As more U.S. Border Patrol agents descend on the Texas-Mexico border, residents of some of the most remote West Texas towns say they feel harassed and disrespected by the new arrivals watching over their communities.
Alexa Garcia-Ditta
Alexa Garcia-Ditta received a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and Spanish at the University of Texas at Arlington and a master's degree in journalism at at the University of Texas at Austin. A Houston native, she has also interned for The Baytown Sun, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina.
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Health care
TribBlog: How Much Do Kids Count?
Texas ranks 34th nationally in childhood well-being, has the third highest teen birth rate and is experiencing a rapid increase in child poverty, according to new numbers released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS Count data center.
Posted in
Politics
The Big Hungry
Texas’ participation in the federally funded summer food service program is dismally low compared to the national average — meaning only a small percentage of the state’s 2.5 million low-income kids are getting free meals.
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Higher Education
A Voice but No Vote
It took decades to get Texas lawmakers to allow students to sit on each university system’s board of regents — and only on the condition that they can’t vote. But most other states with student regents do grant voting privileges.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Senators Get Social
With more and more state employees and elected officials using websites like Facebook and Twitter the onslaught of social media use within governmental bodies brings with it a lot of questions.
Posted in
Demographics
Peace Bend?
Even as violence near the border rages and security becomes a more pressing issue, discussions about unifying Big Bend National Park with Mexico may be gaining momentum.
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Health care
Admission Impossible
The wait to get into one of Texas’ 10 state mental hospitals — already long — may be about to get longer. Last month, as part of its attempt to comply with Gov. Rick Perry’s request that each state agency reduce its budget by 5 percent, the Department of State Health Services proposed eliminating 50 beds from four of the state’s 10 mental hospitals: San Antonio, Rusk, Terrell and North Texas Wichita. The state’s mental hospitals are already almost at full capacity, with nearly 2,500 self-admitted patients and allegedly criminal patients awaiting treatment so they can stand trial.
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Health care
A Medicaid Mess
Texas’ senior care industry — still reeling from federal Medicare cuts — may face another financial blow, as the state considers reducing Medicaid provider rates to balance the budget in the face of a $10 billion-plus shortfall.
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Health care
TribBlog: How Healthy is Your County?
A national study released today ranks nearly every county in Texas — and in the rest of the country — by mortality and morbidity rates, and the health factors that contribute to them.
