The refugee system in Texas and nationally is still recovering from major cuts under the Trump administration. The latest casualty is Texas’ largest resettlement agency, Refugee Services of Texas.
Caroline Covington
Caroline Covington was the Texas Tribune's Scripps Howard Data Visualization fellow from June 2022 through June 2023. She came from Texas Standard at KUT public radio where she tracked and visualized key government decisions early in the pandemic and reported extensively on mental health. Prior to that, she was a freelancer for public radio, podcasts and digital news outlets. She received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, earned a master’s degree in French studies from New York University and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Covington specializes in health care and mental health journalism and in taking deeper dives into these topics through data and visuals.
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Graphics and data reporting
Toxic benzene lingered for weeks after shelter-in-place warnings ended following 2019 Houston-area chemical fire
The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.
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Graphics and data reporting
Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke broke fundraising records in their race for Texas governor. Here’s how much.
Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election.
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Texas 2022 Elections
Republicans rebounded in some suburban counties that had been drifting blue
After seeing Democrats gain momentum in suburbs of Houston and Dallas, Republicans succeeded in reclaiming ground this election. But the GOP is still a long way from returning to pre-Trump support, even in ruby red counties.
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Texas 2022 Elections
Just over a third of Texas’ registered voters turned out early this year, falling short of 2018 numbers
The high turnout seen in 2018 may have been an anomaly rather than the start of a long-term trend.
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Guns in Texas
Texas’ complex relationship with firearms: Leading America in gun sales, but with a declining gun ownership rate
We examine decades of data on gun ownership and gun violence to show trends across the state. Some of them might surprise you.