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 "Governor of Texas" ...
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DMN Investigates/Rick Perry
The Dallas Morning News investigated the background of Texas governor,Rick Perry, as he sought re-election for a third term. The reporters showed that the state had given more than $16 million taxpayer dollars to high tech companies with investors or officers who were large campaign donors to Perry.
Tags: corruption; elections; re-election; campaign; campaign contributions
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Nope
The article examined president-elect Barack Obama's nomination of Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, to head the Department of Homeland Security. The New Times investigation found Governor Napolitano lacked the administrative skills necessary to run a troubled cabinet post like Homeland Security. The article also examines her lack of initiative and leadership during the polygamy scandal which began in Arizona and continues to unfold in Texas (at time of submission, 1/2009.)
Tags: Janet Napolitano; Arizona; Department of Homeland Security; Immigration; Polygamy; Obama cabinet
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The Governor's Database
This story revealed that Texas Governor Rick Perry was compiling a massive database on Texas residents. A private contractor had been hired to collect personal information about millions of people. While the stated purpose of the database was homeland security, it was controlled by a political appointee working within the Governor's office, not by a law enforcement agency.
Tags: state government; privacy; public records; FOIA; homeland security
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The Price of Power
Investigating the effects of Texas' five-year transition to full energy deregulation, KDFW-TV finds that the original assertion that more competition will reduce rates and increase choices, may have been incorrect. In this 27-part series, KDFW found that electricity prices in Texas were twice as high as the national average, they remained high even as fuel costs fell and those who supported and created deregulation profited greatly from the situation. The Federal Courts have not intervened, nor does the State Regulator have the power to step in.
Tags: Energy; energy deregulation; Governor George W. Bush; energy costs; power; fuel prices; power crisis
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The Texas Clemency Memos
This story reveals how George Bush violated his statement that he "carefully" reviewed all claims for clemency as the Governor of Texas. During his tenure a record number of 152 executions took place. Bush relied on summaries that ran for just a few pages before rejecting some of pleas. This in-depth piece looks at how the summaries could have misinformed Bush about the pending executions.
Tags: Executions; Texas Executions; George W Bush; Governor of Texas; Alberto R Gonzales
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Faith, Hope and Charity
President Bush's controversial backing of non-secular social services through his newly-created White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives roused objections from many political camps. In Texas, the former governor pushed for a way to divert more federal funds to religious (or "faith-based") groups that provided social services. But the effort was hardly widespread: Only $8.4 million went to religious groups, compared to the $1 billion spent on social services in Texas in 2001. The debate surrounding charitable choice may well be one of semantics and political emphasis rather than true action as laws already exist that permit faith-based groups to be eligible for federal funds for social service work.
Tags: charity; religion; social services; faith; 501c 3; nonprofit; private sector; churches; separation of church and state; Salvation Army; Catholic Charities; welfare; effectiveness; social work and psychology replaced with faith; volunteerism; federal funds
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AIDS Incorporated
A Washington Monthly investigation reveals that "federal AIDS money ended up funding psychic hotlines, Neiman Marcus, and flirting classes." The story reminds about the "San Juan AIDS scandal" involving funding abuses in the beginning of the 1990s, and finds it "symptomatic of larger problems with federal AIDS funding." The report shows that the incidents of "fraud, mismanagement and abuse of AIDS money are increasing nationwide," and points to examples of scandals in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana and the Los Angeles County. Amongst the key findings is that "the administrators of some AIDS charities earn more than mayors, governors and members of Congress." The investigation looks at "funding inequities [that] particularly impact African-American and other minority communities."
Tags: public health; physicians; Ryan White Act; poverty; health insurance; lobbyists; gay community; HIV
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Texas Corporate Interests Financed Bulk of Bush Races
A Los Angeles Times investigation examines the fund-raising practices of former Texas governor and presidential candidate George W. Bush during the 1998 and 1994 gubernatorial elections. The extensive computer-assisted analysis revealed that much of the money Bush raised during those campaigns "came from contributors with major stakes in state regulation." Bush's leading donors included "oil and other large industrial companies trying to avert mandatory pollution controls; businesses seeking relief from expensive civil suits, and conservatives advocating state-paid vouchers for students in private schools."
Tags: George W. Bush; Texas; 1998 and 1994 gubernatorial elections; campaign finance; fund-raising; conservatives; Republicans
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No One Knows What Could Be Happening to Those Kids
Texas Monthly reports that for the overworked, underpaid, and inexperienced investigators of Child Protective Services, every day brings another case of abuse, neglect, and another, and another. The story tells of eight months in the life of Texas' child care crisis. When Governor George W. Bush proposed earlier this year to allocate funds to hire 380 more CPS caseworkers, you might have thought that something was finally being done to fight child abuse in Texas. What no one said, however, was that the new caseworkers would have no noticeable effect whatsoever on the safety of the state's children. The brutal truth about abuse in neglect in Texas is that it's escalating out of control, and recent front-page headlines only tell a small part of the story.
Tags: Child abuse; governmental agencies; CPS; Child Protective Services
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No title (id: 4442)
Federal Times reports on the scandal that jailed Peter Voss, a presidential appointee to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, involving embezzlement and an attempt to steer a multi-million-dollar contract to a Texas firm, June 1986-January 1987.
Tags: None