“You want a good count both because you want to have your representation and because you want to get the resources your community needs,” says demographer Steve Murdock.
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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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Visualize Texas’ Growth
Yesterday, Google formally announced its public data explorer, a cool new tool allowing anyone to make visualizations of government records and post them as embeds online.
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Health care
DNA Destruction
In the weeks before state health officials incinerated more than 5 million baby blood samples that they stored without consent, privacy advocates, parents and legislators reached a last-ditch accord to save them but couldn’t convince the Department of State Health Services to sign on. A Texas Tribune investigation found that the agency had turned hundreds of such samples over to a federal Armed Forces lab to build a DNA database — and hadn’t been upfront about it with lawmakers or the public.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: The Census. It’s Happening.
This week, most mailboxes across Texas will get a notice from the U.S. Census Bureau. The message: Participate in the decennial count, which begins next week.
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Health care
A Medicaid Mess
Texas’ senior care industry — still reeling from federal Medicare cuts — may face another financial blow, as the state considers reducing Medicaid provider rates to balance the budget in the face of a $10 billion-plus shortfall.
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Health care
HD-20: AP Calls it for Schwertner
The AP calls the HD-20 race for state Rep. Dan Gattis’ seat for orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charles Schwertner, who outspent the three other candidates.
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Health care
HD-20: Schwertner Leading in Four-Way Race
Early returns show the four-way scrum for the Texas House seat of outgoing state Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, isn’t as close as some had predicted. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charles Schwertner is way up.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw on the state’s quiet sharing of infant blood samples with the military and on the things Rick Perry’s opponents aren’t saying about him, Grissom on Farouk Shami’s surprising popularity in El Paso, Philpott on the political advantages of a job creation fund and how Debra Medina’s supporters are reacting to her “truther” comments, Hu on Debra Medina in the latest installment of Stump Interrupted, Thevenot on how the kids feel about the federal option of closing bad high schools, Rapoport on the newest mutation of the state’s pay-as-you-go transportation philosophy, and our roundup of party primaries in the last week before the election: Rapoport on HD-7, Ramsey on HD-11, Aguilar on HD-36 and HD-43, Philpott on HD-47, Thevenot on HD-52 and SD-5, Kreighbaum on HD-105 and one Supreme Court race, M. Smith on another, and Hamilton on the colorful Democratic candidates for Agriculture Commissioner. The best of our best from February 22 to 26, 2010.
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Criminal Justice
The Buck Stops Where?
Three of the biggest social services messes of Rick Perry’s ten-year tenure — the sexual abuse scandal at the Texas Youth Commission, fight clubs at state institutions for the disabled and deaths of children on Child Protective Services’ watch — have been noticeably absent from the campaign trail. Is it because Texans don’t hold him accountable for these tragedies? Or because his opponents think GOP primary voters simply don’t care?
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Health care
2010: Guns, God, and the GOP Primary
March 2 picks from the Texas State Rifle Assocation (yes to Dora, no to Delwin) and Texas Right to Life (no to Kays).