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 "zoning laws" ...
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Steamrolled
The story documents how Houston residents are being exposed to industrial pollution with no protection from state and local regulators. Because Houston does not have zoning laws, industrial plants can be built in residential neighborhoods.
Tags: pollution; industrial plant; neighborhoods; residents; housing
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Billboard Confidential
This story was an investigation into the billboard industry in the City of Los Angeles. They found a business blatantly breaking the law by placing thousands of illegal signs all over the city, and government officials doing nothing to stop it. The story revealed the Los Angeles City Council made sweetheart deals with certain sign companies, allowing them to break the city's own zoning laws. Some of these deals were done behind closed doors, with no input from the community. This relationship seemed to benefit both parties. The journalists revealed every single council member received campaign contributions from members of the billboard industry, who in turn made millions -- if not billions -- off of LA's streetscapes
Tags: Los Angeles; zoning; signs; billboards; campaign contributions; sweetheart deals; Los Angeles City Council
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The Great Empire Zone Giveaway
"One of New York's top business-incentive programs wasted millions of dollars a year in tax money. New York tried to keep secret the waste in the $600-million-a-year Empire Zone."
Tags: Empire Zone; real estate; Home Depot; law firms; tax; FOIA
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I-95 Speed zones are not most dangerous
This investigation found that speed zones in Brevard County, FL, were established not necessarily because of high rates of speed-related accidents, but merely in areas where people who supported the law lived. Some of the zones are actually in places with very low rates of speeding-related crashes.
Tags: traffic; transportation; highways; department of highway safety; microsoft access
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Too Close For Comfort
Known child sex offenders are not permitted to live within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds, or other facilities that provide programs for minors only. After an investigation, nine sex offenders were found to violate the 500 feet law.
Tags: sex offender; child molestation; sexual abuse; zoning law; Peoria Police; Bloomington
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Drug war enforcement hits minorities hardest
"According to federal data, blacks make up just 13 percent of the nation's illicit drug users, but they are 32 percent of those arrested for drug violations and 53 percent of those incarcerated in state prisons for drug crimes. ... The story explains why such disparities exist by examining the different ways drugs are sold in urban areas compared with suburban areas, and the different ways law enforcement respond to drug crimes in those areas."
Tags: drugs; minorities; inmates; Illinois; prisons; drug free zones; Chicago
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Forgery claim blurs tribe's fate
Forged documents were used as part of a land development deal involving the ousted leader of the Amah Mutsun Indian Tribe and her San Diego-based development partner. The Bureau of Indian Affairs remained neutral on the matter even after learning that the documents were forged.
Tags: Native Americans; Indians; forgery; real estate; development; Bureau of Indian Affairs; zoning laws
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Spalliero's Empire
Developer Anthony Spalliero was charged and indicted by a federal grand jury in 2005 for bribing the former mayor and others in exchange for building and zoning approvals. Although the Asbury Park Press reported on Spalliero's close involvement with local officials since 2003, after his arrest the Press unearthed thousands of pages of documents detailing lawsuits, regulatory records, land transactions and other information detailing Spalliero's empire. Among other findings, the four-day series revealed that Spalliero maintained two families at once, videotaped a pornographic movie of a girlfriend having sex with another man, violated building laws and broke agreements with business partners.
Tags: corruption; building violations; New Jersey; Florida; Marlboro
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Sex Offender Central
Oklahoma state officials placed a probation and parole office, where sex offenders are required to check-in regularly, directly across the street from an elementary school. Not only does it violate the sex offenders' parole to visit the center, but it may also put the children at risk.
Tags: FOIA; freedom of information; sex crimes; sex offenders; school zone exclusion laws; education
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Killing By Numbers
"This is the story of three young Army snipers who were court-martialed after they and other members of their sniper team killed at least four unarmed Iraqis." Benjamin "showed that the ensuing chaos blurred the boundaries of acceptable conduct in a war zone. In fact, in three of the four killings, the soldier's actions appeared to be within the bounds of their commanders' orders and interpretation of the Law of Armed Conflict."
Tags: military; army; Iraq; civilian; sniper; Army Evan Vela; Pentagon;