Lynn Walsh

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA):

Using QR Codes to Your Advantage
Aug 27 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

QR codes are everywhere lately, on New York City garbage trucks, at music festivals and even in print advertisements.

QR or Quick Response codes are scanable bar codes that can be read by QR readers on mobile phones. Some codes just link to one website, others link to a whole list of contact information for an individual or a company.

Mobile QR apps are everywhere and most of them are free. It is also free to scan the QR codes and with plenty of QR code generators that are also free, there is no reason why journalists should not experiment with them as well.

As an individual there are plenty of ways to take advantage of QR codes. From generating one for a personal business card with all of your contact information in one code or having one specific to a website you work for-the possibilities are endless.

But how can QR Codes be used effectively by a news organization? Since QR codes are one of my new favorite things I have have a few suggestions:

1. News Scavenger Hunts. At station events use QR codes to link back to your station’s news coverage. Have fliers or printed boards with questions about recent news events or trivia that link back to stories the station has covered. The viewers would scan the code and be sent to view a story on the station website. It sends traffic back to the site while being a source of entertainment for viewers.

2. Added Value to News content. Sometimes a story could benefit from more than 15 seconds of coverage. Expand the stories on the web and create a QR code that is specific to that page of the site. When reporters are out in the field they can hand out the codes or even wear the code on clothing or a badge so people can easily find where more information is located.

3. Branding. Working for an online news publication that is new in a city can be hard at times–people may not recognize the name right away and you may not always have the time to explain it for longer than 10 seconds. Create a code that can go on a business card, press badge, clothing, microphones, cameras, etc. that can be scanned on the run. Have the code direct people to the site to learn who you are and what you cover.

4. Breaking News. Develop a code that goes directly to the station’s Twitter account or breaking news page of the website. Better yet-why not paint it on the news trucks? When people see a news van they normally wonder what the big story is–now you can tell them! Create a page on the site or a twitter account for each truck or car, make sure to update the account when it is out in the field and they could then be used for teasing stories that will air later or to create social media buzz around a story.

Technology is here to stay. Embracing it is going to only help us as journalists and the entire news industry.

Those are just some ideas I had but I would love to hear what you think? Let me know on Twitter @Lwalsh or e-mail, Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com. I truly believe the possibilities are endless.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD parents and students will learn, then earn
Thu Aug 26 12:48:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Some Houston parents and students will get paid for participating in a new academic incentive program after Houston Independent School District trustees approved the $1.5 million privately-funded program Thursday at a board workshop.
Parents will receive $20 up to nine times a year to attend conferences with their child’s teachers, Chuck Morris, HISD’s chief academic officer, said. Students will receive $2 for every objective they complete.

Morris said these objectives will be in the form of homework sheets the student would complete and the parents would sign. If all of the 200 objectives are completed, a student could earn $400. The students’ work will be based on skills measured by the standardized test TAKS, or Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

Twenty schools will be selected for the program, which is being funded by the Dallas-based Liemandt Foundation.

Morris said HISD is still working on developing a relationship with a bank or financial institution that would provide financial education to students as well as set up bank accounts for the students’ earnings.

HISD trustees approved the new program with a 7-0 vote. Trustee Carol Galloway was absent, and Trustee Diana Dávila’s seat is vacant.

Trustee Harvin Moore said he was intrigued by the new program.

“I know experts have looked at this, and this is not just an initial idea,” Moore said. “It’s been tried before, so I kind of trust them for the moment.”

Listen to his entire comments in the video below.

Morris said the elementary schools with the lowest math scores in the district will be selected for the program. According to HISD, none of the schools in a separate academic achievement program known as Apollo 20 will be involved. Elementary schools for that program have not been named.

In the planning phases for Apollo 20, Superintendent Terry Grier said students could get paid between $7-$8 an hour to attend tutoring sessions. HISD has put that plan on hold, but Morris said it could be discussed for the 2011-12 school year.

When the option of paying students at the Apollo 20 schools was being discussed in May, Texas Watchdog asked Grier if it was fair to pay some students and not others.

“It would be nice to have money to provide tutoring for everyone, but if you don’t have that type of resource then you have to provide tutoring with the resources you have for the students who need it the most,” Grier said. View his entire comments in the video below.

Do you think HISD should pay students to learn? Do you think parents should be paid to attend conferences with teachers? Let us know what you think. Message us on Twitter, @texaswatchdog or @lwalsh. E-mail Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD alternative school provider Community Education Partners releases 2001-03 contract documents with Trustee Larry Marshall
Wed Aug 25 13:25:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Houston Independent School District Trustee Larry Marshall made at least $72,000 over two years from a company that will be paid $13.7 million this year to run an alternative school for HISD, documents show.

