The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "American Association of State Highway and Transportation" ...
-
Priorities Rule the Roads
Missouri ranks second to the last in the condition of its major roads while Kansas ranks seventh nationally. "Several experts say the reason for the difference is simple: money per mile. The less a state spends per mile, the longer roads go without repair, the more they deteriorate and the harder they are to fix. Missouri's 1999 road budget provided just $12,399 in capital investments per lane mile that year, compared with $29,227 in Kansas. The national average was $23,967. The legislature has at least five pending bills and Gov. Holden has sought as much as $650 million for new funding. However, transportation experts says for every $1 the state pays to keep a good mile of road, it takes $10 to restore a mile of bad road." Missouri now must struggle to pay for the new technologies in road repair that they had so long put off.
Tags: Missouri Department of Transportation; road maintenance; American Association of State Highway and Transportation; Kansas Department of Transportation; road improvements
-
Atlantis: Nonresidents just the ticket
A Palm Beach Post investigation finds that for a number of years Atlantis - a "small, wealthy, nearly crime-free South Florida" town - has been "churning out tickets to nearly everyone but its own residents." A Post computer analysis of the tickets written by city police shows that "in one year's time, 99.3 percent of all tickets ... went to out-of-town drivers," and that "collections from traffic ticket fines have jumped by 1,067 percent since 1995." The report details how Atlantis police spots local drivers - who are required to "sport green identification stickers ... on the front and the rear of their vehicles" - and gives them warnings more often than tickets. The story points to the issue as "a question of ethics," as Atlantis has broken no laws, according to the state attorney's office and American Automobile Association. The story reveals that other small towns in South Florida - including Jupiter Island, Gulf Stream and Hacienda Village - also ticket mostly nonresidents.
Tags: automobiles; traffic; fine collections; city budget; roads; highways; drivers; transportation; crime; criminal justice; speeding; ethics; CAR