tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78755098605069958452011-11-09T03:40:58.580-08:00From the Philadelphia Inquirer, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and other points in my career.Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.comBlogger741100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-26005812333840321072010-05-05T21:52:00.000-07:002011-02-14T17:29:05.992-08:00

A freelance piece from Shanghai at the start of the World Expo. Israel Showcases Its Brain Power on a Receptive World Stage Letter From Shanghai The age of great world’s fairs is supposed to be over, but no one told the Chinese. Ignoring the conventional wisdom that these grand global assemblages have been rendered obsolete in the era of the Internet and satellite communications, and that

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-45820608106569803832009-07-10T05:01:00.000-07:002011-07-11T19:45:24.261-07:00

Here's a story I did for "Horizons," the alumni magazine for Nova Southeastern University in Broward County, Florida, Summer 2009

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-66494087309821790962009-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:002011-02-14T17:31:27.982-08:00

This story, which turned out to be one of the last I wrote for the Sun Sentinel, caused a great sensation. It went out on the Internet and whipped around the world, quickly attracting 175,000 hits and getting lots of play on, you guessed it, Fox News. I wrote it as straight-down-the-middle news story. But the reason it got so much attention is the absurdity of the hospice position: so afraid of

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-92149548408917615292009-01-31T11:19:00.000-08:002011-02-14T17:32:09.435-08:00

This started out as a follow-up to a news brief: An accident victim, probably an illegal immigrant, left no ID and authorities couldn't figure out who he was. Several weeks went by, and I was asked to try to profile this man from the few clues he left behind. Before I could get the story in the paper, investigators solved the puzzle. It looked like we had no story -- until we learned that

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-16069820360201233532009-01-13T11:51:00.000-08:002011-02-14T17:32:49.415-08:00

This story was conceived as simple salute to a well-known store that went under. In reporting it, however, I found a story that hadn't been told: the store's misfortunes were the result not of bad weather and a bad roof, as everyone thought, but of bad management. Fallen King's Market to be auctioned For some, this is final indignity for the gourmet grocery that had ruled supreme Date:

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-39763762004906330772007-03-06T08:48:00.000-08:002011-02-14T17:33:25.766-08:00

The assignment: Cover a political debate at a nudist camp. The challenge: To keep my juvenile sense of humor in check. FORUM AT NATURIST RESORT GOES OFF WITHOUT HITCH Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2007 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY It is great to watch the body politic put democracy in action, but maybe not so much when the body isn't wearing

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-61247149062496893342007-03-04T17:07:00.000-08:002011-02-14T17:34:06.493-08:00

The first idea behind this story was to profile life on Route 80, the east-west highway that connects Palm Beach County's very weathiest community to its poorest, with various degrees of urban and rural middle-class in between. The subject proved too unwieldy, so I dropped the road and kept the two extremes. A TALE OF TWO STARKLY DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES -- ONE OPULENT AND THE OTHER, NOT FAR

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-19320360022247098872007-02-20T08:29:00.000-08:002011-03-22T08:37:51.257-07:00

Henry Flagler would have put this plan on the fast trackBy Howard Goodman | Commentary We need Henry Flagler back. In his day, when an industrial magnate could be king of all he surveyed, things got done in the state of Florida. Once the right-hand man of John D. Rockefeller, Flagler moved here in the 1880s and basically built the town of St. Augustine. Bringing civilization to the hinterlands of

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-29923705979756467882007-01-07T03:29:00.000-08:002011-03-22T03:39:03.699-07:00

It's not easy to admit error. So I thought it was important to salute the police said they had the wrong men. Boynton police acted properly in the deadly mall shooting caseBy Howard Goodman | Commentary A lot of people probably think the Keystone Kops are alive and well in Boynton Beach. The town's police do seem prone to pratfalls: Two men are arrested in the shooting death of a suspected gang

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-77391157183802241882006-10-31T04:57:00.000-08:002011-03-22T05:03:09.121-07:00

Electronic voting was easy enough ... so why do I feel uneasy? By Howard Goodman | Commentary I voted Monday. It took five minutes. I walked into the South County Elections Office, and a couple of kindly poll workers took my name and address, checked my driver's license and handed me a plastic card. I inserted the card into the machine, and a virtual ballot appeared on screen. I made my choices,

