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 "Omaha" ...
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Omaha Mayoral Recall
Opponents of Omaha's mayor collected more than 37,000 signatures on their petitions to force a recall election. The World-Herald examined whether the signatures were valid.
Tags: recall; elections; signatures; petition
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Omaha in Black and White
One out of every three high school freshman in Omaha fail to graduate in four years, and the dropout problem is even worse for black youths. Findings include: graduation rates slide sharply as attendance drops; middle school grades track closely with graduation rates; students with poor test scores in elementary school are significantly less likely to graduate; few students who enter high school with both poor attendance and poor grades in 8th grade are successful, only 20% graduate on time
Tags: education; dropout rates; graduation rates; at-risk youth; Omaha Public Schools; longitudinal data;
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Von Maur Shootings
In December 2007, a young man killed eight people then himself with an assault rifle at the Von Maur department store in Omaha. It was the largest mass murder in state history, a story that made national news. But when other media moved onto other stories, a team of World-Herald reporters spent much of 2008 digging into the issues surrounding such an astonishing act of violence. Some of their findings include: emergency responders were delayed getting to victims due to miscommunications by 911 dispatchers, a troubling suicide spike, and the depth of the gunman's psychological problems.
Tags: Von Maur murders; teen suicide; massacre; gunman; suicide rate; mental health problems; psychiatric records; treatment centers; shooter
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An Offramp to Nowhere
The Omaha developer Seldin Co. won $4 million in federal earmarks for an interstate interchange between Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, but was found to have lobbied for the interchange where Seldin owns 935 acres of land.
Tags: Lobbyist; Nebraska Department of Roads; Metropolitan Area Planning; Sarpy County; Pflug Road;
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House of Hoard
This FOX 42 Prime Assignment follows an Omaha woman who is battling the city over whether or not her trash-filled home and yard are fit for living. Hidden cameras spy on her as she rummages through neighbors' trash cans and court dates mount as she has almost 50 outstanding charges against her.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; health hazard; demolition; trash; housing code; Omaha; code enforcement; hidden camera
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Slow construction zone: Why Omaha road work takes so long
This investigation examines why road projects in Omaha take so long to get completed. Although the slow pace has been attributed to cold winters and wet springs that make for a short construction season, the newspaper found a number of man-made issues as the cause: Contractors take on numerous projects instead of assigning crews to finish a few jobs as quickly as possible; utility line work is often poorly coordinated; and city government rarely gives contractors deadline dates for completions, incentives to hurry or penalties for being late.
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Lost In College
The Omaha World-Herald conducts an investigative analysis of freshmen grades at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Factoring ACT scores, high school class ranks, school size and gender, the analysis shows how some of worst freshmen results were posted by graduates from some of the state's most prestigious schools. It was also found that most of the average high school students who went to UNL, often did not take a rigorous college prep while at school.
Tags: university; college; high school; Jeff Clark; Creighton Prep; Omaha North; Omaha Central; Westside High; Columbus
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The Invisible Population: homelessness in the metro
This story outlines the severity of homelessness in the "metro area" - Omaha, NE, and Council Bluffs, IA. The story talks about the number of people affected by homelessness, and personalizes the issue by exploring the debilitating circumstances to which many homeless adults were exposed throughout their lives. The story also talks about the metro's community efforts and explains the structure of an award-winning program that works to address all components of homelessness.
Tags: homelessness; community efforts; Siena/Francis House; Salvation Army's Winter Night Watch Program; Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center; Omaha-Council Bluffs Consolidated Plan for Community Development Programs; Omaha Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (OACCH); Welfare Reform Act; HUD; Open Door Mission; National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
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On the Job of Last Resort
The Omaha World-Herald reports on how the U.S Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has provided only "minimal oversight" over the contractors who clean up meatpacking houses every night. The World-Herald found that "most of these contractors are undocumented workers, and that their cleaning is every bit as dangerous as day-time meatpacking" -- and in fact their injury rate is four times higher than normal workers in the industry. In the demand for speed from employers, many of these workers "have lost fingers, arms and even legs when they tried to keep pace. Harried workers have been known to clean cutting and grinding machines while they are still running, which is a clear violation of federal safety rules." But with undocumented workers fearful to come forward because of their legal status, and some pushed out of their jobs by their bosses when they raise safety concerns, the situation is only getting worse. The World found OSHA gave considerably less scrutiny to the problem, in part because it lumped those cleaning packinghouses into the same industry category as "janitors and maids."
Tags: OSHA; meatpacking; meat; packing; food; industry; safety; workers; workplace; cleaning; cleaner; machine; agriculture; undocumented; illegal workers; immigrants; human resources; occupational safety; USDA; hispanic; latino; union; contracting; contractor
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Trust Betrayed: Failing Our Mentally Ill Children
The Omaha World-Herald examined "the systematic problems in Nebraska's child mental health system that cause children to struggle and often fail in their treatments."
Tags: children; mentally ill; mental health system; treatments