The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Blog
Reporter John Frank and researchers at the St. Petersburg Times exposed the murky past of Congressional candidate Jim King. King, a Republican running against the incumbent in the GOP primary, fudged his professional medical credentials and biographical information for years. The investigation “found he made inaccurate claims about his professional background and his time with…
Read MoreThe Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, Alaska) published a six-year independent investigation into the 1997 murder of 15-year-old John Hartman. The investigation was a project of University of Alaska-Fairbanks journalism professor Brian O’Donoghue and his students. The project points to problems within the legal system and raises questions about the convictions of the four men charged with…
Read MoreMarshall Allen and Alex Richards of the Las Vegas Sun investigated the prevalence of use and abuse of prescription narcotics in Nevada. The Sun’s analysis showed that “Nevadans consume about twice the national average of several prescription painkillers,” including hydrocodone, methadone, morphine and oxycodone. Data from the Clark County coroner’s office shows that deaths from…
Read MoreAs part of “War Torn,” The New York Times series about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lizette Alvarez reports that alcohol abuse is on the rise as soldiers return home. Experts say abuse is most prevalent in individuals suffering from post traumatic stress. “For active-duty service members, the military faces a shortage…
Read MoreU.S. roads and waterways get more dangerous over the summer months as vacationers hit the highway or fire up their boat motors. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), fatal vehicle accident rates typically inch up during the summer months and then decline during the fall. It’s much the…
Read MoreIn a series by The New York Times, “The Evidence Gap” looks at medical treatments used despite a lack of evidence of effectiveness, while considering steps towards implementing medical care based on proven results and positive benefits.
Read MoreGovernment records and interviews revealed that a number of lucrative land deals in Prince George’s County have gone to individuals with ties to County Executive Jack B. Johnson. An investigation by The Washington Post‘s Cheryl W. Thompson and Mary Pat Flaherty found county-owned land had been sold to people linked to Johnson on at least…
Read MoreAn investigation by Jason Grotto, Laurie Cohen and Sara Olkon of the Chicago Tribune reveals the realities of a 10-year plan to rehabilitate Chicago’s public housing. The investigation found “that almost nine years into what was billed as a 10-year program, the city has completed only 30 percent of the plan’s most ambitious element —…
Read MoreAtlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Heather Vogell and computer-assisted reporting specialist John Perry found that Georgia schools routinely promote students who state law says should stay back because they’re falling behind. The law, aimed at stopping so-called “social promotion,” requires schools to retain students in grades 3, 5 and 8 who can’t pass certain standardized tests.But the…
Read MoreDemocratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama got a discount on the $1.32 million loan for his Chicago mansion, obtaining an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago. Washington Post investigative reporter Joe Stephens found that, compared with the average terms offered…
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