Special Reports

Investigative Reports

• Multimedia Transplanting livers too soon
  Hundreds of patients each year undergo liver transplants when they don't need them, and possibly never will, a four-month Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation found.
• Multimedia  Rising fuel costs
  The average price of a gallon of regular, unleaded, self-serve gasoline in Western Pennsylvania, according to AAA, since January 1995.
• Interactive map  'Basically intolerable' bridges
  Structural evaluations of these bridges concluded they are "basically intolerable" and a "high priority" for renovation or replacement, according to inspection data obtained in 2007 from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory.
• Interactive map Hot spots few in region's housing market
  Check the last four years of home sale prices in more than 200 neighborhoods throughout the region.
• Multimedia Terror on the Tracks
  Five years after terrorists murdered 2,996 people in the Sept. 11 attacks, the Trib embarked on a probe to see how well railroads and their customers secure lethal hazardous materials.
• Photos 'I'm not out of Iraq'
  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review followed Army Specialist James Stuck, a Westmoreland County soldier wounded in Iraq, as he goes through treatment and recovery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
• Mulitmedia Illegal immigrants face crackdown in Pennsylvania
  In the Pittsburgh courtroom where his American odyssey ended, an uneducated Guatemalan farmhand caught driving a van with 15 other illegal aliens said he was resigned to his fate.
• Mulitmedia Rebuilding its temple
  Thirty years after Hare Krishnas built a shrine for their swami on a remote Appalachian ridge, the Palace of Gold is crumbling.
• Photos 'Million-dollar pigs' are medical marvels
  At a secluded pig farm in Virginia, a small biotech firm funded by UPMC ... ... is working to resurrect the field of animal-to-human organ transplantation.

Trib in Pakistan
Tribune-Review reporter Betsy Hiel and photographer Justin Merriman report on the situation in Pakistan.

Primary Focus
Each week, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is talking to a panel of undecided Democratic voters to gauge whether they’re leaning toward Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Myron Cope 1929-2008
His high-pitched screech was the most unlikely to serve as the voice of Steeler Nation. Yet for more than three decades, Pittsburgh's football faithful muted their televisions and turned up the radio to hear the beloved icon known simply as Myron. The diminutive creator of the "Terrible Towel," Cope entertained and informed fans with his manic style of color-commentary on the Steelers Radio Network from 1970 until June 2005. The Hall of Fame Steelers broadcaster died Feb. 27, 2008. He was 79.

Dr. Cyril H. Wecht trial Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, 76, of Squirrel Hill, is accused of using his public office for private gain and of defrauding clients of his private pathology consulting business. The world-renowned forensic pathologist is charged with 41 counts of fraud and theft.

The Tanya Kach Case
Stories on the strange saga of Tanya Kach. The McKeesport woman disappeared on Feb. 10, 1996, when she was 14 years old. She resurfaced 10 years later, in March 2006 – and was in McKeesport all along, living with a school security guard who kept her locked in his bedroom.

Gambling in Pittsburgh
Three casino companies still are competing for the license: Harrah's Station Square Casino, Isle of Capri Casino and Majestic Star Casino. State gambling regulators do not expect to pick a winner until late this year or early 2007.

Capitol Cash Grab
Top Pennsylvania lawmakers have a special account stuffed with $135 million only they can use -- and they're using it to pay themselves more money.

On the Job
Stories, photos and videos from the Trib’s weekly series on Mondays that spotlights people whose work goes unnoticed or underappreciated. Send your suggestions to onthejob@tribweb.com.

Enterprise 2008
Enterprise 2008 is the Tribune-Review's annual in-depth look at the region. This year we highlight the area's economy and technology, health and education, arts and entertainment, and home and hearth.

Enterprise 2007
Enterprise 2007 is the Tribune-Review's annual in-depth look at the region. This year we highlight the area's economy and technology, health and education, arts and entertainment, and home and hearth.

Enterprise 2006
Enterprise 2006 is the Tribune-Review's annual in-depth look at the region. This year we highlight the area's economy and technology, health and education, home and hearth, and arts and entertainment.

Hispanic Heartland
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review visits a small Nebraska town to report on how a sudden flood of Hispanic migrants is changing the economy, the schools and the town’s identity. In 1990, 329 Hispanics lived in Lexington, Neb. By 2000, 51 percent of the town was Hispanic.

Cold Cases
While advances in technology have breathed new life into long-dormant murder investigations, many families still bear the pain of not knowing who killed their loved ones - or why.

2005 YMCA Scholar Athlete Banquet
This year's banquet is here, and the award recipients represent the YMCA well. Along with over 100 scholar athletes, three people will be honored with the annual pittsburghtrib/news's 2005 Person of the Year Award, the pittsburghtrib/news City of Champions Achievement Award and the Frank Fuhrer Outstanding Performance Award.

The Battleground
To find out what governments and courts are doing to stop the growing threat of Islamic terrorist groups in Europe, reporter Mark Houser visited Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Spain in March and April on a journalism fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

An Unfinished Miracle
A half-century after Dr. Jonas E. Salk of the University of Pittsburgh discovered the miracle shot that saved millions of lives, polio still stalks the world. This pittsburghtrib/news special report contains a series of stories written by Luis Fabregas and Jennifer Bails outline the history of polio, Salk's legacy and how our world is affected today.

Enterprise 2005
Enterprise 2005 is the Tribune-Review's annual in-depth look at the region. This year we highlight the area's economy and technology, health and education, home and hearth, and arts and entertainment.

Bloody Sundays
To understand how football affects the bodies and minds of those who play it, the Pittsburgh analyzed four years of NFL injury data; interviewed more than 200 current and former players, coaches and managers; and delved into thousands of pages of the latest medical research. Carl Prine reports.