Contracts obtained from Community Education Partners show that Marshall worked for Community Education Partners, or CEP, as a consultant earning $3,000 per month from 2001-2003. Marshall’s work was performed under the auspices of his firm M Associates of Houston.

According to Randle Richardson, chief executive officer for CEP, Marshall was also working for the alternative school company in 2000 under similar terms, but he could not locate that document. With three one-year contracts, Marshall would have earned $108,000 from CEP from 2000 to 2003.

The figures conflict with the salary of $72,000 annually reported by the Houston Press in 2006 based on court documents, but Marshall has said the higher figure is incorrect.

The contract documents support Marshall’s earlier statement that he didn’t work on the Nashville, Tenn.-based company’s behalf in Texas, and that he resigned in 2004 when a policy was put in place to bar trustees from earning income from district contractors. In fact, Richardson said Marshall performed no work after the contract term was up in June 2003.

According to the contracts:

“The responsibility of the Consultant shall be to initiate contacts and perform duties requested in the normal course of the Company’s business development efforts. This responsibility only includes efforts outside of the state of Texas.”

Richardson said both Marshall and CEP wanted to make sure that Marshall “didn’t do anything in Texas.”

“At the time everyone patted it on the back for going above and beyond what was necessary,” Richardson said. “Lately when I have been contacted people act like this was a deep dark secret. It was not, we did not go behind closed doors, we disclosed everything to the board and did this in public.”

Marshall has acknowledged working for CEP as a consultant many times. At a board meeting in June, Marshall said he was a “consultant in Atlanta assisting them with business development and helped them to have a presence in Atlanta.” You can view his entire comments in the video clip below.

According to Marshall and Richardson, before Marshall signed a contract to be a consultant for CEP, it was discussed with HISD lawyers, the district and trustees “in order to avoid a conflict.”

Richardson said HISD lawyers allowed the arrangement as long as “the contract was disclosed openly, Marshall did not vote on anything dealing with CEP and Marshall did not enter into any discussions involving CEP or lobby district staff on behalf of CEP.” The standards are listed in the contracts.

Individuals associated with the alternative school provider — which Superintendent Terry Grier in March said should be cut loose, then a few months later said should be retained — have also donated to Marshall’s campaign. Marshall’s most recent campaign finance reports show that his campaign received $2,500 from individuals associated with CEP during the months of debate over whether to renew the contract. HISD trustees approved the contract in June, 6-1, with Marshall voting in favor. Trustee Anna Eastman voted against the contract renewal, and Trustees Paula Harris and Diana Dávila, who resigned earlier this month, were not present.

“If someone sends us a solicitation, we will send something. If there is a golf tournament and someone asks us to buy a ticket, we will,” Richardson said.

Marshall has said the donations did not create a conflict of interest because it was not the first time CEP had donated to trustee campaigns. Richardson and another executive at CEP gave $1,000 total to HISD Trustee Mike Lunceford, who voted to renew the contract.

Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow @lwalsh or search #HISD on Twitter for news about the Houston Independent School District.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Covering Elections: TrentTV | Aired August 24 via newmediatv.org
Tue Aug 24 12:50:00 2010 CST
By Lee Ann O’Neal
Texas Watchdog logo

View today’s TrentTV episode on covering elections below. Hosts Mark Lisheron and Jennifer Peebles chatted with our live audience about backgrounding candidates, in-depth profiles, and issues coverage.
Texas Watchdog’s Lynn Walsh, usually behind the camera producing the show, will host the next TrentTV, a live discussion of watchdog stories on schools to air at 11:30 a.m. CST Sept. 28.

newmediatvorg on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Video: HISD’s Lee High School shuffles staff, extends class time under program for struggling schools
Tue Aug 24 10:32:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

The Houston Independent School District is starting the 2010-11 school year with a new program at some high schools and middle schools across the district. Lee High School is part of the Apollo 20 program aimed at increasing academic achievement at underperforming schools in HISD.

Watch and learn what changes students and parents can expect at Lee and how much it is going to cost the district.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

FOIA: Fun-Ongoing-Interesting-Activities
Aug 09 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

With deadline after deadline in a TV newsroom it can be laughable to think anyone would have time to file a freedom of Information act request.

