Our Investigations

The Transportation Security Administration plans to install body scanners at nearly every airport security lane in the country by the end of 2014. Scientists have objected to one type of scanner because it uses X-rays which increase the risk of cancer. In an effort to detect explosives hidden under clothing, is the TSA jeopardizing passenger safety?

While military statistics show that more than 115,000 soldiers have suffered mild traumatic brain injuries, unpublished research suggests that such injuries have gone undiagnosed in tens of thousands of troops. Even when the injuries are diagnosed, at one of the largest U.S. Army bases, soldiers have had to fight to get the appropriate care.

Opaque redistricting groups are being quietly bankrolled by corporations, unions and others to influence redistricting. They aim to help political allies—and in the process they’re hurting voters.

Vast deposits of natural gas have brought a drilling boom across much of the country, but the technique being used, called hydraulic fracturing, is suspected of causing hundreds of cases of water contamination. Now environmentalists and lawmakers are pushing for closer oversight of the gas industry, which is pushing back.

Systemic failures at the country’s banks and mortgage servicers have exacerbated the most severe foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression, making it extremely difficult for struggling homeowners to win a loan modification. Government efforts to limit the damage have fallen woefully short.

Ten Pakistani militants killed 166 people at multiple sites in Mumbai, India in 2008 in a three-day attack. The investigation centered on one of the most significant and mysterious figures to surface in a U.S. terror prosecution: David Coleman Headley.

Responding to what has been called “The Great Recession,” Congress authorized virtually unlimited spending to rescue the financial system. Hundreds of billions of dollars have gone out the door, but much of it has already been returned. The government stands to lose the most not from the big banks, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, NOPD officers shot 11 civilians, five of whom died. Criminal cases have now been brought against some officers, and the federal government is investigating the actions of the police department, which conducted only cursory inquiries into the deadly use of force.

We are tracking the nuclear disaster in Japan, and looking at questions about nuclear safety in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The U.S. war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan has relied heavily on civilian workers, to transport supplies, protect diplomats and other tasks. Though these contractors suffer the same physical and mental scars as troops, they return home without the same support network, often having to fight with insurers for the care they need.

For-profit colleges offer educations to students who might not otherwise qualify for traditional four-year institutions. But the schools have been accused of using deceptive recruiting practices, and a much larger share of their students end up defaulting on their government-sponsored loans. The education levels of the schools is also under scrutiny, as is the success rate of their graduates. 

The U.S. taxpayer-funded, Arab-language network has been plagued by mismanagement and concerns over its content. Alhurra has cost more than $700 million since it was set up in 2004.

The tragedy in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and more recent worries about a flu epidemic have left doctors, ethicists and health officials grappling with a difficult question: In times of medical crises, which patients should be given access to lifesaving treatments if the number in need far exceeds the ability of the system to cope?