Twice Betrayed | San Antonio Express-News
“A seven-month San Antonio Express-News investigation into the pervasive and long-standing problem of sex assaults in the military shows victims who report the incidents often are retaliated against and discharged on false claims that they have mental disorders. Offenders, meanwhile, are rarely punished, and most are allowed to stay in the armed forces.”

Data breaches persist despite heightened security | Chicago Tribune
“Despite rising awareness of cybersecurity, the number of incidents in which secure information is released into potentially untrustworthy environments remains nearly as high as ever by some measures worldwide and in Illinois.”

Chronic Lyme ...

"KCRA obtained video of hundreds, possibly thousands of mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs and PCB containing ballasts stored outside, in the open air behind a Sacramento contractor’s facility.  State law explicitly states that all these materials must be in a container to prevent leakage and breakage, yet a former employee says the company ran out of space and told employees to put them outside.  Just days after KCRA’s calls the county and state opened investigations and the company cleaned up the materials.  Yet concern still exists that with all the sales of energy efficient equipment and materials more and more ...

KWTV in Oklahoma City and at News on 6 in Tulsa, Okla., examined a loophole in state law that allows teachers who have sexual relationships with students to be shuffled from district to district. The state Department of Education doesn’t track such allegations, and many times districts, teachers, parents and law enforcement keep the matter quiet to avoid humiliation.

Medicare Drug Program Fails to Monitor Prescribers, Putting Seniors and Disabled at Risk | ProPublica and The Washington Post
"Prescription data obtained by ProPublica shows widespread use of antipsychotics, narcotics and other drugs dangerous for older adults, but Medicare officials say it's not their job to look for unsafe prescribing or weed out doctors with troubled backgrounds." Also published this weekend is a database of Medicare's prescription drug program.

Beyond Payday Loans | Marketplace and ProPublica
"A near billion dollar company, World Finance is the largest of an often-overlooked breed of high-cost lender: installment lenders. Ranging from a few hundred ...

In an undercover investigation Fox 5 Atlanta found that many used car dealerships in the Atlanta area were breaking the law by charging extra fees when closing a sale. State law prohibits car dealerships in Georgia from charging more than the advertised price, aside from taxes, tag and title, yet some used car dealerships around the city were caught charging close to $600 more.

A collaboration between the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting and NBC6 has found that "for years, due in part to lax regulations on safety equipment and few mandates for formal boating safety education, Florida has led the nation in boating-related deaths and injuries."

"The Florida Legislature has failed to address the state’s hazardous waters through additional safety requirements and mandated boater education, because year after year, the $10.3 billion Florida boating industry and the state’s boating constituents have pressured legislators to keep safety regulations to a minimum."

Taken for a Ride: Temp Agencies and ‘Raiteros’ in Immigrant Chicago | ProPublica and Marketplace
“Some of America's best-known companies and largest temp agencies benefit from — and tacitly collaborate with — an underworld of labor brokers, known as raiteros, who charge workers fees, pushing their pay below minimum wage.”

Problems keep proliferating at discredited private foster care agency | Los Angeles Times
“A decade after L.A. County auditors delivered a harsh assessment of Teens Happy Homes, probe finds that children were repeatedly harmed in recent years and dubious financial practices grew.”

Mortgage Mess | NBC Bay Area
“Tens of thousands of Bay ...

"A surveillance video that captured the beating of a corrections officer prompted KING 5-Seattle to dig deeper.  Why was a single officer unlocking cells of more than one hundred inmates, with no one to assist him?  The subsequent investigation reveals staffing shortages and overcrowding that are creating hazards inside the Nation’s federal prison system."

"KCRA asked for records regarding how much federal tax money the State of California's Health Benefit Exchange has spent to change their name to "Covered California."  In searching through expense records, the exchange spent $220,000 to hire a PR firm and run names by multiple focus groups to determine if it was a good "brand" for the exchange.  Critics say it's another example of over-spending while Covered California claims it's important to get as many insureds into the exchange as possible."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ethics and the Legislature: Money, secrets, power rule dome
On the floor and in the committee rooms, you can identify the most powerful lawmakers simply by checking their fundraising and lobbying totals. The cost of access to a legislator rises as he does: being promoted to chair a key committee doubles his campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts.

Slate
How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown?
"The answer to the simple question in that headline is surprisingly hard to come by. So Slate and the Twitter feed @GunDeaths are collecting data for our crowdsourced interactive ...