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 "pennsylvania" ...
-
Pipeline
A specialty investigative news site by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that focuses on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale that lies beneath Appalachia.
Tags: natural gas; pennsylvania; environmental issues; environment; pipeline; resources
-
Inside Amazon's Warehouse
The article investigates the working conditions of Amazon warehouses, in which workers are forced to endure inhumane treatment while facing the risk of getting fired if complaining. It exposes how a company like Amazon can wield their significant leverage over workers in bleak job market.
Tags: amazon; warehouse; pennsylvania; work; conditions;
-
Juvenile Justice
“A massive conspiracy had corrupted the juvenile system of one Pennsylvania County”. Two judges, who are to use their power for good were using it to make money. They were working together to send teen offenders to prisons, even for their first minor offenses. These judges were making money from a private jail owners for every teen sent to prison.
Tags: Mark Ciavarella; courtroom; court; legal system; Michael Conahan; detention center; law enforcement
-
"Schoool Radon"
The state of Pennsylvania does not require schools to test for radon, a cancer-causing chemical. In fact, the majority of school districts in the western part of the state had not "done any radon testing." Testing in other districts registered levels many times higher than the "EPA maximum safe level." One district that tested positive for radon did not share the information with parents.
Tags: Howe Elementary; Mount Lebanon; Gateway school district; Aliquippa; Allegheny County; Beaver County; Rochester; EPA
-
"Judgment Day"
Two judges accepted $2.67 million in payoffs for sending juveniles to "two for-profit" detention centers. In this investigation, the reporter uncovers the identities of the lawyer and contractor who supplied the payments, and revealed the mob connections of one of the judges.
Tags: Pennsylvania Child Care LLC; William D'Elia; Michael Conahan; Mark Ciavarella; juvenile center; Robert Mericle; Robert J. Powell
-
Concerns in Happy Valley
Penn State's football coach Joe Paterno is the winningest coach in Division I history despite the many criminal charges against his program's players over the years. A database was created using computer assisted reporting to analyze players' Pennsylvania court records over the last seven years.
Tags: Nittany Lions; off-campus; scholarship; NCAA; CAR; Football Bowl Subdivision; Big Ten; linebacker;
-
Above the Law
And Inside Edition investigation exposed an inept investigation and possibly a cover-up by the Pennsylvania State Police when they investigated a fatal accident involving Dean O'Halloran, a state police officer's stepson.
Tags: cover-up; drunk driving; field sobriety test; confidentiality laws; blood alcohol test; Pennsylvania State Police
-
Patient Privacy
Our investigation found more than 30,000 complaints nationally had been filed under HIPAA -- the health privacy law -- yet not a single hospital or doctor has been fined. The station obtained documents on hundreds of HIPAA investications in Western Pennsylvania and found all the caes were resolved through "voluntary compliance" - no fine or penalty. Moreover, the government office that oversees HIPAA actually violated patient privacy by inadvertently releasing names of some of the people who filed HIPAA complaints.
Tags: Health Information Portability and Accountability Act; HIPAA; patient rights; privacy; hospitals; health care
-
Drill Dangers
Gas industry-funded geologists announced a new estimate of 4000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath the Marcellus Shale in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, enough gas to satisfy the needs of the entire U.S. for up to 40 years. That estimate, combined with escalating natural gas prices, has caused a drilling boom in Pennsylvania. The stories discovered that Marcellus Shale drillers are drawing the millions of gallons of water needed for each well from streams, rivers and reservoirs, with no oversight or regulation. our report detailed how that practice has already caused at least two streams to run dry.
Tags: environment; natural gas; drilling boom; Pennsylvania's Right To Know Law; gas well permits; Marcellus Shale wells;
-
Casino Scandal
Scranton billionaire Louis DeNaples was awarded a slots license in December of 2006 by the Pennsylvania Gaming Board despite being a convicted felon with ties to the Bufalino Crime Family.
Tags: mafia; slot machine; Governor Ed Rendell; perjury; mobster;