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 "Texas" ...
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Crooked Teeth
The WFAA-TV investigative series, "Crooked Teeth," reveals a troubling lack of state and federal oversight of the Texas Medicaid orthodontic program, which is designed to help poor children with severely misaligned teeth. The lack of oversight has allowed Texas dentists and their corporations to exploit the health care bureaucracy and garner hundreds of millions of dollars. "Crooked Teeth" also raises questions about other Medicaid reimbursements nationally, including troubling payment policies by one of the nation's largest government contractors.
Tags: orthodontics; Medicaid; teeth; Texas; health care
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A Matter of Risk: Radiation, Drinking Water and Deception
You probably use it every day. And you probably think it's relatively safe. But imagine if your home's tap water was actually: making the plumbing so radioactive it could set off a Geiger counter, releasing a dangerous gas whenever you took a shower or ran a dishwasher, exposing you to a 1 in 400 chance of cancer just by regularly drinking it. And imagine if the people who were supposed to protect you from this situation not only knew about it and failed to do much of anything, but instead spent decades covering it up. That's exactly what the KHOU I-team discovered to be the case for half a million and more Texas consumers during its 12-month investigation into the quality of the state's drinking water.
Tags: tap water; radioactive; cancer; drinking water
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E:60 Cockfighting
An investigation looking into legislative loopholes that allows cockfighting to take place despite the ban that has been put on it, resulting in the closing of the loopholes in cockfighting legislation in Texas.
Tags: cockfighting; cockfights; legal loopholes; texas
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Public Service Journalism Via Apps and Interactives
The Texas Tribune uses government records lawmakers, agency chiefs, educators and influential state figures would rather not be public. Projects include a campaign finance database offers a comprehensive, searchable tool to see who's bankrolling their representatives. The public schools database provides extensive access to comparative data on all of Texas' school districts.
Tags: data; government; statistics
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Grand Jury System Questioned
The story explores grand-jury selection under the "key-man" system, a method used throughout much of Texas whereby a judge-picked commission -- not random selection -- decides who sits on juries.
Tags: grand jury; legal system; juries; judge
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Million-Dollar Bust
The Texas Tech student newspaper looked into why the university was losing money on a parking garage that sat empty. What they found were prominent members of the university board of regents and members on the alumni association board, as well as owners from the parking garage are all from the same fraternity. The deal was spun to look good, but to date, the university has lost $850,000.
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Infinite Monster
The book exposes the politics of recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and explores the destitution of loss and the revelry of rebirth.
Tags: Hurricane Ike; huricane; Texas coast; storm
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State Law Specific on Meeting Agendas
The Caller-Times finds that an overwhelming majority of local governments in Texas that have public meetings are not following state open records laws.
Tags: open records; meetings; public record; Sunshine Act
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Cracked
Fetlz's investigation "exposes how junk science has allowed Texas to keep mentally retarded inmates on death row - and execute several of them - despite a 2002 Supreme Court decision, Atkins v. Virginia, that bans such punishment for these defendants.
Tags: capital punishment; criminal justice; mental retardation; death row; execution; Texas; Atkins v. Virginia
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"DWI Death Capital"
KHOU-TV set out to answer a frightening question: Why is Harris County, Texas "the DWI death capital of the country?" Employees of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission revealed "little-known amendments" that offer immunity to bars and bartenders "from civil liability" or "state administrative action" that could result from the state law that prevents over-serving alcohol.
Tags: Safe Harbor; TABC; Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission; dram shop; liquor distributors; drunk driving; bartender; public records; Texas Public Information Act; Harris County