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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > June > 09 > Entry
Resolutions part 1 - It starts with a tip
This is the story behind the story, a rare glimpse into how a newspaper investigation unfolds.
The story is this one, about $1.4 million that Butler County spent on utility payments at the county’s Resolutions minimum security jail without a vote from commissioners, and reportedly without commissioners’ knowledge. It was a deal to save the county money that ended up costing it dearly.
In the days, and possibly weeks, that follow, I will walk you through the process of this newspaper investigation, how it got here and where it’s going from here. So far, it has led to some interesting revelations. And I think there will be more to this story before we’re done.
I also don’t know if this has ever been done before. Newspapers are generally pretty guarded about their investigations. We don’t want our competition to know what we are working on, lest they swoop in and try to break the story first. We don’t usually want all our sources to know what we’re looking into, lest they start formulating a response.
So needless to say, I’m taking a chance here. But I think the payoff to our readers is worth it.
I plan to give you the information as I receive it, take you with me as I craft the story. And you may possibly even play a part.
It starts with a tip.
In this case, it was an anonymous tip. A former editor of mine used to say, “A reporter is only as good as his sources.” I have lots of them. Some work for the county. Some don’t. Some of them, I don’t even know who they are; I just get the occasionally phone call or letter with no return address nudging me in some direction.
The tip was that there was something funky going on between the county and Resolutions, Community Solutions, the company that manages the county’s jails. There weren’t a lot of details, but enough to capture my interest.
So the first step was to find out what county leaders were talking about. I put in a public records request for all e-mails to and from all three county commissioners and County Administrator Tim Williams regarding Resolutions.
Tomorrow, I will let you know what I received.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County, Butler County Sheriff's Department, Butler County blog, County Commission, Resolutions
Comments
By Mary K.
June 9, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this
OOHHHH…. I love a good soap opera!! Can’t wait for tomorrow!!
By spyderman
June 9, 2009 9:35 PM | Link to this
Everyone loves good gossip. I’d rather know the truth more than made up guesses & passing the buck but I know you’re hard up to sell the paper, without the constant county accusations you would be left with kids running through the sprinklers..
By Cliff
June 9, 2009 10:25 PM | Link to this
I wonder how much money the owners of Resolutions,Community Solutions have given to the sheriffs political races.
By still alive
June 10, 2009 7:43 AM | Link to this
Wonder when everyone is going to weave the common thread…..Chuck Furmon…always play dumb, but fingerprints all over it. While he proved his stupidity with the paper chase, come on! When are we running him and Peg out of office? proved his stu
By Tip of the Iceberg
June 10, 2009 8:13 AM | Link to this
Great journalism by Mr. Sweigart. The county officials hate him. They cringe with every public request he makes. Can’t wait to hear more.