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Is Abel too friendly with the energy biz? San Luis Obispo New Times, March 10, 2005
An investigation into special-interest-funded trips that California State Senator Able Maldonado took around the word over a four year period. The story revealed how the group was financially tied to major energy companies — all of which were big campaign contributors to Maldonado while he was an assemblyman — and to PG&E , which the senator often advocated for.

Devil among us: How a four-time rapist and ‘psychopathic deviant’ ended up on the streets of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo New Times, Nov. 3, 2005
Using 20 years worth of court records and multiple inverviews, this story uncovered the past of a four-time rapist who had become homeless after being released from prison a few months before the story ran. The article followed his violent path from childhood using a variety of sources, including interviews with the jury members who helped set him free.

Records act violations piling up, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, March 17, 2006
An investigation into a government agency that regularly failed to follow public records laws, particularly when the requests for documents came from political opponents. Because the agency’s elected officials had accused campaign opponents in an election the year before of hiding information from the public, the story also analyzed how hundreds of public record request were filled before and after the election.

Wheels of fortune: Jarek Molski, a man with a troubled past, has settled about half of his Central Coast lawsuits for an estimated $1.2 million, San Luis Obispo New Times, June 23, 2005
While news outlets around California had written about a man who filed hundreds of disability-access lawsuits against businesses, little was know about the secretive paraplegic. This months-long investigation revealed his past, including how how was injured and his relationship with his family, and why he had filed so many suits.

In 4 months, $1 million in bills for Los Osos services district, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, May 30, 2006
An analysis that found how a small government agency, which serves 14,000 residents in a small seaside town, had accumulated $1 million in legal bills over four months as it settled lawsuits with political allies, attempted to fire staff members, and fought litigation stemming from the agency’s decision to stop building a state-mandated public works project.