Efforts to transport elderly and disabled residents were far from refined during the 2005 Hurricane Rita evacuation. Now, officials have better evacuation strategies — including a new state registry — at their disposal. This is part of our “Road From Rita” series, a collaboration with the Beaumont Enterprise.
Terri Langford
Terri Langford is the Tribune's health services reporter based in Austin. Langford is a veteran journalist, having worked at the Florida Times Union, The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, WNYC, Honolulu Civil Beat and Texas Standard/KUT. Langford has a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered various city and state agencies, criminal justice and health and human services for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Associated Press, WNYC and Texas Standard at KUT.
To report a tip, contact Terri on Signal at @tlangford.88
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawyers, Scientists Try to Unravel Thorny New DNA Standard
About 50 attorneys, prosecutors, defense attorneys and lab technicians on Friday discussed how past and future cases could be affected by a new standard in analyzing data involving “mixed DNA” evidence.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Sandra Bland Grand Jury Judge Faults New Selection System
A Waller County judge who helped choose grand jurors to consider the evidence in the death of Sandra Bland is not happy about the state’s new grand jury selection process, saying it unfairly puts too much of the selection process on judges.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
New Crime Lab Protocol Leads to Reviews of “Mixed DNA” Evidence
A new standard, used by crime labs in Texas and nationwide when analyzing multiple sets of DNA taken from evidence, has prompted questions and a review of court cases dating back to 1999.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Troopers Ticketing Fewer Overall, More Hispanics
State troopers are writing far fewer traffic tickets now than five years ago, but an increasing share of them are being issued to Hispanic drivers, a Tribune analysis of state data shows. The Texas Department of Public Safety says it can’t explain why that’s happening.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State Bungled Earlier Complaints About Group Home
State investigators failed to respond to prior complaints about an illegal assisted living facility in Austin shut down by Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday, and one of Paxton’s employees is under investigation concerning powers of attorney related to the case.
Posted in
31 Days, 31 Ways (2015)
Foster Care Youth Getting State Ombudsman
Starting Sept. 1, children in Texas foster care will get an ombudsman to help them navigate the system, find their caseworkers and report complaints. This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series.
Posted inState Government
Interim Committee to Take a Closer Look at Jail Safety
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. John Whitmire on Tuesday announced the creation of an interim jail safety study committee following concerns in the wake of the hanging death of Sandra Bland and the deaths of other jail inmates.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Capitol Fire Suspect to Go Before Iowa Judge
A man arrested in Iowa who is suspected of setting fire to a car last week at the Texas Capitol is expected to appear before a judge on Friday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Man Suspected of Capitol Arson Arrested in Iowa
A man arrested in Iowa is suspected of setting fire to a car last week at the Capitol, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced Thursday evening.
