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Beyond Flint: Excessive lead levels found in almost 2,000 water systems across all 50 states
Beyond Flint: Excessive lead levels found in almost 2,000 water systems across all 50 statesTests for cities, rural subdivisions and even schools and day cares serving water to 6 million people have found excessive and harmful levels of lead. - News
Broken discipline tracking systems let teachers flee troubled pasts
Broken discipline tracking systems let teachers flee troubled pastsA fragmented system for checking the backgrounds of teachers leaves students at risk. - News
Panama Papers: 1,000 secret Nevada firms, 2 overseas addresses
Panama Papers: 1,000 secret Nevada firms, 2 overseas addressesTo many observers, the Panama Papers leak has cast the United States — especially states like Nevada and Wyoming — in an uncomfortable role: an offshore haven of corporate secrecy for business operations across the globe. - News
Tens of thousands of rape kits go untested across USA
Tens of thousands of rape kits go untested across USAExclusive nationwide count by USA TODAY reveals abandoned rape evidence - College
Can college athletics continue to spend like this?
Can college athletics continue to spend like this?“It’s an unstable situation," says economist Andrew Zimbalist. - Environment
Pumped beyond limits, many U.S. aquifers in decline
Pumped beyond limits, many U.S. aquifers in declineNationwide analysis shows depletion of groundwater widespread and worsening - News
U.S. Marshals secretly tracked 6,000 cellphones
U.S. Marshals secretly tracked 6,000 cellphonesAgency inadvertently identified itself as most prolific known user of tracking devices - News
Inside America's secretive biolabs
Inside America's secretive biolabsInvestigation reveals hundreds of accidents, safety violations and near misses put people at risk - News
911's deadly flaw: Lack of location data
911's deadly flaw: Lack of location dataA technology shortfall can lead to tragic results, a national investigation shows. - News
High-speed police chases have killed thousands of innocent bystanders
High-speed police chases have killed thousands of innocent bystandersVictims include small children, teenage drivers and the elderly. - News
Behind the bloodshed: The Untold Story of America's Mass Killings
Behind the bloodshed: The Untold Story of America's Mass KillingsUSA TODAY used FBI data and local police records and media reports to explore mass killings - Movies
No A's for effort on H'wood's diversity report card
No A's for effort on H'wood's diversity report cardIn USA TODAY's analysis of 2016 films, only four movie studios score better than a C. - Nation
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSAAn increasing number of police agencies across the USA are snatching your cellphone data, whether you're a suspect or not. - Elections 2016
PAC donations from elderly donors draw scrutiny
PAC donations from elderly donors draw scrutinyDonations to a big-spending PAC put spotlight on a Virginia treasurer. - News
Police diversity lags in many cities
Police diversity lags in many citiesMinority officers are concentrated in a few metropolises, but gaps persist in many cities.
- Nation
Hidden defects linked to small-aircraft crashes over five decades
Hidden defects linked to small-aircraft crashes over five decadesUSA TODAY's three-part series exposes cover-ups and regulatory shortfalls - News
USA TODAY: Fugitives Next Door - Thousands cross state lines to freedom
USA TODAY: Fugitives Next Door - Thousands cross state lines to freedomMore than 186,000 wanted felons can escape justice merely by crossing a state border - Nation
Look out below: Danger lurks underground from aging gas pipes
Look out below: Danger lurks underground from aging gas pipesEven small cracks or accidents can trigger a destructive explosion. - News
Bracing for a big power grid attack: 'One is too many'
Bracing for a big power grid attack: 'One is too many'Physical and cyberattacks concern security experts. - Washington
These 10 Members of Congress missed hundreds of House votes
These 10 Members of Congress missed hundreds of House votesSen. Rubio has been attacked for absences from Washington, but he is hardly alone - News
Low vaccination rates at schools put students at risk
Low vaccination rates at schools put students at riskNearly 1 in 7 public and private schools have measles vaccination rates below 90%. - News
Police used apparently illegal wiretaps to make hundreds of arrests
Police used apparently illegal wiretaps to make hundreds of arrestsQuestionable surveillance led to arrests and seizures across the United States. - Nation
Tarmac trouble: U.S. runway close calls soar
Tarmac trouble: U.S. runway close calls soarNearly once a day, a commercial airplane encounters a collision hazard at a U.S. airport, when another aircraft, a vehicle or a person is on an active runway, according to a USA TODAY review of federal data. - News
Police secretly track cellphones to solve routine crimes
Police secretly track cellphones to solve routine crimesPolice in Baltimore have quietly turned secret cellphone tracking into routine policing. - News
Police, firefighter survivors wait years for death benefit
Police, firefighter survivors wait years for death benefitAs of August, 750 families caught waiting for decisions on federal "hero" death payments - Elections 2016
For candidates, flying private is the norm
For candidates, flying private is the normBarnstorming the country by 2016 presidential candidates is much easier when you’re not waiting in long lines — checking bags or delayed — so nearly every candidate has turned to private, chartered jets. - News
Old lead factories poisoned hundreds of neighborhoods
Old lead factories poisoned hundreds of neighborhoodsThis project revealed the health threats to kids posed by hundreds of former lead smelters - Nation
The number of airplane near collisions may shock you
The number of airplane near collisions may shock youUSA TODAY looks at federal data on near collisions at airports and finds that incidents involving commercial flights happen much more often that you think. - Nation
U.S. lawmakers got suspect Turkish campaign cash
U.S. lawmakers got suspect Turkish campaign cashA Turkish religious movement accused of illegally financing congressional travel abroad may have also provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper campaign donations. - News
