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 "local politics" ...
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Local officials are likely to profit from fracking in Southern Tier
Local government officials have been lobbying the state to the controversial oil and gas extraction process known as fracking. But when they spoke at public hearings and pushed in other forums, were they just representing their communities, or did they have more at stake? In a four-month investigation, SUNY New Paltz students reviewed thousands of public records in two states. The investigation found more than 30 locally elected officials who have been outspoken proponents for fracking. Public records and additional examinations identified about 20 percent of those with more than political philosophy at stake — the chance to gain personally and financially. To open government advocates such as Common Cause, these instances raise concerns about transparency and conflicts of interest among locally elected officials. About six months after publication, and after further moves by local officials to press the state to approve fracking, the state attorney general has launched inquiries into whether local officials have violated conflicts of interest.
Tags: Oil; gas; oil and gas extraction; fracking
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Sovereign Citizens Stealing Houses
The story investigated the criminal actions of anti-government extremists calling themselves sovereign citizens. Homes in foreclosure were being "stolen" by these suspects filing fake real estate paperwork at local courthouses.
Tags: sovereign citizens; anti-government; foreclosure; real estate; political movement
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"Local Sheriff Abusing His Power?"
This investigation reveals that the Middlesex County sheriff had been accepting money from his employees who were interested in staying in his "good graces." The corruption also benefited the sheriff's "political future." When the accusation of corruption was exposed by WFXT, the Mass. Attorney General launched its own investigation. Less than a week later, the sheriff committed suicide, and WFXT-TV received criticism for their reporting of the incident. Critics eventually determined the story was fairly investigated and reported.
Tags: Middlesex County; sheriff; James Dipaola; Office of Campaign and Political Finance; Attorney General
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PolitiFact: The States
PolitiFact, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, is an effort to expand political fact checking to the state and local level. The site published over 1000 articles in 2010 that studied claims made by politicians and then rated them on their accuracy.
Tags: fact checking; accuracy; candidates; elections; campaign
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The rise and fall of Ray Sansom, speaker of the Florida House
Ray Sansom, the speaker of the Florida House, gave the state college “$35 million in two years”. These two years he oversaw the House budget, but wasn’t the speaker quite yet. Furthermore, these millions of dollars were added outside the normal budget method. Additionally, he worked with the college president to help maneuver the funds to the college.
Tags: government; politics; money; state government; Jay Odom; local officials; Northwest Florida State; college trustees
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Miami; City Politics, Finance on Edge
During the booming times around the country, everyone was spending money, especially the local government in Miami. The officials in Miami were spending money even if they didn’t have it and creating deficits, which are too difficult to get around during the hard times. Furthermore, the city has depleted their reserves by “more than $50 million” to help fix the deficits, which isn’t doing them any good.
Tags: taxes; taxpayers; expenses; costs; corruption; politicians; politics; revenue; emergency funds; money transfers
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County Hall: The Perks of Public Office
The series looks at local politicians and their spending habits. These habits were rather lavish for a local government which had to cut spending on certain programs. The stories focus on “everything from how commissioners were using aides as personal chauffeurs to the global travel the commissioners took with no benefit to taxpayers”. Further, advisors of the mayor were receiving “double digit” pay raises, while the budget was crumbling.
Tags: politics; public; officials; Miami-Dade County Hall; corruption; taxes; budget hearings; salary
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Corruption in the 2-million-member Service Employees
This investigation of the nation's fastest-growing labor union uncovered corruption in its largest California local as well as questionable financial practices at several affiliated organizations and its national headquarters. The stories revealed that the president of the California chapter - who represented nearly 200,000 working poor people, caregivers making about $9 an hour - had funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in dues money to himself his relatives, and spent similar sums on golf resorts, expensive restaurants and a Beverly Hills cigar lounge. They also showed that Tyrone Freeman misused two nonprofits for financial gain and political purposes, and that the head of the SEIU's largest Michigan local misappropriated funds from one of the charities. In addition, the stories reported that the SEIU's national office, while holding itself up as a model of reform, paid millions of dollars to consulting firms, nonprofits, and individuals with family ties and other personal connections to the union's top leaders.
Tags: Unions; SEIU; corruption; California; Michigan; Tyrone Freeman
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The Town the Law Forgot
LA Weekly chronicled "the intersection of organized crime and public corruption in the Hispanic suburbs of Los Angeles County and in revitalized downtown Los Angeles. ... The overarching conclusion is that local law enforcement's piecemeal approach to gang and drug-related crime is not sophisticated enough to make a dent."
Tags: crime; drug; urban; elected officials; attorneys; political operatives; lobbyist; corruption; police department; city
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Statehouse Revolvers
The Center for Public Inegrity's investigation found that in 2003, 2004 and 2005, "nearly 1,600 former lawmakers were registered as lobbyists at some point." Inevitably, these were often the most well-connected lobbyists.Supplemental material includes local reactions from across the country.
Tags: lobbyists; lawmakers; lawmakers turned lobbyists; politics; revolving door