The Oregonian was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Monday for a series of editorials on the rising costs of Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System.

The Pulitzer announcement said the newspaper's editorials explained "the urgent but complex issue of rising pension costs, notably engaging readers and driving home the link between necessary solutions and their impact on everyday lives."

Oregonian reporter Les Zaitz was a finalist for the Pulitzer in explanatory journalism for his "chilling narratives that, at personal risk to him and his sources, revealed how lethal Mexican drug cartels infiltrated Oregon and other regions of the country."