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-44970616211631603912006-10-10T20:54:00.000-07:002011-02-14T17:34:39.530-08:00

Some controversies can only happen in the town of Palm Beach ... LIGHTEN UP, SIP A MACCHIATO, AND LET THE DONALD FLY HIS GIANT FLAG Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY If you are Donald Trump, by gum, you should be able to do whatever the heck you want. This is because you are the richest man on earth and you

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-28981188623993339552006-10-05T03:43:00.000-07:002011-03-22T03:51:36.678-07:00

Congressman forfeited privacy when he crossed the line of decencyBy Howard Goodman | Commentary Three years ago, when confronted with "revolting and unforgiving" reports that he is gay, Mark Foley angrily held a news conference to say he deserved to keep his private life private. "Elected officials, even those who run for the United States Senate, must have some level of privacy," the Republican

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-22156757517379303372006-10-02T08:37:00.000-07:002011-03-22T08:53:26.832-07:00

Naked confessions of Foley's priest are hard to swallowBy Howard Goodman | Commentary Now, that's a relief: It was only saunas and massages in the nude, skinny-dipping and fondling. Thank God it was nothing like sex. The interview confessions of the Rev. Anthony Mercieca induce a kind of stunned amazement that any man of the cloth would so easily admit to behavior that's so patently wrong, while

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-78002527396356325522006-10-01T09:57:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:11:53.494-08:00

For a time in 2006, Palm Beach County was a bonanza for crazy behavior from public figures. In one particularly rich stretch, we had priests robbing the till and a congressman making weird sexual advances to teen boys. Hence... TRIO'S BETRAYAL KNOCKS PUBLIC'S PRECIOUS TRUST DOWN ANOTHER NOTCH Date: Sunday, October 1, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-29835754802704148912006-09-21T03:15:00.000-07:002011-03-22T03:40:12.112-07:00

Beach cleanup effort quickly swept away by litterers by Howard Goodman | Commentary A broad sandy beach. A sky of blue. A shimmering sea. And a Hershey wrapper, three soda cans, four plastic water bottles, a shriveled balloon, a discarded sandal and too many bottle caps and plastic bags to count. That's just some of the inventory I found in a 20-minute stroll on a gloriously near-empty

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-38096080326053293332006-06-27T10:06:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:12:36.593-08:00

Boca Raton loves to play up its image of wealth and luxury. Here was a chance to hold up a mirror. THAT $100 BURGER MAY BE TASTY, BUT IT'S ALSO TASTELESS Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY Just in time for your Fourth of July barbecue: the $100 hamburger. The Old Homestead Steak House in the Boca Raton Resort & Club

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-11919200027795633852006-05-07T18:38:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:13:16.791-08:00

I met Patty Doherty, who impressed me right away with her passion over the sufferings of Alzheimers patients and their spouses and children. And then I found out that she was using that passion to raise money for a researcher who was trying to crack the mysteries of the disease. And the researcher was working in the next town over. Great story. RIGHT HERE'S WHERE FIGHT FOR ALZHEIMER'S BEGINS

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-47674541630333006292006-03-26T10:20:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:13:44.233-08:00

I was one of the first reporters in the mainstream media to raise questions about the accuracy of touch-screen voting machines and I returned to the subject frequently. Here's a column about a hero who spoke out despite political heat: VOTE MACHINES CAN'T GO WRONG, GO WRONG, GO WRONG Date: Sunday, March 26, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-23152350491323660072006-03-25T20:27:00.000-08:002011-03-22T20:33:56.017-07:00

Bringing education to the tableby Howard Goodman | Commentary When you pick up the knife -- with the right hand, of course -- you place your palm over the handle and your forefinger on the top of the blade. That finger on top allows you to press firmly in the event the knife is dull or the meat tough. While you're chewing, you place your knife and fork on your plate in the so-called resting

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-52944872770953640112006-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:002011-03-22T09:06:20.712-07:00

Taking son Ben to see the rock legends inspires reflections.  Stones bridge gap of generationsBy Howard Goodman | Commentary   Keith Richards picked up an acoustic guitar. Played that familiar Middle Eastern-like intro. Then Charlie Watts beat his tom-tom: dumm dumm dumm dum-dum, dumm dumm dumm dum-dum. My son Ben sprang out of his seat, his fist high. "Yes!!!" It was Paint It Black, a song way

