Training Director Doug Haddix has accepted a position at the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University. He has served as one of two IRE training directors for the past three years, helping plan conferences and leading dozens of training sessions. Haddix also edited The IRE Journal, IRE’s award-winning, quarterly magazine on…
Read MoreAt age 52, no one would think a mother and wife, with a roof over her head, would die from a drug overdose. However, after hurting her shoulder more than a decade ago, Myrtle Bailey died of a hydrocodone overdose. Unfortunately for her and many others, doctors are treating symptoms instead of actual problems. “Bailey…
Read MoreThere’s no doubt that every city should have a children’s hospital, but what about three? Gilbert Gaul with Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with McClatchy, takes a hard look at why Orlando and other cities are building multiple children’s hospital, and who’s behind the push. The leading independent children’s hospitals are nonprofits, but you wouldn’t know…
Read MoreIn 1978, Edward Harold Bell shot and killed a man in front of the victim’s mother. He was subsequently sent to prison for murder. However, it wasn’t the first time he had killed, he claims. Bell, now in his 70′s, has confessed to the string of murders that occurred in the Houston area from 1971…
Read MoreIt may be surprising to learn that after legislators in South Carolina passed a law that would allow them to collect their pension, while still working for the state full time, their annual incomes have nearly tripled. Thomas Frank, of USA TODAY, investigates the disturbing, yet legal, actions our legislators are taking. “More than 4,100 legislators…
Read MoreApplications are now being accepted from college students nationwide for the 2012 Campus Coverage Project. Apply online at www.ire.org/campus. The deadline for applications is this Friday, Sept. 30. IRE, in partnership with Education Writers Association and the Student Press Law Center, is launching the third year of a program that shares investigative reporting skills with college and…
Read MoreThe El Dorado County sheriff John D’Agostini surprised county administrators when a helicopter appeared as a new tool for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department. KCRA3 reporter Dave Manoucheri reveals that D’Agostini failed to alert county officials that a chopper was in the works, which raises risk management and liability concerns. Although the sheriff says…
Read MorePresident Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package granted “millions of federal dollars” to public school districts in Florida. As part of the President’s vision “to accelerate improvement in schools,” the money was meant to provide a means to improve low performing schools and prevent teacher layoffs. However, this investigation by Mc Nelly Torres of the Florida Center for…
Read MoreIn most towns across Illinois and the U.S., the Public Health Department publicizes any health code violation so that consumers can be aware of the risk they are taking by eating at a restaurant. However, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department chooses not to share the roughly 1,300 inspections done in a year. Many in the…
Read MoreWhen appliance giant Electrolux annouced plans to build a factory in Memphis, Tenn., it seemed like a great economic boost for the region. However, a closer investigation by reporters Daniel Connolly and Amos Maki of The Commercial Appeal reveals that the plan may cost taxpayers a lot more than it appears. “Government officials approved a massive package…
Read More