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 "urbanization" ...
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Prognosis: Profits
In their quest for growth and profits, large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina have pushed up healthcare costs, paid executives millions and left thousands with bills they struggle to pay. In a joint investigation, the Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer of Raleigh found that urban hospitals in North Carolina have generated some of the nation’s largest profit margins and have amassed billions of dollars in reserves. Hospitals in the Charlotte area have sued thousands of needy patients they could afford to help, frequently putting liens on their homes and damaging their credit. Raleigh-Durham hospitals, meanwhile, have sent collection agencies after thousands of patients, ruining the credit ratings of many in the process.
Tags: Healthcare; nonprofit hospitals; patients
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Land Flips Sting Taxpayers
The Gwinett County school district is not only Georgia's largest, but arguably its most highly regarded after winning a prestigious award as the nation's top urban district. However, while the district celebrated its national acclaim, the Journal-Constitution began scrutinizing its unusually secretive land-purchasing program. After analyzing all the district's land purchases over the past 12 years, the Journal-Constitution focused on 11 mullti-million dollar transactions, many of them involving prominent and politically connected real estate developers.
Tags: Gwinett County; Georgia; School District; Land Purchasing; Sweetheart Deals
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Million-Dollar Wasteland
"This series investigates the federal government's largest housing construction program for the poor. It found that the program has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or local housing agencies that funded them."
Tags: HUD; housing; federal programs; urban housing
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"Urban League Gets Mixed Grades On Crenshaw Area Overhaul"
This series attempts to provide a "midway progress report" for a major, $25 million effort by the Los Angeles Urban League to "address academic problems at Crenshaw High School," and several other "social ills" that bother the neighborhood that surrounds the campus. Reporters interviewed members of the community, school and local law enforcement in an effort to report on the progress of the program. They found the Urban League's Neighborhoods@Work program "met some goals and fell short of others."
Tags: Los Angeles Urban League; Crenshaw High; LAPD; L.A. Unified School District; L.A. City Attorney's Office; California Public Records Act; records request
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Bad loans, No penalties
The state of Ohio leads the nation in failed loans, which the federal government corrects while the communities suffer. One of the biggest stories, which led to the investigation and this series, was when “Columbus developers walked away from an apartment-renovation project and $26 million in government-insured loans”. Further, there wasn’t anything that held these developers liable to repay the money.
Tags: Federal Housing Administration (FHA); tenants; neighbors; local officials; foreclosure; taxpayers; property; Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
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"Coaches' Salaries 2009: College Football Special Report"
The average pay for college football coaches has increased 46 percent in the last three years. Amid a floundering economy, cutbacks have spread across higher education budgets, but college football coaches continue to see a rise in their salaries. In 2009, 25 coaches made at least $2 million, which is double that of their salaries just two years ago.
Tags: Pete Carroll; Bob Stoops; Urban Meyer; college football; coach salaries; Nick Saban; NCAA; Gary Pinkel; Mizzou; Missouri Tigers; Tiger football; David Yost; Brent Pease
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Taj Mahal on the Trinity
"This story dealt with the out-of-control construction costs of public county community college urban campus." Also, the errors made by the district, the demands for more money, and failure to oversee the project until the costs estimates were up to "half-billion dollars with less than one-third of the project complete." Further, a great deal of citizens turned against the project, due to the large amount of taxpayer dollars being used.
Tags: education; facility; FOIA; Tarrant County; college district; construction; costs; colleges
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Section 8 Scandal
The series discovered that the person running the Section 8 housing program in New Orleans, was also living in the housing himself. This housing is intended for low income people and families, not those making "6-figure salaries". After this story, action was taken and new leadership was brought into the Section 8 program of the Housing Authority (HANO).
Tags: housing; government; Housing and Urban Development (HUD); federal; department; program; support
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A Crime So Monstrous
"Skinner digs deep to find slaves, slave traders and slave masters in the frontlines of the third world war zones, in rotting urban ghettos, even in suburban America."
Tags: third world; modern slavery; human trafficking; sex trade; debt-bondage;