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 "unaccounted" ...
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Justice in the Shadows
Although immigration is one of America’s most divisive, visceral, and hotly debated issues, the public rarely gets a close look at the vast law enforcement network that every year detains more than 400,000 suspected illegal immigrants. Courts often operate inside prisons, far from view. Immigration officials play by rules that would not be permitted for the police or the FBI. Here is a system heavily shielded from public scrutiny. Reporting even routine activities is a challenge. Boston Globe reporters Maria Sacchetti and Milton J. Valencia, however, penetrated the wall of secrecy. Their three-part series, “Justice in the Shadows,” revealed a dysfunctional and largely unaccountable system that locks up people who pose little threat while releasing dangerous criminals back to US streets because their home countries won’t take them back. The results, Sacchetti and Valencia showed, at times can be deadly for Americans and foreigners alike. The reporting was anything but quick or easy. Sacchetti and Valencia filed more than 20 Freedom of Information Act requests to federal agencies that comprise the immigration system. Nearly all of them were partially or wholly denied, purportedly to protect the privacy of the immigrants. With the federal government blocking the way, Sacchetti and Valencia found other avenues to document what was happening inside this Byzantine system, investing a year to do so. The effort to shed light on the immigration system continues: The Globe has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to force the agency to reveal the names of more than 8,000 criminal foreigners released in the US because they couldn’t be deported.
Tags: security; Department of Homeland Security; illegal immigrants; FBI
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Budget Drain: Leaky pipes, slow response, cost city millions
Panama City cannot account for 575 million gallons of water. The problem is attributed in part to leaky pipes, old water meters and municipal consumption which is not recorded. The amount of water missing equates to approximately $1.3 million.
Tags: Panama City; gallons; water; missing; revenue; 575 million; leaky pipes; leaks; leaking; city; usage; unaccounted;
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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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Police Illegally Buying Machine Guns
"An ongoing, in-depth investigation, coupled with ongoing Freedom of Information litigation, of the secret, illegal purchase of dozens of machine guns by officers of the Albany, NY Police Department who used their agency's authority to buy automatic weapons for official use only as a means to acquire restricted firearms for personal sport and amusement. Eventually, the guns began turning up for sale in at least two gun stores. To this day, several machine guns remain missing and unaccounted for while the department refuses to comply with New York's FOI Laws and has fought disclosure of the truth at every turn."
Tags: police; weapons; fireams; FOI; city government; law enforcement; gun control
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Falling Apart/Licensed, Bonded, Unaccountable
The Oregonian revealed that new residential structures across the Northwest are suffering sometimes catastrophic damage from moisture not just due to poor workmanship, but also to shoddy construction, trouble-prone building materials, inappropriate design and unanticipated complications caused by energy efficient building codes. The stories detail the financial and emotional impact on homeowners, how their dispute with builders has clogged the legal system and how builders have turned to the Legislature for protection from a rash of litigation. In addition, the investigation reveals that the Oregon Construction Contractors Board, the state agency charged with protecting consumers from bad contractors, has allowed builders with histories of incompetence, insolvency and unethical behavior to continue building, without notifying consumers of the dangers.
Tags: CAR; Oregon Construction Contractors Board; Northwest; Portland; construction defect litigation; builders; Oregon Legislature; Construction Claims Task Force; regulation
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Missing School Inventory
This is a three-part series that uncovered years of sloppy record-keeping by the Department of Education. In one year $45 million of equipment went unaccounted for. For years, schools either ignored or slapped together inventory reports.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Department of Education
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Millions Missing at Area Schools
A KMOL-TV investigation reveals that "millions of dollars worth of computers, TVs, printers bought by San Antonio school districts are missing." The story points out that this happens at the same time when "some of these districts are cutting staff and raising your taxes." The report focuses on the three biggest districts in the San Antonio area, in one of which equipment worth $2.5 million has been stolen or unaccounted.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; accounting; taxpayers; public interest; audit; San Antonio School District; education; Sam Houston High School; Jefferson High School; John Jay High School
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In The Land of the Lost
When Saigon fell in April 1975, 2,583 servicemen were unaccounted-for in Southeast Asia. Now Americans are embarked on a mission to find these men who never came home. The Virginia Pilot gives a first hand account of the U.S. military's ongoing effort to find those who failed to return, dead or alive, from the war in Southeast Asia.
Tags: Vietnam; war; American Green Berets
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The Perfect Terrorist Weapon
60 Minutes found that Russian tactical nuclear weapons called atomic demolition munitions or "suitcase bombs" were unaccounted for. General Alexander Lebed said he was Yeltsin's National Security Advisor, he had ordered an inventory of the suitcase bombs and could not find more than eighty of the small portable nuclear weapons.
Tags: TAPE
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Nonprofit and unaccountable
The Herald-Republic's investigation found that two of Yakima County's largest nonprofit agencies serving poor children diverted roughly $2.5 million in state child-care funds into unrestricted accounts over a four-year period. Meanwhile, hundreds of needy children were put on waiting lists.
Tags: Migrant Council