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 "subdivision" ...
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"NCAA - College Athletic Fees"
In this months-long report, USA Today analyzed hundreds of "financial reports" that college athletic programs are "required to release to the NCAA." They found that many schools are relying more on student fees to finance sports programs (without student's knowledge). The investigation also reveals a growing "unrest" at many universities in response to the financial "divide between sports and academics."
Tags: Football Bowl Subdivision; Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics; Big East Conference; University of Cincinnati; Nebraska State; Louisiana State; Atlantic Coast; Big Ten; Big 12; Pacific-10; Southeastern
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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;
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Toxic Neighbors
Industrial plants with toxic chemicals were located blocks from homes, apartment complexes and schools. Some were found across the street from residences. The staff mapped where hazardous material sites were located in relation to densely-populated areas.
Tags: housing; toxins; poison; factory; zoning; subdivision; inner city; EPA; health; chlorine;
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Foreclosure's Fallout
"The growing foreclosure crisis affects not only banks and borrowers, but anyone who lives in a neighborhood with a foreclosed home. Foreclosures are spreading even into newly built suburban subdivisions - and can often have a contagious effect, reducing property values in a neighborhood and pushing even more properties into foreclosure."
Tags: foreclosures; banks; borrowers; subdivisions; property values; subprime mortgages; homeowners
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Hidden Hazards: A Legacy of Neglect
Robert McCabe unmasked a failed environmental protection system on the local, state and federal level in Chesapeake, Virginia, that permitted developers to build housing on lands with serious pollution problems. In his first report, McCabe explained how in one subdivision, the lead contamination is so high that home buyers in part of the neighborhood will be forbidden to grow vegetables or to water their lawns with groundwater. Furthermore, their homes sit over an old dump site with high levels of underground combustible gas.
Tags: pollution; Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); River's Edge at Quailshire; environmental hazards; lead contamination
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The Judge's Subdivision
Hector San Miguel, the city editor at American Press, received a tip that State District Judge Wilford Carter was building residential subdivisions without required permits, even though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State Licensing Board of Contractors warned him not to do so. Carter continued building subdivisions on top of a restricted wetlands area without getting the required permits first and hid his wrongdoing's from the City Council and local zoning board. When owners of some of the lots came forward to be reimbursed, Carter refused to give them their money.
Tags: real estate; public officials; judge corruption; State Licensing Board of Contractors; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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Trouble on the Farm
This series about the University of Nevada-Reno's unethical treatment of their research animals came after five months of extensive investigation by the Reno Gazette-Journal. One university professor is under fire for filing complaints with the USDA about the neglect of animals used to help find new treatments for various diseases. One of the allegations looks at how the university has been disposing of animal carcasses (or parts) in their farm property just a few hundred yards from a Hidden Valley, a residental subdivision. Animal carcasses are left in the open air for coyotes, increasing coyote problems in the area. Other allegations include the unnecessary deaths of 38 pregnant ewes because they were not given food or water, research pigs housed with minimal water or space, and lack of regulations and quality controls for the university.
Tags: research animals; University of Nevada-Reno; Hidden Valley; United States Department of Agriculture
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2002 IRE National Conference Show and Tell Tape #2
2002 IRE National Conference (San Francisco) Show and Tell Tape #2 features the following stories 1) Tim Minton (WNBC-New York City) Security at local hospitals are lacking. 2) Brian Collister (KMOL-San Antonio) An inordinate number of court case have been thrown out of the local county court because judges ruled the defendants lacked a speedy trial. 3) Clips from a PBS project concerning scientists' genetic experiments. 4) Kevin Quinn (KFSN-Fresno) Area residents are suspicious of a local Muslim village called Baladullah, where the sounds gunfire has been heard emanating from the grounds. 5) Dan Noyes (KGO-San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose) Guardrails in California are often installed incorrectly, turning the protective barriers into potential dangers. 6) Craig Fiegener (ABC 30 Action News) Fifteen travelers are swindled by a travel agency, which sold them unconfirmed tickets for a cruise. 7) Joel Grover (CBS 2-Los Angeles) An undercover investigation reveals that valet parking attendants at LA's hottest night clubs steal from their customers. 8) Paul Gallagher (60 Minutes) An investigation of the U.S. Marine Corps' MV-22 "Osprey" aircraft reveals serious mechanical problems that contributed to two crashes in 2000, which killed 23 Marines. 60 Minutes also reports that "senior officers in the Osprey squadron had deliberately falsified maintenance records and lied about the aircraft's readiness -- in an apparent effort by the Marine Corps to win Pentagon approval for full production of the aircraft, at a projected cost to U.S. taxpayers of $41 billion." 9) Tom Martino (KDVR-Denver) An undercover investigation reveals that many beauty salons use a dangerous chemical to make fake nails. 10) (WGHP-Greensboro) An investigation reveals that construction works who built the homes in a subdivision failed to install the chimneys correctly, making them dangerous for those who live there. 11) Darcy Spears (KVBC-Las Vegas) A hearing aid center uses bait and switch tactics to take advantage of the elderly. 12) Jim Kenyon (WSTM-Syracuse, New York) Criminals in Canada involved in advance fee loan scams trick Americans out of thousands of dollars. 13) Bob Segall (WITI-Milwaukee) An undercover investigation reveals that security guards at a local county courthouse don't do a good job of stopping banned items from entering the building. 14) Karen Hensel (WISH-Indianapolis) Marian County inspectors don't always review homes under construction. 15) (WBTV-Charlotte, N.C.) Members of the Iredell-Statesville School Board use district funds to attend an education conference -- but then skip the convention and go on a vacation to Disney World, all on the taxpayer's dime. 16) Valeri Williams (WFAA-Dallas/Fort Worth) WFAA-TV follows up its 2000 IRE Awards entry with this return investigation into Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. Reporter Williams and producer Schucker continued their investigation, focusing on Dr. Lydia Grotti and her connection to suspicious and overlooked deaths in the emergency room. As a result of WFAA-TV's investigation the Texas Department of Health began conducting its own investigation and discovered additional deaths that took place in the ER. The county district attorney's office called in a special prosecutor to examine a total of eight suspicious deaths in connection with Dr. Grotti at the hospital. On Tape #2 is a short clip of Williams' work. Tape #3 features the entire series of stories she played at Show and Tell.
Tags: TAPE; San Francisco; conference; no transcripts; IRE
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Slicing through the rules: Genesis of a land deal"
A Toronto Star investigation reveals that "the best friend of Mike Harris, the Premier of Ontario (the political equivalent of a U.S. governor), succeeded in overturning long-standing government policies to pave the way for the building of a luxury golf course and subdivision. The friend and his fellow investors - who also included ranking members of Harris' hometown political machine - stood to make millions as a result of the change."
Tags: FOIA; property records; titles; land; money and politics; business
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The many investigations of J.D. Johnson
A FW Weekly investigation finds that "a corrupt county commissioner with a sleazy past ... has broken numerous laws, got favorable zoning changes and built roads to nowhere for his political supporters, paved streets in sub-division where his son had new house near where other homeowners have been waiting for years to get streets paved; used his position to get himself and his friends and family out of trouble with the cops, used threats to intimidate his political enemies...." The story sheds light on how the commissioner helped elect a born-again Christian as sheriff. When their friendship soured, the government official ended up the subject of a secret investigation ordered by the sheriff.
Tags: FOIA; campaign finance; contributions; fund-raising; money and politics; Texas Open Record Act; law enforcement; conflicts of interest; abuse of power