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 "wine" ...
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Wine Tasting Investigation
Inside Edition went to Santa Ynez, California - site of the movie "Sideways" - to look into the possibility that excessive wine tasting can render a person inebriated. While wine tasting is usually done in 1-ounce or slightly more portions, "local law enforcement officials told (Inside Edition) that wine tasters leaving the wineries late in the day to travel along the small two-lane roads create a huge risk to themselves and other drivers." The show found out about a fatal accident that occurred between the wineries and the main highway, with the reporters discovering that "the group had been wine tasting all day, and the driver was three times over the legal limit." Inside Edition "instituted teams to follow wine tasters throughout the day to see how much wine they were drinking before getting back in their cars." They saw one driver who had "nearly 30 tastes, or the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine, in just five hours" attempt to drive home.
Tags: wine tasting; winery; driving under the influence; DUI; drunk driving; wine consumption
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Sour Grapes
This story exposes a Dallas wine retailer who uses false health and wine information to lure novice wine enthusiasts into buying large quantities of close-out and spoiled wines at highly inflated prices. False health information used to sell these wines may violate Texas law, which states that advertising for such products may not be false or misleading.
Tags: alcohol; alcoholic beverages; wine retailers; false advertising
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Tangled Vines
In 1992, a California politician opened a winery with about two dozen investors. By the summer of 2003, the business was bankrupt and the politician ended up with all of the company's major assets, while the other investors had worthless stock. This investigation chronicles the downfall of the winery and specifically focuses on the nine months between October 2002 and July, 2003, when a complex series of events resulted in the dissolution of the winery and an unfair distribution of assets.
Tags: wine; grapes; George Radanovich; conservative; real estate development; congress; U.S. House of Representatives
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Under the Influence
Dixon discovers that Michigan's beer and wine distributors are protected by state law from competition, with none of their customers getting any price breaks. Dixon and the Free Press conducted a survey that indicated beer and wine prices had a tendency to be higher in Michigan than in neighboring states. The prices are so high that Northwest Airlines had to truck beer from Minnesota to Lansing's Metro Airport instead of buying the beer locally. Wholesalers retain this control because the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to make campaign contributions to legislators, paying for legislators' lavish vacations, and picking up their bar and restaurant tabs. Dixon found that out of the 148 people elected to the Michigan House and Senate in 2002, all but 9 received contributions from the beer and wine wholesalers' political action committee.
Tags: Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association; Michigan legislature; Michigan Liquor Control Commission; Michigan campaign finance; Northwest Airlines; beer and wine wholesalers' political action committee; Michigan Campaign Finance Network; alcohol wholesaler lobbying
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Wining and dining allowed, but, please, no wooing
This Inquirer investigation into lobbyists' reports reveals the shortcomings of New Jersey's disclosure laws. While the amount of money lobbyists spent mushroomed to more than $10 million in 1989, a number of loopholes in the law leave some of the recipients of that money unknown. The reports did disclose how some legislators were wined and dined and how others were wooed with golf and trips to sporting events.
Tags: lobbyists; lobbying disclosure law; lawmakers; legislature; government; politics
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DUI Arrests Plunge
"Columbus, Ga. was a city in which drunken driving was a crime aggressively pursued in the past, including the use of task force operations and regular checkpoints to take DUI offenders off the roadways. But from 1997-2002, Columbus DUI arrests dropped more than 50 percent. By 2002, more than a third of all DUI arrests were the result of accidents, not enforcement measures." Reporter Jim Houston of the Ledger-Inquirer discovered this disturbing trend by using computer-assisted reporting to analyze such records as the state and superior court records of DUI offenses over five years and records of liquor licenses issued over the same period. Further investigation revealed that a double-digit manpower shortage of police officers, coupled with a lack of compliance, were partly to blame. A brief follow-up story published on June 21, 2003 is included as well, noting the effect of the original story on local law enforcement agencies - including the city police and county sheriff's department's decision to join forces on the DUI issue.
Tags: drunk driving; drunk; drinking; DUI; DWI; drunken driving; arrest; arrests; alcohol; checkpoints; check points; liquor; beer; wine; CAR; court records; open records request; police; offense
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"Winning Without Food and Cigars"
Using the face of Judy Taylor, a longtime Kentucky lobbyist, Swope describes the new world order under a strict statehouse lobbying law. The "no-cup-of-coffee" restriction barring gifts from lobbyists to legislators changed the Capitol climate, but Taylor says it's "more professional." Lobbyists must use new techniques, including getting into lawmakers' districts, to reach them in the new era devoid of lavish receptions.
Tags: lobbying; lobbyist; legislature; statehouse; capital; Capitol; Kentucky; wining; dining; ethics; ethical
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The bonfire of the wineries
In this article Outside provides insight into the feud between Napa Valley vinters and Napa Valley ecologist, who accuse the vinters of ruining surrounding land and impairing the Napa River.
Tags: Environment; wine; wineries; ecology
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Babysitters Investigation
Extra investigated the problems faced by traveling families in need of a babysitter. Often, such families are "at the mercy of a babysitter referred to them by hotel concierges or yellow page ads. We set up a sting which resulted in a convicted crook stealing whiskey, wine, drugs and gambling chips on hidden camera. She was subsequently arrested and convicted...."
Tags: TAPE TRANSCRIPT undercover video hidden camera Las Vegas
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Diesel fuel dye, required by the IRS, poses a risk to jet engines, some experts say
The New York Times finds that red fuel dye, mandated by I.R.S. regulations since 1994, has been wreaking havoc at the nation's airports by contaminating millions of gallons of jet fuel whose normal color should be somewhere between water and white wine.