Washington state's price of public office

The Skagit Valley Herald reports that even though "Skagit County has just two full-time mayors, both earn more than the mayors of Tacoma, Vancouver, Yakima and Olympia."

An interactive map was created to compares the salaries with other mayors across the state.

"In 1998, seven chronic pain sufferers had been featured in a promotional video for OxyContin that was put out by the drug company Purdue Pharma. In the video, they talked about how the powerful narcotic had allowed them to get their lives back. Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing of OxyContin marked the beginning of the industry's push of narcotic painkillers to treat long-term chronic pain - an area where the safety and effectiveness of the drugs remain unproven. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters John Fauber and Ellen Gabler found the story of the video is an example of how marketing trumped science and helped fuel the rapid increase in opioid use throughout the country."

"In recent years, the number of Bay Area kindergartners who have been immunized against diseases like whooping cough and measles has declined. With the 2011-12 school year beginning, The Bay Citizen collected the latest data covering last year from the California Department of Health, so you can see which schools are most susceptible to an infectious outbreak."

A Bay Citizen investigation has found that "veterans waiting for decisions on their disability claims wait longer than the Department of Veterans Affairs has acknowledged, especially if they come from larger urban areas. Solutions tried in four locations have not helped so far, as the backlog continues to grow."

The News & Observer exposed employers who cheat, misclassifying construction workers to avoid taxes and buying fake workers' compensation policies.

A three-part series, "The Ghost Workers," also showed a state government inept at -- and not interested in -- finding the dishonest businesses. However, Governor Bev Perdue has already ordered reforms.

"A months-long WNYC investigation has revealed that those accused of crimes in the Bronx have a greater chance of walking away without any charges than anywhere else in the city."

"In the Bronx, if a victim isn’t interviewed by prosecutors within 24 hours after an arrest, the DA will almost always decline to prosecute the case — an internal policy followed by no other DA's office in the city."

"A USA TODAY investigation finds that an infection called C. diff is wreaking havoc in the nation's hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities, infecting a half million Americans a year and killing about 30,000."

"The death toll is twice government estimates and nearly equal to the 32,000 U.S. deaths each year from auto accidents."

In collaboration with the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Atlantic and Living On Earth, Ingrid Lobet reports that "herbicides have become a crucial tool for Oregon's $13 billion timber industry." However, "in spite of precautions, lab results suggest that harmful chemicals are finding their way into residents' bloodstreams."

In a report filed The Boston Globe, it has been revealed that "federal agents working out of Boston, are heading an investigation into child pornography that so far has resulted in at least 40 arrests around the world and the discovery of 140 children who were sexually exploited. And it all began with a single photo sent by a Milford, Mass man."

Staff at The Globe have put together a map of how the cases are all linked.

"A Herald-Leader analysis of 41 child fatalities in 2009 and 2010 found at least six cases where the Cabinet for Health and Family Services did not do an internal review even though there were previous reports involving the family before the child died."

"The reviews are supposed to examine the cabinet's actions in a case to see if there were missteps, and to identify needed improvements and training that could prevent future deaths."