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 "wood" ...
-
Deadly Standoff
Using Freedom of Information Act, investigative reporters at WOOD-TV went through hundreds of pages of police reports, video tapes, photographs and transcripts about the deaths of a Michigan State Police officer and the suspect during a standoff and manhunt in 2003. From this investigation, police mistakes, cover-ups were revealed and the credibility of police officials and police statements were questioned.
Tags: standoff; state police officers; suspects; deaths of police; manhunt; cover-ups
-
"Private Stites Should Have Been Saved"
Potter examines how well the Army prepares its soldiers to handle combat, and the psychological results of poor training. Potter finds that Army suicides are growing, and that the Army is at least partly to blame for these tragic deaths. Potter discovers that while young soldiers requested psychological counseling, their pleas were ignored. They instead withstood abuse by fellow soldiers and drill instructors. Potter uncovers a shocking Army policy that asks superiors to implement a series of orders "intended to humiliate and ostracize the soldier until he or she stops 'faking' [his or her psychological trauma] and 'gets on with training.' "
Tags: post-traumatic stress; war; U.S. Army; suicide; Ft. Leonard Wood Army base; psychological abuse; physical abuse
-
Exclusive Beach Towns Rely on Government Dollars to Rebuild
The ever-expanding definition of federal emergencies and the legacy of risky building along the coast have made disasters into a growing industry. Beach towns and resorts benefit from disasters by using tax-payer relief funds as a form of insurance for their municipal property. These resorts and towns carry very little insurance themselves, because they know that they can rely on federal funds to cover storm damage. The average number of federal disasters has tripled since the 1950s; since then, federal agencies have spent $140 billion. Factors such as loose criteria, lax financial standards and golf course subsidies add to the expense.
Tags: FEMA; hurricane; tropical storm; natural disaster; victim-relief; Federal Emergency Management Agency
-
State of Denial
This story looked at the conflict between Californians' consumption of resources and their environmental protection tendencies. The reporters tracked down some of the top exporters of California-bound products-oil, lumber, fish-and followed those products to their sources. They found there was environmental destruction on a scale that would never be allowed in the state of California. In two of the three cases, native indigenous people were those being harmed the most.
Tags: California Building Industry; environmental destruction; oil; lumber; fish; environmental protection; SUV; conservation; preservation; waste; gasoline; wood; paper; forest; Amazon rain forest; Ecuador; rainwater; oil companies; pollution; pipeline; environmental law; Canadian Boreal Trust; Canada's boreal forest; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; trees; California's Integrated Waste Management Board; newspaper recycling; California Air Resources board; Canada's rockfish; trawling net; Trout Unlimited; trawl quota
-
Strangely Like War: The Global Assault on Forests
This book reviews the history of deforestation, the environmental impacts of industrial wood and paper operations and the impact on endangered wildlife species and indigenous peoples. The authors review various solutions to the problems.
Tags: BOOK
-
Joan Wood
WFTS-TV discovered "blatant errors made by Dr. Joan Wood, the former medical examiner for Pinellas and Pasco Counties for 18 years. These mistakes resulted in erroneous murder charges against two fathers she accused of shaking their babies to death. Both men spent time in prison until Dr. Wood's errors prompted the state attorney to drop the charges, overturn their convictions and release both men from prison.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; medical examiner; Dr. Joan Wood; Pinellas County; Pasco County; Florida; public official; erroneous murder charges
-
Who's Driving Your Cab?
A WOOD-TV investigation reveals that "the city of Grand Rapids licenses taxi drivers who have significant criminal and bad driving records despite claims that public safety is the primary goal." The investigation started when a reporter saw drug dealing between a cab driver and another motorist at a gas station.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; safety; law enforcement; criminal records; licensing; state corrections system; alcohol; driving offenses
-
Cancer Street
There is a street in Kirby, Texas, on one side of which residents die of various forms of cancer, while their neighbors across the street remain healthy. KENS-TV investigates the mystery and reveals that most of the affected residents believe their illnesses were cause by power lines above their house. Doctors, however, say there is not enough research to conclude power lines cause cancer. The also say the Kirby street phenomenon can not be considered a cancer cluster because people are affected by many varieties of cancer, KENS reports.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; health; deaths; safety; doctors; state government; electric; magnetic fields; electricity
-
Cherokee Jail Death
A series of stories about the death of Christopher Lee Wood, a 26-year-old diabetic who died while he was an inmate in the Cherokee County, North Carolina jail. He died "hours after his parents pleaded with 911 dispatchers and jailers to give their son life-saving insulin." The county's chief jailer refused outside efforts to save Wood and she was later fired and charged with manslaughter. The series found jailers did not provide medical treatment to Wood as they are required to do by state law.
Tags: Christopher Lee Wood; jail; Cherokee County; North Carolina; jail medical treatment; jailers
-
Northern Arc: Road to Riches
The Chronicle reports that officials who are supposed to approve or reject the construction of a proposed $2.2 billion highway north of Atlanta, own significant tracts of land close to it. The road would potentially increase the value of their land. One of the officials, Richard Chandler, resigned from the Atlanta Regional Commission Board after the publications, later followed by another three officials, including William Hasty, head of the state department of transportation.
Tags: ethics; transportation; roads; land development; Georgia Open Records Act