The charges stem from Hotze’s hiring of more than a dozen private investigators to look for voter fraud in Harris County ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Houston
Posted in
Economy
Eviction filings in Texas’ major cities reach new highs since pandemic began
Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin all ranked among the top 10 cities for new eviction filings in early April, among the 31 cities tracked by Eviction Lab.
Posted in
Politics
Three of Lina Hidalgo’s aides, including chief of staff, indicted in Harris County contract award scandal
The felony charges are misuse of official information and tampering with a government record. Hidalgo, who oversees Harris County, has the largest constituency of any elected Democratic executive in the state.
Posted in
Texas 2022 Elections
Ethics scandal emerges as latest test for rising star Democrat Lina Hidalgo
Hidalgo, the Harris County judge, says a criminal probe into a contract her office awarded is a political hit. But as a potential future statewide candidate, does the episode expose a flaw in her approach to politics?
Posted in
Politics
Former U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Edwards announces run for Houston mayor
Edwards joins a field that already includes two well-known names: veteran state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk who oversaw election changes in 2020 that became a lightning rod for Republicans.
Posted in
Transportation
Buttigieg thinks high-speed rail would be good for Texas, wants highway expansions to consider neighborhood impacts
The U.S. transportation secretary says high-growth areas will need to pave more highway lanes — but that state and local officials should minimize environmental and community impacts.
Posted in
Texas 2022 Elections
Harris County election chief resigns as political parties demand answers over fumbled vote count
Republicans are suing and Democrats want a full review after Harris County missed deadlines to have its votes tallied and failed to count 10,000 ballots in its initial returns.
Posted in
Politics
Feds say Texas discriminated against communities of color when it denied Houston flood aid
Land Commissioner George P. Bush is in the middle of a fierce runoff in the Republican primary for Texas attorney general against incumbent Ken Paxton. During the race, several of Bush’s opponents have criticized his office’s work in distributing Hurricane Harvey relief funds.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Carbon monoxide killed a Texas mother and daughter. A firefighter was reprimanded after a delayed 911 response.
After half of a Houston family was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News revealed that a fire crew had failed to enter the house to check on them. A firefighter has now been disciplined.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
U.S. plans new safety rules to crack down on carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators
The announcement comes two months after an investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News detailed the deadly cost of the government’s failure to regulate portable generators.
