Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo extends mental health leave
The county’s top elected official will be discharged from a mental health facility this weekend and plans to return to work on Oct. 2 after two weeks of outpatient therapy. Full Story
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Stephen Simpson is the mental health reporter, based in Austin, where he covers behavioral health in schools, treatment in the judicial system, substance abuse and the state mental health system, among other topics. He previously worked in his home state of Arkansas as a politics reporter, where he covered the state's Supreme Court, House of Representatives and correctional system for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Stephen's earliest career experiences include reporting and copy editing at The Jonesboro Sun and The Pine Bluff Commercial. He earned a degree in online and print journalism with a minor in filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas.
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![Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Asiatown on Oct. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prison system issues statewide lockdown to combat illegal drugs, inmate violence
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
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Will Texas’ new fentanyl awareness curriculum for public schools succeed where other anti-drug messaging failed?
Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign. Full Story
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![High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
University of Texas at Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center will partner to create a new $2.5 billion hospital
The new medical facility, to be located in downtown Austin, will help expand the University of Texas System’s reputed cancer center outside of the Houston area. Full Story
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![The Erwin Center in Austin on Aug 15, 2023.]()
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo takes leave of absence to treat depression
Hidalgo said she was diagnosed with the condition last month and aims to return to her post in September. More people across the country have been diagnosed with the condition since the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story
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![Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks on stage at a protest of the NRA Annual Meeting Friday, May 27, 2022, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
A&M faculty leaders decry “appearance of outside influence” in botched hiring of journalism professor
The university announced the hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a Black former New York Times journalist, but later backtracked on its offer amid conservative pushback. Full Story
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![Texas A&M University in College Station.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Fentanyl is dominating headlines, but there’s a more comprehensive drug problem happening in Texas
Lawmakers are passing laws in an attempt to slow the rise in fentanyl overdoses, but drug advocates warn the opioid is mostly a booster for other illegal drugs. Full Story
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![A group of counterfeit K56 pills, which contain fentanyl, is displayed as tests are conducted on seized drugs at the Houston Forensic Science Center in Houston on March 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
How Texas’ plan to curb school violence was knocked down by a pandemic and little oversight
Threat assessment teams were created to prevent the next school shooting. However, confusion surrounds how these teams operate and what they even do with a child exhibiting threatening behavior. Full Story
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![Texas Governor Greg Abbott convenes the third of three roundtable discussions on school safety and gun violence on May 24, 2018 in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting that left ten students dead.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
This year, Texas lawmakers zeroed in on existing health care programs, leaving bolder measures by the wayside
Pregnant moms on Medicaid will get health care coverage for a year, patients will get more detailed billing and nurses will get help with school loans. But efforts failed to gain steam for legalizing fentanyl test strips, increasing the pool of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid and expanding Medicaid benefits to more Texans. Full Story
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![Learning Tree owner Christa Marek holds her granddaughter at the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum, on Sept. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill barring anonymous reporting of child abuse heads to Gov. Greg Abbott
House Bill 63 is an attempt to reduce the amount of vindictive or false child abuse reports made to the state, but child advocates say it will deter valid reports, too. Full Story
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![A caseworker's badge hangs off her neck as she prepares to assist on a case for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in June 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune