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 "executive orders" ...
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Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and the Framing of Kevin Cooper
Scapegoat is the true story of the horrific Chino Hills murders -- the highest profile crime in San Bernardino County history. It shows how law enforcement ignored eyewitness information implicating three white men as the perpetrators in order to pin the crime on Kevin Cooper, a recently escaped black prisoner from the nearby prison in Chino, California. It shows how his public defender lost the case before the trial even began and how the justice system has failed Cooper at almost every turn. It also shows the heroic work of an international law firm headquartered in San Francisco that adopted Cooper's case pro bono just three months before his scheduled execution in 2004 and won him a stay and how lawyers from this firm continue to appeal his wrongful conviction.
Tags: Murders; crime; law enforcement; police; prison; justice system; wrongful conviction
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Fraud on the Job
KING 5 dedicated nearly a year to dig into the complex world of the federal minority contracting program. The program is intended to remedy past and current discrimination against minority and women-owned contracting businesses who want a shot at working on federal highway projects. But instead of fostering equal opportunity, KING found staggering fraud and abuse in the taxpayer-funded program. The investigative series titled “Fraud on the Job" was born. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for administering the program. WSDOT contracts with a small state agency, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) to certify which contractors qualify as "disadvantaged business enterprises" or DBEs. They also make sure that once in, the companies aren’t cheating or becoming too big to qualify. The state’s share of billions of federal highway funds comes with some strings attached, including a requirement that a certain percentage of money spent on transportation projects be reserved for minority-owned firms. The results of the “Fraud on the Job” series were swift and extraordinary. Two days after the first story aired, the governor ordered the Washington State Patrol to conduct a criminal fraud investigation. She also ordered a top-to- bottom review of OMWBE. Two weeks later, the governor asked the director of OMWBE to resign. Another top manager quit and another was fired. Two of the companies KING exposed as defrauding the government were removed from the DBE program by the state. State and federal legislation is now being drafted to stop the cheating. And now the FBI and the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation are investigating.
Tags: fraud; government; tax; taxpayer; fund
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Shriners' Investigation
Frost has reported this story for three years, picking up where the ORlando Sentinel left off twenty years ago by focusing on how the Shriners used charitable donations to fund mortgages for executives, directors and key employees and failed to report these transactions, specifically the mortgage satisfactions, on their exempt organization tax returns (990 form.) This past year, most of Frost's focus has been on the Shriners secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters who were involved in a series of sex crimes.
Tags: Shriners; Royal Order of Jesters; prostitution; sex trafficking; drugs; nonprofit organizations; fraud
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New Law Requires Veteran's Resource Center, Colleges Struggle to Accommodate
This story reveals that the author's college campus was not able to accommodate all of the returnign soldiers from the Iraq War. The college was not complying with the Executive Order stating what services had to be provided to veterans.
Tags: returning soldiers; veterans; college services; Executive Order; soldier education; Veteran's Center
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Exporting Faith
The Boston Globe used "a complete raw database of all USAID awards (prime contracts, grants and agreements) obligated from FY 2001 to FY 2005" to investigate the results of President Bush's Executive Orders that "created the faith based initiative and relaxed federal regulations for religious groups using government funds that once sought to protect church-state separations." The series shows that the percentage of USAID awards going to ngo faith based organizations in 2005 was almost doubled the percentage in 2001, from 10.5% to 19.9%. This creates the potential for problems where aid recipients "might forgo assistance because they don't share in the religion of the provider."
Tags: separation of church and state; faith-based initiatives; foreign aid; executive orders; church-state ties; White House Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives; President Bush; USAID; NGO; Christian evangelicals; Kenya; Angola; Pakistan; Focus on the Family; James Dobb; FOIA; UNICEF; UNDP; State Department; Samaritan's Purse; National Association of Evangelicals; Americans United for Separation of the Church and State; Global Health Outreach; Offfice of Volunteers for Prosperity; Youth for Christ; World Vision; Yellowbook;
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Four Hours of Fear: 9/11's Untold Story; Amid terror, a drastic decision: Clear the Skies
USA Today explains how the nation's aviation system was able to land nearly 4,500 planes on Sept. 11 when the call went out to clear the skies following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The story shows scenes in air traffic control rooms across the country, and illustrates how the FAA was able to execute the historic order.
Tags: air traffic control; Sept. 11; history; clear the skies; FAA; planes; airports; airlines; American; United; safety; terrorism; prevention; World Trade Center; Pentagon
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Airport security: Years of inaction left flawed system to fail
A Kansas City Star investigative packet examines lapses in aviation security, which allowed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack to occur. Airlines have always fought against draft legislation for raising minimum security standards, the Star reports, in order to keep their attractiveness to customers and profit margins. One of the stories reveals that airlines have regularly sent congressmen on vacation and 'educational' trips for free, in exchange for favorable legislation. Despite constant warnings by the General Accounting Office, not only the Congress, but also the FAA failed to enforce rules to tighten airport security. Some of the findings are that screeners sometimes turned out to be felons, and bags were not scanned for bombs. The investigation focuses on problems detected specifically at the Kansas City International Airport, the nation's 35th busiest airport.
Tags: American Association of Airport Executives; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); TWA; United Airlines; Delta Air; screeners; security; lobbying; bombs; terrorism; bombs; check-in; X-rays; weapons
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Power Politics: Energy Crisis Offers Clues to the Workings of Bush Administration
The Wall Street Journal examines how George W. Bush handled the energy crisis in California during the first weeks of his presidency. The story finds that Bush "has leaned heavily on Vice President Dick Cheney" in order to "stick doggedly to his chosen public message." The author reports that "Mr. Bush bent his free-market, limited-government principles to accommodate a crisis, but so far only a little: He offered a single two-week extension of Mr. Clinton's executive order directing suppliers to sell power to nearly bankrupt California utilities." The story cites top politicians on how the Western energy crisis will impact Bush's popularity and commitment to open markets.
Tags: politics; White House; California; energy crisis; Dick Cheney; utilities; economics; price caps; oil; electricity
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Block Those Regs!
National Journal looks at the fight of the business community against the "midnight regulations" and executive orders issued at the end of the Clinton Administration." The report describes how "corporate angst over ergonomics sparks an intense lobbying war," as "the ergonomics regulation affects more than 100 million workers who tap on keyboards and perform other routine tasks." The story points to an OSHA estimate that the first-year cost of the new ergonomics regulation would total $4.5 billion. The investigation details the specific demands of different business sectors. It reveals that "top corporate lobbyists aren't shy about voicing hope that the Bush Administration will jettison or modify unwanted regulations," while at the same time the administration is "also weighing concrete steps that could placate business."
Tags: business; politics; Republicans; manufacturers; OSHA; labor unions; legislature; Congress; refiners; oil producers; trucking industry; food-store chains
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State Video Records Coe Minutes Before Execution
The Tennessean reveals that "state prison officials videotaped the prelude to the execution" - first in 40 years - of Robert Glen Coe, sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. The story reports on the Tennessean's and other newspapers' efforts to obtain a non-censored copy of the videotape, and on the following release of a redacted version. "The Tennessean has returned to court and has asked the judge to order the state to release a less-censored version ... citing other documents obtained under FOI laws that reveal the identities of several state officials who appear on the tape."