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 "Mayor Street" ...
-
Maxwell Street: The New Moneymakers
This series spotlights the redevelopment of Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market and found a number of surprising details. These details reveal that the housing available for the poor, the poor are unable to afford and most of the housing goes to those who are well-connected and well-off. Also, with help from City Hall, the developers with political connections end up making large profits.
Tags: Mayor Daley; property tax; condos; real estate; homes; University Village; property; city officials; taxpayers; market
-
The Bugging Bombshell
Triggered by the news of the FBI secretly planting a listening device in Philadelphia Mayor John Street's office, the Daily News carries out a larger investigation into the story. This series reveals that the mayor is part of a federal investigation focusing on awarding contracts to political contributors - also called pay-to-play politics.
Tags: Ron White; Imam Shamsud-din Ali; Sister Clara Muhammad School
-
Pay to Play
(From the questionnaire), the story takes "a look at the city's longstanding pay-to-play system, in which campaign contributers are rewarded with city contracts and special favors -- deals to give lucrative airport concessions to connected individuals; apparent no-work jobs awarded to special friends of the administration; contracts allegedly inflated to give a cut to campaign contributors; multi-million donations made in secret to a non-profit organization tied to the region's most powerful state senator, money given a major electric utility with a big policy agenda".
Tags: Mayor Street; T.Milton Street Sr.; Affiliated Building Services Inc.; Nelson Diaz; Imam Shamsud-din Ali; Sen. Vincent J. Fumo; Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods
-
Feed 5: Best of Show and Tell
1) Jennifer Kraus (WTVF-Nashville) This story exposes problems at the Nashville office of international charity "Feed the Children." In a four-month investigation, WTVF-TV's undercover cameras caught the charity's staff loading up their personal cars with donated items and taking the items home. 2) Deborah Sherman (WFXT - Boston) Costa Rican trips for child sex. Actually spoke with girls who used to get paid by American tourists for sex. Focuses on one area man charged with this crime. 3) Anna Werner, David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) KHOU-TV reports that "You're in physical pain. You need help. So you go to your doctor expecting needed relief and comfort. But what if in the process of treating you, you realize this healer's touch has become 'sexual?' That's what dozens of Houston women claimed happened to them when they were referred to a local health professional, a professional they claimed used their trust to molest and even rape them. His name is Shin Higashiura and he claimed to be a Master of Shiatsu, also known as acupressure, a Japanese massage therapy that promises health benefits...." 4) Jilda Unruh (WCCO-Minneapolis) An investigation reveals that automatic door sensors can't detect certain colors. The doors often close on elderly people, causing them harm. 5) Tom Merriman/Jeff Harris (WEWS-Cleveland) The story investigates how state-trained lifeguards perform on state beaches as compared to privately trained lifeguards on private beaches. Follows both teams though a simulation. The state team fails horribly and never recovers the dummy planted for them to rescue. 6) Jim Schaefer; Shellee Smith (WXYZ-Detroit) WXYZ-TV discovered that the leaders of Highland Park, a poor city surrounded by Detroit, had virtually ignored a major problem in the 911 emergency response system while continuing to enjoy the relatively expensive perks of their jobs. While claiming there was no money in the budget to fix the problem, the mayor leased a brand-new Lincoln with city cash. Undercover video found citizens at risk, fire fighters in danger and no one helping. 7) Drew Griffin (KCBS-Los Angeles) "The Real ConAir" Investigation reveals department of corrections transporting convicts on commercial flights. Passengers are not told who's sitting beside them. Planes are forced to land because of disturbances during the flight. A girl is sexually assaulted by one of these convicts. 8) Robb Leer; Maria Tomasch (KSTP-Minneapolis) Inmates can change their names on the taxpayer's dime. 9) Jeremy Rogalski; Bill Dutton; Gerry Lanosga; Kathleen Johnston (WTHR-Indianapolis) WTHR-TV reports that "a source mentioned to us that numerous DUI cases were being dismissed because police witnesses fail to appear in court... After we crunched a slice of our county's criminal justice data ... We found thousands of DUI cases - nearly one in ten - thrown out because cops didn't show..." 10) Wes Williams; C.J. Ward (KPNX-Phoenix) Security guards with criminal records have a "License to Steal." 11) Tony Kovaleski; Matt Goldberg (KPRC-Houston) Ninety-eight guns were discovered in schools in 10 of Houston's largest school districts -- that works out to 5,864 students per gun. 12) Phil Williams; Chris Clark (WTVF-Nashville) WTVF-TV's investigation into the backgrounds of school teachers found more than three dozen convicted felons working in Metro Nashville-Davidson County schools. 