WEEK IN NEWS: State probe, unhealthy coverage, eternal flame

New York Daily News, The (NY)

Nov. 16--No one covers the city like the Daily News. For more than a century, New York's Hometown Newspaper has been your eyes and ears -- and your voice.

Do you have a story you think we should tell? Call us at (212) 210-NEWS or email us at [email protected]. This is your paper, and we are committed to covering the issues that matter to you. Here are some of our top stories from the last week:

News gets action: Another week, another investigation sparked by The News' exclusive reporting. Gov. Cuomo launched a probe into the nonprofit Acacia Network -- the scandal-plagued homeless services provider that raked in $183 million in city contracts this year alone. Acacia demanded a mother of three stop calling the city's 311 complaint line if she wanted to renew her lease in a squalid Bronx apartment. The woman, Iesha Poindexter, gave in to the order, but said she was later told her lease would not be renewed anyway. "This harassment, if true, is unacceptable," Cuomo said. Acacia said a rogue employee made the demand and was disciplined.

Sick system: CUNY professor learned the hard way that even if you have health insurance, it doesn't mean you're covered. When English prof Jason Tougaw tried to get a refill of his HIV medicine in August, he found out he had no out-of-pocket maximum. His benefits put him on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars for his life-saving drugs. "What that feels like to me is that my employer would've let me get dangerously sick or die," Tougaw told The News.

Carrying a torch: Lady Liberty has one not-so-secret admirer. When Vietnam veteran Charlie DeLeo came home from Southeast Asia 47 years ago, he made a vow inside the Statue of Liberty that he's kept ever since. "I said (to God), 'If you can do something special with my life, I'll honor and glorify your name,'" DeLeo, 71, recounted. "I believe God spared my in life in Vietnam. He was preserving my life so that I could be the keeper of the flame." DeLeo is the landmark's voluntary caretaker, and over the years he's changed light bulbs inside the 42-foot arm holding the statue's torch aloft, painted her crown and scaled the copper exterior.

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