for breaking the news that Hasbro was removing three original pieces from the board game Monopoly _ the thimble, wheelbarrow and boot _ in a story that went viral. https://apnews.com/62d78fabff7a444d9ac24b6c8024070...
for a deeply researched all-formats report showing the unprecedented global scale of coral destruction following the worst year of damage on record. http://time.com/4701776/global-warming-coral-reefs...
for breaking the news that National Weather Service meteorologists opted not to revise their blizzard forecasts for New York and other major cities, even as their computer models showed less snow than predicted. http://apne.ws/2mRZ8yD
continuing her close coverage of developments in the military's ongoing effort to combat sexual misconduct, for being first to report military academy sex assaults rising. https://apnews.com/b1cc781c1d4f48c698150…
for reporting first that Michigan’s top education official decided to back away from issuing A-to-F letter grades for each public school in the state. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/lo…
for a followup to an earlier AP investigation identifying a Minnesotan as a former Nazi SS commander suspected in a massacre; the story reported that Poland has asked for the arrest of the 98-year-old. http://www.startribune.com/poland-confir…
AP Tallahassee reporter Gary Fineout started noticing how often Florida under Republican Gov. Rick Scott was losing court cases over its policies and was forced to pay opposing attorney fees. He decided to start a tally. But those fees would be just the tip of a quarter-billion-dollar iceberg. The money the state spent on private law firms to defend itself dwarfed that initial amount.
Getting that overall tally was the hard part. When Gary asked what was spent on outside legal counsel during Scott’s half-dozen years in office, the state attorney general told him: “We do not have that information."
So, Gary set out to search through the documents himself, revealing the true cost to taxpayers. For bringing to light a huge chunk of opaque spending and hold state leaders to account, Gary wins this week’s Best of the States.
The Republican health care bill landed with projections that millions of people would lose their insurance coverage. Among the key questions: Who would be hurt most by the new plan?
AP data journalist Meghan Hoyer, based in Washington, set out to explore the impact of the GOP plan by gathering and analyzing data from several government and private entities. She found that Americans 55 and older who buy private health insurance will pay more than they do under Obamacare _and many of those who'd be hit hardest live in counties nationwide that gave President Donald Trump his strongest support.
Using those findings, reporters Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, searched for people — both Trump backers and Hillary Clinton supporters — to discuss how the plan would affect their finances. The work of these three reporters, blending careful data crunching and compelling shoe-leather reporting, earns the Beat of the Week.
for landing the scoop that China had granted preliminary approval for 38 new Trump trademarks, paving the way for the president’s family to potentially develop a host of branded businesses in the country. http://apne.ws/2mxjueE
for breaking the story that President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was quietly acknowledging to the Justice Department that he had been paid $530,000 for lobbying up to Election Day on behalf of Turkey's government.
for breaking the story of a massive collapse at a garbage dump that would lead to the deaths of more than 100 people. Meseret sneaked past checkpoints after being tipped to the catastrophe, and his resulting story beat other news outlets by hours. http://apne.ws/2m6AQU8
for an exclusive accountability story showing that the new deputy governor, an appointee, would be paid in part from a state health insurance fund that is $4 billion behind in payments to doctors and hospitals. http://apne.ws/2nsyFKW
for source work over several months that allowed the AP to get exclusive access to the museum in Mosul after it was recaptured by Iraqi troops. The Islamic State had largely destroyed the collections. http://apne.ws/2mNXOww
Amazing things can come out of political demonstrations – and sometimes, they have nothing to do with politics. Miami-based video journalist Josh Replogle was covering a protest by about 3,000 people outside Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach when a colleague pointed out a striking woman wearing a Cleveland Indians hat. That, he was told, was Casey Anthony – once acquitted in the murder of her 2-year-old daughter in a case that became an international obsession.
Replogle did a quick Google search to confirm that this was, indeed, the woman once dubbed “the most hated mom in America.” He then obtained the first in-depth interviews with her since she was accused, an accomplishment that earns him the Beat of the Week.
AP correspondent Tamara Lush first met renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle while reporting on Florida’s Dozier School for Boys – a now-shuttered site where former students accused officials of abuse and dozens of students died. Kimmerle was investigating graves, and local media paid plenty of attention to the positive, bubbly woman with a high-pitched voice – unexpected from someone who jumps in graves and scrubs bones with a toothbrush.
Lush found Kimmerle and her work fascinating – in a state full of colorful characters, she calls the professor one of Florida’s most interesting and brilliant women.
So Lush stayed in touch, and when her sources at the University of South Florida – where Kimmerle teaches and has a lab – offered an exclusive opportunity to follow Kimmerle as she investigated cold cases through a new grant, she jumped at the chance. Lush's all-formats Only on AP package wins this week's Best of States award.
It’s no secret that the repeal and replacement of Obamacare could have a significant impact both on those holding insurance and on the finances of states that have embraced the health care law. But over the last few months, few details had emerged on what that precise impact might be.
In an “Only on AP” story, St. Paul, Minnesota, statehouse reporter Kyle Potter revealed that Minnesota officials were bracing for additional costs that could reach $6 billion by 2029 to maintain a low-income health care program that covers more than 900,000 state residents. For providing one of the first concrete glimpses into the possible ramifications states envision, Potter wins this week's Best of States recognition.
It’s one of the most important lessons of investigative journalism: One good story can lead to another. Don’t give up after the first round. Keep digging.
That’s what Mitch Weiss of the national investigative team did after his explosive first story on the Word of Faith Fellowship. His follow-up story earns the Beat of the Week.
It took Weiss many months to persuade 43 former members of the Fellowship to open up – on the record and identified – with stories of adults and children being slapped, punched, choked and slammed to the floor in the name of the Lord. But getting so many of the reluctant ex-congregants to talk was only the start of his journalistic journey.
for dominating global coverage with their video and stories on the renewed offensive against west Mosul in Iraq. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f084b4f094f440058e6...
for getting an exclusive statement that Beyonce, pregnant with twins, would no longer headline the Coachella music festival in April, after much speculation online. http://bit.ly/2lT69ib
for an exclusive interview in which musher Aliy Sirkle talked about how she was coping after being attacked by a drunken man in a snowmachine in last year’s Iditarod race. http://bit.ly/2lkSKgN