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The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families

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A planned Trump administration regulation will penalize disabled young adults like Shy’tyra Burton, pictured with her father, Rondell, if they live with their parents. Caroline Gutman for ProPublica Even a glance at Shy’tyra Burton’s life reveals her need for the sort of federal government assistance that helps disabled Americans stay in their homes. Born two months prematurely into a poor family in Philadelphia, unable to breathe or swallow without tubes and largely confined to medical facilities until age 4, Burton was diagnosed with a litany of developmental and intellectual disabilities that left her with an IQ below 70. She persevered and graduated from a high school special education program, then attempted community college. But she struggled to grasp basic tasks and information. She couldn’t get hired, including at McDonald’s. After multiple medical and psychological evaluations and a hearing before a judge, the federal government approved her for the Supplemental Security ...
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He Died in a Florida Jail. The Company in Charge Should Have Sent Him to the Hospital, Experts Say.

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Family photos of Brian Tracey kept by his sister, Lillian Scharf, who has tried for three years to get answers about how her brother died at a jail in St. Johns County, Florida, in 2023. The company that was contracted to care for inmates, Armor Health of St. Johns County LLC, has declined to release Tracey’s medical records, citing privacy laws. Greg Kahn for ProPublica For 30 minutes, Brian Tracey lay naked and unable to breathe on the floor of the medical ward at the St. Johns County Detention Center, a low-roofed building south of Jacksonville, Florida. It was Dec. 15, 2023, the day Tracey was supposed to be released from jail.  By the time deputies noticed him, it was too late. His girlfriend, who’d posted bond for Tracey after nine days, waited outside for him but was instead greeted by a deputy and chaplain, who told her Tracey was dead. Medical staff working for the jail’s health provider, Armor Health of St. Johns County LLC, an affiliate of Miami-based Armor Health, ...
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Meet the Mayor of a Tiny Texas Town Who Wants to Limit How Cities Can Govern

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Margaret Flatley for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune In February, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit accusing Dallas officials of failing to adequately fund the city’s police department and violating a voter-approved measure requiring it to hire up to 900 new officers. “I filed this lawsuit to ensure that the City of Dallas fully funds law enforcement, upholds public safety, and is accountable to its constituents,” Paxton said in a news release demanding that the city adhere to a 2024 change in its charter. “When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply.” The reason Paxton could pursue such action, the reason the Dallas city charter even requires hiring more officers, was due in large part to a man named Art Martinez de Vara. A private attorney with a law practice based in Houston and a tiny South Texas town called Von Ormy, Martinez de Vara was one of the driving forces behind the changes in the charter that opened Da...
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Some Connecticut Towing Companies Are Ignoring New Law Aimed at Helping Low-Income Residents

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Tawana Galberth, a tenants union leader and resident at Sunset Ridge Apartments in New Haven, Connecticut. Residents say the frequency of towing has picked up in recent months after the formation of a tenants union. Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror Connecticut legislators overhauled the state’s towing law last year to make it more fair for low-income residents who couldn’t afford the fees to get their cars back. Those residents sometimes saw their cars sold after being towed for breaking one of their landlord’s parking rules. The new law, which took effect in October, requires tow truck companies to give owners notice before hauling away a car for minor issues like failing to display an apartment complex’s parking permit or parking in the wrong space. They also now have to be available after hours to allow people to retrieve their vehicles. They have to accept credit cards and provide change when people pay in cash. But when Elias Natal went to work one evening in December, he discovered...
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