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 "appropriations" ...
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Platts: US Companies Guard Drilling Secrets
Chinese oil and natural gas companies are pouring billions of dollars into US shale-drilling projects in an effort to acquire American trade secrets about hydraulic fracturing and other cutting-edge drilling practices. Chinese companies want to obtain this specialized knowledge from US oil and gas firms so China can better develop its own shale plays. But the Chinese companies are largely failing in their quest because their US partners have structured their business dealings so that China cannot appropriate America's most important drilling-related secrets.
Tags: Oil; natural gas; China; U.S.; drilling
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Investigating the Economic Structure Behind the Moldovan Regime
Oleg Voronin is the richest man in the Republic of Moldova. Scoop reporting uncovered a massive mafia-like network which Oleg used to seize businesses and operate them for profit. Opposition was silenced through swift and quiet violence, media manipulation and threats.
Tags: Oleg; Voronin; Republic of Moldova; appropriations; seizure; body guard; media; opposition; communist; business; wealth
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Bird strike rates at U.S. Airports
Airplanes landing and taking off at airports in Sacramento, Kansas City, and Denver have been the most liekly in the nation to hit birds , according to an NPR analysis of new data from the Federal Aviation Administration. Wildlife researchers believe they can alert birds to oncoming planes if they can come up with an appropriate visual signal, such as pulsating LED lights currently being tested.
Tags: aviation; bird strike; FAA; Federal Aviation Administration; aviation safety; wildlife; wildlife strikes;
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Feasting on the Spoils
A biographical look at former U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke†Cunningham, one of the most corrupt members of Congress this nation has ever seen. Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes that came from defense contractors in exchange for political favors.
Tags: Defense Appropriations; House Intelligence Committee; Navy; CIA;
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Police Beatings Caught on Tape: the Pictures that Chaged the Chicago Police Department
FOX News Chicago discovered footage of an off duty officer beating a female bartender. They then "investigated the circumstances of the beating, the apparent lack of an appropriate police department response both at the time and during the investigation of the officer, and how other city employees may have tried to cover up the incident."
Tags: police department; internal investigation; beating; assault; police officer; Chicago Police Department; police beating
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Dianne Feinstein Series
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein was the chair of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee from 2001 to 2005, and during that time she micromanaged $1.5 billion in construction projects around the world that were contracted to her husbands companies.
Tags: MILCON; Daddy Warbucks; CBRE Richard Ellis; Michael Klein; Perini; URS; conflict of interest; senator; appropriations
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From senate job to nuclear lobbyist-- twice
"This story traced how Alex Flint, a protégé of unabashed nuclear industry booster Senator Pete Domenici, parlayed his post as clerk of Domenici's powerful appropriations subcommittee into a lucrative lobbying job for the nuclear power industry. When Domenici ascended to the chairmanship of the Senate's Energy Committee, he lured Flint back at about one-third his lobbyist's salary to spend three years pushing the Energy Policy Act of 2005 through Congress." Afterwards, Flint was "rewarded with the nuclear industry's top lobbying job."
Tags: nuclear energy; lobbying; congress; Energy Policy Act of 2005; Senate Energy Committee; revolving door
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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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Sallie Mae
Sallie Mae, started in 1972 as a government sponsored enterprise meant to "encourage private banks to loan to students who were considered to be a credit risk," pushed became a private lender in 1997. Since then, the stock price "has gone up almost 2,000 percent" and company executives have become among the highest paid in the nation. CBS' 60 Minutes investigates, and explores the question of whether it's appropriate for Sallie Mae to act as both a lender and a collector.
Tags: Sallie Mae; student loans; student loan default; Higher Education Act; U.S. Department of Education
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The McConnell Machine
The Herald-Leader investigates U.S. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whose campaign fundraising has reached impressive levels to the tune of $220 million, largely on behalf of fellow Republican senators. As the 2006 mid-term elections approached, McConnell was seen as a likely contender for Senate Majority leader, should the Republicans retain control (they did not, and he is now Senate Minority Leader). Anticipating this news, the Herald-Leader "examined McConnell's 22-year record of aggressive fundraising, cozy ties with top donors and related actions in the Senate." The newspaper found that McConnell benefited from his "influence over a little-known foreign aid committee; his marriage to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who regulates his corporate donors; and a former McConnell chief of staff turned Washington "gatekeeper lobbyist," whose clients tend to receive appropriations earmarks and helpful legislation from McConnell." McConnell has gained a reputation as an opponent of campaign-finance reform.
Tags: Campaign finance; Mitch McConnell; Elaine Chao; Senate Minority Leader