Good Piece of Investigative Journalism in the Cincinnati Enquirer

Sheriff's appraisers cash in: Critics say sheriff's cronies rake in big bucks from crisis

As a record number of foreclosures battered Hamilton County homeowners and neighborhoods, six people - mostly politically connected friends of Sheriff Simon L. Leis Jr. - made record earnings from the foreclosure crisis last year.

They're the appraisers hired by the sheriff to determine the value of foreclosed properties before they're sold at a courthouse auction. Last year, the six appraisers each made more than $165,000. Two earned more than $250,000...