Pain & Profit series continues, Botham Jean's family sues Dallas, big early voting turnout: Your weekend roundup

October 28,  2018 By Dom DiFurio and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines of the weekend so far. 🌞 Weather: Sunny and a high of 84. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Zak Farquer uses a motorized wheelchair after being paralyzed following a childhood car accident in 2009. He's in the unique position of being able to request his records and retell the many struggles he had with Superior Health Plan, including for denials of care and equipment. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) Investigations Texas patients lose in the state’s appeals system The first time doctors prescribed a special breathing device for Zak Farquer, he had just woken from a coma in a Dallas hospital, paralyzed from the neck down. A car had crashed into the 13-year-old as he rode a scooter. Over the next few years, four other doctors also said he needed the $13,000 machine, which pumps vapor medicine to clear out his lungs and prevent deadly infections. The state health commission agreed, ordering the company it hired to care for him to cover the cost of the equipment he has used every day since he left the hospital. But the company ignored that order and refused to pay, again and again, according to his medical records. The company denied him other equipment, too. Six times in five years, Farquer had to get a lawyer and file formal appeals and complaints to get coverage for the treatment and devices his doctors prescribed, legal records show. “I didn’t understand,” said Farquer, now 22. “I need this equipment to keep me alive and healthy. “Why would you put my life on the line to save money?” When health care companies hired by the state refuse to cover doctor-ordered medical treatments, patients and their families are supposed to be able to fight back through a so-called “fair hearing.” In these proceedings, employees of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission weigh testimony from the patient and from the company, typically by phone. Experts say this system is crucial to making sure companies that manage the Medicaid health-care system aren’t boosting their profits by refusing to pay for treatments patients really need. But in Texas, [the system is stacked against patients](, a Dallas Morning News investigation found. Previously: [Read Parts 1-6 of our investigation into Texas' Medicaid managed-care system](. Explainer: [How does Medicaid work](? The documents: [How we reported this special investigation](. courts Botham Jean's family sues city of Dallas, former cop Amber Guyger for killing him The family of a 26-year-old accountant slain in his home by a Dallas police officer who said she mistook his apartment for hers [filed suit Friday against the city and the cop who killed him](. Amber Guyger was off duty but in uniform when she shot and killed Botham Jean on Sept. 6 at South Side Flats, down the street from Dallas police headquarters in the Cedars neighborhood. The federal lawsuit says Guyger used excessive force and violated Jean's constitutional and civil rights and that Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall, the City Council and city manager "failed to implement and enforce such policies, practices and procedure for the DPD that respected Jean's constitutional rights." And: A shooter [opened fire during a baby naming ceremony at a Pittsburgh synagogue](on Saturday, and people with knowledge of the investigation said at least 11 people were killed. Also: Out of the hospital, Dallas rapper Yella Beezy says [shooters 'tried to take me out ... it didn't work.']( elections Surging early voting turnout in Texas surpasses numbers from 2014 after only five days More Dallas County residents have cast ballots through the first five days of early voting this year than [during the entire early voting period in 2014, the last midterm election](. As of Friday, 272,062 in-person and mail-in ballots had been cast in Dallas County — more than 20 percent of the county's 1.3 million registered voters, according to the Texas secretary of state. Through five days of the 12-day early voting period in 2014, only 85,971 total ballots had been cast in Dallas. In the 30 counties with the most registered voters in the state, 2,146,117 Texans have cast ballots in person and 280,444 have mailed in ballots, according to the secretary of state's office. Meanwhile: Dallas County elections officials say that [reports of voter intimidation have been made]( during the first week of early voting. And on the campaign trail: [Ted Cruz denounced the synagogue shooter as a 'bigoted racist' while Beto O'Rourke called for Americans to unify](. (Daniel Carde/Staff Photographer) Photo of the WEEKEND Model Brittney Martinez was styled as a traditional Catrina in a 1840's dress at a Día de los Muertos celebration at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas on Saturday. [Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, which spans Nov. 1 and 2](, is a tradition that’s been celebrated for thousands of years, tracing back to indigenous tribes in Mexico. As the Latino population grows in Dallas and elsewhere, it’s become more mainstream and is lumped in with Halloween festivities. But unlike Halloween with its costumes and candy, the belief behind Dia de los Muertos is that deceased loved ones are given an opportunity to be back with their families. [Here are 10 things to know about Dia de los Muertos]( -- including some misconceptions. Editors' Picks - Hennything Fest: A festival devoted to cognac fans was shut down after police say [attendees rushed the exits when rumors of gunshots broke out](. - Home: Dilbeck lovers [are using the famed architect's original blueprints to rebuild a 9,000-square-foot Dallas home]( that was lost to a fire. - Education: The Dallas Morning News examined campaign finance reports related to tax elections in the Dallas, Richardson and Frisco school districts. [Here’s what we found](. - Politics: [Images of a bloody fetus were sent to Beto O'Rourke supporters]( in a Garland neighborhood. - Arlington: A man and woman have been arrested [in connection with a violent dog attack](that left a 58-year-old man severely disfigured. - Commentary:[ I used to think violent anti-Semitism in the U.S. was impossible](. I was wrong Finally... Dallas Black Dance Theatre embodies the physical struggles of the civil rights movement Violence permeated the struggle for racial justice in the 1960s. Tommie-Waheed Evans researched how the human body reacts to the kind of physical attacks endured by protesters during the civil rights movement and created a dance out of it. In the 50-minute work, called Bodies as Site of Faith and Protest, the Philadelphia choreographer makes the connection between protest and the songs and speeches of the era, particularly the spiritual "We Shall Overcome" and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s use of it in his last sermon. [Dallas Black Dance Theatre is performing the last 20 minutes ofÂ]([Bodies]( in its Director's Choice program Nov. 2-4. At a run-through, company members look as if they're under siege from an unseen force knocking them around the studio. 👋 That's all for this morning! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. Do you have feedback? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). STAY CONNECTED WITH US  [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Reddit](  [OTHER NEWSLETTERS]( [SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS]( [Unsubscribe](  |  [Manage Preferences](  |  [Privacy Policy](  |  [Contact](  |  [Advertise]( You received this message because you signed up for this Dallas Morning News newsletter or it was forwarded to you. 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