Special Reports


	Playing with Pain Pain is a part of football. So are painkiller injections on game days at college programs across the country.

	Hidden killer The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled some 4,000 products that endangered consumers since it was formed in 1972. Yet during that entire time it has not regulated the fire safety of a product that kills an average of 600 people a year and sits in nearly everyone's living room upholstered furniture.

	Alzheimer's and violence Nearly 80,000 people in South Carolina have Alzheimer's. More than two-thirds will exhibit some form of agitation or combative behavior. There are few options for them or their families.

	Failing our Students An occasional series focusing on reading difficulties in the Lowcountry, where one in seven adults is functionally illiterate.

	Budget crisis South Carolina is deep in a historic budget crisis, affecting everything from higher education to the monitoring of sex offenders. The Post and Courier examines the causes and potential solutions in a three-day series.

	Coping with the Meltdown Across the Lowcountry, most people have been forced, in one way of the other, to deal with the nation's biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The Post and Courier has gathered the stories of some of these people into an occasional series to reveal how they are coping with the meltdown.

	Mapping the Future Tri-county governments are crafting in-depth plans to handle growth. Will their plans fit together?

	Law and Disorder A look at South Carolina's broken probation and parole system

	Learning to lead at The Citadel About 100 of The Citadel's top cadets arrived on campus the first weekend in August 2008 to learn how to push new freshmen through the first year's grueling military training and motivate the Corps of Cadets throughout the year. Post and Courier reporter Diane Knich had unprecedented access to their training, and filed these reports.

	Day Care Roulette Weak laws, poor enforcement and lack of ratings leave parents guessing in their search for quality child care

	Locked Down You've heard it before. The Charleston County Jail is overcrowded. But what does overcrowded really mean? In 2007, reports, photographers and videographer for the Post and Courier spent time in the Detention Center, trying to answer that question.

	The Mercury Connection The Mercury Connection: Is mercury pollution poisoning you? The Post and Courier tests people to find out.

	The Sofa Super Store Fire A special section with every story, photo galleries and audio & video clips from the fire that killed nine fire fighters. (June 2007)

	The China Effect The Post and Courier sent reporter Tony Bartelme and photographer Alan Hawes to China to report on several topics that affect our readers.

	The Education Lottery Is it a good bet? Read this five-part series and decide for yourself

	School bus breakdown A three-day series of articles on why South Carolina's public school buses are the nation's oldest, most polluting and least safe.

	An Unexpected Journey Ken Burger is executive sports editor for The Post and Courier. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Feb. 2, 2007. In an effort to educate and inform, this weekly series of columns will document his journey to defeat the cancer.

	"A Violent Encounter" The Post and Courier's four-day series that began Dec. 2. The stories chronicled the May 12, 2003, shooting of Doc Norris in Georgetown and his painful recovery.

	At a Crossroads Development can be seen everywhere in the Lowcountry. But what's causing it? What's it changing? Where's it leading us? The Post and Courier examined these questions in an occasional series that began Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005.

	Under Fire An ecological jewel north of Charleston, the Francis Marion National Forest faces unprecedented pressure from developers, road-builders and other forces. The Post and Courier's award-winning series, "Under Fire," examines and exposes these and other threats. In response, regional leaders are attempting to protect huge tracts of land in and around the forest. Follow-up stories trace this effort and other issues affecting the forest..

	The Bridge Builders The first of two special sections produced by The Post and Courier on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. In this special report we set out to "find out who was putting their handprints on" the new bridge - Charleston's newest and largest landmark.

	Charleston's New Symbol The second of two special sections produced by The Post and Courier on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. This comprehensive special section examines the engineering marvels of the new bridge, takes a fond look back at the old bridges, exlpains the new bridge's features and looks to the future it might bring the Lowcountry.

	A Fighting Chance More of our servicemen and women survive the grievous wounds of war in Iraq due to a state of the art hospital in the air run by doctors, nurses, medics and pilots from Charleston Air Force Base.

	Global Warming Global warming is a complex scientific and political topic that leaves some citizens cold. The Post and Courier breaks down the standard pro-and-con arguments and evaluates competing claims in this unique 2005 "User's Guide" package.

	Tarnished Badges Cops who commit crimes can remain on patrol across South Carolina because the system to stop them is broken at every stage. Post and Courier reporters Glenn Smith and Ron Menchaca recently received third place honors for investigative reporting for their work in "Tarnished Badges" in the National Headliner Awards, one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit.

	Forgotten Heroes The nation's volunteer firefighting system is collapsing because it can no longer keep up with demands for service, training and manpower.

	The Hunley Who were the men who sailed into history aboard the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, and how did they die?

	Brown v. Board This Special Report on the 50th anniversary of the ban on school segregation tells how it was then, what's changed since and what hasn't.