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 "Reverse" ...
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Terror on the Tracks
"Terror on the Tracks" exposes major gaps in freight rail security. We spent months criss-crossing the state gathering undercover video of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains carrying hazardous cargo. We found locomotives idling, unlocked, unmanned, unguarded - with the key, called a reverser, inside. The reverser makes the train move forward or backward on the track. The presence of the reverser would allow any intruder with basic knowledge to steal the train - potentially making them easy targets for terrorists. Our sources - current engineers and conductors working for BNSF with everything to lose by talking to us - say the trains are much more vulnerable than the company or the government is willing to admit. During our investigation we discovered trains had been stolen before - mostly by joy riders - all across the country.
Tags: freight rail security; terrorists; hazardous; cargo; engineers; conductors
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ICE quietly relaxes ban on using stun gun on jailed detainees
MPR "brought to light the troubling story of an immigrant detainee shot in the testicle with a Taser gun while in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a Minnesota jail. They further revealed ICE retroactively changed its ban on jails using stung guns against ICE detainees due to pressure from local law enforcement. ICE continued to send hundreds of detainees to jails rated "deficient" and quietly reversed the failing grades."
Tags: Immigration and Customs Enforcement; ICE; immigrants; detainees; stun gun; Taser; Minnesota Department of Corrections
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Trip to Nowhere
On the eve of a vote to raise taxes nearly 10 percent and cut spending, the stories laid out in detail how auto allowances routinely granted to dozens of county officials were not justified by their documented needs. Commissioners, department heads, and 15 of their secretaries and staff were receiving what amounted to bonuses that often exceeded more than 10 times what they could document in obscure but required forms. In a followup story, the county administrator reversed course and said he would study discontinuing auto allowances that exceeded the documented needs for two recently hired county watchdogs who were supposed to guard against waste and abuse. Finally, in a third story, the county acknowledged it had failed to meet states and local requirements to document "typical" mileage before all employees began receiving allowances, and said it would change its policy.
Tags: Tax; budget cut; finance; documents; fraud; corruption; auto allowances; bonuses; county
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Financial Traps
The series explains, after the economy tanked last year, "five different schemes that made life harder for families trying to cope with financial problems." These schemes, which were promoted by financial companies and brokers, assured families help was on the way but actually caused more hardship. Furthermore, this help came at a price for the federal government, who lost "$700 million dollars" from loans.
Tags: Economy; Financial; Families; Mortgage; Mortgage foreclosure companies; Mortgage brokers; Reverse; Federal Government
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A Criminal Injustice
"Martin Tankleff was released from a New York State prison in December 2007, seventeen years after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents when he was 17. This book tells the story of how he came to be prosecuted and convicted, and how new evidence uncovered by Jay Salpeter, one of the book's authors, finally led to the reversal of his convictions."
Tags: crime; confession; false; parents; killed; murdered; death; marty tankleff;
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City's Handling of Homeless is Challenged
In a series of articles, Kohler and his colleague Tim O'Neill chronicle the city's attempts to use a municipal court order to round up homeless people and require them to clear streets of trash without actually charging them with any crime. After the first article, the city reversed its policy and eventually the court order was ruled unconstitutional by state and federal courts.
Tags: Civil rights; bill of rights; constitutional law; abuse of law; human rights
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A Shot in the Arm
Police arrested Darryl Burton on June 28, 1984, for the shooting death of Donald Ball, a notorious neighborhood gangster. Burton's trial in 1985 lasted two days, and a St. Louis jury found him guilty of capital murder and armed criminal action. Circuit Judge Jack L. Koehr sentenced the 23 year old Burton to life in prison. This story explores the murder conviction and the obstacles Burton has encountered in trying to get the conviction reversed. He was convicted on the strength of two eyewitness accounts. Gay finds that one of the eyewitnesses admitted perjury, and the other has had his character and testimony impugned by the arrival of new testimony.
Tags: Darryl Burton; reversed conviction; Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; habeas corpus; FOI
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What Happened to Molly?
The results of the South Carolina Law Enforcement investigation said Molly Wrazen's death was "most consistent" with suicide, but the county coroner and Wrazen's family were not satisfied with this answer because of the lack of evidence. As a result of this article's publication, the coroner held a rare coroner's inquest. Follow-up articles archive the reversal of the cause of death from suicide to homicide and how the SLED admitted mishandling the case.
Tags: South Carolina Law Enforcement; SLED; police; crime; suicide; homicide; murder; coroner; investigation
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Workers' Comp Inc.
By 1995, North Dakota's state Legislature had passed a sweeping reform package that brought about the first significant changes to the workers' compensation program. In this investigation nearly 10 years after the start of the program, it was found that; to the business community, the changes in workers' comp overall have been positive-premiums fell by a third; the fund itself has seen a reversal in fortune; but to some injured workers, the legislative changes have brought painful results.
Tags: worker compensation; injured employees; employer; workforce safety and insurance
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Faith amid growing Masses: Collin sees Baptist stronghold fade as wave of Catholics migrates to area
In the last 10 years in Dallas and Collin counties, a 50-year trend in religious affiliation has been reversed. Catholicism has become the dominant religion in previously Baptist strongholds. The story, based on data from the Census and the Glenmary Research Center in Nashville, Tenn., examines how migration over the years has changed the religious makeup and how that in turn has changed communities.
Tags: faith; religion; Baptists; Catholics; demographics