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 "Contras" ...
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California's Public Pension Dilemma
The Contra Costa Times found that California public employee pension systems are grossly underfunded; the benefits far exceeded the private sector and are regularly understated by the pension systems; the debts for state and local governments are huge; and the cost is being transferred over to future generations.
Tags: California; Public Pensions; State; Local; Government
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Paying for Schools
This series of stories takes an in-depth look at how schools are financed in California. The investigation found it to be an incredibly convoluted and inequitable system. The distribution of money from district to district is uneven, and politics often determine who gets the most money. A lot of the money is doled out based on outdated programs with little connection to modern day needs in schools. Much of the money is released to schools with little or no state monitoring of whether the programs are working or even happening, and some actually aren't.
Tags: spending; school programs; Governor Gray Davis; school budget; school funding; Gifted and Talented Education; Bilingual Teacher Training; Gang Risk Intervention; West Contra Costa Unified School District; Dropout Prevention Program; Anti-Defamation League; English Language Acquisition Program; Department of Education; Economic Impact Aid; California Legislature; Senate Rules Committee; public education
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Guard Readiness in Question
A series of stories by the Contra Costa Times "raised serious questions about the National Guard's ability" to protect "Bay Area bridges against a possible terrorist attack." The newspapers investigation "uncovered widespread problems, the most serious that some soldiers sporting loaded M-16s in crowded civillian areas were unqualified to handle their weapons."
Tags: National Guard; Bay Area; bridges; M-16s; rifles; unqualified; ability; military; soldiers
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Disarray in nursing homes
Contra Costa Times reveals that conditions in California nursing homes have only been growing worse after a "scathing report" published by the General Accounting Office in July 1998. The series reports on patient deaths resulting from staff errors and lack of appropriate supervision.
Tags: California Public Records Act; doctors; nurses; health; conflict of interest; autopsy records; CAR
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In Search of Ben Linder's Killers
During the 1980s, there was a neighborhood in Managua, Nicaragua, known as Gringolandia -- a district of hotels, flophouses, private homes, and open-air restaurants filled with visitors from Berkeley, Cambridge, Manhattan, Madison, and other American places. It was here that a young American mechanical engineer named Benjamin Linder lived. He had spent a year and a half working for the electrical utility in Managua. A Sandinista sympathizer who had been working on plans to build of tiny hydroelectric plants in the villages, Linder was shot point-blank,stripped of his wallet, watch, camera and cartridge belt. His killers -- the U.S.-sponsored Contras. The uproar back home was loud -- and discomfiting for the U.S. government. As Linder's friends searched for answers, they waded through the complex Nicaraguan politics.
Tags: Ben Linder; Nicaragua; Sandanistas; Contras
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No title (id: 13515)
American Journalism Review looks at the San Jose Mercury News's series "Dark Alliance", which links the CIA to the Nicaraguan Contras and Colombia's cocaine cartels. American Journalism Review reports on the controversy surrounding the San Jose Mercury News series and questions over whether or not journalist Gary Webb had enough written documentation to support his allegations against the CIA. (Nov. 1996)
Tags: Heyboer A furor over the CIA and drugs Washington Post LA Times Ethics Conspiracy theories 2 pgs.
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No title (id: 13335)
A Mercury News investigation has found that for the better part of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions of drug profits to a Latin America guerrilla army run by the U.S. Intelligence Agnecy. Supplemental information also available. (Aug. 18, 1996)
Tags: Webb Dark alliance: the story behind the crack explosion Nicaragua Reagan CIA Crack Contra 18 pgs.
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No title (id: 12981)
Robert Timberg's book, The Nightingale's Song, documents the Iran-Contra scandal and the men involved, including Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, John Poindexter, James Webb and John McCaine. They were all also involved in the Vietnam War in some way or another. Timberg connects this involvement to the intersection of these men's lives and explores the relationship between the Iran-Contra affair and Vietnam. (July 5, 1995)
Tags: Timberg The nightingale's song Contest entry Annapolis White house BOOK
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No title (id: 10509)
The San Francisco Examiner finds that Contra Costa County stores nearly 127 million pounds of extremely dangerous chemicals. The storage areas are often in close proximity to neighborhoods and schools. The article identifies the most dangerous chemicals in the county and the dangers posed by their presence, Aug. 8, 1993.
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No title (id: 9897)
Contra Costa Times reveals how county officials secretly spent $3 million in public money to settle eight lawsuits; the Times sued the county for over a year to get access to documents kept hidden to cover up the costs of a wasteful county-run health plan and related legal fees, June 23, 1993.