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-60806996700877683052006-03-05T10:27:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:14:36.488-08:00

For all the progress we make in America, hate crimes never seem to go away. Here's a column I wrote about one such incident in a quasi-rural area called Loxahatchee. HATE CANNOT DIE IF PARENTS KEEP PASSING IT ALONG Date: Sunday, March 5, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY There's a swastika in red paint and a swastika in blue on Marva

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-38627186483188943272006-02-05T03:41:00.000-08:002011-03-22T04:56:17.440-07:00

Defying pledge is a principle as American as they comeBy Howard Goodman | Commentary It seems ridiculous that the Palm Beach County School District should pay $32,500 to settle a lawsuit from a Boynton High teen who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. We're talking about a classroom dispute that never should have turned into a federal lawsuit. But it did, thanks largely to the

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-54336585662723363842006-02-02T10:35:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:15:19.423-08:00

Palm Beach County is synonymous with wealth. But county policies toward the homeless were pure see-no-evil. Here's one blast I took at the commissioners over the situation. COUNTY'S VIEW OF HOMELESS A DISGRACEDate: Thursday, February 2, 2006 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY The place needs a coat of paint, probably a new ceiling. A good

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-42729407574804198312005-10-27T10:41:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:16:22.657-08:00

When you write for a newspaper in Florida, you write a lot about hurricanes and how to cope with them I did this piece two mornings after one of the biggest ones hit us. OUR GOOD LIFE HAS CHANGED . . . FOR NOW For Cecile Levant, the search for a cup of coffee took her all the way from Century Village in Deerfield Beach to North Federal Highway in Boca Raton. And to, of all places, a

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-8869675942597112722005-10-06T10:54:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:16:50.217-08:00

This was a story that the cops reporters covered copiously. I was hoping to capture the elements that were particularly hurtful to this community. A child nailed it: SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING EVEN PAINFUL TO GOD Date: Thursday, October 6, 2005 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY The hole was about 2 1/2 inches wide, as indicated by the stick-on

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-68554630507296945642005-09-20T13:32:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:17:16.432-08:00

FEMA did too little, too late in New Orleans after Katrina. The problems were different in South Florida. Here, FEMA doled out sacks of money to people who suffered no hurricane damage at all. Made me wonder if anyone there had any brains at all. Hence: ARE YOU FEMA MATERIAL? TAKE THE TEST Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-91989280601196792842005-08-30T17:58:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:19:11.453-08:00

It's Hard to Imagine New Orleans After KatrinaHOWARD GOODMAN | COMMENTARY Jeff Fisk, who has lived all his life in Deerfield Beach, is a yard supervisor at the United Parcel Service hub for deliveries from Pompano to Delray. Last year, this slender working man spent many off hours researching, designing and making a costume to transform himself into the 400-pound Fat Bastard, the repellent

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-17874940988423326882005-06-15T13:56:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:20:39.917-08:00

One of the things I can legitimately brag about is the fact I actually attended the 1969 Woodstock festival. Really. My teenage son is a music lover in the same way I was. So to take him to this generation's equivalent of the massive camp-out/rock'n'roll show, I couldn't resist. AH, MEMORIES OF WOODSTOCK COME FLOODING BACK Date: Thursday, June 16, 2005 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-37417659171836334672004-08-29T14:00:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:21:23.252-08:00

I was always close with my father, and when he died I wrote this tribute. A DAD WHO GAVE HIS FULL ATTENTION -- AND HIS LOVE Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY The last real errand I ran for my dad came when he sent me to the library to find F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in large-type print. This was his

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-7234951340286904372004-03-21T14:11:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:22:47.856-08:00

This story's personal. My dad passed his hero-worship of Clarence Darrow to me, and I tried to pass it on to my son Ben. It all came together on one particular day. COMING FULL CIRCLE ON CLARENCE DARROW DAY Date: Sunday, March 21, 2004 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY You can never know what's in a name, but you can hope. My wife and I gave

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-2344636320988369922003-12-25T14:19:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:23:18.959-08:00

Here's another family story, about a death and a birth and the consolation in continuity. THE MEMORY LIVES ON OF A BELOVED REDNECK Date: Thursday, December 25, 2003 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY On this morning given to pondering the miracle of new birth and the promise of ongoing life, I have a story to tell. You couldn't call it a

