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 "board of directors" ...
-
Playing with Fire
“Playing with Fire” focuses on a public board well out of the public eye, but one that could cost New Orleans taxpayers millions of dollars every year. After a month of digging through thousands of pages of records at the New Orleans Firefighters Pension Fund, WVUE-TV and Lee Zurik revealed questionable salaries, spending, and management.
Tags: broadcast; taxes; taxpayers; firefighters; salaries
-
Playing with Fire
“Playing with Fire” focuses on a public board well out of the public eye, but one that could cost New Orleans taxpayers millions of dollars every year. After a month of digging through thousands of pages of records at the New Orleans Firefighters Pension Fund, WVUE-TV and Lee Zurik revealed questionable salaries, spending, and management. Among the notable discoveries: a $70,000 raise and $90,000 lump sum payout for the board Secretary-Treasurer/CEO; tens of thousands of dollars in questionable credit card charges by the board; and tens of millions of dollars in questionable investments. This last element is perhaps the most egregious for the citizens of New Orleans who are left to foot the bill for any pension fund shortfalls. This multi part series launched an investigation by the city’s inspector general, forced the board to change polices and led to charges filed by the state ethics board against two of the principals in our series.
Tags: New Orleans; taxes; taxpayers; credit cards
-
Pasco County Housing Authority
WSTP-TV discovered that Pasco Housing Authority was being severely mismanaged. The residents living in the housing projects were being ignored and abused because of incompetence and willful misuse of state and federal funds. They were also being retaliated against for bringing up problems at their homes to the board. Not only was the executive director having sex at the office with people who worked for her, but she was also padding her paramour's overtime sheets.
Tags: Housing Projects
-
"Big payout, little oversight at NEIU"
After receiving a tip from a member of the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit (NEIU) board, reporter Sarah Hofius Hall began investigating the retirement of Fred Rosetti, former executive director of the NEIU. She revealed that the board "blindly and quietly" removed caps on accrued vacation and sick days, which meant Rosetti would have received slightly more than half a million dollars in payouts upon retirement.
Tags: NEIU; payouts; right-to-know request; Abington Heights; Alvin Hollister; vacation days; sick leave; Italy
-
ArmorGroup Conflict of Interest
The Inspector General and his brother have a relationship where one helps the other and vice versa. The Inspector General was supposed to police the security contract at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, but was protecting is brother an executive at ArmorGroup. ArmorGroup is the company accused of wrongdoing and has continuously gotten away with it.
Tags: Howard Krongard; Board of Directors; corruption; Kubal; State Department; watchdog; war contractor; complaint; scandal
-
N.Y. Power Authority
The New York Power Authority provides about one-quarter of NY state's electricity needs. Although it is a branch of state government, it acts as a corporation, giving away some of its profits to pet charities of the Board and the Directors, rather than lowering utility costs to customers. Almost 200 of the NYPA's 1600 employees make more than $100,000 a year.
Tags: NY State Public Authority; NYPA; patronage; energy-efficiency programs; U.S. Olympic Committee; Olympic Regional Development Authority's Congressional Winter Challenge; ORDA; Energy Services Program; Governor Pataki
-
Moonlighting City Workers
Fox news in Philadelphia reports as two employees of the Philadephia Board of Revision of Taxes were found to have been "working private jobs while on city time." One of the workers was a licensed funeral director, caught "attending funerals and meeting grieving families in the middle of his city work day." The other "was caught on tape working in his bar and shopping for beer and supplies" while on the city of Philadelphia's clock. Their timesheets indicated they had each claimed the time out at other jobs as time spent working for the city. In the end, the funeral director resigned, and the bar owner was fired by the city.
Tags: Employment; moonlighting; falsified timecards; undercover surveillance
-
Will Your Vote Count?
Problems with electronic voting machines during Maryland's primary election in September prompted top state officials to urge voters to cast absentee ballots in the November general election. However, there were serious problems with absentee ballot applications and processing. Among the findings: 40% of the people who requested absentee ballots in Baltimore County received them too late for their votes to be counted. The application said the ballots needed to be sent back to the election board a week in advance of the election day; however, the Baltimore election board director said that ballots needed to be returned three weeks ahead of time.
Tags: voting; electronic voting; absentee voting; Baltimore; Maryland; elections; election law
-
Not So Public?
A review of more than 5,200 e-mails sent and received by members of public facilities district confirmed that board members used their home and business computers to exchange information, comments and discuss issues pertaining to the construction of a $19 million convention center and the hiring of an executive director.
Tags: e-mails; public facilities district; board members; public records
-
The Leaders Who Lost PillowTex
"When Charlotte-area textile giant Pillowtex collapsed in 2003, it wiped out 7,650 jobs, including 4,800 jobs in North Carolina -- the largest mass layoff in state history and a significant blow to the local economy." This investigation examines the company's last three years and how various issues (like a rapidly changing board of directors and critical miscalculations) led to its collapse.
Tags: unemployment; mills; FOIA; CAR