HB 256 would prevent camps from correcting violations on the spot to avoid state penalties and reduce the number of camps serving on a state panel to a maximum of two.
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.
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Hill Country floods
“My daughter was stolen from me”: Grieving parents point to Texas camp failures at Capitol hearing
Senate Bill 1, which would require more oversight of emergency plans and evacuation procedures at summer camps, was advanced after the emotional hearing Wednesday.
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Texas measles outbreak
State health officials declare West Texas measles outbreak over
With no new cases reported in 42 days, the nation’s largest measles outbreak in 30 years, is declared over.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Vaccine exemption requests in Texas spike in July, as some experts fear more families will opt out
Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Texas youth camps tell lawmakers they need better coordination, emergency plans during disasters
Two youth camp owners told lawmakers more layered disaster plans would create critical backstops and improve communication with first responders.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2025
Texas bills increasing youth camp safety face long odds, even after Hill Country floods
Competing legislative priorities and an industry that has pushed against certain regulations could challenge a suite of camp safety bills this special legislative session.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Kerr County officials failed to follow certain aspects of disaster plan during Texas floods
The five-year-old plan, required by the state, detailed when additional monitoring was to take place and who was responsible for alerting the public to evacuate.
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Texas measles outbreak
Better testing, less vaccine messaging among lessons learned from historic Texas measles outbreak
Faced with a skeptical religious community that became the center of the outbreak, public health officials say they may have pushed too hard on vaccine messaging.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Weather warnings gave officials a 3 hour, 21 minute window to save lives in Kerr County. What happened then remains unclear.
Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.
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Hill Country floods
Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?
In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.