A report by the Sacramento Bee shows revealed that “four pilots who are under criminal investigation for receiving possibly illegal payments of public funds have been appointed to key leadership posts in the California National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing based in Fresno. Two former commanders, also targeted in the probe, previously were relieved of their…
Read MoreUsing Arizona’s Open Records Law, Dave Biscobing of KNXV-TV in Phoenix recently uncovered discrepancies in kidnapping statistics used by the Phoenix Police Department to obtain more than $2 million in federal grant money. City leaders and Arizona Senator John McCain repeatedly cited the statistics, calling Phoenix the “Kidnapping Capital of the US.” However, Biscobing’s research…
Read MoreThe Dallas Morning News investigated Alan Kirchhoff, the former director of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s prized economic development program, the Emerging Technology Fund. The story traced the rapid rise of Kirchhoff and his friendship with a powerful member of the tech fund’s advisory committee, William E. Morrow. The News obtained a Texas Ranger investigation that…
Read MoreA report by the Salt Lake Tribune reveals that children living on the west side of Salt Lake City take more trips to the emergency room and are more likely to “be hospitalized for asthma than those living in the rest of the state.” An analysis of data from the Utah Department of Health that…
Read MoreIn this three-part series, Brandon Stahl of the Duluth News Tribune reports on a rape case that remains unsolved. In a classic case of “he said, she said,” a 34-year-old woman accused a 17-year-old male of coming into her home and raping her while holding a gun to her throat. Andrew Lawrence, the accused, maintains…
Read MoreThe Daily investigates the increasing number of Mexican drug cartels in American suburbs. The team was led by reporter Josh Bernstein and “spent six months traveling” through Mexico to document how the “drug cartels are becoming ‘The New Mafia’ in America.” Smugglers bring illegal immigrants into the country and hold them in “drop houses,” which…
Read MoreThere is plenty to take home from the CAR Conference, whether or not you made it to Raleigh, N.C. The four-day conference offered hands-on training of new analytical resources, along with dozens of other tips for journalists. With so much information, it’s good to take the next few weeks to process it all. IRE staff…
Read More“Drilling Down,” a series by The New York Times, explores the the risks of natural-gas drilling, along with efforts to regulate the industry. “The relatively new drilling method — known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — carries significant environmental risks.” For each well the process can create over a million gallons of wastewater…
Read MoreA KHOU-Houston report reveals that the federal EPA allows water companies to avoid reporting certain types of radiation contamination in the public’s tap water, giving a false picture to the American public about their water safety. For example, if the radiation comes from uranium, utilities can subtract that radioactivity out of their final reports to…
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