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 "emergency plans" ...
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Campus Security
ChicagoTalks reporters found only a handful of the 63 colleges and universities in Cook County are following an Illinois law -- the Campus Security Enhancement Act of 2008 (SB 2691) -- aimed to make campuses safe. Under the law, colleges and universities are required to create all-hazard emergency and violence prevention plans, along with threat assessment teams and violence prevention committees. The schools are also required to hold annual security trainings. ChicagoTalks reporters contacted, often repeatedly, every public and private, two and four-year college and university in Cook County, and determined that 11 schools appear to be violating the law, while 45 schools provided conflicting or incomplete information -- or no information at all. Reporters found just seven schools in compliance.
Tags: campus security; Cook County; violence prevention; colleges; universities
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Consumer Medical Investigations
CBS explored bogus health plans, one of the biggest consumer fraud issues to emerge from the economic recession.
Tags: medical care; haggling; consumer fraud; health care
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"The Middle Kingdom's Dilemma" and "China's Pollution Revolution"
In this series, the author investigates "the emergence of a grassroots environmental movement in Communist China." In "The Middle Kingdom's Dilemma," the author reveals a plan by the State Council to divert an amount of water that is greater than the total volume of water from the Yangtze River. In "China's Pollution Revolution," Larson writes about a poluuting factory and its negative impact on nearby residents.
Tags: Communist China; grassroots environmental movement; water shortages; pollution; environmental laws; international
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Divine Intervention: U.S. AIDS Policy
"The Center’s year-long investigation revealed how rigid rules and funding earmarks of President's Bush $15-billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS abroad- the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief- hinder effective HIV programming and frustrate countries struggling with the pandemic."
Tags: AIDS; HIV; South Africa; PEPFAR; Ethiopia; Haiti; condoms; education; generic drugs; brand name drugs
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Unprepared
Reporters investigated the preparation of New York for a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Rita or Katrina. After conducting tests, the reporters found that 75 percent of the communities in their coverage zone were completely unprepared to deal with any kind of disaster.
Tags: Emergency Management Office; natural disasters; man-made disasters; disaster preparedness; emergency plans
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Is it Homeland Insecurity?
The billions of dollars poured into Homeland Security since Set. 11, 2001 has not made Texas communities significantly safer. Instead Homeland Security has evolved into a massive spending spree undertaken with inadequate planning, coordination or accountability. A good portion has been wasted on high-tech gadgetry that is of minimal practical use in real emergencies. A 2004 chlorine gas spill outside San Antonio showed that emergency response efforts have not improved since the 9-11 attacks.
Tags: FOIA; defense; Homeland Security; government spending; grant money; state government; data negotiation; emergency management; high-tech gadgetry; chlorine gas spill
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Is San Francisco Ready?
Prompted by disasters around the world the authors of this investigation decided to analyze San Francisco's emergency services and see if the city is ready to face a crisis, in particular an earthquake of significant magnitude. They found several failings in the city's preparation plan as well as some irregularities in the hiring of executives, and purchasing of early warning systems.
Tags: Earthquake; San Francisco; emergency services; Mayor Gavin Newsom; Annemarie Conroy; Office of Emergency Services; FOIA; San Francisco Board of Supervisors
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Alluvial Amnesia: How Officials Imperil Communities by Downplaying Flood Risks
Floodplain development, flood prediction and inter-agency coordination are the main themes of this investigation. "We uncovered documents proving that in their haste to approve plans for two public schools in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., state education officials ignored state emergency managers from another agency who cautioned that no adequate evacuation plans existed and that constriction should be halted. We also exposed flawed reasoning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used to argue that flood risks in the area were minimal. Reputable flood experts say as many as 20,000 homes have been constructed on flood-prone lands located near high mountain canyons.
Tags: flood; natural disaster; construction
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City at risk: Traffic jam from hell
Creative Loafing probes the feasibility of Mecklenburg County's evacuation plan. The story finds that if a terrorist attack or a nuclear accident at one of the county's two nuclear plants occurred, the evacuation plan would not prevent a "large-scale loss of life." There are potentially deadly flaws not only in Mecklenburg county's evacuation plan, Servatius writes, but "ultimately in federally approved evacuation plans across the country."
Tags: public safety; disasters; emergency; terrorism; Sept. 11
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Damage Control; Out of Control
This two-part series on flooding in Houston looks at the relationship between development, city government and the city's flooding problem. City government continues to use outdated flood plans that allow developers to build where they shouldn't, digging inadequate detention ponds and failing to tell homeowners in flood plains that they might want to buy flood insurance.
Tags: floods; FEMA; Federal Emergency Management Agency; developers; FOIA; Harris County Flood Control District; Tropical Storm Frances; floodplain