Grissom, Hamilton, and Philpott on the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention, the two-step, the forecast, and the ticket; Galbraith on the political and environmental battle between state and federal environmental regulators, and on a new age of nukes in Texas; Burnson on signs of the times in San Antonio; Ramshaw on hackers breaking into the state’s confidential cancer database; Aguilar’s interview with Katherine Glass, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for governor; Acosta on efforts to stop ‘Murderabilia’ items that sell because of the association with killers; Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle’s Terri Langford on the criminal arrest records of workers in state-funded foster care centers; Hu on accusations that state Sunset examiners missed problems with workers compensation regulators because they didn’t ask the right questions of the right people; Ramsey and Stiles on the rush to rake in campaign cash, and on political races that could be won or lost because of voter attraction to Libertarian candidates; and Aguilar’s fresh take on South Texas’ reputation for corruption. The best of our best from June 28 to July 3, 2010.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
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Health care
TribBlog: Failing at Fitness
Less than a third of the state’s 3rd-to-12th-grade students can pass a physical fitness test — and that’s an improvement.
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Health care
TribBlog: Lawmakers to DFPS: Tell Us About Abuse
The commissioner of the agency that oversees Texas foster children told lawmakers she regrets not telling them about a 2008 “fight club” involving developmentally disabled girls. She said the agency is moving quickly to address abuse and neglect inside Daystar Residential Inc.
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Health care
TribBlog: Staples, TDA Respond to Gilbert’s Attack
Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples’ camp calls a recent attack by Hank Gilbert’s campaign “the lowest a political campaign has ever stooped in Texas politics.”
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Health care
Down in the Valley
Last week State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, was indicted on charges she engaged in Medicaid fraud — the second House member from South Texas to be indicted in less than a year. But their colleagues insist that such corruption isn’t a regional thing, no matter what the stereotype suggests.
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Health care
Con Jobs
Criminal records don’t always exclude job applicants from working with the most vulnerable foster care children, according to a Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation. At Daystar Residential Inc., where workers forced developmentally disabled girls to fight each other, dozens made it through the state’s background check process in the last three years despite records of arrests.
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Health care
TribBlog: Gilbert: Staples Has “Blood on His Hands” [Updated]
The latest twist in the ag commissioner race: Democratic Challenger Hank Gilbert is accusing incumbent Todd Staples of killing nine people.
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Criminal Justice
Health Hacker?
The FBI is investigating whether a hacker broke into the state’s confidential cancer database, possibly accessing personal information and medical records. Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs says state health officials notified his office in early May that a hacker was holding the Texas Cancer Registry hostage and demanding a ransom. Suehs says preliminary investigation results from the FBI indicate the threat may be a hoax but that if private records were compromised, health officials will quickly notify the people listed in the registry.
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Health care
Signs of the Times
A quiet ideological battle is being waged yard to yard in affluent neighborhoods of San Antonio. It began with one side declaring “No socialism” in white letters on a black background. Some didn’t like that message, so they changed it to read “No selfishness.”
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Health care
Pulling the Democrats’ Dance Card
Two years after Democrats complicated presidential primary process — the Texas Two-Step — had voters across the state frustrated and outraged, party officials will continue to wrangle this weekend over the fairness of its election system.