“Tens of thousands of applicants to a federal program subsidizing phone service for the poor have been placed at heightened risk for identity theft. Through a simple Google search, Scripps News uncovered more than 170,000 Lifeline applications and supporting records -- many containing full Social Security numbers, birth dates, drivers licenses numbers and food stamp account information -- which were freely posted online."

"Responding to Scripps’ investigation, attorneys general in three states have announced probes into the phone companies that collected the records."

"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."

10 News (WTSP), Tampa Bay’s CBS affiliate, exposes cracks in Florida’s zero-deductable windshield-replacement law. While the law is designed to help consumers, 10 News shows the lack of policing over fraud has lead to a proliferation of glass companies pushing unnecessary replacements.  The effect has been rising rates for all policyholders, and now, state legislators are calling for action.

The contract company hired to provide medical care to Arizona prisoners failed to treat an inmate and that may have led to his death, according to a report from KPNX-(NBC) Phoenix. The medical provider was already under fire and this is the latest example of a systemic problem in Arizona prisons. The investigation led to complaints being filed with the Arizona Board of Nursing against the nurse in question in this story and several other nurses. Wexford Health said that it was confident the company and its employees acted appropriately.

Buried in Grain | NPR, Center for Public Integrity
“Nearly 180 people — including 18 teenagers — have been killed in grain-related entrapments at federally regulated facilities across 34 states since 1984, records show. Their employers were issued a total of $9.2 million in fines, though regulators later reduced the penalties overall by 59 percent. Read about the incidents here.”

Wired for Waste | Charleston Gazette
“In 2010, West Virginia received a $126 million federal stimulus grant to bring high-speed Internet across the state. The Gazette is scrutinizing the state's stimulus spending in an ongoing series of reports.”

A gulf family’s ...

An investigation by KING TV in Seattle reveals the federal government has been quietly scaling back a nationwide ballistics network that was once heralded as a high-tech tool to fight gun crime.  The television station’s Trail of the Gun investigations previously uncovered thousands of “crime guns” in Washington State that were not subjected to routine ballistics tests that link those guns to unsolved crimes.

The Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 San Diego report that in 13 of 17 local school districts that have issued bonds since 2006, there is a significant correlation between the district's major donors and the companies that won work. More than 70 percent of companies that donated more than $5,000 to bond campaigns also won bond-funded contracts, according to the report. In collaboration, the reporters "looked at every school bond campaign in San Diego County since 2006, and focused on companies that donated more than $5,000 to campaigns. Then we approached each district to see ...

The San Antonio Express-News
Eagle Ford pay is high, but work can be fatal
"Since 2009, at least 11 employees working for drilling companies and spinoff industries in Eagle Ford Shale counties have suffered horrific deaths that could have been prevented, according to OSHA investigations obtained under the Freedom of Information Act."

WisconsinWatch
New state law conceals records of abuse, neglect in nursing homes
"Families’ abilities to hold potentially negligent nursing facilities accountable have been diminished by a recent change in state law that bars records of abuse and neglect from use in the courts, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative ...

A loophole in the federal Animal Welfare Act allows small breeders to ship sick pets – sight unseen – to internet customers.  And when a sick – or dying – pet arrives, the families often have little recourse against the sellers, WTSP Tampa Bay reports.

Security for San Diego's rail transit is staffed by private security officers, who say they have long been ill-equipped, untrained and unprepared to respond to many railway emergencies like collisions or terrorist attacks, according to a investigation from Investigative Newsource.