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 "Illinois House" ...
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War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City
The hour-long documentary War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City takes an unprecedented look at the impact of corruption on the East St. Louis, Illinois area, one of the poorest and most violent communities in America. The program was broadcast twice during prime time; Tuesday night at 8 pm on August 28, and the following Saturday night at 7 pm. This project was the result of an ongoing decade-long probe of government waste, corruption, police misconduct, and violence in East St. Louis and the surrounding villages by investigative reporter Craig Cheatham. Our documentary begins with a detailed look at police misconduct and corruption, how it has contributed to the breakdown of public safety in the East St. Louis area, and why local politicians tolerated such outrageous behavior by their officers. The second part of our documentary focuses on the impact of derelict and vacant housing, the slumlords who own the property and the people who live in some of the worst housing in the metro area. Our investigation also uncovered new connections between politicians and legendary slumlord Ed Sieron, who was business partners with a longtime mayor. In addition, KMOV revealed that of the 500 mostly rundown properties that Sieron owns in East St. Louis, only 13 were cited for code violations. That lack of accountability for the notorious slumlord, empowered him and made the people living in his homes feel powerless. War Zone also exposes the way East St. Louis communities have sold their economy to vice-driven businesses like strip clubs, liquor stores, a casino, and convenience marts that had a long history of selling illegal synthetic drugs. Our investigation found that nearly all of these businesses failed to employ a significant number of East St. Louis residents, even though they received millions of dollars in tax incentives that are paid by East St. Louis residents. At the same time East St. Louis is handing out tax breaks to wealthy out-of-town businessmen, it repeatedly refused to provide the same tax incentives for local residents who wanted to create family friendly businesses that would employ people living in the East St. Louis area.
Tags: government corruption; police misconduct; violence; politicians; community; local business
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Compromised Care
Illinois is an outlier among states in its reliance on nursing homes to house younger adults with mental illness, including thousands of felons whose disabilities qualify them for Medicaid-funded nursing care. The reporters documented numerous recent cases in which elderly and disabled residents were assaulted, raped and even murdered in the facilities.
Tags: nursing home; mental illness; Medicaid; criminals; Illinois; police records; health department inspection data; complaint investigations; criminal records;
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Rep. Weller's Land Deal
Illinois Rep. Jerry Weller failed to disclose the extent and the true cost of his property investments in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, an apparent violation of House ethics rules. Weller's misstatements about his real estate activity were particularly extensive in 2005, when he served as a key Congressional advocate of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Tags: federal government; foreign investments; CAFTA; South America; real estate
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Takings Initiatives Accountability Project: The Center for Public Integrity investigates ballot initiatives that would radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states
The [non-partisan]Center for Public Integrity investigated 2006 "ballot initiatives that were designed to radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states. They discovered that a trio of "secret donors" accounted for 99% of the propostions' bankrolls, and some of the initiatives did not comply with campaign-finance and other regulations. Then the Center revealed that 85 percent of the funding was coming from a single wealthy real estate investor and Libertarian activist, Howard RIch All but the Arizona inititative failed at the ballot. The Center for Public Integrity set up a stand-alone website-- www.takings initiatives.org-- and filed more than 50 articles on it. "Our general practice-- and a novel one as far as we can tell-- was to mount verbatim transcripts of the interviews on our website, including audio recordings where available. We sought to allow proponents, opponents funders and experts to have a chance to present their side of the story in their own words." The Center also checked with state and federal regulators for compliance of relevant laws and regulations.
Tags: Takings Initiatives; takings clause; ballot initiatives; land-use regulation; environmental regulation; tax-exempt organizations; Howard Rich; Andrea Millen Rich; Council for Responsible Government; William A. Wilson; state campaign-finance filings; public records requests; state freedom of information requests; America At Its Best; Americans for Limited Government; John Tillman; Howard Ahmanson; Fieldstead & Company; property rights; prefessional signature-gatherers; Colorado At Its Best; term limits; nonprofit advocacy organizations; Sam Adams Alliance; Sam Adams Foundation; Legislative Education Action Drive; Parents in Charge Foundation; Social Security Choice.org; Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau; educational vouchers; tuition tax credits; National Taxpayers Union; First Class Education; Susquehanna International Group; Jeffrey YAss; Cato Institute; Alliance for School Choice; Decision Education Foundation; Eric Brooks; Susan Mitchell; Pete Sepp; Kern Family Foundation; Generac Power Systems, Inc.; Milton Friedman; Taxpayer Bill of Rights; TABOR; Laird Maxwell; This House is MY Home; John Whitehead; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; Exoxemis, Inc.; Family Farm Preservation Pact; Citizens for Community Protection; Kelo v. City of New London; eminent domain; New York Millionaires Assistance Act; Wallace Global Fund; Nicholas C. Dranias; PRNewswire; Eric O'Keefe; getliberty.com; George Soros
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Broken Promises
Tax-exempt deals that provided $7 billion in bonds for low-income housing or inner-city schools turned out to be another way for banks and advisers to make money. Bloomberg investigates situations such as a deal in which JPMorgan Chase and Co. and American International Group "pocketed fees, along with their advisers, totaling $12 million." AIG and CDR of Beverly Hills actually had a deal "in which the financial firms made more money and faced less risk if none of the $220 million in bond funds was used by the public. None of it was." There were 70 other such deals across the country in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. The investigation also includes similar situations of schools being neglected while insurance companies, banks and advisers profit.
