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 "Orlando county" ...
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Is Bigger Better?
When officials in Orlando decided to build a new convention center for the town (which will end up costing a total of $2.8 billion), they told residents that it would attract around 500,000 visitors during its first year. However, the center only attracted a mere 154,317 visitors and had a bad impact on Orlando's economy. Dan Tracy investigated and found that the numbers given by those who run the convention center are only estimates and educated guesses. He also found that it is becoming harder and harder for other cities to compete with Las Vegas, which is the number one convention destination.
Tags: The Orange County Convention Center; Las Vegas; tourism; Convention and Visitors Bureau
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Overhead Saps Cash at Most Imagine Charter Schools
Using audit records, reporters at the Orlando Sentinel discovered charter schools struggling with management fees and overhead costs. The schools, which are operated by one of the largest school-management companies, Imagine Schools Inc., ended up spending fifty percent less on instruction per student than any of the neighboring public schools. In general, the charter schools "were posting a lower percentage of A's and B's on the annual school grades than the Osceola and Lake districts." While the state recommends that districts keep a positive balance of 2-7 percent to cover emergency expenses, charter schools have no rule of thumb to go by and are millions of dollars in the red.
Tags: Imagine Schools Inc.; charter schools; school management; cost per student; audits; Lake County; Osceola County
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Deadly Roads: A Special Report
A special report from the Orlando Sentinel looks at the number of fatal accidents in the lesser travelled highways in Florida. Deliberating on fatal accidents on the Colonial Drive in Central Florida, the in-depth report reveals that even though the traffic on the highways has lessened, the rate of accidents remains high. As a result of this series, the highway police are beefing up security in the area and there have also been initiatives to rebuild certain sections.
Tags: Transportation; road safety; Florida roads; Orange County; fatal road accidents; Colonial Dr; Central Florida; Florida Highway Police
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Show and Tell Tape #1
2004 IRE National Conference (Atlanta) Show and Tell Tape #1 features the following stories: 1)Phil Williams (WTVF-Nashville) A hidden camera investigation proves that special interest lobbyists are buying Tennessee lawmakers. 2)Stephen Stock (WESH-Orlando) An investigation into new home inspections found inspectors conducting too many inspections daily with a passing rate as high as 99 percent in one county. 3)Anna Werner and David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) Children as young as 11-years-old were being physically abused at the juvenile probation department in Harris County, Texas. 4)Tony Pipitone (WKMG-Orlando)The Brevard School District in Orlando requested additional funding from the federal government for poorer schools but put that money toward helping the district as a whole. 5)Brian Collister (WOAI-San Antonio) A national report claimed that San Antonio police were among the best in the country for not targeting minority motorists, but an investigation proved police officers skewed the data. 6) Jacqueline McLean (KGMB-Honolulu) A cemetery that hasn't been licensed in nine years makes room for more bodies by removing old ones. 7) Chris Halsne (KIRO-Seattle) Mapping software found 605 sex offenders living near day cares statewide. None of the day cares were ever notified. 8) Bog Segall (WITI-Milwaukee) Many inmates use their phone privileges to call their victims, intimidating them in the hopes they won't show up at trial. 9)Larry Posner (Inside Edition) An investigation into Pitts, one of the largest door-to-door magazine sellers in the country, found the company charging high rates, abusing employees and hiring felons. 10)Randy Travis (WAGA-Atlanta) This undercover investigation found a state court judge having 19 drinks and then getting in his car to drive. 11)Jim Strickland (WSB-Atlanta) This investigation exposed forgery and fraud by an Atlanta Booting company. 12)Bebe Emerman (KIRO-Seattle) A problem with the powercord of one brand of oscillating fans was linked to 20 house fires. 13)Elisabeth Leamy (WTTG) This story discusses the lives of those held in concentration camps and the Nazi tattoos they received.
Tags: tape; show and tell; investigative; Atlanta; no transcripts; IRE
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Building Homes: Building Problems-Follow the Inspectors
This story exposed a government inspection system that has no standards. The state building code, and the often overworked local inspectors who enforce it, offers little to no assurance that a buyer will move into a home that even meets minimum building standards. They found that in one county, in more than 400 instances, inspectors conducted 25 inspections a day or more. That is at least twice what is considered by experts to be a reasonable daily workload. On many occasions inspectors did 40-50 inspections in one day. And they missed violations.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; building code; inspections; home inspections; framing inspection; Orlando county; orang county; Osecola county; lake county; inspection quality; inspector work schedule; housing inspector records
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Lost Days in the Classroom
The Orlando Sentinel studies the preformance of substitute teachers (subs) in schools and comes up with some startling results. They find that children are often at a loss, when these subs surf the net, download online photographs or draw portraits of their students. Also, the Sentinel found, a lot of these subs were only high-school educated and incapacitated to teach students.
Tags: classrooms; students; Oak Ridge High; Orange County
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Land Deals Help County Commissioner Freeman
This Orlando Sentinel investigation delves into the "tangled financial dealings" of Orange County Commissioner Bob Freeman. Among the major findings are the commissioner's failure to pay taxes on his new home and his financial interlacing with "two key backers who also have needed commission approval for projects during Freeman's tenure." The reporters reveal the participation of the commissioner in questionable real-estate transactions. The story questions Florida's ethics laws for making it "almost impossible to hold politicians accountable for ethical problems - or even just sloppy record keeping."
Tags: land development; real estate; taxes; IRS; conflict of interest; financial disclosure; fund raising; Orange County; Florida
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No title (id: 8332)
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel investigates excessive force complaints against the Orlando Police Department and Orange County, Fla., Sheriff's Office and finds that of the 260 complaints, only nine cases resulted in the disciplining of an officer, and the discipline given in those cases was very light, June - November 1991.
Tags: None
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The Yankee Lake Deal
Orlando Sentinel runs series on secret negotiations between developer/pizza magnate Jeno Paulucci and county government for purchase of 3,000 acres of Florida swampland to be used for a sewage treatment project, May 31 - June 2, 1987.
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Toxic Time Bomb
WESH-TV (Orlando) "found that Orange County has routinely been illegally burying hazardous waste in a landfill licensed for only dirt and construction debris." The station reveals "that Orange County officials knew about the dumping and covered it up. Further investigation found that other toxic waste has been buried in the county sanitary landfill and in rights-of-way all over the county."
Tags: VIDEOCLIP TAPE TRANSCRIPT toxic waste; disposal; landfills