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-47249649488974500492003-10-30T14:25:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:23:56.203-08:00

Californians had a goofy election to replace the governor they threw out, Gray Davis. I was thrilled to find a South Florida connection. Of the 132 candidates, perhaps the very goofiest was one of this area's own. CALIFORNIA CANDIDATE ENJOYS POLITICS -- AND PORN Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY Mary Carey, a

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-76860157398834853392003-10-16T14:31:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:24:45.248-08:00

One sure way to engender angry reader reaction is to criticize the Confederate flag. Every time, I was inundated with enraged and footnote-studded letters and emails from Georgia, Tennessee, Texas - the whole Old South. Not that it stopped me. REBEL FLAG IS RED FLAG: WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-15155319712375571312003-09-07T07:07:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:26:40.029-08:00

Clinic relieved that no violence followed execution Published September 7, 2003 It was a normal Friday at the Presidential Women's Center in West Palm Beach. A day for follow-up appointments, consultations, HIV tests -- but, as customary, no surgeries. Two days after the execution of Paul Hill, whose intense opposition to abortion led to double murder, there were no signs of heightened threat,

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-84198847513199045622003-08-24T14:46:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:27:25.952-08:00

A local kids' team made it to the finals of the Little League World Series. It made me think about the value and emphasis we place on kids' sports, and inspired this column. IT ALL BEGINS WITH A SIMPLE GAME OF CATCH Date: Sunday, August 24, 2003 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page: 1B Byline: HOWARD GOODMAN COMMENTARY A game of catch. That's how it starts. A father throws a ball

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-66241899147030539932003-03-16T14:51:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:28:11.290-08:00

I wrote this as an exercise at the Poynter Institute, in a workshop on persuasive writing. The assignment was to write about something personal, and this was a subject I'd never committed to paper before. The piece was a big hit with the editorial writers and columnists at the workshop, so I offered it to the Features department when I got back to Fort Lauderdale. Our paper ran it, and so did the

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-54503502885196924122003-02-25T14:55:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:28:57.381-08:00

In learning to be a columnist, I had to get used to the idea of using my own feelings and memories as material. That's very different from the journalism that I was taught to practice. This column won the Sun-Sentinel's readers' poll for their favorite commentary of the year: LEFTY'S LEGACY: FIGHTING FOR WHAT'S RIGHT Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Edition: Palm Beach Section: LOCAL Page:

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-13571635774996691292003-02-18T15:01:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:29:24.533-08:00

This column seems tame now. But I wrote it at a time when anything less than 100 percent gung-ho agreement with the White House brought you heaps of invective. I heard from a lot of angry readers over this one. Many of my misgivings look prescient, but I too was fooled into thinking that Iraq was hiding WMDs. IRAQ CONFLICT ALREADY RAGES -- IN MY MIND Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-12818288241129581902002-10-28T15:11:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:30:06.010-08:00

Every now and then, I wrote a column that was just about my life or my family. This one was especially sweet. My sister had discovered a cache of love letters of my parents' that none of us had ever seen, and they told a story all by themselves. After it ran, I was contacted by several people who recognized my parents from the old pictures we ran of their young selves. Amazing. LOVE

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-31713329337024427161999-06-27T11:51:00.000-07:002009-02-24T15:19:43.641-08:00

When I found out that the head of special events for the city of Philadelphia was a fairly serious scholar of fireworks, I knew I had a good subject for a magazine article - and the chance to learn a lot about a subject I always wanted to know better.(Click on image to enlarge it. Then hit "previous page" to reduce it.)

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-42276261892462354081999-04-12T19:08:00.000-07:002011-02-15T07:31:33.476-08:00

A news story about an extraordinary effort by state troopers to understand the circumstances of a racially charged police shooting. ON TURNPIKE, OFFICIALS TRY TO REPLAY SHOOTING A 13-MILE STRETCH WAS CLOSED FOR HOURS. INVESTIGATORS WENT OVER VERSIONS OF EVENTS IN WHICH TROOPERS WOUNDED THREE MEN. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: SOUTH JERSEY; Pg. B01 In silver

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-8186818108347794371998-12-11T18:47:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:32:19.218-08:00

