Sewell Chan and Jo Craven McGinty of The New York Times studied delays on New York's subway system, finding that "a typical weekday rider on the subway today is likely to experience a train delay roughly once every three weeks, compared with about once every five weeks in September 2003, when the number of stalled trains reached a record low." The delays - defined as being at least five minutes late at the end of a run - occur for a wide variety of reasons, including worker error or signal malfunction. Passengers who hold doors open also contribute to the lateness.

Eric Nalder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigated the inner-workings of a tanker fleet owned by the third-largest oil company in the nation, ConocoPhillips. The series was inspired by a mystery spill in Puget Sound. The company had denied that its ship, the Polar Texas, was the spiller, while the U.S. Coast Guard said the oil matched the vessel's cargo. The investigation revealed a much wider pattern, that on the West Coast important reforms following Exxon Valdez spill are being undermined, ignored, violated and, in the case of tug escorts, trimmed back through the influence of the oil company ... Read more ...

Reporters Sharon Pian Chan and David Heath of The Seattle Times used unsealed documents successfully won in state and federal lawsuits to investigate Infospace's rise and downfall. At its peak, Infospace was worth over $31 million, but a bad investment on a Canadian wireless investment and questionable business dealings led to the eventual collapse of the dot com giant. They interviewed 100 people, ranging from former employees, investors, experts and regulatory officials. The three-part series details who the winners and loser were, how company insiders fled, dumping their stocks, making millions and the series will feature the aftermath of ... Read more ...

Kathleen Gray and Marisol Bello of The Detroit Free Press used federal data to show that "Detroit spends more on city government than most of the nation's big cities." The city ranks fourth in government employees per capita and fifth in overall general fund spending per capita, "behind New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago, spending $1.7 million for every 1,000 residents."

Joseph L. Wagner and Martin Stolz of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reviewed local records to show that "Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden has dunned taxpayers for more than $20,000 for meals over four years, including $1,943 for 66 private meals he had with his assistant, Tina Turick." The mayor of neighboring Solon also spent thousands on meals and gifts during the past five years. "Beachwood City Council's Finance Committee has never examined Gorden's credit card statements, said Chairman Fredric Goodman. He said that over the years, he looked at a few of Gorden's credit card statements ... Read more ...

Adrienne Packer and J.M. Kalil of the Las Vegas Review-Journal continue their investigation into land swap deals, finding that "on at least three occasions, land broker Scott Gragson traded property to McCarran International Airport and then reacquired it nearly two years later for less than he originally sold it for...That means the properties depreciated hundreds of thousands of dollars even as the Las Vegas Valley ranked among the nation's hottest real estate markets." In one case, Gragson re-purchased land and resold it for nearly $2 million more in eight days, thanks to a swiftly approved rezoning decision.

David Leonhardt and Ford Fessenden of The New York Times used regression analysis to show that "over the last decade, black NBA coaches have lasted an average of just 1.6 seasons, compared with 2.4 seasons for white coaches ... That means the typical white coach lasts almost 50 percent longer and has most of an extra season to prove himself." The paper used all coaching tenures since 1989 involving 110 men who are not currently working as head coaches in the league (more on methodology).

Toni Coleman of the St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed data on the city's Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grant program, finding that "accountability under STAR is uneven because of the program's complicated structure. Most projects go through a structured review process, for example, but individual City Council members circumvent that if they want. In addition, some of the money is earmarked for cultural improvements, but city officials have a pattern of breaking their own guidelines for how to use it." The city council has taken some of the STAR money and given council members the right to dispense it ... Read more ...

Nathan Gorenstein, Barbara Boyer and Rose Ciotta of the Philadelphia Inquirer summarized shootings in the city last year: "On average, more than four people a day were struck by bullets. About one in six died. On one day alone - Oct. 22 - 19 people were shot, one fatally. It's a toll of injury and death that falls most heavily on the same few neighborhoods year after year: North Philadelphia. West Philadelphia north of Market Street. The southwestern edge of South Philadelphia." During the past four years, half of all shooting victims were under 25, and most of those were African ... Read more ...

Colleen Krantz of The Des Moines Register and Janet Rorholm of The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette report that a newspaper audit of public records in Iowa shows that "law enforcement agencies in Iowa provided greater access to their public documents during a recent investigation by Iowa newspapers than the agencies did five years ago, yet police departments and sheriff offices still violated the law by withholding records about a third of the time." City clerks and county government agencies provided better access to records this time, according to the audit, which was assisted by Drake University journalism students. A searchable database ... Read more ...