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 "Pueblo" ...
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"Deaths at the State Hospital"
This ongoing investigation reveals major misconduct by the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, the largest public psychiatric hospital in the state. The investigative team exposed and detailed the deaths of four patients that resulted from the "mistakes, lack of training, incompetence and possible criminal neglect" carried out by hospital employees. The series also reveals the attempt of state human services officials to cover up the mistakes.
Tags: mental health; patients; grand jury; DA; Pueblo; Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; database; Pueblo State Hospital; Nexis-Lexis; 441.com; CoCourts.com; Colorado Bureau of Investigation
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Medical Misadventure: Deaht at the State Hospital
The investigation began with the death of a mental health patient, Josh Garcia. He had checked himself into the hospital and as a result an attorney was appointed to represent him and oversee his treatment. This attorney had strayed away from him and told the court, after his death, that he had agreed to take the medicine. This is false and this medication led to his death. Further, this attorney receives taxpayers’ money for every case through the hospital. As a result, the state is looking into the rights of mental health patients and whether this is a major problem.
Tags: Pueblo State Hospital; involuntary medication; Office of Attorney Regulation; state legislature; legal representation; secrecy
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Getting Away with Murder?
The authors investigated the death of Barbara Yaklich in 1977 that had been ruled as natural. But as the investigation delved deeper suspicions were raised about the possibility that this woman had been murdered by her husband, a local narcotics detective. The man, Dennis Yaklich, had been killed by his second wife in 1985, who claimed she had been the victim of severe spousal abuse, at that time not a valid defense.
Tags: domestic violence; spousal abuse; Barbara Yaklich; Donna Yaklich; Dennis Yaklich; murder; Department of Corrections; Pueblo County Sheriffs Department
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The Measure of man
This investigation looked at animal welfare in New Mexico, including the Navajo and Pueblo lands in the state. Nelson showed how activists are trying to lower the number of animals that die each year from negligence and abuse. Nelson compared New Mexico's policies to those in Colorado and in Native communities. The stories also cover the controversial issue of cockfighting.
Tags: animal abuse; animal shelters; euthanasia; spay; neuter; breeders
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Colorado's water
This is a multi-piece story on water supplies problems in Colorado, where the big challenge and struggle is finding water for the future. One of the problems is the growing needs of the Denver Metropolitan area; the Denver Water Department refuses to expand its service. The story analyzes projects, some of them controversial, such as the Fryingpan-Arkansas project, the Aurora-Conjunctive-Use project and the Animas-La Plata project. The story includes numerous graphics that deal with the hydrological cycle, major Colorado river drainages and Denver's water supply system, among other topics. The shift in water consumption from agriculture to recreation, a major issue in Colorado, is also analyzed, especifically in the case of Summit County. Pueblo's successful water supply system is also reported, including graphics. The story also explains the change that some farmers have undertaken from traditional agriculture to alternative agriculture because of the lack of water resources in some parts of Colorado.
Tags: Colorado; Water; Animas-La Plata project; Denver Water Department; Baca County; Fryingpan-Arkansas Project; Aurora-Conjunctive-Use-Project; Park County; Colorado River Basin; High Line Canal; Colorado Groundwater Commission; Summit County; Pueblo Economic Development Corp.; Citizens for Colorado Water; Sierra Club; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
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Company Town
Westword tells the story of Pueblo, Colorado, where in 1997 1,000 employees of Rocky Mountain Steel Mills walked out on strike. The aftermath of the strike is still being felt in this mining town. "Free of its labor problems, financial analysts assumed the mill's owner, Oregon Steel Mills, would be able to cut costs and earn record profits out of its Pueblo mill. But the analysts didn't count on the steel will of Pueblo's working families, a group whose roots go back more than a hundred years...."
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Bump and Run
KOAT-TV investigated how a New Mexico Indian Pueblo "secretly evaded hundreds of thousands of dollars in gasoline taxes through a fraud scheme called bump and run.... It means a fraudulent transaction where (Native American wholesale gasoline distribution businesses) bring product onto the reservation, they don't offload it, all they do is stamp that it has been offloaded, and take it into the marketplace and sell it tax-free."