Philadelphia had one of the nation's most brutal and backward police forces in America in the 1970s. In the late '90s the city decided, finally, to change. Here's one of many stories I wrote on how the new police commissioner went about it. COMPSTAT: NEW WEAPON FOR POLICE The intense weekly meetings zero in on Phila. crime statistics - and how to thwart criminals Howard Goodman, Inquirer

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-72339675107044215961998-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:002011-02-15T08:09:05.013-08:00

A travel piece. The whole family went on the road, and it made for a funny trip. ALASKA BY RV: A PRACTICAL WAY TO TRAVEL A CHALLENGING STATE IT'S A LESS COSTLY, LESS DAREDEVIL MODE - WITH PLENTY OF HOOKUPS. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: FEATURES TRAVEL; Pg. T01 ON THE ROAD IN ALASKA - Wind lashed my face, cold rain cutting icy rivulets on cheeks chapped raw, as

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-84725886768361605321998-03-10T19:44:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:35:42.867-08:00

John Timoney stormed into Philadelphia determined to bring the police department to modern standards. He worked fast... from the very beginning. 'FULL SPEED AHEAD,' TIMONEY SAYS ON FIRST DAY BYLINE: Howard Goodman and Thomas J. Gibbons Jr., INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS SECTION: CITY & REGION; Pg. B01 In a foul-smelling courtroom in a shabby police station in the blighted heart of one of

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-940825400965448521998-01-18T19:02:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:38:56.727-08:00

It was one measure of Ed Rendell's self-confidence - or ego- that he let the hard-eyed reporter Buzz Bissinger watch his every move as he tried to lead the city out of a crushing fiscal crisis. Bissinger emerged with a great book about America's cities. Too bad for his sales that the city was Philadelphia. SILENT WITNESS TO THE CITY'S STRUGGLES BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-82944654363646038921998-01-13T19:12:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:39:49.452-08:00

One of the hardest things to convey in words is what the decrepitude of a major city is truly like. I tried to get at it with this one. CITY POLICE WORK IN A "PIGPEN" AS RED TAPE DELAYS A NEW STATION BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A01 The reek, the stench, the stink from the juvenile detention cell should be enough in and of itself to force the closing of

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-54201521738449380311997-12-14T19:21:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:40:18.113-08:00

In his second term, Mayor Ed Rendell was hugely admired for having revived Philadelphia's finances and injecting bolts of confidence into a city that never had much to feel good about. But he hadn't been paying enough attention to public safety. And people let him know it. IN PHILA., RISING FRUSTRATIONS OVER CRIME RESIDENTS AND LEGISLATORS SOUND OFF - AND WONDER IF RENDELL IS LISTENING.

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-1105604087400569461997-12-01T19:37:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:41:09.406-08:00

Covering a municipal government is usually an immersion in stories of frustration. So I seized the chance to report good news like this. LATEST CHAPTER ON THE FREE LIBRARY IS TALE OF SUCCESS IN TWO YEARS, 16 BRANCHES HAVE BEEN UPGRADED INSIDE AND OUT. THE RESULTS, INCLUDING COMPUTERS, HAVE DRAWN MORE PATRONS. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A01 The paint

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-75201381905632105931997-10-26T19:47:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:41:48.405-08:00

One of the things that distinguished the Philadelphia Inquirer was its frequent use of the reconstruction. Soon after a major news event, reporters would interview the participants to recount behind-the-scenes events and tell the story as a whole, instead of daily increments. The reporting had to be deep, the writing quick. BEHIND THE SHIPYARD DEAL: A 'HAIL MARY' THAT WORKED THE

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-56506019392087184961997-10-12T06:43:00.000-07:002011-02-16T06:43:37.549-08:00

What do you do with a city with dwindling population, acres of empty lots? Here was a radical idea: Return the land to agriculture. DOWN ON THE FARM IN PHILA. SOME PEOPLE ARE BOLDLY RETHINKING WHAT A CITY CAN BE. ON BLIGHTED OR FORGOTTEN BLOCKS, THEY SEE FIELDS OF OPPORTUNITY. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A01 Imagine the abandoned factories of

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-76332393989434891361997-06-13T20:13:00.000-07:002011-02-16T06:44:10.889-08:00

