Austin officials slashed their police department’s budget this week as other Texas cities are rethinking how general fund dollars are spent — and whether spending so much to combat crime addresses the poverty that can cause it.
Mandi Cai
Mandi Cai was a designer/developer at The Texas Tribune from 2019 to 2022, telling stories with code and graphics as part of the data visuals team. Previously, she created dashboards for scientists at BioBright, a Boston-based biotechnology company, and visualized defense data for Defense Footprint, a project contextualizing the United States' international military presence. She graduated from Brown University in 2017 with a concentration in neuroscience, focusing on the intersection of cognitive science and design. Mandi enjoys murals, freestyle embroidery and animated films.
Posted inState Government
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of compensation for Texas state employees has been updated to represent employee salaries as of July 1. It includes detailed data for the 113 agencies in state government and positions at each of those agencies.
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Coronavirus in Texas
With 4 in 5 Texans living in a “red zone,” coronavirus hot spots are moving targets
Early hot spots have been eclipsed by new regions in crisis. Now that so much of Texas is battling major coronavirus outbreaks, some severely ill patients have to travel long distances to receive the care they need.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Nearly 14% of new U.S. COVID-19 cases are recorded in Texas
Texas’ coronavirus cases now make up a significantly higher proportion than its 9% share of the nation’s population.
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Coronavirus in Texas
How COVID-19 cases have grown in Texas’ 11 most populous counties
New cases in Texas are approaching 6,000 per day, and nearly two-thirds of them have been recorded in 11 counties over the past two weeks.
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Coronavirus in Texas
In Texas, COVID-19 case totals and hospitalizations are rising. The state says prisons and meatpacking plants are key factors.
The 14-day trend line shows new infections in Texas have risen about 71% in the past two weeks.
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Graphics and data reporting
Search the Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of compensation for Texas state employees has been revamped. It includes detailed data for all of the 113 agencies in state government and every position at each of those agencies.
Posted in
Graphics and data reporting
T-Squared: Introducing our new salaries explorer
The Texas Tribune is excited to launch a new and revamped version of our Government Salaries Explorer.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Coronavirus in Texas cities: See how social distancing could reduce stress on hospitals
New estimates from University of Texas at Austin researchers show what it would take to spread out hospitalizations in 22 Texas metro areas.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas counties with coronavirus: Case updates and what we know
There are cases in each of the state’s five largest urban areas, though the virus has now also appeared in counties spanning from East Texas to the Gulf Coast. Officials expect statewide testing capacity to increase soon.