How two small-town reporters in Kentucky took down a corrupt sheriff

Journalists Adam Sulfridge and Samantha Swindler were both in their 20s and working for a small newspaper, the Times-Tribune in Whitley County, Kentucky, when they began investigating rumors about Sheriff Lawrence Hodge and his ties to drug dealers. Federal agents had investigated Hodge in the past but their inquiry fizzled. The sheriff was too insulated …

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Reporter’s notebook: Tips for putting together the pieces of a puzzling, complex story

Jigsaw puzzle

On March 26, City Hall reporter Josh Baugh got an adrenaline-pumping tip: FBI agents had seized files at the office of Fernando De León, a city official who reviewed permits for real estate development in San Antonio. The tip sparked a frantic series of phone calls that afternoon as Josh and I tried to figure …

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