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 "abandoned land" ...
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Watchdog Report: Digging into City Hall's Money Mess
A two-month investigation found that the city of San Diego did not have records showing how much land it owned or how it was being used. The city did have an inventory of property, but it was in complete disarray. Not only was it missing land, but it also included property the city didn't own. And the city's records didn't always reflect how the land actually was being used. For instance, one parcel labeled as a street was actually a vacant lot. We found that the city also was neglecting some of its most valuable land. It owned a rat-infested house in La Jolla that had been vacant for more than a decade. A lot that a woman had bequeathed to the city to benefit parks and libraries was covered with trash.
Tags: land records; San Diego; La Jolla; abandoned land; vacated land; city land; public land; public property
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"Abandoned Promises: Why America's coalfields aren't cleaned up"
While more than 9,500 coal mines across the country are abandoned and in need of serious cleaning, billions of dollars designated for this task are being used for other projects. This report is the only one to look into the successes and failures of the federal Abandoned Mine Land program.
Tags: Abandoned Mine Land program; Department of Environmental Protection; Office of Surface Mining; environmental cleanup
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Stanford's disappearing game refuge.
The Stanford University foothills, which are major spots of academic and technological advancement today, are in fact lands dedicated by the state legislature as a state game refuge in 1927. The Weekly reveals how the California Department of Fish & Game abandoned management of the refuge in the early 1950s. Further, the story discusses why the refuge status remains relevant today, despite Fish & Game and Stanford's assertions that the refuge as an entity worth protection is obsolete.
Tags: ornithological; Junipero Serra Road; Stanford Dish Area; Don Feria
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Lots Of Trouble
"Well-intentioned federal and state environmental laws have created a leagal morass that now stifles redevelopment of abandoned industrial plots wher deadly chemicals may be lurking," Governing reports. Governing investigates brownfields -- abandoned industrial sites -- and what can and is being done to clean them up and recycle the land back into use.
Tags: environment; industrial sites; contamination; development; brownfields
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Using The 2000 Census For Non-Census Stories
Used at the IRE National Conference, the Orange County Register demonstrates how census data can be used in stories that are not specifically "census" stories. These stories include a look at school overcrowding, gaps in public transportation, attempts to recruit Hispanic youths for soccer leagues and how to use the land at an abandoned Marine Corps station.
Tags: census reporting; census data
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Program to save homes fails; neighbors suffer
"When Detroit auctioned 503 homes in 1996, city officials hoped to promote home ownership, chip away at the chronic abandoned-property problem and bolster struggling neighborhoods . . . An investigation by The Detroit News into the results of the 1996 auction found that 313 of the 503 homes sold in the December 1996 bidding are abandoned, torn down or inhabited by squatters." In addition, the goal of increasing homeowners in the city failed with only 14 percent of purchasers occupying their homes. The auction "not only failed to give the city's real estate market the jolt initially desired, but also exposed a series of missteps by city officials in the land transactions." David Josar and Cameron McWhirter report more.
Tags: housing; Planning & Development Department; neighbors; property; taxes; vacant homes; real estate
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No title (id: 5664)
New York Post finds that George Bush's account of parachuting out of a Navy bomber is inaccurate; an eyewitness claims Bush may have abandoned two crewmen on the plane who were still alive, and who may have been saved had Bush tried a water landing, Aug. 2, 1988.