On top of taking the time to file it correctly, there is always the time it takes to find the correct person to send it to, knowing what to ask for and of course waiting and keeping track of the response itself.

While a time crunch is a plausible excuse, it shouldn’t be yours. Here are some tips I have learned along the way on how to use the Freedom of Information Act and state-level public information laws to develop enterprise stories and add some spice to dailies.

1. Prepare Early

This may sound like a no-brainer but sometimes it helps to be reminded. There are certain documents that are filed on the same date every year-campaign finance reports, conflict of interest reports, etc. Keep a calendar of when the documents are due and prepare requests ahead of time that can be sent first thing on the due date.

2. Subscribe to e-mail lists

It can be annoying to have a inbox flooded with newsletters–but remember it only takes one click to delete them. Subscribe to what corresponds to your beat. E-mail newsletters will show you reports that are coming out, big trials, etc. Reports often stem from audits-request it. You may have a summary of the trial but why not request the whole court document?

3. Request Databases

Whether it is a salary database or a contract database, the information listed inside can be invaluable time and time again. Once you put in the request make sure you have access to those databases at all times. Details like salary, hire dates, contract totals a company has with a city or other government entity always add to the story and can help set your story a part from the competition.

4. E-mails/Communication

Was there a little argument at the City Council meeting? Heard rumors about construction bids being approved “in the dark?” Request all communication records: e-mail, written, phone, etc. from the players involved. Don’t forget about personal schedules, calendars, personal cell phones, personal e-mails….

Documents hold information that is hard to refute and they are always “on the record” when attained through FOIA or public information laws. Use this to your advantage!

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association:

When All You’ve Got Is Off-The-Record Info, Dig In These Spots
Aug 17 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

In local government rumors always seem to be flying around about personal and business connections between public officials and the community.

Conflicts of interest in local politics seem to always pop-up in conversations with sources, friends and other officials, but proving that there is a conflict of interest can sometimes seem impossible. People will tell you all the juicy details but then add that the information is “off the record.”

This leaves you with great information but nothing concrete to go on, so what do you do? Start looking at public documents, most of which are available without submitting public information requests. Below are examples of documents I turn to on a daily basis to add new information to stories or as enterprise follow-ups.

Campaign Finance Reports

These documents are gold mines of information that can help you add details to spice up a story. Who is contributing to the campaign? Do any of the contributors have contracts with the local agency? What is the official buying with campaigns funds? The key is to look at these documents even when they are not running–when major contracts are up for renewal or RFP’s (request for proposals) are submitted. The information can create great follow-up blog posts for your site or stand alone. The reports are also a great source of contact information for public officials and their politically active friends.

IRS 990′s

Nonprofits have to file an IRS 990 form with the government and most of the forms can be found online at Guidestar for free. The information listed can be invaluable when reporting on a nonprofit itself, but it can also be a source for potential conflict of interest stories. Look who sits on the board of directors. Are they getting paid for their service? Most public officials serve on nonprofit boards but which ones they serve it is not always common knowledge.

Property and Voter Registration Records

Sometimes these records are available for viewing online. Is a local official running for office and not registered to vote? Or maybe they are registered in a different state or county? Property records can be great for connecting two people to one another. Look to see who has property together, whether it is a business, a house or an apartment it can be proof that two people are connected.

E-mails

When you hear rumors of a business connection or possible conflicts of interest request e-mails and other forms of communication from accounts associated with the public officials involved during a specific time period. In the age of new technology don’t forget to include Twitter, Facebook, etc. Politicians are becoming more savy about what they do and do not write in e-mails but in high stress situations information can always slip.

The media uses these documents for national and state-wide races all the time, and during election season these stories show up everywhere. Do not forget about the local races and local politicians.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

What’s for lunch at HISD, and who’s chewing on it?
Mon Aug 23 13:53:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

As students in the Houston Independent School District head back to class this week new items will be dished out on their school lunch trays.
An article in the Houston Chronicle Sunday detailed some of the new items students may choose for lunch:

“Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches. Old favorites, such as chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, remain on most menus but have been overhauled to be healthier.”

The nutritional value of the food HISD serves students is not a new issue. HISD trustees regularly discuss food nutrition values at board meetings.

Trustee Anna Eastman has pushed Aramark, the food service company HISD has contracted this year for $5.8 million, to improve food nutritional values and make more food from scratch.

“You guys are looking at making your own yogurt next year, and it would be nice if we did not have the Trix yogurt anymore. Trix are for kids, but it is also sugary,” Eastman said at a board workshop meeting in May.

