Cecile Young to lead Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Young, a longtime public servant, will take the helm of an agency of nearly 37,000 employees as it navigates a worsening pandemic and a host of lingering internal problems. Full Story
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![Texas Health and Human Services Commission Executive Commissioner Cecile Erwin Young.]()
Credit: Texas Health and Human Services Commission -
Texas fifth and eighth graders won't have to pass STAAR test to move on to the next grade
Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that Texas students must take the state standardized test next spring, but fifth and eighth graders can graduate without passing it. Full Story
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![STAAR themed decorations adorn the hallways of Wharton Elementary School in Wharton on April 21, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott extends early voting for November election by six days, starting Oct. 13
The early voting period for the Nov. 3 election will start Oct. 13 instead of Oct. 19. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott adjusts his mask after giving an update on the categories of medical surge facilities at a press conference at the Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday, June 16, 2020.]()
Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell/Pool via Austin American-Statesman -
As Hurricane Hanna makes landfall, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warns residents to not forget coronavirus
Gov. Greg Abbott talked about hurricane preparedness and about special measures being taken because of the pandemic at a Saturday afternoon news conference. Full Story
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![Tides rise at Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi as Hurricane Hanna approaches land on Saturday.]()
Credit: Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times via REUTERS -
Ten members of this South Texas family have contracted COVID-19. She doesn’t want to be next.
Elisa Soliz, a Hidalgo County school bus driver, says she’ll retire before subjecting herself to a busload of kids, many of whom lack access to health care. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. Full Story
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![Elisa Soliz (front right) sits with her sister, Beatriz Gonzales (front left, who died from the new coronavirus in May.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Elisa Soliz -
Texas Republicans face tough 2020 election after a rocky 12 months
The state's Republicans have had to weather a monthslong series of distractions while preparing for a November election that is now clouded by President Donald Trump's declining poll numbers and the coronavirus pandemic. Full Story
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![The Republican Party of Texas office in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Hanna brings flooding, power outages to southern Texas Gulf Coast
A section of the Texas coast already reeling from thousands of coronavirus cases will continue to feel the effects of the storm, which was the first hurricane of the season. Full Story
![Tides rise at Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi as Hurricane Hanna approaches land on Saturday.]()
Credit: Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times via REUTERS -
Mask mandate appears to be helping in Texas, but experts ask Gov. Greg Abbott not to rule out a shutdown
A plateauing of new virus cases would hardly represent a victory over the pandemic, but it would help keep hospitals from being overrun with sick patients. Full Story
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![Austin residents take photos on Congress Avenue bridge in Austin on May 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
The coronavirus is keeping Texas prisoners who've been approved for parole behind bars
Thousands of parole-approved prisoners remain locked up during the public health crisis. The coronavirus has delayed pre-release programs and kept people set to go home inside infected prisons. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Timing of Supreme Court justice’s retirement allows Gov. Greg. Abbott, not voters, to pick his two-year replacement
Aug. 21 is the deadline for vacancies that trigger a November election to fill open seats. If Green’s replacement is not on this year’s ballot, the next general election will be in November 2022. Abbott will appoint someone to fill the rest of the term. Full Story
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![Justice Paul Green hears arguments in the Texas Supreme Court in 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court Justice Paul Green says he will retire at the end of August after 15 years on the bench
Green's term ends Dec. 31, 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott will appoint his successor. Full Story
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![Justice Paul Green hears arguments at the Texas Supreme Court in 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Hidalgo County judge tries slowing coronavirus, but Gov. Greg Abbott has limited his options
Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez issued a new shelter-at-home order Monday night, but it “has no enforcement mechanism” according to Abbott’s office. Full Story
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![Downtown McAllen on July 1, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Former Florida congressman Allen West unseats James Dickey to become Texas GOP chairman
West defeated Dickey, who was running for a second full term, early Monday morning at a tumultuous virtual state convention. Full Story
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![Allen West, former Florida congressman and candidate for chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, speaks at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's policy orientation meeting in Austin on Feb. 9, 2018.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP convention chaos prompts delegates to create a second gathering for unfinished business
The original convention still kept going overnight, though, as delegates met to vote on key leadership positions — including the state party chairmanship. Full Story
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![Texas Republican Convention in Fort Worth in 2014.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Five U.S. Navy teams deploy to Rio Grande Valley, other Texas coronavirus hot spots
Doctors and nurses at local hospitals across South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley have been working a number of extra shifts as their hospitals near capacity. Full Story
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![A patient at the COVID-19 unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
A Texas teacher weighs schools reopening, state guidelines and the coronavirus pandemic
Darcy Vogt Williams says districts want flexibility deciding how and when to start the new school year, given the pandemic. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. Full Story
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![Darcy Vogt Williams, who organized the protest, walks down the line of teachers outside the Capitol grounds in Austin during the "Mask Up, Line Up" teacher protest on Wednesday, July 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
Wide-ranging lawsuit claims Texas' in-person voting rules will disenfranchise Black, Latino voters during the pandemic
Two civil rights groups and two Texas voters are asking a federal judge to require substantial changes to polling place procedures, including an across-the-board mask mandate and expanded curbside voting. Full Story
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![Voters are directed to polling sites for the runoff election in Houston on July 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says "there is no shutdown coming" as coronavirus cases surge
Abbott said it will take weeks to see whether his recent mask order and decision to close bars are effective in slowing the virus' spread. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott announced a strike force in charge of laying steps to re-open the Texas economy at a press conference in the capitol on Friday.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott defends mask mandate to "frustrated" delegates at Texas GOP convention
The governor began the state party convention Thursday by addressing head-on the growing discontent with his orders to contain the pandemic. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott exits the public memorial service of George Floyd at the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston on June 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Spurred by Gov. Greg Abbott's coronavirus handling, Democratic strategists launch PAC to defeat him in 2022
The group, the Beat Abbott PAC, will raise money that will benefit the eventual Democratic nominee against Abbott in 2022. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide emergency amid new cases of COVID-19 in the state on March 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune