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 "housing project" ...
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Snitch
"Snitch" told the story of a terrified grandmother from a housing project who witnessed a murder and reporter it anonymously, only to be coerced into testifying in court and then forced into a witness relocation program. The story also revealed the strong-arm tactics of a crime-laden city's homicide unite and district attorney's office which failed to provide accommodations for the relocated witness's pet dog, who was eventually euthanized. The story also described the realities of living in San Francisco's worst housing project, where murder is common and named witnesses are almost unheard of.
Tags: murder; witness; coercion; witness protection program; legal system
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Takeover: The Return of the Imerial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy
Since the 1970s and 80s a faction of the Republican party has been working to create a system that allows "the White House to wield enormous power, operating behind a veil of secrecy and unchecked by Congress or the courts. Today's administration is bringing this project to fruition."
Tags: politics; government; Watergate; checks and balance; George W. Bush; Dick Cheney; executive power; Republican
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Collateral Damage: Human Rights and U.S. Military Aid After 9/11
This project investigated the impact of foreign lobbying and terrorism on U.S. post-9/11 military training and aid programs. Controversial U.S. allies such as Pakistan received billions of dollars in additional, new military aid to fight the global war on terror. Additionally, foreign governments spent millions lobbying the White House and the Pentagon, taking advantage of the chaotic policymaking environment to ask for their own military aid. The investigation revealed that the change in priorities often came at the cost of human rights and fiscal accountability.
Tags: human rights; foreign countries; international relations; war on terror; military expenses
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Losing Faith in "Bishop"
A gentleman identifying himself as "His Grace Bishop Frumentius" offered a $56 million investment to build a housing project on the former Saginaw Fairgrounds. That 57-acre parcel of land was owned by the local Housing Commission, which was being forced to sell it due to a ruling that it had purchased the land without authority. But the bishop was revealed as Daniel Earl Phelps, "a parolee who served 10 years in prison on financial improprieties." Phelps' stated education history as well as the church he said he represented were shown to be nonexistent, with his main history shown to be tales of similar cases in other towns.
Tags: fraud; housing development; religious impersonation; fraudulent bishop
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Affordable No More
The Southeastern Economic Development Corp. had been tasked with "redeveloping one of San Diego's poorest neighborhoods," with the goal of building affordable housing. But people with close ties to this public agency abused the system, selling homes for much higher prices than had been approved in the agency's contract, and also "failed to file the proper deeds on the subsidized homes in the project," allowing the houses to be flipped for a profit.
Tags: Southeastern Economic Development Corp.; redevelopment; affordable housing; property flipping; fraud; title registration
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Takings Initiatives Accountability Project: The Center for Public Integrity investigates ballot initiatives that would radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states
The [non-partisan]Center for Public Integrity investigated 2006 "ballot initiatives that were designed to radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states. They discovered that a trio of "secret donors" accounted for 99% of the propostions' bankrolls, and some of the initiatives did not comply with campaign-finance and other regulations. Then the Center revealed that 85 percent of the funding was coming from a single wealthy real estate investor and Libertarian activist, Howard RIch All but the Arizona inititative failed at the ballot. The Center for Public Integrity set up a stand-alone website-- www.takings initiatives.org-- and filed more than 50 articles on it. "Our general practice-- and a novel one as far as we can tell-- was to mount verbatim transcripts of the interviews on our website, including audio recordings where available. We sought to allow proponents, opponents funders and experts to have a chance to present their side of the story in their own words." The Center also checked with state and federal regulators for compliance of relevant laws and regulations.
