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 "incompetent" ...
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Washington Park School
The I-Team investigated Cincinnati School Board decisions related to the relocation of one inner city public school. The story provides insight into how CPS is managing a billion dollars of new school construction. It revealed problems of student safety, economics, Board incompetence and conflicts of interest. The school board deviated from standard property appraisal procedures, overpaid for the school, located it in Cincinnati's most dangerous area and could have renovated a nearby school for far less money.
Tags: school board; school construction; inner city schools; conflicts of interest; student safety
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Hurricane Katrina Reporting Package
This package of investigative stories shows why so many things went wrong during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Time staff reported on FEMA Director Mike Brown, and how his general incompetence hurt relief efforts. The package also includes a look at New Orleans three months after the disaster to see how it recovery efforts were working.
Tags: New Orleans; hurricane; FEMA; disaster relief; weather; natural disasters; government
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Falling Apart/Licensed, Bonded, Unaccountable
The Oregonian revealed that new residential structures across the Northwest are suffering sometimes catastrophic damage from moisture not just due to poor workmanship, but also to shoddy construction, trouble-prone building materials, inappropriate design and unanticipated complications caused by energy efficient building codes. The stories detail the financial and emotional impact on homeowners, how their dispute with builders has clogged the legal system and how builders have turned to the Legislature for protection from a rash of litigation. In addition, the investigation reveals that the Oregon Construction Contractors Board, the state agency charged with protecting consumers from bad contractors, has allowed builders with histories of incompetence, insolvency and unethical behavior to continue building, without notifying consumers of the dangers.
Tags: CAR; Oregon Construction Contractors Board; Northwest; Portland; construction defect litigation; builders; Oregon Legislature; Construction Claims Task Force; regulation
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Bad News: The Decline of Reporting, the Business of News and the Danger to Us All
Fenton, a veteran CBS reporter, writes an honest critique of the business of broadcast news. He accuses the industry of having a political bias, and being lazy and incompetent. Interviews with leading television news personalities back up his opinions.
Tags: broadcast journalism; network news; television; news anchors; political bias; under-reported stories
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Fighting for Care
ABC News Prime Time Thursday continued their investigation of veterans' hospitals, which began in 1990. Among the many findings were: a surprising number of doctors still in training were left in charge of operating rooms and diagnostic situations while the doctors who were supposed to supervise them were not around; a disturbingly large number of mistakes and often fatal misdiagnoses; sloppy hygiene and unsanitary conditions; and retaliation against whistleblowers while incompetent administrators were promoted despite gross mismanagement.
Tags: Veterans; health care; military; hospitals; medical care
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The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed
Thompson's book investigates the U.S. government's failures and incompetencies during 2001's series of Anthrax attacks. The attacks killed five people and left thousands of Americans in fear. The investigation looks at how a number of government agencies from the CDC to the FBI have controlled information under the Bush Administration. "The Killer Strain is the definitive account of the year in which bioterrorism became a reality in the United States, exposing failures in judgement and a flawed understanding of the anthrax bacteria's capacity to kill."
Tags: BOOK; Anthrax attacks; U.S. Postal Service; Center for Disease Control; National Security Council; USAMRIID; FOIA
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Free ride: While schools suffer, hundreds get free city cars and fill-ups
In this ongoing series that exposes mismanagement, incompetence and corruption inside Yonkers City Hall, the newspaper examined the city's car-lease program for employees, questionable ethics among officials, and a handshake deal for garbage service that allowed businesses to pay their bills in cash. The investigation found the city spent more than $820,000 on 54 car leases -- far more than similarly sized cities -- including leases for SUVs and other expensive cars. Council members were awarded lucrative contracts while in office, and they had failed to file financial disclosure forms for five years as required by law. The garbage deal defied a city code and cost taxpayers $175,000 annually.
Tags: ethics; government leases; contracts; Freedom of Information; computer-assisted reporting; CAR; car-lease program; financial disclosure laws; trash service; city government
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"Terrorism Investigations"
This extensive 11-story investigation of terrorism in the U.S. deals a spectrum of issues ranging from suspected terrorists who were granted U.S. citizenship to links formed between Al Qaeda and Saudi Arabia. The first story in the series looks at how easy it is for suspected terrorists to gain U.S. citizenship due to "bureaucratic incompetence and turf wars." The next story looks at how some have slipped under the radar of the U.S. and United Nations' effort to freeze terrorists' funds. Another story investigates Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, head of a Pentagon unit hunting for Osama Bin Laden, as he makes derogatory statements about Islam in U.S. churches. NBC News also looks at "how war in Iraq drained resources from the hunt for Bin Laden."
Tags: Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin's resignation; Osama Bin Laden; Saddam Hussein; RC-135 spy planes; Hellfire missles; Al Qaeda; P-Tech; Inc.; Abdurahman Alamoudi; U.S. Military Muslim Chaplin Program
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Law and Disorder: How Oklahoma's Courts Cope with the Mentally Disabled.
The World details the issue of the treatment of those who mentally challenged defendents who are declared incompetent to stand trial by the court. This report describes as to how these defedents are often released back into the community where they only end up committing new offenses, often sex crimes involving children.Furthermore, "companies paid by the state to supervise the mentally retarded have failed to do their jobs, resulting in criminal charges being brought against their clients. There have also been cases where judges have ordered dangerous incompetent defendents to be placed in nuring rooms.
Tags: legilature; Jeff Dean Marks; Department of Mental Health
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Kentucky's longest serving inmate
The Courier-Journal reports that "Kentucky's longest serving inmate -- the nation's sixth longest prisoner -- is a mentally retarded and mentally ill man who has spent 50 years behind bars and whom experts say never should have been prosecuted because he was incompetent for trial and insane at the time of the crime."
Tags: mentally retarded; mentally ill; longest-serving inmates; crime; prisoners; incompetent; sentencing; Corrections Department