We found Pennsylvania state employees spent more than $1.3 million on out-of-state travel last year after the governor banned such travel. How did you get started? (tip, editor assignment, etc.) This was simply a case of the reporter doing a public records check to see whether the travel ban was being followed. Based on past stories we've done about state government, I had a hunch we'd find something. What were the key sources? (people, documents, etc.)

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million mansion in South Carolina to relocate an employee. The employee, who applied for the new job — a mid-level manager position — qualified for the purchase under the Postal Service's relocation policy. It turns out this was just one of 14 homes costing $1 million or more that the Postal Service has purchased in the last two years. (CNN story)

"Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death" was a 14-month project using mortality records maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of 40,000 mysterious infant deaths over a 12-year period disclosed chaotic procedures police and coroners use to investigate unexpected deaths that usually are diagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The project went further, finding that Child Death Review Boards can have a powerful impact on infant death investigations, dramatically increasing the detection of infant homicides and accidental suffocations.

Dozens of public and private schools opened in recent years in areas where government records show students could be exposed to air tainted by high levels of industrial pollution. While environmental regulations typically require builders to examine the effect that a structure might have on the surrounding ecosystem, in most states, school officials are not required to consider the potential danger to students before they start building.