Some of the best #MuckReads we read this week. Want to receive these by email? Sign up to get this briefing delivered to your inbox every weekend.
Drug-addicted, dangerous and licensed for the operating room, The Denver Post
Co hospitals vary greatly in what they do with their drug-addicted workers. https://t.co/Okt66x4N5T by @chrisosher@dolinger#copolitics
— Christopher N. Osher (@chrisosher) April 25, 2016
What happens when health care workers in Colorado are found to be drug-addicted and stealing drugs from the hospital? Often, not much, according to this Denver Post investigation. The identities of the thieves are "almost always" kept a secret, and in many cases, "patients never learn if someone who treated them was involved."
Landlord Games, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Fantastic report on how Milwaukee slumlords purchase properties, soak residents, then just walk away: https://t.co/RRsoYMbR5j
— Christian Schneider (@Schneider_CM) April 24, 2016
Milwaukee "vampire" landlords are buying foreclosed buildings, renting them out with minor repairs, then racking up fines for terrible conditions that they seldom pay. "They suck what little equity is left and they just leave a husk of a property at the end," said a city attorney. And the problem is getting worse: "the fines owed by the 20 biggest deadbeats has increased fivefold since 2010."
For Nebraska's Poor, Get Sick and Get Sued, ProPublica
Volume business? For Nebraska’s poor, get sick and get sued -- several times over. Eye-opening piece: https://t.co/2JqH22HUry
— Theo Francis (@theofrancis) April 28, 2016
It's cheap and easy to sue in Nebraska, and debt collectors are taking full advantage – to the detriment of poor people. Filing suit is one of the most aggressive ways to collect debt, but in Nebraska, it's common for collectors to sue over debts as small as $60. In 2013 alone, there were 79,000 debt collection lawsuits alone filed in Nebraska courts, with one firm, Credit Management Services, filing more than all other agencies combined.
How a church avoided responsibility for its ties to a child molester, Reveal
He molested kids while working at a church day care. But the church dodged accountability. https://t.co/GHktK7FEYlpic.twitter.com/rewRhwkNIR
— CIR (@CIRonline) April 27, 2016
There are 900 religious day cares in Alabama that "don't have to train workers, hire a minimum number of staff or be regularly inspected." Why? Alabama is one of 16 states that offer religious exemptions to "faith-based day cares." Some day care owners have exploited that gap by declaring association with a church. And in this case, when an affiliated day care owner molested children, the church claimed it had no ties to the owner — making it unlikely that his victim the victims "will ever see a cent in damages."
#MuckReads Local
De Blasio Gave Plum Administration Jobs to Nearly Two Dozen Fundraisers, DNAinfo-New York
This story from @DNAinfo is #muckreads x 10: De Blasio Gave Plum Administration Jobs to Nearly Two Dozen Fundraisers https://t.co/YImXY0O2fy
— Cezary Podkul (@Cezary) April 27, 2016
