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 "relief" ...
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Hung Out to Dry
FEMA is currently in the “final stages of revisiting all of the flood maps throughout the country”. The investigation revealed major problems in the mapping and these mistakes could be costly to the residents in these areas. These residents living in the “flood zones” must pay flood insurance or risk losing their homes. Many of the residents believe they should be excluded from the flood area and come together to prove FEMA wrong.
Tags: Federal Emergency Management Agency; South Central Los Angeles; Oxford; Southern California; disaster; relief; help; flood base level
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Tax-free agencies get little scrutiny
The state of South Dakota depends on sales tax for a large portion of its revenue. But the state has also issued thousands of tax-exempt licenses to nonprofit organizations. The question about these organizations is whether they are actually providing relief to others and if they even still exist. But these questions might not be answered because the state doesn’t track the transactions, even though they are losing revenue.
Tags: sales tax; revenue; South Dakota; tax system; nonprofit organizations; tax-exempt; tax laws; state tax
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Charity or Con?
One hundred victims of Hurricane Katrina were supposed to have their homes rebuilt because of a multi-million dollar charity, but families were left homeless and the money was unaccounted. The charity, "100 Homes, 100 Days," was a partnership of national charities like the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and local charities, collecting more than $3 million.
Tags: homeowner; hurricane relief; donation; donate; natural disaster; Home Depot; Pascagoula;
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The Day the Earth Caved In: An American Mining Tragedy
The book investigates an underground mine fire that has raged out of control since John F. Kennedy occupied the White House, spewing toxic gases and causing the relocation of an entire mining community. Drawing on interviews with key participants and new research, the book exposes the failures of major political and government figures, and investigates individual rights, corporate privilege and governmental indifference to the powerless.
Tags: mining accident; cave in; fire; natural disasters; government; relief; relocation
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In the Danger Zone
"This series revealed how seriously inaccurate federal flood maps for coastal Alabama have contributed to hurricane flood losses, encouraged unsafe construction, and influenced people to forego flood insurance." FEMA’s flood maps drastically underestimate the reality of coastal flooding in large areas of Alabama; the author used GIS to show that floods in the area are six to nine times more frequent than federal predictions.
Tags: environment; hurricane; GIS; FEMA: disaster relief; insurance; mapping
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The Wait of Conviction
The poor people in Richmond County that were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and almost half were not able to appeal their cases. Of those who were able to appeal, on in five would win some sort of relief, while three men died in prison without any review of their convictions.
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September 11 Lax Loans
"The government's $5 billion effort to help small businesses recover from the Sept. 11 attacks was so loosely managed that it gave low-interest loans to companies that didn't need terrorism relief - or even know they were getting it."
Tags: September 11, 2001; loans; companies; Ground Zero;
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Divine Intervention: U.S. AIDS Policy
"The Center’s year-long investigation revealed how rigid rules and funding earmarks of President's Bush $15-billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS abroad- the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief- hinder effective HIV programming and frustrate countries struggling with the pandemic."
Tags: AIDS; HIV; South Africa; PEPFAR; Ethiopia; Haiti; condoms; education; generic drugs; brand name drugs
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Windfall
The Department of the Interior, "particularly under the Bush Administration," has let energy companies neglect paying billions of dollars to the government "for oil and natural gas they pump on federal land and federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico." Over the course of a year, the Times reported the various aspects of this story, resulting in five investigations by the inspector general, including two inquiries involving the Justice Department.
Tags: Oil; natural gas; energy; royalty relief; Interior Department; gas pumped on federal land
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Katrina Crime: Perceived or Real?
These stories showed that many months of steep declines in major violent crime in San Antonio ended within weeks of the arrival of Katrina evacuees and began a steady double digit climb in homicide, aggravated robbery and a variety of other violent crime categories. The stories pointed out that, while it was impossible to conclusively link crime to evacuees, this correlation was almost identical to that which was successfully cited by Houston in funding requests to FEMA and other agencies. The series identified crime hotspots in and around a number of resettlement areas and portrayed the feelings experiences of evacuees, native neighbors and business owners in these areas.
Tags: Hurricane Katrina; evacuees; natural disaster; relief aid; FEMA; crime; crime data; mapping; homicide reports; computer-assisted reporting