Posts by hdcoadmin
No regulation in place to restrict passengers from training flights
Last November, four people were killed in an FIT plane crash. An investigation by Florida Today reporters Mackenzie Ryan and Michelle Spitzer revealed that there is no federal regulation in place to restrict passengers on training flights. Although data shows that passengers on these flights is rare, friends and family of those killed call for…
Read MoreDecade-long gun ban in Virginia saw results
In light of the recent shooing in Tucson, David S. Fallis and James V. Grimaldi of the Washington Post investigate the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons with “high-capacity magazines” in Virginia. The ban ended in 2004 with the lowest rate the state has seen, however; the rate has increased each year since. Congress is…
Read MoreCanadian stock promoter secretly facilitated Chinese reverse mergers
An investigative report by Chris Cary and Justin McLachlan, of Sharesleuth.com, revealed how a Canadian stock promoter and his associates worked as the hidden force behind the creation of nearly a dozen Chinese companies that gained listings on U.S. exchanges through so-called reverse mergers with American shell companies.
Read MoreNew details emerge on the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl
Former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Asra Q. Nomani, and Georgetown University Journalism Director Barbara Feinman Todd led a team of 32 students in investigating the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl that occurred in 2002. The three-year investigation, broken down into 11 parts, reveals new information and details about the 27 men who…
Read MoreDebt collection software for Sacramento County millions over budget
In 2005, Sacramento County decided to invest $4.4 million in a custom-built debt collection system. The system was expected to be implemented within two years. An investigation by the Sacramento Bee found that “six years later the costs have skyrocketed to more than $10 million, and the county still doesn’t have a finished system. In…
Read MoreAsk, and often you receive
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director A public records request for e-mails sometimes can produce quick-turn watchdog stories with powerful results. Take the experience of John Russell, a business reporter for The Indianapolis Star. Russell sharpened his investigative skills during a two-day IRE watchdog boot camp in Nashville for Gannett employees. The training was one…
Read MoreReporter’s investigation implicates man in civil rights murder cold case
The work of reporter Stanley Nelson, of the Concordia (La.) Sentinel, has implicated a man in the unsolved 1964 civil rights murder of Frank Morris. Interviews with three people linked a Richland Parish truck driver to the arson that killed Morris. “The three people, all of them now or previously related to the truck driver,…
Read MoreInvestigative reporter Dusty McNichol dies at 54
Long-time IRE member Dunstan “Dusty” McNichol died unexpectedly Tuesday. He was 54. McNichol, who contributed to the IRE Journal and spoke at IRE Conferences, was an active member of IRE since 1998. McNichol covered the New Jersey Statehouse for 10 years for the Star-Ledger “and was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize…
Read MoreU.S. has approved billions in business with blacklisted countries
Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by Jo Becker of The New York Times has found. Nearly 10,000 licenses for deals involving such countries…
Read MoreFor-profit colleges double spending on lobbying to fight regulations
John Lauerman and Jonathan D. Salant of Bloomberg News found that for-profit colleges, faced with new federal restrictions, more than doubled their lobbying spending, bringing in six former members of Congress to help make their case on Capitol Hill. Ten education companies and their trade association spent $3.8 million on lobbying in the first nine…
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