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 "tolls" ...
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Led by an innocent into a web of evil
The investigation chronicles the tireless efforts of Boston federal agents who followed the trail of a single photo of a distraught toddler erroneously sent to them by a Boston-area man obsessed with child pornography. It ended with the arrests of more than 42 men from California to Mexico and the discovery of more than 140 exploited children, one of them only days old. In the telling, staff writer Jenifer B. McKim deftly details the exploding worldwide problem of child pornography, the new and innovative efforts made by investigators to rescue children and track down criminals, and the devastating toll that child porn takes on victims and families.
Tags: child porn; pornography; sex abuse; children
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Sun Sentinel: Speeding Cops
A Miami cop in his marked patrol car set off a public fury in the fall of 2011 when a Florida state trooper clocked him going 120 mph to an off-duty job. Turning to technology and a never-before used tool – highway toll records – the Sun Sentinel produced back-to-back investigations documenting widespread police misconduct and the professional solidarity that allowed it to flourish. In "Above the Law," a three-part series published in February, reporters used police toll records to confirm what many South Florida drivers had witnessed for years: cops were among the worst speeders on the roads, taking advantage of the badge and patrol car to ignore the very laws they enforce. "Short Shifted," a two-part series published in December, used those same toll records to detail how many South Florida cops, paid to serve and protect, were regularly leaving their beats and cities before their shifts ended.
Tags: Police; police speeders
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What Trinity Toll Road Backers Didn't Tell Us
In 2007, Dallas voters rendered a judgement on the largest public works project in city history, casting ballots in a referendum that had become a surprisingly close, all-in-battle between grassroots activists and the Dallas business and cultural establishment. The question- should the city's multi-billion plan to transform Dallas' long-neglected riverfront into a massive series of parks, forests, white-water rapids, and other natural wonders be built, as planned, with a $2 billion high-speed toll road running right through it?
Tags: Dallas; 2007; Toll Road; Grassroots Activist
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E-470 Expenses
After a public records request, KUSA-TV found that toll money covered massages, expensive trips, and stays at luxury hotels for some E-470 staff members and board members.
Tags: E-470; Public Records
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"Easy Money, BTO Business: The Truth of 'Tax Shield of Macquarie'"
In an attempt to develop the country of Korea during an economic crisis, the government established the Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) system, which allowed a toll fee to be applied to many roads. However, in order for the system to work, an additional system, the Minimum Revenue Guarantee, had to be introduced. The MRG guaranteed companies receive a "minimal income level from the government" when the toll fee fell "short of projections." This angered many people who did not use the roads due to the high toll fee.
Tags: MKIF; Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund; Build-Transfer-Operate; BFO; Woomyunsan Tunnel; Seoul; National Pension Service
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Dead by Mistake
Studies indicate that the death toll for preventable deaths by medicine has more than doubled in the last ten years. "Death by Mistake" assesses the headway being made in the medical industry to reduce likeliness of preventable death.
Tags: medical; preventable; death; Trevor Nelson; Institute of Medicine; patient safety; adverse events;
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The Protected
One million cars owned by California public employees have license plates that shield their information from prying eyes. That secrecy can enable them to run toll booths and red lights and avoid parking citations. They also signal police that the drivers are "one of their own" or related to someone who is, causing many to let these public employees off with a warning.
Tags: license plates; California; law enforcement; traffic violations; cronyism; red light cameras; speeding tickets
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Tollway Junket
"The North Texas Tollway Authority, a public entity, sent 5 representatives on an all-expenses paid trip to Vienna, Austria to attend the International Bridge, Tunnel and Tollway Association's annual meeting. The trip cost tollway users more than $42,000 dollars and our hidden cameras revealed some representatives dining on five star meals, catered by companies with multi-million dollar construction contracts."
Tags: North Texas Tollway Authority; transportation; roads; toll roads; Texas; conflict of interest; funding; hidden camera; budget; public;
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E-Z Pass Problems
Maryland's E-Z Pass system that "signals a computer as the motorists goes through a toll plaza to automatically subtract the cost of the toll from their E-ZPass holder account" has problems. WBAL found that batteries were wearing out but the state didn't send out notices and were denying fine appeals.
Tags: transportation; toll roads; state government; products;
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Meeting Resistance
A full-length documentary film, "Meeting Resistance" provides personal narratives of people involved in the resistance in Iraq. The documentary clarifies why, to this day, the violence in Iraq continues. It provides a "deeper understanding of both the toll of occupation and the human condition of resistance."
Tags: Iraq; resistance; Iraq war; occupation; insurgents