Texas labs can now test for coronavirus, but capacity remains limited
The state lab in Austin can only test samples from up to 26 patients per day, while labs in Houston and El Paso can test up to 15 samples daily, officials said. Full Story
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![Canan Emcan, 31, chief nurse of the infection and virology ward at Essen University Hospital in Essen, Germany, with a test used for suspected COVID-19 cases on March 5, 2020.]()
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What can Texas do if a coronavirus outbreak hits?
While Texas has not yet seen “community spread” of coronavirus, U.S. health officials have told states to begin considering special measures in case of a COVID-19 outbreak. Full Story
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![A test tube with 2019-nCoV on the label on January 29, 2020.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic -
San Antonio mayor demands extension of coronavirus quarantine, bans evacuees from entering city
Those moves — and an unsuccessful attempt to get an injunction against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — came after a person who tested "weakly positive" for the new coronavirus was released over the weekend. Full Story
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![The entrance to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.]()
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Abbott's state-run camp for the homeless in Austin to be taken over by nonprofit with new shelter plans
The Texas Department of Transportation will begin lease negotiations with ATX Helps, which plans to construct a large shelter on the southeast Austin property where more than 100 people reside. Some camp residents say they're concerned about the proposed changes. Full Story
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![Tents at the state-run homeless encampment off of U.S. Highway 183 in Austin on Feb. 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Abbott says the homeless need mental health care. Advocates say Medicaid expansion would help.
Abbott has long opposed extending state-funded health coverage to 1.5 million Texans under the Affordable Care Act. But a spokesman for the governor did not rule out a possible coverage expansion under a new Trump administration block grant policy. Full Story
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![Susan Peake lives at the state-run homeless encampment off of U.S. Highway 183 in Austin. Feb 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Speaking statistically, this GOP donor wants to convince you that money buys justice in Texas
After losing a case at the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, millionaire Salem Abraham set out to mathematically test the idea that campaign contributions influence the elected justices. Now he wants to change the system. Full Story
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![Salem Abraham in his office on Dec. 19, 2019.]()
Credit: David Bowser for The Texas Tribune -
Abbott-backed candidate fights Schofield for his old seat as November looms large
After narrowly losing reelection in 2018, former state Rep. Mike Schofield is making a comeback bid — against a Republican primary newcomer endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Full Story
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![Angelica Garcia and former state Rep. Mike Schofield are running for Texas House District 132 in the Republican primary.]()
Credit: Campaign website | social media -
Texas anti-abortion activists take on baby Tinslee's life support case, attempting to strike down a law that protects doctors
An anti-abortion group and conservative elected officials have framed Tinslee Lewis' case as a "right to life" issue. But medical experts say continuing care is hurting the baby and doctors need protections to make these kinds of decisions. Full Story
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![Baby Tinslee Lewis.]()
Credit: via Texas Right to Life -
Republican congressional candidate Jamie Berryhill compares borderless nation to a woman “raped and defiled”
The Facebook post has since been deleted. Berryhill told a local TV station he wouldn't make similar comments again. Full Story
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![Republican candidate Jamie Berryhill is running for Texas Congressional District 11.]()
Credit: Berryhill for Congress Facebook page -
Most Texas voters would admit refugees from other countries, UT/TT Poll finds
While most Texas voters would welcome refugees into the state, fewer than a third of Republican voters agree, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Most Texans want lower property taxes and more school spending, UT/TT Poll finds
It's not a new contradiction, but it's persistent: Texas voters think that property taxes are too high and that school spending is too low, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Greg Abbott plans pre-primary tour supporting GOP state House incumbents, candidates
The governor is hitting the campaign trail for at least 10 House incumbents and candidates whom he has endorsed. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott, speaks at the Resurgent Gathering of conservative party activists
in Austin on August 3, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Leader of Texas’ health department leaving after a year for Louisiana job
Courtney Phillips is leaving the state Health and Human Services Commission to take a job as Louisiana's new secretary of the Department of Health. Full Story
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![Courtney Phillips heads the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.]()
Credit: Office of the Governor -
Austin's homeless residents consider Abbott's camp helpful but say his tweets still stigmatize them
As the governor latches on to violent incidents to criticize Austin city leaders, people experiencing homelessness say he's painting them with too broad of a brush. Full Story
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![Tents line up in parking spaces at the former TxDOT facility, now 5 acres of state-sanctioned homeless campsite on Jan. 23, 2020.]()
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won't defend state agency in gay marriage case
The attorney general's office is charged with defending state agencies when they are challenged in court. But Paxton will not defend a commission sued after it issued a public warning for a Waco judge who refuses to perform same-sex marriages. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the convention delegates at the Texas Republican Convention in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Conservative activists helped elect Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Now some say there’s a disconnect.
A group of hardline grassroots activists has called on Patrick to be more outspoken on party priorities and worries that lines of communication appear to no longer be there. Full Story
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![JoAnn Fleming, executive director of Grassroots America, sits for a portrait in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Tyler Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Cara Campbell for The Texas Tribune -
Muddy shoes and difficult questions: How volunteers are counting the number of homeless Texans
Hundreds of people walked the streets of Dallas on Thursday to count how many homeless residents live in the area. Similar counts are planned in other cities this month. The results will be key to finding solutions for vulnerable Texans. Full Story
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![Daneille Tooker, along with volunteers and other CitySquare staff, canvass encampments in Dallas near Malcom X Blvd. and I-30 on Jan. 23, 2020. The Point in Time count attempts to capture data about homelessness through an interview and observation of each individual.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Trump restores funding that was cut over targeting Planned Parenthood
The Trump administration announcement reverses an Obama-era decision in 2012 to cut federal women’s health funding to Texas. That came as punishment after the Texas Legislature excluded Planned Parenthood from the Healthy Texas Women program in 2011. Full Story
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![From left, Gov. Greg Abbott reacts as President Donald Trump speaks at a church relief center during a visit with flood survivors and volunteers of Hurricane Harvey in Houston on Sept. 2, 2017.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas nonprofits helping refugees should focus on homelessness. Refugee groups say it doesn't work that way.
"Resettlement funding cannot simply be reallocated to other problem areas such as homelessness," said the CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Full Story
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![A discarded sign and mattress sit in a dumpster in downtown Austin after city crews cleaned up homeless encampments on Nov. 4, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Meet the Texas-based church security business training worshippers to fight back in mass shootings
Texas has seen two mass shootings in churches in three years, which has some churchgoers exploring training programs to take down an attacker. Full Story
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![Members of church security teams from across Texas gathered in Krugerville, near Denton, to get certified in church security and trained for an active shooter situation by the National Organization of Church Security and Safety Management, on Jan. 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune
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