Debate sites invest time and money for political spotlight
Debate sites invest time and money for political spotlightUniversities hope to cash in on media spotlight, but the payoff can be overstated
- News
Forest Service discrimination prompts tracking of stops
Forest Service discrimination prompts tracking of stopsEmbarrassing case of discrimination in 'Twilight' town prompts new forest service tracking policy - News
911's deadly flaw: what our local investigations found
911's deadly flaw: what our local investigations found911's deadly flaw: what our local investigations found - News
Records: Energy Department struck by cyber attacks
Records: Energy Department struck by cyber attacksCyber attackers compromised Department of Energy computer security more than 150 times between 2010 and 2014, according to federal records reviewed by USA TODAY. - College
College athletics finance report: Non-Power 5 schools face huge money pressure
College athletics finance report: Non-Power 5 schools face huge money pressureDivision I schools' revenue-and-spending reports show disparities that could keep growing. - Nation
Racial gap in U.S. arrest rates: 'Staggering disparity'
Racial gap in U.S. arrest rates: 'Staggering disparity'Nearly 1,600 places had arrest rates more lopsided than Ferguson, Mo. - Nation Now
Chasing the heroin resurgence
Chasing the heroin resurgenceThe resurgence of the deadly drug has sparked a flurry of action from governors' mansions and statehouses across New England and the Midwest to small-town police stations from northern Kentucky to Wisconsin. - News
Makers of dietary supplements have criminal pasts
Makers of dietary supplements have criminal pastsAlmost anything goes in the $30 billion industry for makers of risky pills and powders - Washington
Pride and patronage
Pride and patronageHow members of Congress use a little-known power to shape the military and help their constituents - News
FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn images
FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn imagesFederal agents kept the site online for two weeks to catch its users - Nation Now
Heroin's hidden journey
Heroin's hidden journeyNearly all heroin fueling a U.S. resurgence enters over the 1,933-mile Mexico border. - News
DEA agents kept jobs despite serious misconduct
DEA agents kept jobs despite serious misconductDEA agents kept their jobs after investigations into fabricating records, distributing drugs. - News
New police radars can 'see' inside homes
New police radars can 'see' inside homesAt least 50 agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes. - Nation
For a million fugitives, freedom starts at county line
For a million fugitives, freedom starts at county lineSuspects in crimes large and small can escape justice without going very far. - News
Sanctioned biolabs' names still kept secret despite White House memo
Sanctioned biolabs' names still kept secret despite White House memoDespite a White House call for transparency, regulators keep sanctioned biolabs' names secret. - News
ATF uses fake drugs, big bucks to snare suspects
ATF uses fake drugs, big bucks to snare suspectsFeds have locked up 1,000 people by enticing them to rob drug stash houses that don't exist
- News
Nursing homes cited 1,000 times for medication errors
Nursing homes cited 1,000 times for medication errorsA KVUE Defenders investigation uncovers an increase in Texas nursing home residents harmed by medication errors. - Crime & Courts
Iowa ranks 20th in accidental shootings involving children
Iowa ranks 20th in accidental shootings involving childrenIowa law doesn't require gun owners to secure a weapon unless there is reason to believe a child younger than 14 could access it. - Politics
More background checks for teachers, school workers?
More background checks for teachers, school workers?Indiana investigates changes in wake of sexual misconduct cases, F rating on national scorecard - Investigations
'Sue him just for fun!' Trump threatens lawsuits, rarely files
'Sue him just for fun!' Trump threatens lawsuits, rarely filesDonald Trump routinely threatens people with lawsuits, but rarely follows through. - Local
NC teacher screening bill passes Senate
NC teacher screening bill passes SenateThe legislation would require prospective NC teachers undergo fingerprint checks. - Local
NC teacher screening bill passes Senate
NC teacher screening bill passes SenateThe legislation would require prospective NC teachers undergo fingerprint checks. - Presidential Election
Exclusive: More than 100 lawsuits, disputes, tied to Trump and his companies
Exclusive: More than 100 lawsuits, disputes, tied to Trump and his companiesGOP presidential candidate's companies at odds with local governments over taxes for decades - Presidential Election
Exclusive: More than 100 lawsuits, disputes, tied to Trump and his companies
Exclusive: More than 100 lawsuits, disputes, tied to Trump and his companiesGOP presidential candidate's companies at odds with local governments over taxes for decades - Crime
Ex-teacher pleads guilty to groping student
Ex-teacher pleads guilty to groping studentFormer Bloomfield High School teacher Benjamin Griffith pleaded guilty Monday to groping a 17-year-old student. - Crime
Ex-teacher pleads guilty to groping student
Ex-teacher pleads guilty to groping studentFormer Bloomfield High School teacher Benjamin Griffith pleaded guilty Monday to groping a 17-year-old student. - Education
Blackburn bill calls for more teacher background checks
Blackburn bill calls for more teacher background checksEvery teacher would receive a criminal background check before hiring, under a proposal by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn. - News
USA TODAY NETWORK biolabs investigation wins national journalism prize
USA TODAY NETWORK biolabs investigation wins national journalism prizeUSA TODAY NETWORK’s investigation into secretive biodefense labs won the Scripps Howard Award for Public Service. - Nation
How troubled teachers cheat the system
How troubled teachers cheat the systemA USA TODAY and TEGNA Media investigation examines how teachers with checkered pasts are able to start fresh by crossing state lines. - Nation
How troubled teachers cheat the system
How troubled teachers cheat the systemA USA TODAY and TEGNA Media investigation examines how teachers with checkered pasts are able to start fresh by crossing state lines.