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 "News Jersey" ...
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No Show Policing
The police chief of one of New Jersey's largest cities billed taxpayers for tens of thousands of dollars a year for off-duty "detail work", much of which was never actually performed. Subsequent reporting uncovered that a handful of influential officers, including the heads of both police unions, also enriched themselves in this way. Police records were also so sloppy that it appears taxpayers paid some officers double for working (or, in some cases, not working) the exact same hours.
Tags: taxpayers; police; off-duty; News Jersey
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An Expose of New Jersey's $8.6 billion Public School Construction Program
In response to the news that Schools Construction Corporation, an agency responsible for New Jersey's statewide school construction program, was running out of money, the Star-Ledger launched an investigation into how the program depleted its $8.6 billion budget. Their investigation revealed a number of flaws in the program including costly mid-project changes, top-dollar construction firms miscalculating the cost of equipment for the school projects, and "political interference" from then-Governor James E. McGreevey.
Tags: school districts; urban building program; cost overruns; renovation projects; political backers; unions
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Unfit for Sale: NJ's Puppy Pipeline
In a three part series, News 12 investigates how dogs 'unfit for sale' are winding up in New Jersey pet stores. Many of these stores were selling illegal dogs from unlicensed brokers, most of them raised in 'puppy mills' in Pennsylvania. It was also found that only two agents from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law are available to inspect more than 250 licensed kennels in just one county. One official accuses the bureau of 'protecting animal cruelty'.
Tags: animal cruelty; pet stores; illegal dogs; puppy mill; unlicensed brokers; breeding
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Tin Can Charities
News 12 investigates what happens to the money donated to one of the largest can-donation operations in New Jersey. It was found to have earned tens of thousands of dollars but have not spent a penny for those in need during the six years of operation. Another group fighting child abuse was found to have used donations (nearly 30 thousand a year) for personal use.
Tags: charity; donations; tin can donation operations; welfare organization; fundraiser
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Profiting from Public Service
These stories published over a period of eight days investigate how almost 120 lawmakers in New Jersey carved out high paying contracts for themselves. Lawmakers could do so legally due to a built-in protection system that did not allow any reform. This report reveals that, essentially, the officials who were part of the Legislature could further their personal businesses with the taxpayer's money.
Tags: State legislature; lawmakers in New Jersey; FOIA; New Jersey Legislature; lawmakers; Financial Fraud
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Through the roof
"Two years after New Jersey's State Commission of Investigation issued a scathing report on waste and fraud in school roofing projects in New Jersey, the state is now engaged in the largest school construction project in state history. News 12 New Jersey's I-Team looked into whether the highly touted report, and the reforms that followed had resulted in any significant improvements."
Tags: New Jersey Economic Development Agency; school construction project; SCI; NJEDA; TAPE; TV; TRANSCRIPT
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Firefighters Foundation Investigation
News 12 reports on a firefighters foundation in New Jersey that ostensibly raised money to help the families of firefighters and police officers who died while on duty. In fact, most of the donations went to out-of-state telemarketers, as the public did not know that the foundation's founder was under investigation in Florida for questionable fund-raising practices. The findings were based on electronic data form the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; NJ Open Records Law; nonprofits; fund-raising; databases
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"The New Mob" and "The FBI and Its Jersey Fences"
Daily News investigates the trade in stolen cargo in the New York region, and discovers a bigger scoop - that several FBI informants had made themselves rich by stealing cargo for years. The story's main character, Jose Maldonaldo, a cargo thief with a long rap sheet, has stolen more than $20 million in goods while working as an informant for the FBI's New Jersey office. Informants sometimes stole for themselves, and sometimes for the FBI, the investigation reveals. A few business owners talked on the record about "having paid out money to the FBI to broker deals to return their goods."
Tags: Mafia; mob; gangs; law enforcement; prosecution; justice; intelligence; courts
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Doomsday scenario at Indian Point: Nuclear power plants vulnerable to attack
This Journal News investigation reveals that Indian Point power plants could not withstand a suicide attack from a jetliner. The most vulnerable points are the containment domes, the fuel pools and the external safety system. The stories draw a dire picture of the possible consequences of a terrorist strike on the plants, which "would permanently contaminate a four-state region encompassing souther New York, northern New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Connecticut."
Tags: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; terrorism; Sept. 11 attacks; World Trade Center; Pentagon; safety; radiation
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Battle Acroos
New Jersey Monthly sheds light on the never ending competition between New Jersey and New York in attracting each other's businesses and commercial control over Hudson River. "It seems that whenever a major company threatens to pack its bags, politicians in either state will trip over themselves to find the resources to persuade it to stay," the magazine reports. The story exemplifies the battle for attracting and holding corporate players with a $1.1 billion bond issue, approved by New York governor George Pataki, designed to keep the News York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan. The article finds that "this economic tug-of-war diminishes both states."
Tags: politicians; Port Authority of New Jersey and New York; Jersey City; public subsidies; corporations; tax abatements; industrial development bonds; Time Warner; Mail.com; America Online; Lockheed Martin; Goldman Sachs; Chase Manhattan