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 "swimming" ...
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Sink or Swim: Mavericks High Schools claim to help trouble students, but questions persist about their quest for profits from taxpayer money
The investigation reveals that the for-profit charter school Mavericks in Education Florida drive for profit conflicts with the company's mission of helping at-risk kids graduate from high school. Maverick's graduation rates are abysmal, former employees allege its attendance records and grades are falsified, and the schcools receive "incomplete" grades from the Florida Department of Education. Using taxpayer funds, the company is promising thousands of kinds an education that it does not deliver.
Tags: high school; mavericks; falsified; grades; frank biden
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Drowning in Neglect
KHOU-TV discovers 1300 public swimming pools in Houston were getting a free pass for not meeting safety standards. City health inspectors failed to give violations for substandard drain covers, missing life preservers and emergency phones, and even a lack of chlorine. Health experts claim the condition of many of these pools invites the spread of disease and should warrant closure of the pool.
Tags: pools; safety; health inspection; chlorine; swimming
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Who's Watching Your Kids
Several lifeguards hired by the City of Memphis to work its pools were convicted criminals. The city hadn't conducted pre-employment background checks on "temporary employees" prior to 2007.
Tags: criminal past; felony; firearm; endangerment; job application; swimming pool; recreation;
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The Dolphin Trade
Primetime tracked the illegal trade of captured wild dophins around the world. Wild dolphins are captured and sold to "swim with the dolphins" parks in resort areas. The story ranged from Japan to Haiti to the Solomon Islands and included exclusive interviews and tense confrontations with dolphin captors and smugglers.
Tags: dolphins; animal trade
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Aloha Al Qaeda
This story delves into wasteful spending by the Department of Homeland Security. Among other scenes are outgoing secretary Tom Ridge lounging by the pool at a resort hotel in Hawaii while other staffers swim and snorkel nearby, all on a working day and at taxpayers' expense.
Tags: government waste; war on terror; misappropriation of public funds
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Toxic Chemicals Taint Barton Water
At least half a million visitors swim in this a natural pool in Barton Springs, Texas. As these reporters reveal this water is contaminated with carcinogens including DDT and other benzene-based carcinogens. Apparently, the authorities knew about this since eight years but had not stopped people from swimming in the pool. After this series of investigations though the authorities ordered an investigation.
Tags: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; carcinogens; DDT; benzene; Barton Springs; Public Health
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Justice Betrayed
The series examined how a 28-year-old Vidalia, Ga., ex-convict with cocaine in his system ended up dead at the bottom of the city attorney's swimming pool, the flawed police investigation that followed, and the small-town political structure that held no one accountable for the death. The series exposed the shoddy investigation, rampant wiretapping and a drug culture that permeates Middle Georgia. It told the story of a young state police investigator who attempted to get to the bottom of the death, and how she was run out of her job before she could find answers.
Tags: Georgia; City attorney; death; drugs; cocaine; cover-up
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Borderline Terror
This story deals with investigating federal plans to protect the Vermont/Canada border from terrorists crossing into the U.S. By talking to customs officials in the U.S. and Canada, News 7 found that the 2 lakes in Vermont that border Canada are not monitored for half of the year. So there is nothing stopping illegal immigrants from swimming or boating to the United States. The investigation also found that the atmosphere at large border stations is more strict when compared to smaller border stations.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FOI; Canadian National Security Intelligence Report; immigration; immigration policy; customs; customs officials; terrorism; Canada; Department of Homeland Security; illegal immigrants; Vermont border; Canada border; U.S. Department of Immigration
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Swimming in Trouble
The mayor of Pompano Beach, Bill Griffin, maintains cozy relationships with lobbyists and big-time developers. Norman follows the connections through citizen complaints and interviews with the players themselves. The result was a State Attorney's Office investigation into the mayor and a mayor-at-large initiative put to the public.
Tags: conflict of interest; developers; zoning; city government; lobbyists
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Fish and Foul
Forty percent of the rivers and streams in the US are too polluted to use for swimming or fishing. The Clean Water Act of 1972 helped dramatically but runoff from mines, farms, and streets is still making water degradation a problem for the country. What's being done to stop it, or what can be done is discussed in this article.
Tags: pollution; water pollution; water; farm waste; mines; clean water act; EPA