Jolie McCullough, Author at The Texas Tribune

About

Corrections and Clarifications

Our reporting on all platforms will be truthful, transparent and respectful; our facts will be accurate, complete and fairly presented. When we make a mistake — and from time to time, we will — we will work quickly to fully address the error, correcting it within the story, detailing the error on the story page and adding it to this running list of Tribune corrections. If you find an error, email corrections@texastribune.org.

Jolie McCullough

Jolie McCullough was a reporter at The Texas Tribune from 2015 to 2023. She began as a data visualization journalist and then reported on criminal justice policy, ranging from policing and courts to prisons and the death penalty. She joined the Tribune from the Albuquerque Journal, her hometown newspaper. She previously worked at the Arizona Republic and is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

A BP employee stands near a safety sign during a BP memorial service inside the plant in Texas City for the employees that were injured and killed in the BP plant explosion in Texas City,Texas January 30, 2005.

Energy, Environment

Blood Lessons: Unsafe Conditions Persist at Nation’s Refineries

By Jim Malewitz and Jolie McCullough, The Texas Tribune and Mark Collette and Lise Olsen Houston ChronicleMarch 23, 2015

Ten years after the 2005 Texas City explosion, there is little evidence that the 15 lives lost on that March day brought needed changes to the nation’s refining industry, a joint Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation shows.

Firefighters pour water on a smoldering unit following an explosion that rocked the BP refinery Wednesday, March 23, 2005, in Texas City, Texas. The explosion reportedly killed four, and injured 60 people.

Energy, Environment

Blood Lessons: Could the Texas City Tragedy Happen Again?

By Jim Malewitz and Jolie McCullough, The Texas Tribune and Mark Collette and Lise Olsen Houston ChronicleMarch 22, 2015

The Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle spent months examining whether the nation’s oil refineries learned the lessons of the deadly explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in 2005. Ten years later, their investigation shows, the death toll has barely slowed.

Demographics

Interactive: Demographics of Texas’ Undocumented Population

By Alexa Ura and Jolie McCulloughJan. 28, 2015

Use these interactives to explore the demographics of Texas’ undocumented population. You can also see demographic breakdowns in the Texas counties with the largest undocumented populations.

Dan Patrick at a press conference on Jan. 15, 2015.

Politics

Companies Linked to Patrick’s New Advisers Spend Millions Lobbying

By Morgan Smith, Becca Aaronson and Jolie McCulloughJan. 20, 2015

The companies owned and operated by many of the people Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has appointed to his new advisory council heavily lobby the Legislature and rake in millions of dollars in state contracts.

State Government

Meet Your 84th Texas Legislature: White. Male. Middle-Aged. Christian.

By Alexa Ura and Jolie McCulloughJan. 14, 2015

What does the Texas Legislature look like? A lot like this, according to a Tribune analysis of demographics under the Pink Dome. While the makeup of the Lege is changing by the session, it remains out of whack with the Texas population.