“Stacked Decks: Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality” published this month. (Images courtesy University of Chicago Press) This is your first of three free stories this month.

Recently, an old friend expressed disbelief that some cities, towns and counties in the United States don’t require building inspections for newly constructed homes. For years I’ve done expert witness ...

Experts say it will take months to determine what caused the partial condominium to collapse, it has been called “absolutely devastating.” Many questions remain, like how this could have happened, and ...