13) Chris Halsne; Kim Albro; Dave Weed (KWTV-Oklahoma City) Voters handed Oklahoma City Schools a 93 million dollar bond in 1993 to improve schools. The money is now gone, but many projects remain unfinished. KWTV-TV's investigation found millions of dollars in waste, fraud and mismanagement. 14) Laure Quinlivan; Jeff Keene; Ken Fulk; Mark Shafer; Scott Diener; Stuart Zanger (WCPO-Cincinnati) WCPO-TV's investigation "... to monitor County officials as they began spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money... earmarked to build two, new sports stadiums for our city's professional sports teams, the Bengals and Red. As (the) investigation enters its third year, work on the first stadium is two-thirds complete and ground will soon break on the second. Already, our investigation has revealed broken promises, manipulation of numbers in official reports, political cronyism in contract awards, creation of 'pass-through' companies and other questionable and possibly illegal activities...." 15) Jim Barry; John Campbell; Sam Zeff; Jennifer Snell; Denise Haley; Brad Naw (WTXF-Philadelphia) After transit union strike crippled Philadelphia's bus and subway service for forty days, WTXF-TV investigated the region's transportation agency - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA is one of the largest and most expensive transit systems in the county. This investigation exposed a widespread culture of laziness and dishonest work habits that was allowing hundreds of buses with potentially dangerous problems out onto the street each day. 16)Darcy Spears; Kim Kruger (KVBC-Las Vegas) "Taken for a Ride". Taxi drivers getting kickbacks for taking clients to certain bars/stripclubs.
Tags: TAPE; Investigative reporting; computer-assisted reporting; IRE; FOI; CAR; no transcripts
-
York Riots
The York Daily Record looks back at the race riots of 1969 and the two unsolved murders they created -- one a young black woman who made a wrong turn into a white neighborhood, the other a white police officer patrolling the streets in an armored van. In 2001, after digging into the story for a year, authorities charged 9 white men in the death of the black woman, including the city's mayor. Authorities later charged two black men in the death of the police officer. Ineptitude and wrongdoing emerged on every level -- "then and now" -- among prosecutors, police officers, judges, and others.
-
Minorities Get Leftovers in No-Bid Bond Deals (Municipal Bonds)
The story examines the city's multi-million dollar bond business. Municipal bonds are sold by securities firms through no-bid contracts, and Mayor Richard Daley is giving that business to politically connected Wall Street and Lacily Street firms and attorneys who donate to his campaigns. Simpson found that the law firms doing most of the bond business anted up more than $91,000 in donations to Daley's 1995 mayoral campaign, in a practice known in the industry a "pay-to-play." The city has sold $8.7 billion in bonds this decade, but city records show that the securities firms the city hires to sell the largest bonds are all white owned. The largest issue handled by a Chicago based, minority owned firm was a 1994 sale of $24 million.
Tags: None
-
Easy Street
Under Mayor Bob Lanier, the city of Houston invested more than $4 billion in various infrastructure rebuilding programs administered through the Public Works and Engineering Department. Armed with a virtual blank check, the department spent freely - with little attention to fiscal or ethical propriety.
Tags: None
-
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Mayor Giuliani's tough stance on crime produced a 50% drop in New York City murders but questions are being raised about the price of this decline. The events surrounding the murder of Anthony Baez by a policeman, Francis Livoti, is discussed. Some people allege police brutality and others wonder what price New Yorkers are willing to pay for safer streets.
Tags: None
-
Indianapolis Police Brawl
The Indianapolis Star reports that on August 27, 1996, more than a dozen Indianapolis police officers gathered in the mayor's suite to watch a baseball game. Over the next three hours, the off-duty officers watched the game and consumed seven cases of beer. After the game and a brief stop at a downtown tavern, the officers began shouting racial slurs and making obscene gestures at passers-by on the street. Two motorists who took offense at the behavior confronted the officers. According to more than a dozen witnesses, some of the officers beat the motorists and two of the officers pulled handguns. In the days following the brawl, several of the officers involved in the incident tried to mislead investigators from the internal affairs division. Among those who proved to be less than candid was Indianapolis Police Chief Donald Christ, who initially tired to hide the fact that he had been with the officers at the game.
Tags: Police Brawl; police misconduct; police brutality; Contest entry; Law enforcement