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In his bid for the president, Governor Rick Perry has attacked the Troubled Asset Relief Program numerous times; calling it an “unprecedented assault on free markets.” However, The Dallas Morning News reports that the very bank Perry designated for his campaign finances received more than $87 million in TARP money. That same bank, PlainsCapital, is…
Read MoreInvestigating private companies can stymie even the most dogged reporter. They aren’t subject to Sunshine requests and they don’t file paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But chances are, you can still find out a lot about most of them. Ames Alexander, a reporter for The Charlotte Observer, detailed some of these strategies at…
Read MoreTraining 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…
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