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 "Keller" ...
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The Lobbies at the Top
The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics documents spending on lobbying statewide, as reported by the entities seeking influence and the lobbyists they hire. In 2011, companies, advocacy groups and unions spent $220 million on lobbying in the state, a record high. One in four of those dollars targeted New York City officials. This project examines the biggest-spending lobbying clients and the most active lobbying firms and shows what they sought to win — and who actually came out ahead.
Tags: Lobbying; lobbyists; advocacy groups; New York City
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Little Known Colleges Exploit Loopholes to Make Millions Off Foreign Students
The Chronicle found numerous colleges -- most of them unaccredited -- exploit byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward $3,000 for a chance to work legally in the United States. Enabled by lax state regulations, these colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profit because they have the power, bestowed by the U.S. government, to help students get visas.
Tags: college; foreign; student; visa; unaccredited; college; university
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Inside the Financial Fiasco
In this series, it describes the underlying causes of the economic crisis. At the center of the problem were "stated-income loans, mortgages where the lenders never bothered to verify borrowers' incomes". Another cause to the crisis is the country's extraordinary amount of consumer debt. Also, now that we are in tough economic times scams are put together to target those in financial trouble and scamming them out of more money.
Tags: crisis; economy; financial; mortgage industry; investment banks; debt; banking; families; interest rates; credit; business
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Believing the Children
This story takes a look at an investigation, which took place in 1991. In 1991, satanic daycare abuse was becoming a national panic and many parents were in frenzy over this. So when Fran and Danny Keller were charged with sexually assaulting a child, everyone just believed it did happen. But many years later, the Kellers maintain their innocence while serving their time in prison. This story reinvestigates the case by retracing the original prosecution and the original police investigation report. As well as utilizing some fresh interviews from the central participants of the case, these include the Kellers themselves.
Tags: daycare; child abuse; sexual assault; prison; crime; innocent; physical; satanic; parents; children; kids
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School of Shock
This story investigates the Judge Rotenberg Center, a residential special education school in Massachusetts that treats students' problematic behavior through the use of controversial aversive therapy -- mainly in the form of electric shocks applied to the skin. This piece traces the history of aversive techniques and explores the question of when, if ever, they are appropriate; tells the story of the school and the man who founded it; explains the tough choices facing parents who consent to getting their children shocked; and describes in detail the methods used and the concerns regulators have about them.
Tags: education; therapy; psychology; alternative treatment; child abuse
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Romeo's Revenge
This investigation found that Romeo Marquez, the publisher of Philippine Village Voice, a community newspaper, used his paper as a means to shame his former girlfriend. He included explicit details of their sexual relationship in the paper, along with an account of her alleged abortion. Furthermore, during the investigation KGTV 10 found that Marquez had two wives in the United States, one wife in the Philippines and also filed false statements to the US government to help his immigration status.
Tags: sexual harassment; polygamy; corruption
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To Catch a Predator
Dateline NBC set up hidden cameras inside a rented Northern Virginia house in order to catch men on the Internet who were trying to have sex with minors. During their investigation, 19 men showed up at the house because they thought they were about to have sex with a minor. This report brought attention to "one of the fastest growing crimes in America" and also offered suggestions to parents on how to make computers safer for children.
Tags: Pornography; sexual predators; computers
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Dangerous Web
Dateline went online to impersonate children, logged onto chat rooms and then pretended to allow themselves to be lured into meetings with men who wanted to have sex with them. In hidden camera interviews Dateline showed 18 men in two days who arrived at a house set up by Dateline where the men thought they would have sex with underage teens. When questioned by Dateline, they came up with a whole litany of excuses for their behavior.
Tags: internet sex predators; child sexual abuse; undercover investigation
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Why Roofs Failed: Lessons of Two Hurricanes
Following the four hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004, this investigative team probed into why damage to homes was so significant despite seemingly high building codes. Politicians took 10 years to enact these stricter codes, meaning all homes built within that period were inadequately prepared for hurricanes. The most common type of damage was that done to roofs. This investigation found roofing tiles were not fit for Florida housetops. A flaw existed even in the brand new building codes: inland homes were not held to the same standards as those on the coast. However, these 2004 hurricanes proved damage was comparable no matter how close homes were to the water.
Tags: hurricane; wind; rain; weather; damage; building code; home; house; roof; shingle
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"Dirty Dining"
Dateline obtained more than 3,000 restaurant health inspection reports from a representative sample of 1,000 fast food restaurants in 38 states to rank the worst offenders in terms of health and safety violations. Reporters found that more than 60 percent of the restaurants had problems that could be hazardous to a diner's health.
Tags: CAR; computer-assisted reporting; food; restaurants; health inspections; fast food