- Data Reporting & Quality Scorecard from the UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project: The researchers and volunteers at UCLA have been tracking COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and other detention facilities since March 2020. This new scorecard, described on the project’s blog, reflects the quality of data available from state correctional agencies, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and other government sources. No state or federal institution on the list scores an A; the vast majority score Fs.
- Yelp Data Reveals Pandemic’s Impact on Local Economies: The public review site Yelp recently published results of an analysis tying listings on the site to trends in business openings and closings. It’s actually pretty interesting—almost 500,000 small businesses have actually opened in the past year, including about 76,000 restaurant and food businesses. (On a lighter note, here’s one of my favorite posts I ghost-wrote during my tenure at the Columbia news site Bwog. It’s a collection of very good Yelp reviews people have left about the university.)
