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 "income" ...
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Los Angeles VA Has Made Millions on Rental Deals
This story is about one of the most fought-over pieces of property in Los Angeles, the 400 acre Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus in West Los Angeles. It’s in an affluent neighborhood and has been a target of developers. But with many unused buildings, it’s also been coveted as a place to house some of L.A.’s 8,000 homeless veterans. That was the original use of the land, which was donated for an Old Soldiers’ Home in the late 19th century. The VA has not acted on plans announced in 2007 to begin rehabbing unused buildings there for housing for homeless vets. Meanwhile, it’s rented out land and buildings to commercial enterprises. There is no public accounting for this income. Through FOIA and other documents, we found that the VA is renting out the property using a law intended for sharing health care resources, though the renters are non-health related commercial enterprises. We were also able to estimate that the VA has taken in at least 28 million and possibly more than 40 million dollars over the past dozen years, far more than the cost of re-habbing a building to house homeless vets.
Tags: Property; neighborhood; land uses; veterans
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Troubled Landlords
For at least a decade, Twin Cities landlords Hyder Jaweed and Asgher Ali ran a rental property empire that left hundreds of tenants -- most often low income and/or immigrants -- living in squalid conditions and left city inspectors wishing there were laws to stop the landlords.
Tags: landlords; housing; inspectors; renters
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The Well Connected
The Gazette revealed how a developer in Charleston improperly secured $3.67 million in federal stimulus funds to build a low-income housing project with help from West Virginia's treasurer.
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Hope or Hype in Harlem?
This publication examines the Harlem Children's Zone, which is the "model for President Obama's signature anti-poverty program, Promise Neighborhoods." While there has been an abundance of press on the project, little has been done to examine if the HCZ is working, and what, if any, impact it has on the area. The City Limits team seeks to answer those questions.
Tags: Harlem; poverty; Obama; Harlem Children's Zone; low-income; Great Society; government programs
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Dead Wrong?
The investigation examines the relationship between the income, credentials of staff members, and the recommended standards of one medical examiner and questions whether his major errors helped put people innocent people in prison.
Tags: medical examiner; doctor; prison; staff; income
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East of St. Louis School District 189 investigation
This investigation into East St. Louis School District 189 shows misuse of funds and highlights questionable decisions at administrative levels for both academics and athletics. About 7,500 students attend classes in the district that has received constantly failing grades when compared to educations achievement statewide. The district receives millions in federal "Title 1" money because more than 90 percent of its students live blow the poverty line. However, this investigation revealed questionable use of those taxpayer funds. In September, the story took a turn and focused on the champion East St. Louis Flyers football team that was eventually kicked out of the state playoffs despite having an undefeated recored. In these stories, questionable practices by district officials regarding strict residency rules were revealed.
Tags: Title 1; academics; athletics; school; students; low-income; taxpayer; East St. Louis Flyers; football; School District 189; corruption; finance; FOI
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The Other Welfare
The series examines the $10 billion federal disability program for low income children in Massachusetts. The author found that the program gives incentives for parents to put their children on psychotropic drugs.
Tags: welfare; child welfare; ADHD; psychotropic drugs; Supplemental Security Income
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State Autos
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette investigated the number, taxability, and use of state vehicles by state officials. The reporters found that officials weren't paying income taxes on the personal use of their state vehicles and that the state had not been keeping track of the number of state vehicles.
Tags: state vehicles; income tax; state cars; elected officials
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"Racial disparities in home lending"
A 2008 analysis of more than half a million home loan applications in the Dayton, Ohio, region revealed that blacks with higher incomes were denied home loans, while lower-income whites were not. The report also found that blacks were more likely to receive "high-cost loans" than whites. The real estate market denies redlining practices that were made illegal "in 1977 by the federal Community Reinvestment Act."
Tags: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; NICAR; GIS; Community Reinvestment Advisory Group; Dean Lovelace; Dayton Human Relations Commission; Federal Housing Authority; home loans; redlining
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"Easy Money, BTO Business: The Truth of 'Tax Shield of Macquarie'"
In an attempt to develop the country of Korea during an economic crisis, the government established the Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) system, which allowed a toll fee to be applied to many roads. However, in order for the system to work, an additional system, the Minimum Revenue Guarantee, had to be introduced. The MRG guaranteed companies receive a "minimal income level from the government" when the toll fee fell "short of projections." This angered many people who did not use the roads due to the high toll fee.
Tags: MKIF; Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund; Build-Transfer-Operate; BFO; Woomyunsan Tunnel; Seoul; National Pension Service