Earlier in the year, while an expanded breakfast program was being implemented at schools across the district, the debate over healthy food continued.

Eastman again encouraged Aramark to make more food from scratch. View her comments in the clip below.

The debate over healthy food in HISD has not been confined to board meetings and trustee conversations. Two blogs, First Class Breakfast? and The Lunch Tray weigh in on the food being served to HISD students.

First Class Breakfast? provides a history of the expanded breakfast program and pictures of what students are eating for breakfast at schools in HISD. The Lunch Tray, linked today by Off the Kuff and highlighted in the Chronicle story, looks at the nutritional value of school lunches across the country while using the Houston Independent School District as an example in many blog posts.

The debate over nutritional food options in HISD does not seem to be ceasing anytime soon. We want to know what you think. Are the new food options being offered enough?

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Project GRAD program — where HISD administrator moonlights as executive director — gets funding boost from HISD
Fri Aug 13 15:09:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Another high school in the Houston Independent School District will receive funding for a program to increase graduation rates after trustees approved more than $59,000 for the new program at a Thursday meeting.

Phillis Wheatley High School in northeast Houston will add Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Houston to its campus. According to the Project GRAD Houston website, the nonprofit is part of a national program that works to increase high school graduation and college attendance rates for low-income students. The national program grew “from a scholarship program which began in partnership with (the) Houston Independent School District in 1989.”

HISD trustees unanimously approved the $59,221 cost associated with the program for Wheatley bringing the total cost of Project GRAD Houston’s contract with the district to $1.9 million for the 2010-11 school year.

In June HISD trustees approved a renewal of the contract between the Houston district and Project GRAD Houston. The agreement for the coming school year includes work at three high schools — Jefferson Davis, John Reagan and Jack Yates — and five elementary schools, Thomas Jefferson, James Ketelsen, Adele Looscan, Clemente Martinez and Sidney Sherman.
graduation caps

Texas Watchdog reported earlier that HISD administrator Ann Stiles had been working full-time for HISD’s Project GRAD program. She earned more than $67,000 a year from HISD while also serving as the executive director for the nonprofit, earning $120,201 in 2008, according to IRS documents. The total paycheck for the two jobs comes to more than $187,000 annually.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier revealed Stiles’ moonlighting Monday to trustees and the public at a board meeting.

“I want to bring it to the board’s attention as it is probably an ethical issue that should be discussed,” Grier, who took over as the school system chief last September, told the group. He didn’t elaborate.

Stiles’ letter of resignation from HISD is dated Aug. 2. The reason for the resignation, according to the document, is “other employment.” Stiles did not return a call left Wednesday at Project GRAD’s office.

“There does not appear to be a violation of any policy,” and the district knew about her moonlighting, HISD spokesman Norm Uhl said by e-mail. “I just don’t think the question of the possible appearance of a conflict had been asked until now.”

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Owner of company implicated in HISD E-Rate ethics probe denies giving gifts to employees
Fri Aug 13 14:22:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Cell phones, playoff sporting tickets, trinkets and thousands of dollars in personal checks — all allegedly given to Houston Independent School District employees by federal technology program vendors that had a multi-million dollar contract with the Houston district — but the owner of one company says he had nothing to do with it.

Frank Trifilio, head of the now-defunct Analytical Computer Services, said he and his company never gave gifts to HISD employees, beyond an occasional fast-food lunch, and sought to distance himself from one-time business partners in an interview with Texas Watchdog. Trifilio, of Houston, said HISD confused Analytical with his subcontractors in the federal E-Rate program and that his company was the scapegoat in an investigation that resulted in his being banned from doing business with the district.

From 2005 to 2008, Trifilio and his business partners allegedly showered gifts including cash, meals and fishing trips on employees managing E-Rate, an HISD memo detailed by Texas Watchdog last month. Analytical provided $45 million in technology services between July 2005 and June 2009, a district contracts database shows. A federal lawsuit stemming from the improper gifts was settled by the district this year, and HISD has strengthened its ethics policy for E-Rate employees and board members.

Trifilio said he’s also suffered consequences.

“I lost everything, including my family,” Trifilio said. “I went through all of my savings just to get lawyers in Washington to defend me. I had to lay off 200 employees because the company went bankrupt.”
present

Trifilio said ACS, which was the umbrella organization for other technology vendors also implicated in the ethics probe, stopped operating in January 2007.

