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 "Northridge earthquake" ...
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Quackenbush Rejected Steep Fines for Insurers. Department Staff called for penalties for mishandling of Northridge quake claims. But aide says smaller sanctions, with donations to special foundation, were 'significant.'
Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush rejected recommendations from his own legal team that some of the biggest insurance companies in the state be fine hundreds of millions of dollars for mishandling claims in the aftermath of the devastating Northridge earthquake.
Tags: Insurance Commissioner; Northridge earthquake; policyholders; earthquake victims; fines; donations
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Steel moment-frame buildings: The sage continues
Davis reveals that "thousands of steel-framed buildings ... could collapse in a major earthquake." The findings are based on what "building officials and structural engineers discovered ... as they inspected hundreds of steel framed structures following the January 1994 earthquake that took place in Northridge, California. Eight years later, still very few buildings in earthquake-prone areas have been strengthened to resists massive seismic events in the future, the story reports.
Tags: Northridge Earthquake; Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); Loma Prieta Earthquake; California Seismic Safety Commission
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The Fall of Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush
The series "disclosed misconduct on the part of Chuck Quackenbush, California's second elected insurance commissioner." The reporter found out that he "made secret deals with major insurance companies that allowed them to escape fines for mishandling hundreds, perhaps thousands, of claims relating to the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake." The stories reported that "Quackenbush had ignored recommendations form his legal staff that some of the big insurers in the state be fined hundreds of millions of dollars for mishandling Northridge claims. Instead, Quackenbush and his senior staff bullied insurers into "donating" more than $ 12 million to nonprofit foundations he created." The reporter found confidential documents to prove that the state regulator "used public funds and the power of his office to create a political slush fund, directed by highly paid consultants, to further his quest for higher public office." Quackenbush used some of the money to "repay his wife for personal loans she made to her failed state Senate campaign." After the misconduct had been revealed, the commissioner faced state's and federal probe of corruption and finally resigned. The reporter found out that in his "final days as insurance commissioner, Chuck Quackenbush approved contracts obligating California taxpayers to pay more than $ 1 million in legal fees to lawyers representing his commissioner and his top staff in investigations of wrongdoing."
Tags: politics; campaign; contributions; donations; political finance reports; Department of Insurance; foundations; nonprofit; television advertising; corruption; earthquake; California; impeachment; taxpayers; FBI