In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, listen to why a University of Texas at Austin sophomore says attending in-person labs during the pandemic is worth the risk.
Austin
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
An Austin doctor got a COVID-19 test from his own company. They billed his insurance company nearly $11,000
Physicians Premier ER charged Dr. Zachary Sussman’s insurance $10,984 for his COVID-19 antibody test even though Sussman worked for the chain and knows the testing materials only cost about $8. Even more surprising: The insurer paid in full.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas mayors warn pandemic’s effects on city budgets will linger for years
The temporary closure of businesses and high levels of unemployment due to the pandemic have caused sales tax revenues — which make up a significant portion of cities’ budgets — to plummet.
Posted in
Texas 2020 Elections
Analysis: Austin’s police cuts give Texas Republicans new campaign material
Texas Republicans who were looking for fertile political ground in the runup to the November elections got a gift from a most unlikely source: the Austin City Council.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: With elections coming, Texas Republican leaders join the thin blue line
Freezing local taxes in Texas cities that cut police funding sounds better than it works. But the political angle taken by the state’s top leaders gives them something other than pandemic and recession to talk about this election season.
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Coronavirus in Texas
UT-Austin students and employees urge officials to stop in-person classes, lower tuition and offer hazard pay
The Texas State Employees Union presented a petition that condemns the upcoming return to campus in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic as harmful. Classes start Wednesday.
Posted in
Texas 2020 Elections
Former USPS leader from Texas says Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is “destroying confidence” in the postal service
Carolyn Lewis, a former USPS Board of Governors chair, said she has been disturbed by reports of cost-cutting measures and concerns that the mail service will not be able to handle an influx of mailed-in ballots.
Posted in
Police brutality in Texas
Texas’ largest cities spend more on police than anything else. Activists want more of those funds spent on the social safety net instead.
Austin officials slashed their police department’s budget this week as other Texas cities are rethinking how general fund dollars are spent — and whether spending so much to combat crime addresses the poverty that can cause it.
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Police brutality in Texas
Austin City Council cuts police department budget by one-third, mainly through reorganizing some duties out from law enforcement oversight
Gov. Greg Abbott said Austin officials’ vote “puts the brave men and women of the Austin Police Department and their families at greater risk” — and vowed that the Texas Department of Public Safety will “stand in the gap.”
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
UT-Austin will test 5,000 people a week for coronavirus and cover out-of-pocket costs for students
The university plans to test all of its campus residence hall students by the beginning of September. It will continue to identify individuals or groups on campus strategically to test those at a higher risk of disease spread and perform random testing.
