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 "Western New York" ...
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Takings Initiatives Accountability Project: The Center for Public Integrity investigates ballot initiatives that would radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states
The [non-partisan]Center for Public Integrity investigated 2006 "ballot initiatives that were designed to radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states. They discovered that a trio of "secret donors" accounted for 99% of the propostions' bankrolls, and some of the initiatives did not comply with campaign-finance and other regulations. Then the Center revealed that 85 percent of the funding was coming from a single wealthy real estate investor and Libertarian activist, Howard RIch All but the Arizona inititative failed at the ballot. The Center for Public Integrity set up a stand-alone website-- www.takings initiatives.org-- and filed more than 50 articles on it. "Our general practice-- and a novel one as far as we can tell-- was to mount verbatim transcripts of the interviews on our website, including audio recordings where available. We sought to allow proponents, opponents funders and experts to have a chance to present their side of the story in their own words." The Center also checked with state and federal regulators for compliance of relevant laws and regulations.
Tags: Takings Initiatives; takings clause; ballot initiatives; land-use regulation; environmental regulation; tax-exempt organizations; Howard Rich; Andrea Millen Rich; Council for Responsible Government; William A. Wilson; state campaign-finance filings; public records requests; state freedom of information requests; America At Its Best; Americans for Limited Government; John Tillman; Howard Ahmanson; Fieldstead & Company; property rights; prefessional signature-gatherers; Colorado At Its Best; term limits; nonprofit advocacy organizations; Sam Adams Alliance; Sam Adams Foundation; Legislative Education Action Drive; Parents in Charge Foundation; Social Security Choice.org; Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau; educational vouchers; tuition tax credits; National Taxpayers Union; First Class Education; Susquehanna International Group; Jeffrey YAss; Cato Institute; Alliance for School Choice; Decision Education Foundation; Eric Brooks; Susan Mitchell; Pete Sepp; Kern Family Foundation; Generac Power Systems, Inc.; Milton Friedman; Taxpayer Bill of Rights; TABOR; Laird Maxwell; This House is MY Home; John Whitehead; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; Exoxemis, Inc.; Family Farm Preservation Pact; Citizens for Community Protection; Kelo v. City of New London; eminent domain; New York Millionaires Assistance Act; Wallace Global Fund; Nicholas C. Dranias; PRNewswire; Eric O'Keefe; getliberty.com; George Soros
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Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City, and the Conflict that Divided America
Reporter Eyall Press grew up with this story-- his father, Shalom Press, was a colleague of Dr. Barnett Slepian, the abortion provider who was murdered in Buffalo NY in 1988. Press used "newspaper articles, books, municipal reports, medical journals...videotapes, newslertters, journals, and court records" to document the abortion wars centered in western New York. His main sources were several hundred interviews with the participants in the conflict, including those with pro-life activists, some of whom had "spent years protesting outside my father's medical office in Buffalo, and, at times, outside the home where I grew up." (292 pages)
Tags: James C. Kopp; Army of God; Spring of Life; New York Christian Coalition; Operation Rescue; Paul Schenck; Project Rescue; Pro-life Alliance for Non-Violence; Pro-choice; Roe v. Wade
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New York Slush Funds
The three men who run New York's state government have stuck state taxpayers with more than $1 billion in debt over the last seven years for a series of secretive slush funds under their tight control. State leaders use the money to reward political friends and punish enemies. They use the money to keep rank-and-file legislators obedient. The stories show many examples of millions spent on failed or dubious projects.
Tags: taxpayers; Gov. George Pataki; Sheldon Silver; Joseph Bruno; New York City Catholic art museum; debt; Empire State Development Corp.; State of New York; New York taxpayers; Carnegie Hall; National Baseball Hall of Fame; Carrier Dome; Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Centers for Excellence; Empire Opportunity Fund; Junior Museum; capital-improvement programs; Community Enhancement Facilities Assistance Program; Strategic Investment Program; Senate Majority leader; borrowing money; legislators; public money; Kraft Foods; Guardian Industries; Canadian American Transportation Systems; Division of Human Rights; National Museum of Catholic Art and History; New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad; Dormitory Authority; IRS; Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum; Bard College; YMCA; New York's Public Officers Law; Central New York Regional Market; campaign donations; borrowed-money grants
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Courting Big Money
The Buffalo News explains "how judicial elections, specifically State Supreme Court, are financed in New York state." The newspaper found that "judges and judicial candidates in the eighth judicial district in Western New York were forced to take part in an election system that turned them into fundraisers for the major political parties. Even those candidates who were cross-endorsed by the major parties, who had no election opponents, raised money that was then donated to various candidates for office. This occured despite a ban on judges making direct political donations. A loophole allowing judges to buy tickets to political events was used, with tickets costing as much as $1,000. And most of the money was raised from attorneys, who one day might appear before these very judges."
Tags: New York State Supreme Court; judges; judicial districts; loophole; campaign finance; attorneys; major parties; Democrats; Republicans; courts
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One man and a global web of violence
The New York Times provides a vivid account of the birth and recent history of the modern jihad movement, which was largely started by Arab millionaire Osama bin Laden in 1987 when he had a vision that "the time had come... to start a global jihad, or Islamic holy war, against the corporate secular governments of the Muslim Middle East and the Western powers that supported them."
Tags: New York Times; Craig Pyes; Judith Miller; Stephen Engelberg; military
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Deadly Drives
A Buffalo News analysis of all the fatal car crashes in Western New York reveals that more commuters and pedestrians die in the afternoon than during the early morning. And, most die during good weather. The Buffalo News investigation finds that most crashes in the area are not a result of drunk driving or poor weather conditions. Fatal crashes in Western New York, the analysis says, are most often caused by careless drivers.
Tags: cars; transportation; trucks; safety; driving; reckless; Buffalo; New York; Western New York; Erie County
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Into the Future
The News of Buffalo, NY, reports about "The Class of '96, onward to the rest of their lives...Because they're typical of Western New York young people, The News singled out the Sweet Home High School Class of '96 to survey, and to follow for four years, until 2000... Getting to know these Sweet Home graduates tells us a lot about today's teens and about the future of Western New York. We hope you'll come along as we explore their worries, their plans, their regrets and their hopes."
Tags: Youth; attitudes; aspirations; hopes; dreams; plans; young people; Generation
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Drug sting burns hopeful
The Democrat and Chronicle investigates how when Dennis Vacco was U.S. attorney for Western New York he authorized an elaborate sting operation that recruited drug dealers from as far as California to come to New York state, then rounded them up for prosecution. At the same time, Vacco's office turned away other cases that involved criminals already living in the state saying they lacked the resources to prosecute. (Oct. 31, 1994)
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No title (id: 9126)
Buffalo (N.Y.) News reports on the political battle being waged in New York State over the electric power produced by Niagara Falls; the falls have given western New York cheap electricity; New York City and Long Island, where the electricity is three times as expensive, are clamoring for the current to be shipped downstate, Jan. 12 - 15, 1992.
Tags: None
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No title (id: 9031)
ARTnews (New York) reports on the revolutionary changes that have taken place within the artistic community of the former Soviet Union; tells of the art being created by the first truly free Russian artists; gives an account of the fight between the museums and the Russian Orthodox Church over priceless pieces of art; discusses the attempt of a great artist's granddaughter to reclaim his paintings from Russian and Western museums, 1992.
Tags: None