The state health commission has begun advertising for someone to fill a new executive job overseeing “women’s education services” — including abstinence education and counseling on alternatives to abortion. The position could pay six figures.
Alexa Ura
Alexa Ura reported for The Texas Tribune from 2013 to 2023. She covered the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, wealth, poverty and power and how they are shaping the future of Texas and Texans, in the long and short term. Alexa started at the Tribune as a reporting intern before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin and joining the staff full time. Originally from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, she is a native Spanish speaker and is based in Austin.
Posted in
Demographics
Texas Officially Withdraws from Refugee Resettlement Program
Texas has officially withdrawn from the nation’s refugee resettlement program, according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. But that won’t stop the federal government from continuing to help refugees relocate here.
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Health care
Texas Not Budging on Rule Requiring Burial or Cremation of Fetal Remains
Despite intense outcry from the medical community and reproductive rights advocates, Texas isn’t budging on a proposed rule to require the cremation or burial of fetal remains.
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Demographics
Texas Threatens to Withdraw from Refugee Resettlement Program
As part of its fight to keep Syrian refugees out of the state, Texas is threatening to withdraw from the nation’s refugee resettlement program if federal officials don’t “unconditionally approve” a state plan requiring additional vetting.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
DPS Changes in Wake of Sandra Bland Death in Dispute
It is unclear whether the Texas Department of Public Safety will make any changes to its training policies following the announced settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Sandra Bland.
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Demographics
Some Can’t Find New Homes as Demolition of Public Housing Nears
With demolition set for late this year to make way for a new bridge, tenants of the D.N. Leathers housing project in Corpus Christi have until Oct. 31 to find new homes. Many are having trouble, and say they aren’t getting enough help.
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Politics
Texas Certifies McMullin as Write-In Candidate for President
The Texas secretary of state’s office on Friday certified former CIA operative Evan McMullin, who is running as an independent, as a write-in candidate for the general election.
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Demographics
Rising Wages Lift Texas Poor, But Almost 1 in 4 Kids Still in Poverty
Rising incomes helped lift more Texans above the federal poverty level in 2015, new census figures show, but poverty is still particularly prevalent among families with children and on the border.
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Health care
Texas’ Uninsured Rate Continues to Fall
Texas’ rate of uninsured people fell to 17.1 percent in 2015 as part of a steady decline in the share of uninsured residents following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to new Census estimates released this week.
Posted in
Unholstered
Even When Off Duty, Police Officers Have Wide Discretion to Shoot
In at least 66 cases — about 10 percent of police shootings in Texas’ largest cities between 2010 and 2015 — the officer pulling the trigger was off duty, according to an analysis of police data obtained by The Texas Tribune.