Tags: school bonds; Wall Street; JPMorgan Chase and Co.; American International Group; Bank of America; housing bonds
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Subject to Inspection: Belleville's Housing Code Enforcement
A Belleville News-Democrat investigation revealed that "a Belleville housing code enforcement officer and an armed police officer routinely show up for occupancy permit inspections without a search warrant. When residents refuse to let them enter, the residents are issued tickets, a violation of the Fourth Amendment guarantee against illegal search and seizure. In some cases, these inspections are used as a cover to search for drugs or other criminal activity."
Tags: housing code enforcement; warrant; law; seizure; violation; Fourth Amendment; illegal; search; drugs; crime; search warrant; occupancy permit inspections; Belleville; Illinois
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Swing Districts Favored Over Minority Areas
Chicago Reporter looks at how "$780 million was doled out of Illinois over the past two years." The money was portion of the $12-billion Illinois Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools and Transportation (FIRST), the story reveals. The millions were given to political party leaders to spend on projects aimed to boost legislators in politically vulnerable districts. Lawmakers in white districts received more than those in black and Latino districts, the publication reports. A major finding is that, at the time when Illinois entered a fiscal crisis, the "decisions about who got the money and for what projects were settled behind closed doors, without public oversight."
Tags: Illinois public records law; economy; public infrastructure; money and politics; Illinois House; Illinois Senate; voters; state government; state legislature; minorities; civil rights; CAR
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Public Servants or Profiteers?
Insight investigates the practice of former members of Congress turning into lobbyists. Many lawmakers quit the job for which they have been elected, and join special-interest law and lobbying firms, the story reveals. Some take with them not only knowledge, experience and privileged access to decision-maker, but also treasures of congressional documents. Event though former congressmen are banned from lobbying for one year after they formally leave the Capitol Hill, there are many loopholes in this ban, the Insight finds. The reported controversies are exemplified with the cases of Norman Mineta, a California Democrat, Bill Gradison, an Ohio Republican, Bob Michel, an Illinois Republican, former House Speaker Tom Foley, a Washington Democrat, Alex McMillan, a North Carolina Republican, William Ford, a Michigan Democrat, and J. Roy Rowland, a Georgia Democrat, and many others.
Tags: politics; politicians; influence; lawmaking; money and politics; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Hogan & Hartson; White House; civil rights
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CHA Parents Seek Stability As Housing Falls
As the Chicago Housing Authority closes down more developments due to failed inspections and uncorrected problems, low-income families are forced to move, ultimately putting their children into new school districts. School and housing officials informally agreed to pay for busing if students were moved from the development during the school year. However, the groups have interpretted this agreement differently. The CHA says "only children who are relocated outside a development because a building is scheduled for closure should be included." But school officials say "assistance should be available for any CHA family who moves, if a parent wants a child to remain in the school." Parents agree that pulling their children out of schools is not in their best academic interests, but many can not afford transportation. And while authorities thought moving people would create diversity, "most children who left schools serving Chicago Housing Authority developments between 1995 and 2000 transferred to schools with above-average numbers of low-income, black and low-achieving students." The Chicago Reporter provides insight on these issues.
Tags: Chicago Housing Authority; schools; housing; children; transportation; education; Illinois School Code; low-income; families; housing subsidies
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Fire Prevention 101
"'Fire Prevention 101' revealed that student housing on college campuses throughout Illinois is filled with fire hazards and fire code violations that could result in deadly fires. Our investigation suggested that lax enforcement of fire codes could make Illinois the site of the next fatal campus fire, and just one month after our story aired, a student died in a fraternity house fire at Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; fire hazard; fire codes; colleges; students; safety