Part of the excitement of the Rendell administration was his frenzy to create new cultural landmarks for Philadelphia. Here's the creation of one of them. RENDELL UNVEILS A REVISED CONSTITUTION CENTER PLAN IT SHOWS A LOWER COST AND A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT LOCATION. VISITORS WILL TAKE AN INTERACTIVE TOUR THROUGH HISTORY. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A01 It

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-38684956892457416891997-04-28T20:29:00.000-07:002011-02-16T06:44:46.945-08:00

Philadelphia hosted a "summit on volunteerism" that featured three Presidents and Gen. Colin Powell. It was the hyperactive mayor who stole the show. A WIRED RENDELL PAINTS THE TOWN HE'S HERE, THERE - EVERYWHERE. BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: THE PRESIDENTS' SUMMIT; Pg. B01 Five thousand T-shirted volunteers and an invasion of national media poised expectantly at

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-35000823531869375861997-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:002009-02-24T18:32:32.292-08:00

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-55282039067421473551996-12-27T20:46:00.000-08:002011-02-16T06:45:24.860-08:00

CREATING THE CLASS OF 2000 FOR BETTER OR WORSE, FRESHMEN ENCOUNTER REAL WORLD BYLINE: Howard Goodman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. A01 In their first semester at the University of Pennsylvania, the members of the Class of 2000 have taken a course that none of them signed up for. It won't earn them a single credit or show up on their transcripts. It doesn't even have a name. But

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-5899821039595878131994-10-30T07:57:00.000-08:002009-04-27T08:57:44.714-07:00

Ed Ryder was almost 20 years into a life sentence for murder, when I wrote a detailed investigative story about the weakness of the evidence in his conviction and the unlikeliness of his guilt. It helped get him freed from prison - the most gratifying event of my career.I kept close track of Ryder after his release, and wrote about his first year's ups and downs for the Inquirer's Sunday

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-21796461516034148141993-11-20T17:58:00.000-08:002009-04-26T18:05:57.395-07:00

A long struggle gets a happy denouement.

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-61163612369277066841993-03-28T18:54:00.000-08:002011-04-12T07:04:23.812-07:00

Here is one of the first stories in any mainstream publication to introduce the Internet to the public. I stumbled across researchers using it when I was covering higher education and thought I'd found something that could change the world. The Internet and email were so new that this story sat a couple of weeks because the editors couldn't quite grasp what the hell it was all about.Take a look

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-31592018062643964101993-03-26T17:47:00.000-08:002009-04-26T18:06:25.244-07:00

The Ed Ryder case took a huge turn when the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons agreed that the evidence of innocence was too strong to ignore. After almost 20 years in prison, Ryder would soon be free. It was, I think, the most emotional event I was ever part of as a reporter. (click on images to enlarge.)

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-74358405491858539471992-05-10T09:22:00.000-07:002009-04-26T12:51:34.163-07:00

This is the first of many articles I wrote about the case of Ed Ryder, a man from North Philadelphia who had been in state prison nearly 20 years on a life sentence, convicted of murder on very shaky grounds. Everyone says that inmates will always tell you they are innocent, but I found out that this is not exactly true. They'll tell you that a lawyer botched their case or give you some

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-87413192747363660251989-10-01T14:39:00.000-07:002011-02-16T06:49:24.305-08:00

Here was the denouement to the Matthews and Wright story. Two years after we broke the story and explained the scam, court evidence confirmed our reporting, even as it sent the Wall Street firm's principal protagonist to prison. BOND-FRAUD SCANDAL'S LATEST CHAPTER: PRISON By Howard Goodman Inquirer Staff Writer To Moshe Lichtman, a developer who tried in 1986 to bring a major trash

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-58070137589619284141989-06-01T14:48:00.000-07:002009-03-11T14:55:21.936-07:00

One day I happened to come across a photo that really struck me as incongruous: Abbie Hoffman at his bar mitzvah.It made me laugh, and then it got me thinking. Underneath all the personae that Hoffman wore throughout his attention-getting life - radical trickster, professional agitator, media manipulator, fugitive - there was a Jewish sensibility underneath.Knowing that Hoffman was living not far

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-23122150137507309801987-12-13T07:37:00.000-08:002009-05-08T14:55:54.378-07:00

