Data-based and investigative reporting

A long road to a safe place: Children in state-licensed residential facilities still face risk of injury
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 26-28, 2011

Part 1: 361 incident reports obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette show that despite years of efforts, children in residential facilities continue to face danger at the hands of workers and peers, as well as their own.
Sidebar: About the series
Sidebar: "Teen dies after being restrained; policy changed"
Sidebar: "State statistics on injuries incomplete"
Sidebar: "Change difficult in tight economy"
Sidebar: "Programs trying to reduce restraints have mixed results"
Part 2: Staff members at many youth facilities also face injury, working long hours for meager pay. As a result, morale in the industry is low, and turnover is high -- undermining efforts to keep children safe.
Sidebar: "When staff stay longer, a safer place"
Part 3: One year in the life of Danny, a 13-year-old boy shuffled from facility to facility

Other work:

City towing firms caused storm of another kind during snow
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Feb. 15, 2010
Christina Arenth unwittingly stumbled into the netherworld of Pittsburgh's private towing business, where regulations are frequently disputed and rarely enforced.

City wants to make towing firms toe line
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Feb. 23, 2010
City Councilman Doug Shields plans to introduce legislation today to rein in Pittsburgh's private towing industry, targeting several companies that have for years charged upwards of $180 for a fee the city sets at $110.

Did you pay your taxes?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Aug. 29, 2010 (Three charts and text)
The state delinquent tax list does not discriminate by economic status or occupation. It names two  lawmakers; a partner at a major tax firm; several people recently released from prison; doctors, dentists and chiropractors; corner delis, ice cream shops and fancy restaurants; and, in Allegheny County, at least seven people with published obituaries or death notices.

Herald to stop distributing Maine catalog with guns for sale
The Boston Globe - July 24, 2009
In Maine, Uncle Henry’s Swap or Sell it Guide is best known as a folksy compendium of thrift: a cheap way to buy puppies and snowmobiles directly from their owners. But in Boston’s poorest neighborhoods, the classified ad catalog’s firearm section - a black-and-white list of AK-47s, Rugers, and Glocks - serves as another link in the illegal gun trafficking chain.

An American dream goes up in smoke: Couple lose house to arsonist before moving in, now face city's demolition bill
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - May 30, 2010
Less than a month after Ida Bormentar bought her first home, flames devoured the walls, burning through the night. She watched from the street as firefighters doused the embers. Two days later, the property was condemned.

Ankle monitors: A high-demand accessory for minor criminals
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Nov. 2, 2010
Thick black anklets made of rubber and plastic, electronic monitoring devices are not exactly coveted. But in Allegheny County, they are certainly in high demand.
Last week about 1,200 people were wearing the monitoring units, mostly used to enforce house arrest for those convicted in Common Pleas Court of minor criminal offenses. Another 925 people were waiting for them.