Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures, Former Employees Say | ProPublica
Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure, according to sworn statements by former bank employees.

ICIJ Releases Offshore Leaks Database Revealing Names Behind Secret Companies, Trusts | ICIJ
Readers can search information about the ownership of more than 100,000 offshore entities in tax havens and discover the networks around them.

County commissioner voted for contracts tied to wife's law firm | The Star Tribune
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin ...

An Oregon program designed to help those with mental health histories restore gun ownership rights currently operates with a $576,000 budget and has restored those rights to just three people, according to an investigation by The Oregonian. The program comes from federal money -- the result of lobbying efforts by the National Rifle Association -- but funds are expected to dry up and the state legislature has a pending bill that would shift the cost to the state's taxpayers.

Bloomberg News reports that India accounts for 37 percent of the world's female sterilizations. Last year, 4.6 million women were sterilized, a number reach in large part because of govenrment quotas and incentives for doctors. Women are supposed to receive counseling before they give consent for the operations, which doesn't always happen. Sterilizations are sometimes happening in unsanitary conditions with bloody sheets and rusty scalpels.

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations | The Guardian
The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows. See more coverage of the NSA surveillance.

High prices are driving more motorists to rent tires | Los Angeles Times
Chains such as Rent-a-Wheel and Rimco are seeing business boom. Many consumers pay double or triple the cost of buying and face aggressive repossession policies.

Star witness in Debra Milke case accused of ongoing misconduct as constable | KPNX Phoenix
Condemned killer ...

Hundreds of charities now operate, not to help the needy, but to turn donations made to paralyzed veterans, dying children and cancer victims into profit for private fundraising companies. An investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting, CNN and the Tampa Bay Times revales that the top 50 worst charities collected more than $1 billion used for corporate fundraisers.

CIR and the Tampa Bay Times published reports today. CNN will air broadcast reports on June 13 during the AC360 show at 8 pm and 10 pm ET.

Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran from KPNX-12 News Phoenix uncovered a history of shoddy investigations that led to arrests, grand jury indictments and prosecution of people in Phoenix by arson investigators with the Phoenix Fire Department. The cases also factored into the department’s boast of the highest arson clearance rates in the county. Halloran’s probe also prompted the Fire Chief to form a fire investigation review committee which will review the arson clearance rates and the arson investigators training and methods. It’s who he selected to be on that committee that will likely be the subject of Halloran ...

Governing reports that the state of New Jersey sharply increased its tax subsidies, with incentives approved the past two years alone exceeding the combined total awarded for all previous years, dating back to 1996. Despite this, the state's economy has struggled to create jobs. An analysis of incentive data and state labor department records also found at least 20 companies that received subsidies have filed layoff notices since 2010.

"Questions linger months after the Almanac broke the story about the arrest, firing and reinstatement of a veteran Menlo Park police officer: How, exactly, does a police officer keep his job after being caught with a prostitute in a motel room?"

"Now, the public finally has some answers. The Almanac spent five months investigating binding arbitration in police discipline cases. Among the findings: The arbitrator's decision can be legally and factually wrong, and it's still binding."

Terrorism fears have led government to cloak the danger of hazardous chemical plants | The Houston Chronicle
"Around the country, hundreds of buildings like the one in West store some type of ammonium nitrate. They sit in quiet fields and by riverside docks, in business districts and around the corner from schools, hospitals and day care centers. By law, this shouldn’t be a mystery. Yet fears of terrorism have made it harder than ever for homeowners to find out what dangerous chemicals are hidden nearby. Poor communication can also keep rescue workers in the dark about the risks they face ...

“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."