A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed a new record for people using firearms in suicides. Texas gun safety and mental health advocates say the report highlights a need for gun laws the state does not have.
Stephen Simpson
Stephen Simpson is the mental health reporter, based in Austin, where he covers behavioral health in schools, treatment in the judicial system, substance abuse and the state mental health system, among other topics. He previously worked in his home state of Arkansas as a politics reporter, where he covered the state's Supreme Court, House of Representatives and correctional system for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Stephen's earliest career experiences include reporting and copy editing at The Jonesboro Sun and The Pine Bluff Commercial. He earned a degree in online and print journalism with a minor in filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas.
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Higher Education
Rice University relocates its founder’s remains after reckoning with his ties to slavery
William “Willy” Rice, the founder of Rice University, will be buried at his family plot after students called for his removal due to his slave-owning past.
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Health care
Texas fire departments are fighting stigma and pushing to provide firefighters mental health help
Department leaders say they recognize that post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues are among the biggest dangers of the job.
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Criminal Justice
Convicted murderer Scott Panetti isn’t sane enough to be executed, federal judge rules
Panetti murdered his in-laws in 1992. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 set new court precedent with his case, raising the bar on the constitutional restriction against executing the insane.
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Health care
Nonprofit drug treatment center for low-income Texas teens shutters amid opioid crisis
Phoenix House is the latest casualty in an escalating funding crisis for Texas treatment centers as the state struggles with startling increases in overdose deaths, particularly among young people.
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Criminal Justice
Texas inmate killed by cellmate during a statewide prison lockdown
The killing of inmate Billy Chemirmir in the Coffield Unit occurred during a statewide lockdown of prisons, promoted by a rise in inmate homicides. A day before the lockdown, another incident at the same prison resulted in the firings of seven correctional officers and the resignations of another six.
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Health care
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo extends mental health leave
The county’s top elected official will be discharged from a mental health facility this weekend and plans to return to work on Oct. 2 after two weeks of outpatient therapy.
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Criminal Justice
Texas prison system issues statewide lockdown to combat illegal drugs, inmate violence
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed.
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New Texas Laws 2023
Will Texas’ new fentanyl awareness curriculum for public schools succeed where other anti-drug messaging failed?
Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign.
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Health care
University of Texas at Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center will partner to create a new $2.5 billion hospital
The new medical facility, to be located in downtown Austin, will help expand the University of Texas System’s reputed cancer center outside of the Houston area.