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 "Ford Explorer" ...
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Secrets of the Knight: Sir Allen Stanford and the Missing Billions
In the wake of the 2008 financial crises, a variety of Ponzi schemes surfaced but few as elaborate as Allen Stanford's. "Secrets of the Knight" details Stanford's in-depth network of offshore accounts, business ventures and lavish spending. It explores how his empire was built and how it fell.
Tags: Allen Stanford; Ponzi; scheme; Antigua; Barduba; Texas; billionaire; knight; scandal; finance; business;
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Buy and Bust: New York City's War on Drugs at 40
In this collection, it explores the four major drugs that have affected New York City. These are heroin, cocaine, crack, and marijuana, which tell part of the story of the past four decades. They “traced each drug’s introduction into the city, their era of popularity, key players, law enforcement efforts, prosecution, treatment efforts, current use levels, and prices, etc.” Also, they found that there are as many hard-core users today as there were over the past 40 years.
Tags: New York City; drugs; drug war; heroin; cocaine; crack; marijuana; arrests
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Blowout. How the tire problem turned into a crisis for Firestone and Ford. Lack of a database masked the pattern that led to yesterday's big recall. The heat and the pressure.
According to the article, "Yesterday, ine the face of a federal investigation into 46 deaths and more than 300 incidents involving Firestone tires that allegedly shredded on the highway, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. said it would recall more than 6.5 million tires, the majority of them mounted as original equipment on Ford Motor Co. Explorers and other Ford light trucks. The Firestone brands affected are certain 15-inch Radial ATX and Radial ATX II tires produced in North America and certain Wilderness AT tires with product code P235/75R15 that were manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, Ill. plant."
Tags: Firestone; Ford; tires; blowouts; Ford Motor Company; Ford Explorers; Decatur; IL; deaths; danger; recall
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Further Problems of Safety Found For Light Trucks, Documents on Design of Explorer Reveal a Series of Compromises
Half of all cars purchased in the U.S. are in the light truck category, which include SUVs. "Ford designed its Explorer on a shoestring budget in the late 1980's, bolting a roomy car-like passenger cabin on top of the underbody of a Ranger pickup truck. The high-riding design made the vehicle more prone to rolling over... Sport utility vehicles, which many American busy partly because they seem safer than cars in collisions between the two, roll over so often that their occupants are just as likely to die in an accident as car occupants..."
Tags: Ford; SUV; sport utility vehicle; rollover rate; tire; Firestone; auto safety; consumer image; SUV drivers; mass production; design changes and flaws; payload; rear suspension; frame rails; track width; sides and roof alterations
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The Crusader
Bruce Kaster had been saying for fifteen years that a layer of nylon pasted over the steel belts in tires would decrease the chance of the tread peeling off on the highway, but no one listened. But more accidents occurred with Firestone tires and by the fall of 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "had officially blamed Firestone tires for 148 fatalities." Now the tire litigator's theories have finally become known. 'It's just kind of rewarding to find out that everything I was saying fifteen years ago-and it's just common sense-was right." Esquire Magazine profiles the fight Kaster is putting up against tire manufacturing companies and the kind of justice he wants to be upheld.
Tags: automobiles; Firestone tires; Ford Explorer; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; highways; car accidents
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Asleep at the Wheel: The Government Auto Safety Breakdown
In a series of news and investigative stories the Los Angeles Times "focused on how the deceptions by auto and tire companies coupled with the ineffectiveness of the nation's auto safety regulators..." Some of the major findings included that "State Farm insurance company had notified federal regulators about problems with Firestone tires as far back as 1998, but got no response" and that "Ford Motor C. was aware of instability problems with its Explorer SUV...but twice had declined to make design changes...". Reporters found out that " tires made by Goodyear had been experiencing similar problems to the Firestones and had been linked to several fatal crashes". Some of the stories questioned the companies' practice to keep "knowledge of unsafe products out of public eye". The series raised questions about the efficiency of federal government on safety issues. It pointed out that "the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had been thwarted for over two decades from setting or updating auto safety standards because of industry pressure and lack of funding and political support from Congress."
Tags: Firestone; automobiles; highways; tires. lawsuits; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; accidents; fatalities; Ford; Goodyear; State Farm Insurance; Continental General Tire Inc.; General Motors; Suzuki; Venezuela; Saudi Arabia; FARS; NHTSA
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Failing Tires Carry Fatal Consequences
The Chicago Sun-Times was the first newspaper to cover the tread separation on Firestone radial tires. The story was first broken by a Houston-area television station. The defective Firestone tires did not become a national story until USA Today picked it up in early August. The Chicago Sun-Times also was the first to document similar problems in other tiremakers, "revealing that General Tire misled investigators about the extent of problems with their tires."
Tags: Firestone Tires; tread separation; General Tires; Ford Explorers
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The recall of Firestone tires used on Ford Explorers
On Aug. 1, USA Today alerted the nation to a problem a Houston, Texas television discovered months earlier: the treads on Firestone tires had peeled apart on 90 Ford Explorers killing four people. USA Today's national coverage of the problem contributed to Firestone's eventual recall of the defective tires.
Tags: Firestone tires; Ford Explorers; national exposure; recall; automobiles; cars; accidents; tread; peeling; tires; blow-outs; danger; autos; safety and regulation; tires; NHTSA; CAR
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Explorer Has Higher Rate of Tire Accidents
An analysis by the Washington Post reveals that the "Ford Explorer has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport-utility vehicles," regardless of the tire brand. The findings suggests that there is something about the design of the Explorer that contributes to accidents. This may mean that Firestone Tires are not entirely to blame for the recent fatal accidents. The study found that even if Explorers were equipped with Goodyear Tires, they were still more like to have tire-related accidents.
Tags: Ford Explorer; Firestone Tires; Goodyear Tires; Ford Motor Co.; automobiles; CAR; FARS
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Ford Vs. Firestone
Newsweek reporters find out that Firestone was aware of tire flaws back in 1998 and obtained documents that show Firestone was chronicling a pattern of tire failures for the last three years.
Tags: Firestone; Ford Explorer; tire recall; Firestone tire; tire crisis