Latest Contributions

• THC-related poison control calls tripled in Texas after hemp became legal. Experts say there’s more to the story.

  By Stephen Simpson, Data reporting by Dan Keemahill July 22, 2025

  Experts say poison control data don’t specify which calls are related to hemp versus more dangerous K2, but show that most THC poisonings cause minor side effects. Full Story 

• Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?

  By Terri Langford and Dan Keemahill July 10, 2025

  In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending. Full Story 

• Weary from COVID deaths, Hispanic Texans embraced vaccines. It saved their lives.

  By Terri Langford and Yuriko Schumacher May 1, 2025

  In the deadly summer of 2020, Hispanics in Texas were half of all COVID-19 deaths, spurring many to vaccinate. Today, in a startling flip, Hispanics make up less than a quarter of deaths from the disease. Full Story 

• A Texas school leader says material about diversity in state-approved textbooks violated the law.

  By Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, and Dan Keemahill, The Texas Tribune April 2, 2025

  The decision to strip chapters from books that had already won the approval of the state’s Republican-controlled board of education represents an escalation in how local school boards run by ideological conservatives influence what children learn. Full Story 

• Texas conservatives are using school board elections to exert influence over what students learn

  By Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, and Dan Keemahill, The Texas Tribune, Photos by Shelby Tauber, for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica March 19, 2025

  In six Texas districts that used at-large voting systems, ideologically driven groups successfully helped elect school board members who have moved aggressively to ban or remove educational materials that teach children about diversity. Full Story 

• After COVID, Texas is less prepared for the next pandemic

  By Eleanor Klibanoff, Graphics by Dan Keemahill and Yuriko Schumacher March 18, 2025

  Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. Full Story 

• Texas is poised to become a film haven — but not without a fight

  By Pooja Salhotra Updated: March 12, 2025

  The Texas Senate has proposed injecting a staggering half a billion dollars into film production, as economists and fiscal hawks question the return on investment. Full Story 

• Measles cases reported in Texas as vaccine rate against the disease has fallen

  By Stephen Simpson and Jayme Lozano Carver Updated: Feb. 18, 2025

  Two of the four cases are in Lubbock, which hasn’t seen a case in more than 20 years. Meanwhile, measles vaccination rates in Texas have fallen over the last four years. Full Story 

• Several bills filed to weaken vaccine mandates as more Texas families opt out of immunizations

  By Terri Langford Jan. 27, 2025

  Emboldened by Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s nomination and disdain for pandemic-era mandates, skeptics are pushing for bills to make it easier to opt out of vaccines. Full Story 

• Texas is silent on whether it will offer summer food assistance for students

  By Terri Langford and Dan Keemahill Jan. 9, 2025

  After the state missed the Jan. 1 deadline, lawmakers still have time to approve administrative costs before applying for $400 million in federal summer meal assistance. Full Story