“The truth can’t kill you.”

Or so a wise old man in the Rio Grande Valley once told me, adding, “It can only make you uncomfortable.” The truth about newspapers’ solvency has been making damn near everyone I know pretty uncomfortable. But it won’t kill us (at least not physically, I hope). Nor will it kill investigative reporting.

I’m trying to make a miniscule contribution (WARNING: Self-promotion ahead) to this cause with my own reporting.

Working with the indefatigable Paul Giblin, I exposed a few problems with how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio goes about arresting illegal immigrants. I documented a little fraud at the Maricopa Community Colleges and a few amazingly easy As offered by their athletic programs. Patti Epler, my talented editor the past two years, edited all of the above.

During my 14 months in Texas, I spent an inordinate amount of time digging into an architect who struggled with test taking.