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 "clustering" ...
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Cancer Street
There is a street in Kirby, Texas, on one side of which residents die of various forms of cancer, while their neighbors across the street remain healthy. KENS-TV investigates the mystery and reveals that most of the affected residents believe their illnesses were cause by power lines above their house. Doctors, however, say there is not enough research to conclude power lines cause cancer. The also say the Kirby street phenomenon can not be considered a cancer cluster because people are affected by many varieties of cancer, KENS reports.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; health; deaths; safety; doctors; state government; electric; magnetic fields; electricity
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Why does cancer cluster?
Types of cancer are more prevelant in more areas than others. Researchers are debating why these cancer clusters happen and what can be done to make those areas healthier.
Tags: cancer; health; environment
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A medical mystery in Morgan City
WWL-TV's Eyewitness News reports on "an unusually high number of people suffering from auto-immune diseases in the Morgan City vicinity." The investigation reveals that the ailments common in the area - scleroderma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other tissue-transforming illnesses - might have been caused by environmental problems as well as genetic factors. Morgan City is an oil town with several industrial plants and five superfund waste sites, the program reports. Health officials have discovered a similar concentration of auto-immune diseases in Southern Boston as well. Experts are wary of linking the disease clusters to environmental factors only.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; superfund; hazardous waste; toxins; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); environment; health; pollution; medicine
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Washington's Power 25
Fortune reports on a survey they conducted that ranks the top groups that exert legislative influence in Washington. The survey rebuts the idea that campaign contributions buy power in Washington. Interest groups are more valued for the vote they can deliver than for cash. The top ranked organizations were clustered towards the center and right of the political spectrum. Fortune tries to uncover the mechanisms that really drive Washington.
Tags: lobbyists; term limits; political ads; unions
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Not Fit to Teach Your Kid
The Daily News finds that New York's lowest-performing schools are staffed by some teachers who have not met state teaching requirements. Looks at specific schools with high numbers of uncertified teachers and areas of the city where uncertified teachers are clustered.
Tags: teachers; uncertified; computer assisted; teacher training; reading scores
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Friendly Fallout
KCBS-TV reports "about the nation's first nuclear reactor designed to serve the public. The sodium-cooled reactor was situated in the foothills north of Los Angeles and literally lit up the tiny communities of Santa Susana, Agoura and Moorpark. (In 1959) there was a devastating accident at the reactor site when 13 fuel rods melted down. But the accident was shrouded in secrecy... On this, the 50th anniversary of the nuclear meltdown...(KCBS-TV) uncovered evidence of unusually high cancer rates in surrounding communities and cancer clusters resulting in many deaths... We obtained results of toxic chemical testing which showed dangerous levels of nuclear and chemical contamination at the plant and evidence the contamination has spread outside the plant's boundaries...."
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Cancer Cluster in Silicon Valley
CBS News reports "that many workers who spent lifetimes making computer chips in Silicon Valley suffer from life-threatening cancers. The workers attribute their health problems to years of exposure to dangerous chemicals but the industry denies their claims and refuses to allow any independent health study of its employees. Government health agencies expressed alarm at the findings but our investigation discovered that not one agency was actively studying the cancer claims...."
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The Mess NATO Left Behind
The Progressive reports how "Unexploded cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells litter Yugoslavia's landscape... Unexploded bomblets from cluster bombs are just one of the many hazards left behind by NATO's two-month air war against Yugoslavia. Signing a peace agreement may have ended the fighting, but cleaning up the dangerous debris could take years."
Tags: NATO; Yugoslavia; war; weapons
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Our Children, Their Cancer
On June 23, 1997, state officials in the Department of Health announced an investigation of a cluster of children with rare brain and nerve-cell cancers in St. Lucie County. The Stuart News had identified 17 cases of this type of cancer in St. Lucie County. After six months, health officials said they identifies at least 31 childhood cancer cases. The News has found three others, for a total of 34. The first testing of possible environmental causes is not expected to begin until mid-January. Parents suspect pesticides and herbicides, but officials say finding a cause will be a slow process. Similar investigations have taken years and come up empty.
Tags: cancer; kids; children; toxic spills; pesticide; poisoning; St. Lucie County; herbicides
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No title (id: 13242)
The story of discrimination at the State Department is a matter of individual careers shattered. It also the story of a whole cluster of ambitious African-American professionals. The Nation examines this situation and its effect on foreign policy. (Feb. 12, 1996)