Analytical Computer Services “gave cellphones to approximately 26 district employees at one time or another from approximately August 2002 to February 2007,” according to the district memo penned by an outside law firm for HISD.

“I never provided phones for anyone at HISD,” Trifilio said. When asked if it is possible that one of his 200 employees could have, he expressed disbelief: “No, I sign off on all of the bills. I would have seen something like that.”

Trifilio said HISD confused his company with subcontractors Acclaim Professional Services, owned by Larry Lehmann, and Micro Systems Enterprises, where Frankie Wong was president. Wong is in prison for his role in a bribery scandal involving the Dallas Independent School District.

“We were the scapegoat” in the controversy because of confusion over vendor identification numbers, Trifilio said. Micro Systems and Acclaim took on some of the contracted work because the district believed the volume was too much for one company to handle, Trifilio said.

“In the E-Rate program, you cannot split up vendor numbers for projects, so HISD put in my SPIN number and my name,” he said. “Our number was being used, but we were not doing the business.”

E-Rate obtain the numbers from the Universal Service Administrative Company, which under the direction of the FCC administers the E-Rate program, said Richard Patton, HISD’s E-Rate compliance official. Patton said he was not aware of any limitations on the vendor ID numbers like what Trifilio described.

“I became the umbrella organization because ACS was the only company with a SPIN number,” Trifilio said. “We (Micro Systems) were archenemies. The relationship was nothing but a title.”

Professional basketball suite tickets appear to be the most valuable of the gifts that HISD lawyers found came from Trifilio’s company. Then-Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra “and a guest attended three Houston Rockets playoff games in the Analytical Computer Services Inc. (‘ACS’) suite in 2005,” apparently NBA playoff games 3, 4 and 6 against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs’ first round.

In an earlier interview with Texas Watchdog, Saavedra said he was invited to the games by HISD trustees, took his wife, but didn’t realize it was a vendor’s suite. He said he subsequently sent Trifilio a check for $300 to cover the costs.

Trifilio said he cashed the check, which was accompanied by “a very nice letter.”

Trifilio said the suite at the Toyota Center belonged to him and ACS but downplayed the appearance of a cozy relationship between his company and the district.

“The suites were mine,” Trifilio said. “Trustees were probably invited by a general manager. There were as many ACS employees there as there were board members.”

Other allegations outlined in the memorandum include gifts from ACS of fanny packs and koozies, or foamlike beverage containers, to HISD. Trifilio denies that ACS ever provided such items unless HISD employees picked them up at a convention.

Why would HISD employees and trustees attend a basketball game at an E-rate vendor’s suite?

Trifilio said the fact that board members were there is irrelevant because “the board members have zero influence in us getting any E-Rate contracts. The procurement is done on a lower level.” Board members vote on contracts or sign off on them after they are approved by district staff, depending on their value.

Trifilio said Analytical and district staff had a “camaraderie” with each other, which led to some district employees also attending games in the company suite.

“We had people (at HISD) all the time, at least eight people there, 40 hours a week,” Trifilio said. “They became friends with people over there. They had their own badges. They felt as if they were employees at HISD.”

Trifilio said when his company took HISD employees out to lunch, which he said happened a handful of times, the conversation was focused on current work.

“We didn’t talk about upcoming bids,” he said.

Former district technology employees William L. Edwards, Steve K. Kim and Laura M. Palmer were the primary recipients of the gifts and meals, the memo from HISD firm Bracewell & Guiliani said. Their names were closely guarded by the school district for years and were only released after a Texas Watchdog public information request that the district challenged to the attorney general’s office.

According to the memo, Edwards and Palmer accepted a ride on Wong’s fishing boat, the “Sir Veza” — the same name of a $305,000, 46-foot yacht connected to the E-Rate scandal in Dallas. Dallas ISD’s technology chief, Ruben B. Bohuchot, is in a federal prison in Fort Worth after being found guilty in the bribery and money laundering scheme.

Wong created a company to maintain the “Sir Veza,” according to the Justice Department.

“We worked together, but we hated each other with a passion,” Trifilio said, even though he mentioned he had taken his sons fishing on the boat. “We did north side, they did south side and that is that.”

Trifilio cooperated with the grand jury in the Dallas investigation, even though there was no information he could contribute, he said.

Trifilio said he had not talked to Lehmann. Texas Watchdog has attempted to contact Lehmann multiple times but has been unable to reach him.

Trifilio said he owns a rehab and renovation company.

“I am 65 years old, and I am cleaning toilets,” he said, adding that he works alone.

“No more subcontractors.”

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.