A Texas university program gave police officers top grades for classes they never took, Dave Boucher reported.
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Mississippi Lt. Governor Candidate Hughes Sidesteps Campaign Finance Reform Law He Pushed for in 2017
After Mississippi lawmakers were caught reporting unitemized credit card charges to their campaign accounts, an official who pushed for reform flouted a new law and used the same maneuvers to rack up more than $100,000 in expenses, Luke Ramseth reported for the Jackson Clarion Ledger.
The Bicycle Thief
Steven Leckart, writing for Chicago Magazine, has this shocking story.
EXCLUSIVE: 'This is wrong': Iowa's flawed felon list is disqualifying legitimate voters for years
Iowa's voter database is seriously flawed, leading some people's voting rights to be wrongly denied, Jason Clayworth reported for the Des Moines Register. And officials have known about the systemic issues for years.
'Money down the drain': WV losing most of water it produces
Most of the drinking water that West Virginians pay to have treated never reaches a faucet. Instead, the water largely leaks out of the state's old pipes, wasting millions in public money, reporter Caity Coyne found after analyzing more than 300 local government reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
After nursing home stay, bedsores lead to man's agonizing death
Caregivers at a New York nursing home have neglected to prevent bedsores for more than 1 in 10 of their high-risk patients, leading to a man's death from infection, Lou Michel reported for The Buffalo News.
Regulators advised pulling patients from Hacienda HealthCare during 2016 fraud investigation
A Phoenix health facility under fire for causing a comatose patient to become pregnant had been scrutinized years earlier by state regulators who wanted to pull patients from the premises, Robert Anglen and Stephanie Innes reported for The Arizona Republic.
The Mysterious Life (and Death) of Africa’s Oldest Trees
Jaime Lowe, writing for Topic, examines baobab trees — as integral a part of the Botswana ecosytem as they are a part of local culture. Unfortunately, the scientists who discovered that ancient baobabs are dying have no clear explanation why.
On Being a Woman in America While Trying to Avoid Being Assaulted
R.O. Kwon, writing at The Paris Review, shares this powerful, personal essay.
How Cartographers for the U.S. Military Inadvertently Created a House of Horrors in South Africa
Kashmir Hill at Gizmodo spins this compelling story — and puts a remarkably human face on an ugly chapter in American history.
If Cyntoia Brown Can Be Released from Prison, Why Not Trafficking Survivor Alexis Martin?
Melissa Gira Grant, writing for The Appeal, looks at the case of Alexis Martin — who claims she also was the victim of human trafficking. It’s worth a read.
I Was Pregnant and in Crisis. All the Doctors and Nurses Saw Was an Incompetent Black Woman
Tressie McMillan Cottom, writing at Time Magazine, shares this personal essay about her experience with the American healthcare system.
'A Convenient Scapegoat'
Raven Rakia, writing for The Appeal, takes a closer look at the case of Cherie Townsend, who claims she was falsely imprisoned for murder. She is now suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Midnight in the Garden of East Texas
Skip Hollandsworth, writing for Texas Monthly, shares the unbelievably true story of a charming assistant funeral home director named Bernie Tiede who murders a wealthy widow, keeps her in a freezer for months, finally gets caught, and still has the town’s sympathy as his case goes to trial.
Will Amazon Finally Kill New York?
In May of 2017, Mayor de Blasio unveiled Jimmy Breslin Way, a street sign dedicating the stretch of 42nd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue to the late reporter. It was a strange press conference — half eulogy, half lecture — a chance for the mayor to laud Breslin and scold members of today’s media by whom he often feels unfairly maligned.
Take Script, Add Snow
Jane Borden, writing for Longreads, explores why we’re so obsessed with predictable Hallmark Christmas movies.
Texas Tent City Housing 2,500 Migrant Children Is Said to Close in January
Miriam Jordan, reporting for The New York Times, reports that the migrant detention camp in Tornillo, Texas — currently housing thousands of migrant children who were forcibly separated from their parents — will close in the coming weeks.
Inglewood to Destroy More Than 100 Police Shooting Records That Could Otherwise Become Public under New California Law
The city of Inglewood has authorized the shredding of more than 100 police shooting and other internal investigation records weeks before a new state law could allow the public to access them for the first time.
Weeks After the Thousand Oaks Shooting, Country Bar's Regulars Reunite for a Two-Step and That Old Borderline Warmth
For the first time since the shooting, the owner of Borderline Bar and Grill hosted a dance for his old customers. Borderline’s brown stucco building in Thousand Oaks has been off limits since the shooting Nov. 7. Esmeralda Bermudez covers the story for the Los Angeles Times.