"Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced a first-of-its kind investigation into how rape cases are handled by the University of Montana and its campus police, along with the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Attorney's Office because of a series of investigations by the Missoulian."

"Since December, the paper has been reporting about UM's handling of alleged rapes involving students - including allegations of gang rapes by members of its football team. The Missoulian and the Wall Street Journal have since filed a joint FOIA request on the topic."

Duff Wilson and Janet Roberts, for Reuters, report on "how food and beverage companies have dominated policymaking in Washington by doubling their lobbying expenditures during the past three years and defeating government proposals aimed at changing the nation’s diet."

Reuters Investigates TV also produced a video about "how the food industry fought back when the White House sought healthier school lunches and Congress directed federal agencies to set nutrition standards."

In a joint investigation The News & Observer of Raleigh and The Charlotte Observer published the first of a five-part series that looks into the state's nonprofit hospitals. The series, "Prognosis: Profits," shows how urban hospitals are piling up huge profits and driving up the cost of health care.

"In partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, Need to Know investigates whether U.S. border agents have been using excessive force in an effort to curb illegal immigration."

"The report raises questions about accountability because border agents are part of the Department of Homeland Security and therefore are not subjected to the same public scrutiny as police officers who use excessive force. It also questions whether, in the rush to secure the border, agents are being adequately trained. And it raises the question: why aren’t these cases being prosecuted?"

"USA Today’s investigative team found the EPA failed to tell people about or take action on hundreds of former lead smelting sites they’d known about for years. Alison Young and Pete Eisler tested the soil around former plants in 13 states and found potentially dangerous levels of lead remain in people’s yards and in parks."

This multi-part look into long-forgotten lead factories includes nearly 370 site-related documents, using DocumentCloud; video interviews with parents whose children play in their lead contaminated back yards; an interactive map telling you where smelters once were in your area; tips on how ...

An investigation, by Sandy Brundage of The Almanac, has revealed many holes in the process California schools take while checking the background of teachers.

"According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the state maintains a confidential database of complaints against teachers in public schools, but can only publicly disclose "final adverse actions" taken. The state doesn't maintain a similar database for private schools, which don't require teaching credentials and essentially operate as independent businesses, according to the California Department of Education."

"Sales of the nation's two most popular prescription painkillers, oxycodone and hydrocodone, have exploded in the US in the last decade, according to an Associated Press analysis provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration."

Use the interactive map to see how much painkiller sales have increased in your state.

"Suspicious test scores in roughly 200 school districts resemble those that entangled Atlanta in the biggest cheating scandal in American history, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows." To learn how the reporters gathered information click here.

"The newspaper analyzed test results for 69,000 public schools and found high concentrations of suspect math or reading scores in school systems from coast to coast. The findings represent an unprecedented examination of the integrity of school testing."

Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, for the Associated Press, report that undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities.

Elmira Star-Gazette reporter Jason Whong showed that despite having the benefit of the newspaper's archives and knowing where to look and which dates to research, New York's Freedom of Information and open records law couldn't help him -- or any parent -- find much evidence of an accused sexual predator's history of similar crimes and convictions going back 42 years.