The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Blog
Robert Pear of The New York Times reports that 94 percent of nursing homes in the United States violated federal health and safety standards in 2007 according to a recently released federal study. Although only 17 percent of nursing homes had violations that threatened the lives of residents, many were cited for abuse, neglect, confusing…
Read MoreThe free two-week preview of Uplink, our computer-assisted reporting newsletter, begins today at data.nicar.org/uplink.
Read MoreThe deadline for IRE’s Knight Foundation matching grant is today – Tuesday, Sept. 30th. If you’ve already sent in a pledge or donation — whether it was part of the $25 Club effort or at another time — our sincere thanks. If you know someone, perhaps a relative or friend who supports investigative journalism but…
Read MoreA special report by the Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) looks at Beargrass Creek, a polluted waterway that runs through Louisville, Kentucky, and finds that an $800 million sewage cleanup plan won’t be enough to solve its many problems. The report used computer-assisted techniques and multi-media presentations to help document and tell the story of this troubled, urban…
Read MoreMatthew D. LaPlante of The Salt Lake Tribune found that the U.S. Army made several errors in its attempts to dispose of Utah’s stockpile of lewisite, a now-illegal agent similar to mustard gas used in chemical warfare. Lewisite can be disposed of in two ways: by incineration, which can release arsenic into the air without…
Read MoreThe National Fire Protection Association says that firefighters should get to a site within 6 minutes, 90 percent of the time. Using state fire-run data, Doug Caruso, Martin Rozenman and Jim Woods of the Columbus Dispatch discovered that only two of 84 fire districts in central Ohio meet that national standard. Area firefighters say that…
Read MoreA free two-week trial of Uplink, the online computer-assisted reporting publication will begin on Oct. 1. Watch for the link to the redesigned site on Wednesday. We’re excited about the new and improved Uplink. You’ll see what subscribers have come to expect: articles from seasoned journalists telling how they used data analysis in their news…
Read MoreReporters Joe Mahr, David Hunnand and Jeremy Kohler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have uncovered a scandal involving St. Louis police and a private towing contractor. St. Louis police, who do have access to a public impound lot, allowed the proprietors of the St. Louis Metropolitan Towing lot, to illegally keep and sell stolen and…
Read MoreAn investigation by Tom Spalding and Heather Gillers of the Indianapolis Star has led to a policy change regarding special parking placards in Indianapolis. Some have been using the special permits, intended to help city employees complete quick downtown tasks, to park for hours at no charge. The abuse has negatively impacted downtown businesses, whose…
Read MoreNewly released Congressional documents show that the lobbying firm of William Timmons Sr., who Republicans say has been tapped to lead Sen. John McCain’s transition committee, receive $260,000 this year from Feddie Mac prior to the government’s takeover of the mortgage company, report Jonathan D. Salant and Timothy J. Burger of Bloomberg. The midyear financial-disclosure…
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