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 "battle plans" ...
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Port Authority: Battle at the Waterfront
This investigation was about lies and obfuscation, and the stakes were enormous: A mayor’s election, a growing media empire and potentially billions of dollars in development. Our reporting revealed how within months of purchasing the largest media operation in San Diego County, the new owners of U-T San Diego were using their power and status to influence -- and even threaten -- government officials into helping them realize lucrative plans for developing the downtown waterfront. It also illuminated an insidious practice suspected nationwide: use of private electronic accounts to conduct the public’s business. Our reporting defined much of the discussion around the mayor’s race in the weeks before the election. In the end, the candidate at the heart of the probed was defeated.
Tags: Mayoral election; fraud; government officials; San Diego
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Glamour Beasts: The dark side of elephant captivity
The zoo industry claims that elephants are thriving inside U.S. zoos. But that’s not true. It never has been. The Times found that elephants are dying out inside zoos. For every elephant born, on average two others die. Just 288 elephants are left inside 78 accredited U.S. zoos. Captive elephants may be demographically extinct within 50 years – there won’t be enough females left to breed. The Times conducted a first-of-its-kind analysis of 390 elephant fatalities for the past 50 years. In a desperate race to make more baby elephants, Seattle’s Woodland Park has tried to artificially inseminate their Asian elephant, Chai, at least 112 times, sometimes adopting crude and reckless procedures. As nearly two dozen zoos have shutdown or plan to close elephant exhibits, nonprofit sanctuaries with thousands of acres represent one option for retired or unwanted elephants. But a zoo industry trade group is fighting a bitter battle to thwart sanctuaries and punish zoos that give up their elephants.
Tags: zoo; elephants; zoo industry
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What Trinity Toll Road Backers Didn't Tell Us
In 2007, Dallas voters rendered a judgement on the largest public works project in city history, casting ballots in a referendum that had become a surprisingly close, all-in-battle between grassroots activists and the Dallas business and cultural establishment. The question- should the city's multi-billion plan to transform Dallas' long-neglected riverfront into a massive series of parks, forests, white-water rapids, and other natural wonders be built, as planned, with a $2 billion high-speed toll road running right through it?
Tags: Dallas; 2007; Toll Road; Grassroots Activist
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The Fight for Public Records: Pinnacol v. KMGH-TV
The story documents the seven month legal battle launched by a quasi-state agency against KMGH-TV. This came after the television station planned to disclose records indicating board members within the agency were given all-expense paid trips to the California coast.
Tags: KMGH-TV; Pinnacol; luxury resort; vacation; legal battle
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Trophy: The US Army's War Agaisnt a Promising Weapons System
To protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from RPG's, the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation invested in Trophy. Trophy knocks RPG's out of the sky and, in testing, was found to be 98% efficient. However, before it could be battle tested or given to the troops, the US Army scuttled the plan. The Army believed Trophy would undermine the development of its Future Combat System.
Tags: Iraq; Afghanistan; RPG; Future Combat System; US Army; Pentagon; corporations
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Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World
Arkin catalogues 3,000 code-named, secret U.S. military plans and missions, indexing them by name and location He describes the military operations in every country in which it has a presence. He found that many secrets remain in the open and others have a questionable basis for classification.
Tags: military; intelligence; battle plans; classified information; CIA; army; national security; terrorism; secrets; operations
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Transporting Lawsuits Across State Lines: Attorneys General Are Joining Forces In a Consumer Litigation Battle Plan
In June, 1997 the attorneys general of 40 states reached a proposed $368.5 billion settlement with the nation's tobacco makers. The settlement was supposed to allow the states to recoup a fortune in Medicaid payments spent on behalf of smokers. Critics say states too often let big victories get away by settling for too little. Other critics say states are creating too many hurdles in the way of doing business. States are working together to pool their resources. As a result, some corporations must face lawsuits raised by multiple states, instead of just one.
Tags: Tobacco; Lawsuits; Attorneys General; Consumer Litigation; Washington; Medicaid; Consumer Protection
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Seeking a Share: A Female Contractor Often Gets Caught Up In Preference Disputes; Affirmative-Action Program Divides Women, Blacks Vying for Highway Jobs; Battling the Image as a Front
The Wall Street Journal reports on a Transportation Department program that makes the 10 percent of federal highway contracts previously reserved for disadvantaged minorities also available to all women, regardless of race. That program is the only federal affirmative-action plan that cites women as a disadvantaged class. The Transportation Department began including women in 1987 to the protests of black leaders and business owners who say white women are just as privileged as white men. White women disagree, saying black men have it easier in business because men are more accepted in the construction industry. To illustrate the conflict, The Wall Street Journal tells the story of Janet Schutt, the owner of an Indiana bridge-building firm, who started the Indiana Women's Business Enterprise Association to battle black leaders lobbying to push women out of the Transportation Department program.
Tags: Transportation Department; disadvantaged minority; women; black; white; business; construction; affirmative action; race; federal government
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Boxcar Battle: Railroads See Promise In a Freight Revival That Many Towns Fear
The Journal reports that "after a decade of sweeping mergers and hostile takeovers, the railroad industry is on the verge of its largest remapping in history -- a 25,000-mile rejiggering of tracks that will straighten out routes, speed up shipments and make railroads a better competitor against trucks. But the plans also put the industry on a collision course with residential America. Many of these new routes would cut through the heart of hundreds of cities and towns, subjecting them to long, lumbering freight trains."
Tags: business; corporate interests; transportation; Union Pacific; noise pollution; litigation; Burlington Northern Santa Fe
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The battle of Hunter's Ridge
A Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority plan to build low-income housing in a suburban Columbus, Ohio neighborhood has spurred lawsuits, allegations of arrogance and charges of racism.
Tags: low-income housing; Columbus; Ohio; Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority; CMHA; projects; Canal Winchester; NAACP; HUD