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 "citation" ...
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Under the Influence, Under 21
In a three-part, eight-story series, I found that underage drinkers on Ohio University's campus were safer drinking at the bars than they were at a house party. It also broke down a three-year Ohio Liquor Control Commission oversight; allowing a bar to remain open for three-years under an intended suspension. The series also looks at drinking in dorms, which are the location of the most underage drinking citations.
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Renegade Refinery
Just weeks after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, an analysis of inspection data obtained from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that two oil refineries owned by BP accounted for a staggering 97 of the most flagrant violations found by OSHA inspectors. Most of these citation's were categorized as "egregiously willful."
Tags: Deepwater Horizon; BP; oil spill; OSHA; Gulf of Mexico
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Puppy Pipeline
The Post tracked a puppy mill pipeline stretching from the Ozarks to South Florida, one that brought thousands of sometimes-sick puppies from mass-operations to local pet stores. At least 2,500 puppies were delivered to Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties from out-of-states breeders in an 11-month period. Roughly one in three of those came from breeders or distributors cited for problems by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees wholesale dog breeding. Citations varied from keeping animals in too-small and rusting cages with exposed nails or wires, to caked feces, to infestations of roaches and other insects that covered the walls and ceilings of kennels. In dozens of cases, kennel owners averted USDA inspection entirely.
Tags: puppy mill; puppies; USDA; dog breeder; breeding; Department of Agriculture; animal mistreatment
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"Meltdown"
After the Eureka Ice and Cold Storage company suddenly closed its doors in 2008, businesses were left scrambling to find a new way to get their ice. The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services that ordered the company shut its doors, would not discuss the case. HSU journalism students eventually found that before the company closed it had several citations and violations of "public health and safety laws" going back for years.
Tags: Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services; Eureka Ice and Cold Storage; Dennis Hunter; Humboldt Maritime Museum; Cutten Realty
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Hospital Group
New York's 11 municipal hospitals are ridden with false records created by staff to cover up medical mistakes. In one instance, after gangrene was left untreated on a stroke victim, it became necessary to amputate his leg, yet no report was written. Hundreds of citations and complaints have been filed against the city hospitals, but few disciplinary measures have intervened.
Tags: New York; hospitals; operations; mistakes; botched; reports; false; faked; staff; cover-up;
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Racial Profiling
The two day series attempted to determine if the practice of targeting citizens based on their race was being used by area law enforcement. Their findings included: Black drivers in Sheveport and nearby Bossier City were cited for traffic violations more than twice as often as white drivers, based on traffic citation data over nearly five years. Although black divers were a minority of each city's licensed drivers, they were disproportionally cited for lower-level violations, such as window tint or loud music. Several officers from each city police department routinely issued more tickets to black drivers and issued more tickets for lower-level violations that for serious infractions, such as speeding or running a red light.
Tags: racial profiling; driving violations; law enforcement; low-level citations; black drivers; citation records; FOIA; police behavior
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The Protected
One million cars owned by California public employees have license plates that shield their information from prying eyes. That secrecy can enable them to run toll booths and red lights and avoid parking citations. They also signal police that the drivers are "one of their own" or related to someone who is, causing many to let these public employees off with a warning.
Tags: license plates; California; law enforcement; traffic violations; cronyism; red light cameras; speeding tickets
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Worth the Gamble
KHOU investigates the seemingly "laissez-faire" attitude of the Houston Police Department towards illegal gambling halls that appear sometimes right next door to police centers. These "eight-liner" gambling rooms drag the neighborhoods down into illegal violence with them and when police do show up, they issue small citations instead of addressing the illegal gambling problem at hand.
Tags: illegal gambling; "eight-liner" rooms; police involvement; Houston Police Department; gambling halls
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A Defective System
In the Kansas City Municipal Court, drivers who had committed offenses including "DUI, fleeing police, racing on city streets and speeding" were allowed to plea-bargain their offenses down to the much more minor "defective-equipment" violation. In some cases, drivers were obtaining up to five of these plea bargain deals in a year. The more serious offenses never showed up on drivers' records, and while these individuals avoided the hike in insurance rates that would have come with their violations, insurance company spokesmen informed the K.C. Star that everyone's rates were thus "being increased slightly to cover this uninsured risk created by the plea bargains."
Tags: DUI; moving violations; plea bargains; Kansas City Municipal Court; "defective-equipment" citation"; insurance rates; insurance rate hikes
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Nursing Home Errors Punish the Vulnerable
This in depth analysis examines Kansas City area nursing homes. It found that 11 homes had serious problems that affected patients' health and could even lead to death. Additionally, 60 percent of the nursing homes looked at had at least one citation for endangering patients or putting their safety at risk. The article looks at the types of problems, cites specific examples and then looks to the legislature to see how the issues could be addressed by lawmakers. The article compares the Kansas City homes to others throughout America, describes the qualities of a good nursing home and offers suggestions for improving the inspection process.
Tags: retirement homes; nurses; doctors; bedsores; nurses aides; training; inspections; inspectors