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 "King County" ...
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What Happened to Edie?
Edwina King's death was ruled a suicide by the very law enforcement agents she was investigating, regarding allegations that women in the Delaware County Jail were being raped and sexually abused. Edwina went missing the very day she was supposed to meet a Tulsa attorney to discuss a possible civil rights lawsuit on behalf of female inmates. Two weeks later, her body was found hanged in a horse tack barn on her own property, not more than 200 miles from her trailer home.
Tags: Suicide; Edwina King; Tulsa World; Trailer Home; Rape; Sexual Abuse
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The Crown Topples: The Swift Rise and Brutal Fall of Maryland's Latin Kings
An inside look at what happened when a national gang infiltrated two suburban counties. Major findings: in 2007 and 2008, the brother of a brutal gang member started a new Latin Kings "tribe" in Maryland and Washington D.C. The Royal Lion Tribe grew to nearly 200 members and initiated a bloody rivalry with the local branch of MS=13. A group of federal agents took down the gang from the inside after a minor crime brought the new gang into the spotlight.
Tags: Gangs; Gang Violence; Maryland; Royal Lion Tribe; Latin Kings;
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Palm Beach County's Culture of Corruption
"Dubocq uncovered a series of complicated real estate transactions that secretly benefited two Palm Beach County commissioners. The commissioners voted on matters that enhanced the deals without disclosing their private interests." The reporters filed more than four dozen state FOIA requests to tell this story.
Tags: state government; county government; FOIA; real estate; development
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Stealing From the Dead
This story tells the exclusive inside story of an Indianapolis business man who purchased a funeral home in New York where funeral home workers are accused of raiding the cadavers entrusted to their care. It exposed delays by the King County Prosecutor's office in its investigation of the case. The federal government also failed. FDA records reveal years of violations cited against the tissue processor in this case, but the FDA leveled no clear sanctions until it finally launched the nation's largest human tissue recall.The oversight lapses allowed 1900 pieces of potentially unscreened tissue into hospital operating rooms across the country. The story uncovers the first Indiana patient to test postitive for a potentially life threatening disease after receiving an implant from the recalled batch.
Tags: tissue harvesting; funeral homes; cadavers; implants; FDA; transplants
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Conduct unbecoming-- 2005
Post-Intelligencer reporters exposed numerous cases of crime and abuse in the King County Sheriff's Department. Several officers were allowed to retire rather than face criminal charges for misconduct. One officer's gun was stolen by his roommate, who used the weapon to murder a convenience store clerk. Another officer was promoted to master police officer and trainer despite a long history of misconduct. The sheriff's office failed to discipline other officers with long records of abuse and crime, as well.
Tags: police; sheriff; King County sheriff's department; FOI; police brutality; misconduct; oversight; police officer's union; corruption; crime
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The Gangs of Westchester: Boyz in the Burb
The 2 part series investigated the growing problem of gangs in the affluent suburban county of Westchester, right outside of New York. Despite the median price for a house resting at $700,000, violent drug gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, MS13, Vatos Locos, and Latin Kings have integrated themselves into the community. The city hierarchy refused to acknowledge the problem even with a rash of gang related shootings and stabbings.
Tags: gangs; Bloods; Crips; MS13; Vatos Locos; Latin Kings; drugs; Westchester County; gang violence; Yonkers
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Crackpot Crackdown
Police and the DA in Jackson County, Texas, ran a series of drug busts for minor infractions. All of the suspects were African-Americans and were intimidated into pleading guilty rather than face much harsher sentences. The entire sting operation was based on the testimony of a single confidential police informant. Civil rights lawyers are now involved in trying to remedy some of the most flagrant miscarriages of justice.
Tags: Minorities; selective prosecution; racism; drug arrests; racial profiling
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Brains For Sale
This investigation revealed that the King County medical examiner's office was selling the brains of deceased mentally ill people to private research labs. In some instances, next-of-kin were not notified of these organ donations. In others, consent forms were incomplete.
Tags: medical examiners; medical research; cadavers; organ donation; organ sales; open records
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Guess Who's Not Going to Jail
The Austin Chronicle uncovers shocking disparity in how whites and blacks are treated and prosecuted for their crimes in Williamson County. This observation is reinforced by the cases of drug dealers: two white men found with more than 200 grams of meth were fined and sent to prison for less than 6 months, while several blacks in possession of less than 45 grams of crack were sentenced to 15 months to life.
Tags: jail; prison; white; black; race; racism; plea bargain; crime; sentence; FOIA; drug; methamphetamine; crack; NAACP
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Madison County: Where Asbestos Rules
The Post-Dispatch investigates the area of personal injury litigation, more specifically the boom of asbestos cases in Madison County. Asbestos litigation has become a billion-dollar industry which keeps lawyers, judges, juries, and plaintiffs in big business. The article focuses on Randall Bono, the supposed "king of asbestos litigation," and the major Democratic power he has in the court system.
Tags: Randall Bono; personal injury litigation; SimmonsCooper; mesothelioma