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 "mom" ...
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Tainted Justice
The police department is believed to have tainted police jobs, which are caused by lies and motivated by power, greed, and money. Furthermore, the squads are suspected of looting mom-and-pop stores, terrorizing hard-working immigrant merchants, preying on women, and fabricating evidence. These submissions could reopen and potentially overturn hundreds of cases.
Tags: police; justice system; justice department; protection; cops; squad; officers; narcotics; drugs; police department
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Playing with Poison
KHOU-TV conducted its own extensive testing of toys in the Houston area to check their lead content. They tested items from national chains, to local mom-and-pop stores. Throughout the process they consulted with experts to make sure they had the accurate testing and interpreted the data correctly. They found that 9 toys, which were sold on a national level, had "excessive and dangerous levels of lead."
Tags: safety; toys; consumer; lead; lab testing; scientists; toy stores; retailers; lead content; health
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Motherhood behind bars
The majority of women inmates in the Wisconsin prison system are mothers of young children. The separation of mother and child may lead to the children growing up to become inmates themselves because they need guidance and nuture while their mothers are in prison. Throughout child birth, pregnant inmates have their legs shackled to restrain them, which is not only done in Wisconsin, but 20 other states.
Tags: pregnancy; birth; jail; mom; samantha luther; Candida Andino
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One the Hook. The ill-fated union of an insurance giant and a bail bondsman. AIG wagered on a maverick of the business, and lost; incentives to run for it. Now, sniffing out the 'skips.'
According to the article, "...It's also one of the hundreds and possibly thousands of similar cases of skipped bail that are the fruit of an ill-fated three-year partnership between H&H Bail Bonds Inc., a firm that in its ads claimed 'We Will Bail When Others Fail,' and American International Group Inc., one of the largest and most prestigious insurers in the world. Guided by H&H founder Raymond W. Hrdlicka and backed by the financial might of AIG, H&H sought to dominate an industry of mom-and-pop shops by bending long-established rules and sometimes taking on clients whom more conservative bail-bond firms would have deemed too risky."
Tags: bail bonds; bail bondsman; Raymond Hrdlicka; courts; criminals; arrests; jail; clients
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Fighting Postpartum Depression
The Chicago Tribune's two-part series about postpartum depression."Part 1: Descent into Darkness: Melanie Stokes had wanted a baby daughter for most of her life. But after child's birth, Melanie was stricken with a largely misunderstood mental illness that can be difficult to treat. It robbed her of her job and, ultimately, her will to live. Part 2: From pain, a new purpose. Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling turned to her mother for support after she fell into the grip of postpartum depression. Now her mother had joined with others to educate the public about the illness and to make sure no one else's daughter dies." According to the series, "postpartum depression, some experts say, is the most common yet most frequently undiagnosed complication of pregnancy, affecting somewhere from 10 to 20 percent of women who give birth, or almost half a million women every year."
Tags: depression; postpartum depression; baby; newborn; child; infant; mothers; illness; mom; Melanie Stokes; Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling; children; treatment; illness; misunderstood illness; sickness
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A mother-and-child reunion
West Africa is filled with children searching desperately for one another, reports Time. The article follows the story of a girl who has been kidnapped, sold in slavery and finally reunited with her family due to the effort of the International Rescue Committee. The report looks at the hardships faced by two other children dislocated by Africa's wars, and a foster mom.
Tags: wars; Africa International Rescue Committee; Sierra Leone; Liberia; crime; kidnapping; Red Cross
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The Vanishing
This article investigates the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Zebb Quinn, an 18-year-old boy from a small town in North Carolina. "Quinn was a nice boy who loved his mom and his job at the local Wal-Mart. About a year ago, he disappeared. Strange clues began to surface, followed by even stranger rumors. Now, a small community is dealing with a fate worse than death."
Tags: crime; disappearance; Zebb Quinn
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Paying the Price, Pumped Dry
"The neighborhood service station is a dying institution. Once as ubiquitous as the neighborhood grocery and mom-and-pop diner, service stations have been closing in dramatic numbers for two decades. Though the oil industry says the stations are merely casualties of a changing marketplace, the dealers who lease and run them say there's a more insidious reason. They're being forced out of business by their own parent companies."
Tags: oil companies; gas stations; gas price; Federal Trade Commission; (FTC); consolidating market; Chevron; Exxon; Shell
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The Once and Future Mom
A mother in Phoenix loses custody of her two daughters while on the verge of eviction and suffering from dysthymia, a mood disorder. Little was done to help reunite the biological family, and parental rights were severed based on the recommendation of CPS caseworkers. New incentives (up to $6,000 per child) in the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) pave the way for children to move from foster care into permanent homes. However, this case was overturned on appeal, largely because CPS failed to make "reasonable efforts" to reunite the family.
Tags: Children's Protection Services (CPS); foster care; child care; dysthmia
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Computer Repair Rip-Off
KCOP-TV reports that "computers are fast becoming a necessity in our lives, but how many of us know what to do when they break down? Can you trust that computer-repair person to properly diagnose and fix the problem - or will you be charged for unnecessary repairs? We took computers with minor problems to 10 repair stores in Los Angeles - from large chains to small mom-and-pop stores. We found that most were honest, though their prices varied greatly. But two shops tried to charge us big bucks for repairs we clearly did not need. The highlight of the investigation was one small shop where the mechanic not only fixed the problem, he did it for free."