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 "Hillsborough County Florida" ...
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"Full Disclousure"
In this investigation, ABC Action News revealed a political scandal the included a county commissioner and candidate for the state senate. Commissioner Jim Norman failed to disclose several personal properties, including two boats and a lake front vacation home. As a result of the investigation, Norman was removed from the state senate race.
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Expressway Authority Investigation
This series investigated the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, which prompted an investigation by Governor Jeb Bush's office, an investigation by the Florida Legislature's Auditor General and an ongoing investigation by the FBI.
Tags: transportation; highway; political scandal; politicians; lobbyists; special interests; state government; Hillsborough County Florida
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Hillsborough County School District Land Investigation
The ninth largest U.S. school district, Hillsborough County (FL), in 2006 was "growing fast enough to fill five new schools" per year. To meet the demand, Hillsborough county used the services of 4 private real estate brokers, without using bids, in violation of its own regulations. Three of the four brokers have records of criminal, legal and financial problems. Some of those brokers simultaneously represented the sellers, or flipped the land themselves, resulting in land purchases often made substantially above appraisal values. Reporters from the St. Petersburg Times documented swampland purchases, and school sites surrounded by the homes of sexual predators.
Tags: land; school board; school district superintendent; real estate brokers; realtors; swampland; bidding practices; state FOI; land flipping; rezoning applications; condemnation; assessments; appraisals; financial investigations; land records; wetland maps; FBI investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Excel; Matthew B. Cox; Chester B. Luney; Fred Edmister; National Realty Associates; school planning; Wilson-Miller; Florida Real Estate Commission; 2606 East Caracus Land Trust; Laurence E. Fuentes; Fuentes and Kreischer Title Co.; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
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Blurring the lines
Education Weeks looks at Hillsborough County, Florida, which has "forged one of the nation's coziest school-police partnerships in a place where once turf-conscious agencies now stay in close touch."
Tags: schools; police; juvenile offenders; school-police partnerships; juvenile records; criminal history; juvenile delinquents; Juvenile Assessment Center; young offenders
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To Protect and Serve?
WFTS-TV investigates a case where "two Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies respond to a scene where they are told about a woman who is being beaten inside her apartment by an estranged boyfriend. Because the apartment complex was inside Tampa city limits, the deputies stood outside the woman's door and told security guards to call the Tampa police department instead. Police officers arrived, pushed past the deputies and kicked in the woman's door to find her unconscious and bleeding from the head."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Hillsborough County; Tampa; Florida; police; law enforcement; city limits; sheriff; Tampa police department
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Nepotism: A Family Affair
WFTS-TV exposes how "Gary Pailthorp, a top administrator of one of Florida's largest counties, Hillsborough, flagrantly breaks state law and engineers a high paying management job for his unqualified son, Scott Pailthorp." The story shows several other cases in which county jobs have been taken by relatives of county government power players.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FOI; conflicts of interest; Florida State Ethics Commission; personnel records; human resources
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The Final Chapter: The Last Days of Harry Lee Coe
The weekly newspaper investigates "the political machinations that influenced events" prior to the suicide of Harry Lee Coe, the state attorney for Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida. The story reveals that "Coe never willingly allowed his office to investigate public corruption - even when evidence was glaringly obvious." The investigation follows the career path of the general attorney and points out multiple problems in his personal and professional life - addiction to greyhound racing, gambling debts, dubious accounts and untruthfulness on state financial disclosure documents.
Tags: local politics; election; gambling; financial disclosure; corruption; Florida