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 "manufactured housing" ...
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Home Sweet Meth Home
"In Mississippi, former meth homes can be bought and sold without the new owners ever knowing about their home's drug manufacturing history."
Tags: home; house; ownership; meth; crystal meth; narcotics; cleanup laws; public health; family;
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Metro Detroit schools, towns lose millions on pre=fabs
Due to a loophole in property tax law, metro Detroit schools and government services lose at least $17 million a year because manufactured homes in housing parks are charged just $36 a year. This rate has been frozen since 1956. Since prefab homes will make up as much as half of all new homes in Michigan the next few years, the loophole could end up strangling suburban school funding.
Tags: taxes; loopholes; education; schools; property taxes; tax assessment
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Dreams tumbling down; "Manufactured promises" two-part series: The high cost of home & No longer their choice; State will review rules on housing; Troubled homes amid prosperity; Manufactured-housing trade group favors new disclosure laws; Panel urges more regulation of manufactured homes; Panel urges more regulation of manufactured homes; Difficulty follows easy-buy homes; Manufactured home dealers, state reach agreements
An Oregonian investigative series and follow-up stories report on how the rising cost of manufactured homes has forced residents into bankruptcy and moving out. As mobile home parks compete with the site-built housing business, their have become a hardly affordable place to live anymore, the Oregonian reports. Loans for manufactured houses usually carry 3 to 5 points higher interest rates than those for stick-built houses. The stories reveal that the industry targets young families and first-time home buyers, that developers impose additional "park packages" of up to 20,000 to 30,000 per home and that manufactured-home dealers are regulated less than car dealers.
Tags: mobile homes; real estate; trailers; rental parks; poverty; low income; elderly; social issues; bankruptcy; loans; mortgages; foreclosure; Oregon Manufactured Housing Association; homeowners; land development
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The Stalling Game
Consumer Report looks at how "sweetheart deals and patent extensions keep lower-cost generic drugs from consumers." The story lists several approaches that both generic manufacturers and brand-name companies have used to gain and keep market exclusivity. These include: "sneaking patent-existing riders into complex and unrelated legislative procedures; paying chemical supply houses not to sell needed ingredients to rival drug manufacturers; paying competitors to stay out of the market; filing unfounded "citizen petitions" and patents to delay the marketing of a generic drug." The reporter points to specific examples of how pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of loopholes in current law.
Tags: generic drugs; over-the-counter; Federal Trade Commission (FTC); drug patents; sales; research and development; FDA; health; medicine; Prescription Drug Competition Act
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The Trailer Park Revolution
Mother Jones reports on the phenomenon of trailer parks becoming cooperatives. Co-ops are seen as a solution to absentee landlords who do little or nothing to maintain basic services in many parks and give those who live there a real stake in their community.
Tags: mobile homes; trailer parks; manufactured housing; Community Development Loan Fund
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Campaign Inflation
Mother Jones investigates how "campaign contributions [during the 1999-2000 election cycle] are divided into 10 broad industries ranging from agribusiness to transportation." The donors' database analysis finds that "industry pumped in a record $646 million to elect George W. Bush and a GOP congress." The report reveals that "every major business sector expect lawyers and communications sided firmly with Bush." The investigation also profiles the top individual contributors within each business sector and sheds light on "what they expect in return." A major finding is that "candidates who raised more money than their opponents captured all but 29 of the 469 seats up for grabs in Congress - and the White House as well." This finding backs the conclusion that "the power of campaign contributions [has never] been more starkly displayed that in the last election."
Tags: contributions; donors; Democrats; Republicans; nonprofit; finance; stockbrokers; Wall Street; Silicon Valley; high tech; communications; manufacturing; energy; lawyers; schools
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David Kairys Takes Aim
Civil rights attorney David Kairys came up with a novel way to sue gun manufacturers. In a Temple Law Review article, Kairys advocated treating guns as like a public nuisance, much like a "noisy bar" or "crack houses." Kairys is particularly interested in suing the makers of handguns, such as Beretta, Bryco, Colt, Glock and Smith & Wesson. He's had a hard time beating the gun lobby in Pennsylvania, which has the second-largest NRA membership in the nation, and more Pennsylvanians "have permits to carry concealed weapons than in any other state..." According to the ATF, slightly more than 1 percent of the dealers fed more than half the criminal market."
Tags: guns; handguns; legal; lawsuit; NRA; civic lawsuit; nuisance; establishment
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1999 IRE National Conference Show and Tell Tape #8
1999 IRE National Conference (Kansas City) Show and Tell Tape #8 is the eighth of a nine-part series. This tape includes: 1.) Diane Charles (WDIV-Detroit) Water drainage system causes high erosion, leaving houses on the brink of a cliff. County refuses to fix the problem...even though the erosion was predicted 30 years earlier. 2.) Mark Lagerkvist (News 12 - Long Island) Questionable campaign finance contributions. Starts at race track and continues horse analogy throughout. 3.) Deborah Sherman (WFXT - Boston Fox) Costa Rican trips for child sex. Actually spoke with girls who used to get paid by American tourists for sex. Focuses on one area man charged with this crime. 4.) Jennifer Krause (WTVF-Nashville) Feed the Children rip-off. employees taking home thousands of food items and boxes filled with clothes that were supposed to go to the needy. 5.) Miguel Sancho (Inside Edition) Carnival cruise ship come-ons. Staff on these cruise ships hitting on passengers and even having sex with them, sometimes consensual. Against policy to interact with passengers this way. Hidden camera of crew coming on to Inside Edition interns. 6.) Rich Fuentes (KVBC-Las Vegas) Safety test of cheaper, replacement after-market auto parts covered by most insurance companies instead of parts made by original car manufacturers. Not as safe and will cost more in the end. 7.) Phil Archer (KPRC-Houston) Employees steal and take home items donated to a local shelter. 8.) Deb Fountain (KSTP-Minneapolis) Another herbal supplement piece focusing on the dangerous ingredients in some products. Metabolife comes up again as a problematic substance known for causing high blood pressure.
Tags: TAPE; Kansas City; conference; no transcripts; IRE
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Made in America
A 20/20 investigation finds that top American clothing manufacturers, including Ralph Lauren, the Gap, Liz Claiborne and the Disney Company (parent of ABC), are using Chinese workers housed in crowded and often rat infested barracks on the Pacific island of Saipan to produce clothing labeled, "Made in the U.S.A." The workers have to pay off government officials in China for the right to work in Saipan and are forbidden to participate in any religious, political or union activity.
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No title (id: 8517)
Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.) finds that a billiard manufacturing and distribution company that received a state loan has consistently not met the requirements of that loan, which has prevented the state from giving the town a housing grant, July 22, 1991.
Tags: NC