2008 Presidential Election fundraising in the Tri-State area shows that is not always the case.

According to FundRace at The Huffington Post, citizens in the cities of Huntington, Ashland and Ironton gave a total of $287,863 to the political campaigns combined.  In these three cities, 63 percent of all the funds raised were for the Republican Party.  The only city that raised more funds for the Democrats than the Republicans was Huntington, which barely edged out the competition.

Within the city of Huntington, $170,080 was contributed to the 2008 presidential election.  Out of an estimated population of 49,185 in 2008, only 208 residents made a contribution.  According to CNN, West Virginia voters selected John McCain with 56 percent of the votes, which totaled 397,466.  This is off pace with the contributions made to the candidates within Huntington.  The Democratic Party received $86,755 in campaign funding in Huntington, which would make one question whether raising the money was worth the time.

For the most part, financing a political campaign is of the utmost importance to anyone who is running for office. It is very important for any political candidate to know his or her resources and constituency.  Knowing a constituency and really connecting to them gives any political candidate an advantage when it comes to fundraising.  As fundraising becomes more and more prevalent it becomes imperative that one knows how to use their resources and how to organize and use the money.

In Ironton, Ohio the results were much like that of Huntington.  The political contributions didn’t quite match up with how the rest of the state decided to vote.  The big difference between Huntington and Ironton was the amount of contributions.  People living within Ironton donated only $6,854 to the campaign.  While the state of Ohio ended up voting Democratic, when the numbers are broken down the people in the Ironton area were more supportive of the Republican party with 63 percent of the funding going to them.

Unlike the contributions in Ironton and Huntington, the fundraising in Ashland is right on track with how the citizens of Kentucky voted in the presidential election.  Republican candidate John McCain easily won the vote in Kentucky by a margin of 17 percent with 1,048,462 of the votes going to him.  Within the city of Ashland, there was a total contribution of $110,929 to the 2008 presidential campaign with $93,279 going to the Republican Party.  This means that 84 percent of all funds raised in the city of Ashland went to the republicans.

In the three cities that were researched, another strange occurrence came up.  In Huntington, Ashland and Ironton the top contributor always donated money to the party on the losing end of the campaign fundraising totals.  Huntington is a good example of this.  As was stated before, the Democratic Party had the highest number of contributions with $86,755 going to the campaign.  The top contributor in the city of Huntington gave $5,250 to the republican campaign with the closest democratic contributor donating only $2,300.

Investigative Story Proposal

TO: Professor Morris
FROM:  Justin Hawthorne - The Hawthorne Examiner
____________________________________________________________
RE:  Story Outline:  Cabell County's Federal Stimulus Money

Subject: Cabell County's extra stimulus money and how it is spent.

Scope:  I will research the Cabell County budget and find out how they ended up with the extra $5 million they are using to remodel the Big Sandy Superstore Arena and the $4 million that they are offering in low interest loans from federal stimulus money to Wayne County for a parking garage at Tri-State Airport.

Need: Because of increased concern about the economy and Gov. Joe Manchin's budget cuts, the public would be interested in knowing that Cabell County had so much extra in federal stimulus money that they are willing to loan it to the neighboring Wayne County for a parking garage at Tri-State Airport.  How these funds are spent could have an impact on everyone in the community.

Methods: This story can be documented by pulling together all of the budget and spending paperwork to find out where the extra money is coming from and how it is being spent.  I could also interview members of the Cabell County Commission, such as Scott Bias, who proposed the $4 million low interest loan to Wayne County and Tri-State Airport.

Sources:  As I explained above, I could interview members of the Cabell County Commission, as well as members of the Tri-State Airport Authority and the people that run and maintain the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.

Other sources that could be used would be the budget and other paperwork that shows exactly where all of the money is coming from and where it is going.

Presentation:  This would be a one-part investigative journalism piece.  I would use documents and images to trace how the Cabell County Commission came up with this extra money and if there is a better way to spend it that would benefit the community more.

Follow-up:  If there was a follow-up, it would be a good idea to see if the piece brought light to the spending of the commission and if it invoked change.  If it did, then I could write about where the money will be going instead of toward the airport parking garage and civic arena.

Investigative Journalism: Federal stimulus money and the wine train project

EDITOR’S NOTE: The article “Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project” by Lance Williams is an example of investigative journalism. This following post is an analysis of why it is considered to be an investigative piece.

The “wine train” article about the federal stimulus program is investigative because it is not only an overview of federal stimulus money; it also looks into where the money is going and why.

The reporter, Lance Williams, is concerned about why $54 million is being put into a wine train project. A project that was called silly by people such as U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

This project, which was said would help the economy and create jobs, has only produced 12 jobs according to reports released by the construction company Suulutaaq. While this is out of the ordinary, it is also strange that an Alaska-based construction company would win the bid to build a bridge in the Napa Valley in California. Williams said that this could be due to Alaskan natives gaining “special access to federal contracts.”

Williams gave the officials at Suulutaaq an opportunity to state their side of the story, but they declined to answer most of the questions.

This information was stated in the article:

Suulutaaq officials declined to be interviewed. In response to written questions, the company issued a statement saying that taxpayers were getting a “fair and reasonable” price on the project. The statement said that although Boyle lacked “specific construction experience,” he had “invaluable business experience” to make the Napa project a success.


But the company declined to answer most questions about the project, saying the information was confidential. It rebuffed a query about whether Suulutaaq employed lobbyists by asserting that the question “has potential undertones of a race-based presumption.”

The reporter, Lance Williams, points to the federal stimulus plan as his key document, which allowed for $54 million to be put into the wine train project. Williams also gives figures from a report that was provided by the Suulutaaq construction company.

There are no graphics or pictures to accompany the story. On the main page of the Web site there was an image of a train, but that did nothing to further the story. It was just there for aesthetic purposes.

The article for this story was published in California Watch, so the main people interested in this story would be the citizens of California. There would also be interest in Alaska and South Carolina, because the shareholders, according to Williams, are in Alaska and the CEO is from South Carolina. While these people would have the most interest in the story, the attention of the general public would also be gained because they would want to know what the federal stimulus money is being spent on.

William’s article is broken up into four parts and is lengthy. The headline is not harsh though. It reads like any other typical headline which states some facts to gain the reader’s attention. With that being said, there is a harsh tone to the article.

It seems like this article was either a follow-up on where the federal stimulus money was going or it was a project idea.

If you would like to read William's "wine train" article, it can be viewed here:
California Watch: Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project