Tags: Takings Initiatives; takings clause; ballot initiatives; land-use regulation; environmental regulation; tax-exempt organizations; Howard Rich; Andrea Millen Rich; Council for Responsible Government; William A. Wilson; state campaign-finance filings; public records requests; state freedom of information requests; America At Its Best; Americans for Limited Government; John Tillman; Howard Ahmanson; Fieldstead & Company; property rights; prefessional signature-gatherers; Colorado At Its Best; term limits; nonprofit advocacy organizations; Sam Adams Alliance; Sam Adams Foundation; Legislative Education Action Drive; Parents in Charge Foundation; Social Security Choice.org; Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau; educational vouchers; tuition tax credits; National Taxpayers Union; First Class Education; Susquehanna International Group; Jeffrey YAss; Cato Institute; Alliance for School Choice; Decision Education Foundation; Eric Brooks; Susan Mitchell; Pete Sepp; Kern Family Foundation; Generac Power Systems, Inc.; Milton Friedman; Taxpayer Bill of Rights; TABOR; Laird Maxwell; This House is MY Home; John Whitehead; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; Exoxemis, Inc.; Family Farm Preservation Pact; Citizens for Community Protection; Kelo v. City of New London; eminent domain; New York Millionaires Assistance Act; Wallace Global Fund; Nicholas C. Dranias; PRNewswire; Eric O'Keefe; getliberty.com; George Soros
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Winning Friends and Influencing Commissioners
"This story project revealed how the largest private developer if tax-credit affordable housing in Texas co-opted commissioners serving on the Bexar County Housing Authority by providing undisclosed financial incentives to secure the agency's support for tax breaks needed to build multimillion dollar apartment complexes."
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Brian Ross Investigates: Conduct Unbecoming
"In a year-long series of stories for World News and Nightline, ABC News' chief investigative correspondent and his team reported on a pattern of unbecoming and unethical behavior in offficial Washington that culminated in the revelation's of Congreeman Mark Foley's sexually-explicit internet messages with high school students who served as Congressional pages." Stories in the series also examine some of the consequences from the lack of an ethics code for the Supreme Court and a probe of unethical behavior of a retired U.S. General.
Tags: broadcast; financial disclosure forms; lobbyist Jack Abramoff; Congressman Tom Delay; Congressman Mark Foley; instant messaging; Congressional Pages; House Ethics Committee; Kyle "Dusty" Foggo; CIA; Air Force; Department of Defense Inspector General's Office; Federal Election Commission; Political Money Line; Federalist Sociey; legal ethics; Supreme Court; Congress; Pentagon; influence peddling; FBI; IRS; Brent Wilkes; Taxpayers for Common Sense; Keith Ashdown; Porter Goss; Thunderbirds; General T. Michael Mosely; Senator Tom Coburn; General Hal Hornburg; Project on Government Oversight; Danielle Brian; U.S. Trademark Office; General John Jumper; Blue Angels; midterm elections; access; Campaign Legal Center; Gerry Hebert; pay to play; House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children; sexually explicit messages; sexual exploitation; graphic language; solicitation; Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; Internet sex; FBI investigation; Congressman Tom Reynolds
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LNG Controversy Dogs Every Step of the Policy Process
Reporting for the Malibu Times at first, Hans Laetz looks into Australian Energy Conglomerate BHP Billiton's plans to "build a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal floating off the local coast." But after two months, Laetz was removed from coverage by the Times amid criticism, possibly due to the fact BHP Billiton was an advertising client of the Times. He then was picked up by the Malibu Surfside News, and continued to tell a tale of the various aspects of the deal: how BHP got a smog waiver after White House officials overruled local Environmental Protection Agency officials, the safety and pollution risks of the project; citizens' letters supporting the project to the government, which turned out mostly to be fake; and the opposition of state and federal parks officials to the project.
Tags: BHP Billiton; liquified natural gas; Hans Laetz; environmental issues; Environmental Protection Agency; paddleout protest
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Broken Bridges: Did City Hall's plan to fight gangs bankroll a gangster?
Ex-gang member and alleged Mexico Mafia member Hector Marroquin, Sr. founded a gang-prevention program in Los Angeles in 1997 that was supported by nearly $1.5 million from the City COuncil. Using FOIA requests and over 50 interviews, L.A. Weekly reporters Jeffrey Anderson and Christine Pelisek point out that the program had no oversight, no means of measuring its success in keeping children out of gangs. They also uncovered nepotism, and evidence suggesting Marroquin was a member of the Mexican Mafia while he ran the anti-gang program.
Tags: L.A. Bridges; gang intervention programs; Hector Marroquin; Networks Organizing for Gang Unity and Neighborhood Safety; N.O. G.U.N.S; L.A. County Probation Department; Mexican Mafia; drug trade; FOIA; Community Development Department; DEA; Drug Enforcement Administration; L.A. Sherriff's Department; Diversified Strategies for Organizing; People Works, Inc.; Central Recovery Development Project; Toberman Settlement House;