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 "Central Florida" ...
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Workforce Central Florida
The state's Regional Workforce Boards -- 24 private, nonprofit entities -- receive more than $300 million a year in public money to help put people back to work. The story revealed that the regional agencies handed out millions in business deals to companies owned by or controlled by their own board members. The reporters discovered that local elected officials charged with overseeing the boards had abdicated virtually all their authority, sometimes failing to meet for years at a time.
Tags: Regional Workforce Boards; public officials; local government
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Cuban Pot Rings
“Cuban-run drug rings dominate Florida’s indoor marijuana-cultivation trade, which supplies the Eastern seaboard state with some of the most potent and expensive marijuana in the US. Court records and interviews with drug agents showed that up to 90 percent of the hundreds of suspects busted each year running illegal grow houses are recently arrived Cuban refugees”.
Tags: cops; police; law enforcement; crime; arrests; drugs; court; Central Florida
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Searching For Answers
"An investigation into the death of Ereck Plancher, a redshirt freshman wide receiver at the University of Central Florida who collapsed and died following an offseason conditioning session."
Tags: UCF; sickle-cell; workout; football; blood flow; athletic trainer; George O'Leary;
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The Real Estate Meltdown
"Did Appraisers Juice the Market?" showed how appraisers overstated home values. Using disciplinary records and interviews, Shanklin and McClure found appraisers who exaggerated condo sizes, appraised homes without seeing them and stated that condos were worth the $240,000 sales price even though the price was padded with $40,000 of incentives. The "Subprime Mess" package was based on more than 2 million records and showed how unconventional loans moved from low-income, inner city neighborhoods to the burgeoning suburbs. "How Investors Helped Overheat the Market" explored the role of investors in Central Florida's real estate meltdown by analyzing hundreds of data records and found that sales of non owner-occupied homes grew from 25 percent of all local residential sales in 2002 to 70 percent in 2006.
Tags: real estate; investors; lenders; purchase prices; subprime loans; adjustable-rate loans; high-interest loans; housing scam; vacant housing; condo conversion; development; property values
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Into and out of west-central Florida
Analysis of IRS migration data showed that a large number of people were moving into the Tampa Bay area between 2000 and 2005. Most of those newcomers were from elsewhere in Florida.
Tags: data analysis; IRS; population; Florida; migration;
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When Dry is Wet
By convincing lawmakers that it is the answer to saving the nation's weltands, the mitigation bankers of Florida have taken tens of millions of taxpayers dollars. The wetland the Florida banks were claiming to save were actually dry, and they sold credits to developers who were wiping out wetlands up to 80 miles away.
Tags: wetlands; nature; fraud; bank; Lake Louisa Wetland Mitigation Bank; Central Florida
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Pulling G's
This investigation looks at the G forces riders experience on thrill rides at central Florida theme parks. The parks have resisted releasing such information, so Florida Today measured them, developing data using a 3-axis accelerometer. Despite much concern, the rides were within established safety limits.
Tags: amusement parks; roller coasters; thrill rides; Disney World; g forces; physics; theme parks; safety; tourism
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Deadly but legal
This investigation found that of the more than 80 suspects shot in the last six years by Central Florida police almost half of them were unarmed. The officers who shot the unarmed suspects were rarely disciplined, even in cases where evidence or witnesses contradicted the officer's account of the shooting. "Black suspects who were shot or shot at were twice as likely as white suspects to be unarmed."
Tags: police; shooting; police discipline; deadly force; use of force; fatal shootings
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Deadly Roads: A Special Report
A special report from the Orlando Sentinel looks at the number of fatal accidents in the lesser travelled highways in Florida. Deliberating on fatal accidents on the Colonial Drive in Central Florida, the in-depth report reveals that even though the traffic on the highways has lessened, the rate of accidents remains high. As a result of this series, the highway police are beefing up security in the area and there have also been initiatives to rebuild certain sections.
Tags: Transportation; road safety; Florida roads; Orange County; fatal road accidents; Colonial Dr; Central Florida; Florida Highway Police
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Building Homes: Building Problems
This set of 14 stories examines recent construction in over 400 central Florida homes. The findings reveal that many of these houses have major flaws in their construction. As WESH-TV reports, these problems are due to subcontractors who hire untrained labor and illegal immigrants.
Tags: Housing; flaws in construction; housing subcontractors; illegal immigrants; tapes; transcript