Outstanding Young Citizens
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recognizes the achievements of the region's young citizens.

A Road to Red Ink
A study by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review shows that wasteful spending abounds at the five-member Turnpike Commission.

A Region Recovers
Chartiers Creek is usually a quiet neighbor as it snakes through Carnegie. But in September, the creek, swollen by record rainfall, became a river that roared out of its banks and blanketed the borough in mud and wreckage. It devastated homes and businesses and left many wondering how to carry on. The Pittsburgh pittsburghtrib/news will follow a handful of families and businesses as they recover from Ivan and rebuild their lives.

UPMC in Italy
In UPMC, Sicily found a medical powerhouse that offered its doctors, its knowledge and, perhaps most important, its reputation. Critics say UPMC is cornering the European medical market at the expense of Sicily's weak economy.

Remembering Flight 427
On Sept. 8, 1994, a USAir Boeing 737-300 with 132 people aboard plunged from the skies over Beaver County. No one survived. This section highlights those who were lost, those who led the recovery and the investigation, and the crash’s effect on a still-struggling airline.

Murder in the Streets
Although blacks make up only 12 percent of Allegheny County's population, they accounted for three quarters of homicide victims in 2003.

Investigation: Organ Donations and Transplants
The UPMC liver transplant program is under fire from rival hospitals over its use of organs that some specialists deem unacceptable.

Saddam's Grisly Legacy
As many as 1.3 million Iraqis were murdered and buried in hundreds of mass graves under Saddam Hussein. Trib Middle East correspondent Betsy Hiel crisscrossed the country for six months, conducting hundreds of interviews to compile an account of the dictator's brutality. (Dec. 14-16, 2003)

Deadly Secrets
It's one of health care's closely guarded secrets. The hands that treat patients and the instruments used to save lives could be spreading deadly germs. Last year's bacterial outbreak at Allegheny General Hospital that killed one and infected 15 others highlighted the hidden dangers patients face here and in hospitals nationwide. The Pittsburgh pittsburghtrib/news examines the prevalence of infectious bugs and the reasons hospitals don't want the public to know about these risks.

2003 YMCA Scholar Athlete Banquet
This year's banquet is here, and the award recipients represent the YMCA well. Along with over 100 scholar athletes, three people will be honored with the annual pittsburghtrib/news's 2003 Person of the Year Award, the pittsburghtrib/news City of Champions Achievement Award and the Frank Fuhrer Outstanding Performance Award.

Enterprise 2003
Enterprise 2003 is the Trib's annual in-depth look at the region. This year we highlight the area's economy, arts and leisure, technology and its new image.

In our time: Pittsburgh 10th Anniversary
A special section devoted to chronicling a decade of change - at the newspaper, in the city and across the region.

One Year Later
The day that changed America dawned bright and beautiful along her eastern coast. Judy Colfer, of Greensburg, was awaiting the start of a one-day seminar on the 55th floor of the north tower. It was her first trip to the towers that rose 110 stories above New York's financial district.

A Call for 'holy war'
In July 2000, the last edition of Assirat Al-Mustaqeem, an Arabic-language magazine published in Pittsburgh, advocated jihad "holy war" against the West.

A Jury of Their Peers?
The Allegheny County District Attorney said he is considering ordering his office to confirm whether blacks are underrepresented in the county's pool of jurors, an imbalance brought to light by the Pittsburgh pittsburghtrib/news.

Buried Legacy
Valley News Dispatch reports on the cleanup of a defunct nuclear weapons production site in the Alle-Kiski Valley which belonged to the company NUMEC.

Potential for Disaster
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review chronicles local development in chemical safety and the EPA's battle for more strict legislation.

Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel Survival Guide
PennDOT's closure of the outbound lanes of the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel will force 75,000 motorists a day to find different routes from the city. The video clips and maps in this survival guide explain the detours.

Enterprise 2002
Enterprise is the Tribune-Review's annual in-depth look at our region, its people and their progress. In this special section, we'll report on the region's health - economic and otherwise - and its prospects for the coming years.

Homicide 2001
Allegheny County's 90 homicide victims of 2001 came from all walks of life. Jack Schmidt of Dormont lost his wife to homicide this year. Ann Schmidt, 58, was killed in her secondhand book shop.

Legislative Spending
Pennsylvania legislators virtually get blank checks to spend as they please to run their district offices, travel and dine, a sixth-month examination by the pittsburghtrib/news has found.

Haiti: Mission of Hope
Special Section! The desperate state of health care in Haiti and what western Pennsylvanians are doing to help. Plus exclusive photos!

Title IX
Last fall, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewembarked on an unprecedented examination of gender equity in sports programs. The goal was to see how well the schools were living up to Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination in all aspects of education, including sports.

Cost of Regionalism
Cooperation is on the upswing among Pennsylvania's local governments, but reducing the number of municipalities remains taboo, a two-month Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation has found.

Pittsburgh's Changing Face: Immigrants
A special report by the Tribune-Review which highlights the growing immigrant population in the Pittsburgh area.

Pittsburgh's Financial Crisis
Pittsburgh is paying off debt and future retirement benefits by borrowing more money - a practice that experts compare to paying off one credit card with another. The city's financial crisis is highlighted by the size of the city's annual debt payments, which are almost twice as high as accepted averages - and growing.

Pension Investments
Special Investigation: State Employees' Retirement System

2000 Census
A collection of the news reports and data collected by the 2000 Census as it relates to the Pittsburgh area.

Scholar Athlete Banquet
2001 YMCA Scholar Athlete Banquet