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 "creationism" ...
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The Dalí Sculpture Mess
The story describes the burgeoning industry in posthumous sculptures attributed to Salvador Dalí and the continuing difficulties experienced by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation in Spain, which has responsibility for managing Dalí’s estate and legacy, in slowing the spread of these questionable works. The sculptures are often bought and sold as original works by the artist. The story demonstrates that, in fact, most of the sculptures were authorized by Dalí’s wife and business managers, either posthumously or when the artist and his wife were old and infirm, and continue to be produced long after the artist’s death, in 1989. Dalí had little or no direct involvement in the creation of many of them. The story also demonstrates that new, apparently fake versions of the sculptures continue to appear, some of them openly marketed by a Chinese foundry that has no license to make the sculptures. The story updates an investigation published in ARTnews in December 2008 that for the first time described the Dalí sculpture industry and identified the producers of the sculptures.
Tags: Sculptures; Salvador Dali; estate
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Landing Electrolux
When Swedish company Electrolux announced plans to build a kitchen appliance factory in Memphis, many in the region hailed it as an economic development triumph. But it didn't come cheap. Government officials approved a massive package of money and perks for a company that has a history of leaving communities to cut costs and has made no guarantee to stay in Memphis for the long term. Officials performed minimal due diligence and signed away rights to recover most of the money if the company falls short of job-creation goals.
Tags: Electrolux; Memphis; job creation
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Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul
Monkey Girl is an investigative book based on the federal court case Kitzmiller v. Dover, a modern version of the Scopes Monkey Trial. The book examines what to teach children in the classroom when it comes down to evolution and intelligent design. The First Amendment lawsuit against the local Pennsylvania school board had the potential to change school practices nationwide, bringing up the question of whether intelligent design is a scientific or religious idea.
Tags: God; creationism; Darwin;
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Indentured Doctors
Throughout the United States foreign doctors are being cheated out of wages, coerced into unfair contracts and being kept away from medically needy patients because their bosses are the ones sponsoring their visas. They work for medical residency and are allowed to live in cities and rural areas with shortage of physicians so long as they work full-time. The program was started by the government, but since its creation there has been little oversight to the abuse of the doctors.
Tags: work visa; immigration; J-1 doctors; Pahrump; pediatrician; health care;
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Wasting Away: Superfund's Toxic Legacy
An analysis of the EPA's Superfund program listing nearly 100 companies responsible for more than 40 percent of America’s most contaminated sites. Since the Superfund’s creation in 1980, of the 700 sites less than one in five have been cleaned up or removed from the list. From 1998 to 2005, the companies spent more than $1 billion lobbying to the federal government and contributed more than $120 million to federal campaigns.
Tags: hazardous waste; unhealthy; contaminate; EPA; toxic exposure; solid waste;
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The KOZ Tax Giveaway
This series examined Pennsylvania's Keystone Opportunity Zone development program. It found that some businesses that received tax breaks with a condition of job creation did not uphold their end of the arrangement. Penalties for this shortcoming went uncollected, while developers denied revenue to local school districts and failed to develop urban opportunity zones.
Tags: developers; tax breaks; tax credits; development; Keystone Opportunity Zone; empowerment zone; job programs
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Win, Lose or Draw: Gambling for Jobs
This series examines Kentucky's economic development program's failure to create jobs and alleviate poverty across the state, and especially in the poorest areas. Incentives given to businesses for more than 14 years did not result in the contractually agreed-upon number of new jobs. The state program was loosely monitored and shrouded in secrecy. Funds allocated for high tech job training were diverted to creation of malls and industrial parks that remained mostly vacant. Overall, after 14 years, Kentucky's poverty ranking was not improved by the development programs.
Tags: poverty; economic development; job creation; incentives; tax breaks; industry; Kentucky; FOI
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Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond
20 years of research and reporting on Strom Thurmond led to the creation of this book. The book is the "definitive life story" of this controversial politician. It covers his political evolution across the political spectrum, and also examines his complex relationship with his illegitimate daughter.
Tags: politicians; U.S. congress; U.S. Senate; senator; political controversy; scandal; political parties; courthouse research; illegitimate children; families
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Vanishing Wetlands
The authors used satellite imagery to determine how many acres of Florida's wetlands had disappeared since 1990, when President George H.W. Bush promised to ensure no net loss of wetlands. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the wetlands, but the organization's record-keeping is so incomplete that they have no accurate record of how many acres of wetlands were saved and how many were destroyed. The reporters found that government records regarding the creation of new wetlands were full of "creative accounting and questionable science."
Tags: environment; wetlands; preservation; ecosystem; wildlife; Army Corps of Engineers; FOIA; data analysis; satellite imagery; mapping
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The real thing: Truth and power at the Coca-Cola Company
This book traces the history of the Coca-Cola company, from its creation after the Civil War, to its rise as the world's best-known brand, to the New Coke marketing debacle, to its wooing of Wall Street and lavish spending upon executives until its global ambitions ran into trouble. The book also examines Coke's relationship with its independent bottlers, who helped make the soda a part of pop culture but later became a target for company executives who came to resent their power. In undoing the bottlers, however, the executives contributed to their own loss of fortune.
Tags: BOOK; Coke; Coca-Cola; business; soft-drink industry