If your newsroom is parched for story ideas, Extra! Extra! on the IRE Web site (www.ire.org/extraextra), carries links to and summaries of articles about water and waterways that used computer-assisted reporting. Here are some examples:
The Salt Lake Tribune analyzed public utilities data to identify which homes used the most water in the area. One estate consumed 7.1 million gallons in one year - more than 21 times the use of an average homeowner. Former NBA star Karl Malone's home used more than 3.3 million gallons, the newspaper found.
The St. Petersburg Times conducted an analysis showing that, since 1998, the median price of waterfront homes in Pinellas County, Fla., was increasing more than twice as fast as real estate off the water. The newspaper reported that the typical waterfront property cost more than $500,000 in 2004 - more than double what it cost six years earlier.