Here's what the golden age of investigative reporting was like at the Philadelphia Inquirer: To pursue the Matthews and Wright municipal bond story, the paper sent me to Guam, Saipan and Palau. I traveled that far to collect color, background and documents on the firm's actions before it turned its attention to Pennsylvania.A lot of miles and expense, and the paper was content to run only a

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-38708551091519870541987-12-10T07:19:00.000-08:002009-04-27T07:50:47.013-07:00

Well, that's how William Randolph Hearst might have headlined it.Before the year was out, we saw our reporting validated with these indictments.Eventually, these charges would be matched by others involving East St. Louis bonds. Goldberg would be sentenced to 18 months in jail and the disgraced firm Matthews & Wright was fined $1 million and ordered to pay $7 million into a community fund for the

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-71966991329742214731987-09-01T09:43:00.000-07:002009-03-11T14:33:28.572-07:00

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-34588906262682424911987-06-29T12:13:00.000-07:002009-04-27T08:56:09.347-07:00

By following the threads of a suspicious municipal bond issue in the dirt-poor city of Chester, Pa., I discovered something amazing: A fraud that stretched all across America and into the Pacific territories, as a group of Wall Street wheeler-dealers used an income-tax loophole and phony promises to poverty-stricken communities to make themselves rich.With the Inquirer allowing me to investigate

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-41462044707207736311987-02-01T08:28:00.000-08:002009-04-27T08:54:16.288-07:00

Assigned to cover the Delaware County suburbs, I immediately was intrigued by the poorest town in the area, Chester - and the incongruous news that this impoverished had somehow issued $335 million in municipal bonds. I understood nothing about finance. But even given the usual incomprehensibility of these things, this marriage of a poor, majority-black city and Wall Street just made no sense

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-76941108995120083421986-08-24T00:50:00.000-07:002011-02-16T06:51:52.563-08:00

Many Medicaid Violators Continue To Practice Medicine By Edward Colimore and Howard Goodman, Inquirer Staff Writers Dr. Arnold Lincow and his clinic did hundreds of thousands of dollars in business with Medicaid patients in Philadelphia - and then state officials said they wouldn't pay him any more. He broke Medicaid regulations, they said, by performing 145 unnecessary treatments on welfare

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-9427829127945230181985-04-03T10:53:00.000-08:002009-04-10T08:32:55.964-07:00

By Howard GoodmanInquirer Staff WriterDelta Flight 392 - fairly hijacked by exultant and exhausted Villanova fans -flew from Lexington, Ky., to Philadelphia yesterday on something stronger than jet fuel.Dozens of revelers, wearing Wildcat caps and T-shirts, clutching souvenir posters and programs, chanted Villanova fight songs and cheers as the plane taxied toward takeoff. The hum in the cabin

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-10147073598751275661984-05-26T20:32:00.000-07:002009-03-01T14:18:04.591-08:00

Our courts reporter covered this trial, but the circumstances were so bizarre and the details so rich that the metropolitan editor, Bob Samsot, assigned me to write a reconstruction of the case after the verdict was in. Early on, I got the cooperation of the killer's father, which gave me great access to the son's bedroom and drawings, windows into his disturbed mind. The dead boy's parents

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-47072913913231024711983-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:002009-02-23T09:07:17.176-08:00

    

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-37181558671933542441981-06-20T13:39:00.000-07:002009-03-11T09:08:33.600-07:00

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-37387321716397860251981-02-08T15:21:00.000-08:002009-02-17T14:37:45.100-08:00

After a rash of swastika graffiti swept the Oregon town where I was working, I dug into the history of the state. And I found that it was no accident that Oregon was about 98 percent white and Christian. The easy-going, eco-friendly image of the state belied a xenophobic past.This account of that past was news to many people who read it, when it filled an entire issue of the Statesman-Journal's

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-41994254417185130351978-12-17T20:25:00.000-08:002009-02-25T20:27:30.338-08:00

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875509860506995845.post-18205743592288083481978-04-20T19:35:00.000-08:002009-02-28T14:03:45.870-08:00

The Chicago suburb where I grew up turned locus of national news in 1978 when a group of neo-Nazis decided to celebrate Hitler's birthday by provoking the sizable Jewish population with a march through town. The ethical and ethnic complexities multiplied when the ACLU, with a heavy Jewish membership, fought efforts to prevent the Nazis from marching, on free-speech grounds. I was a

Howard Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14599436602354440114noreply@blogger.com0