Texas Tribune Brief
808 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 103 ratingsGet the latest news on Texas politics and policy from The Texas Tribune now on Amazon Alexa. With reporters based in Austin, Washington, D.C., and on the U.S.–Mexico border, we are your go-to source for news on statewide issues.
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Episodes
At least 187 Texans received mystery seeds mailed from China. State officials warn they shouldn't be planted.
July 31, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.03 MBOfficials are unsure of the motive behind the unsolicited packets but suspect that they are part of an online scam.
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a mask skeptic, tests positive for coronavirus
July 30, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.36 MBGohmert, 66, said in a televised interview that he wonders if he may have caught the virus from wearing his mask. Medical experts, however, overwhelmingly recommend masks as a means of preventing the virus.
Fifth and eighth graders in Texas won't have to pass STAAR test to move on to the next grade.
July 29, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.65 MBGov. Greg Abbott said Monday that Texas students must take the state standardized test next spring, but fifth and eighth graders can graduate without passing it.
Ranchers, activists and local officials in Texas are bracing for megadroughts brought by climate change
July 28, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 2.97 MBA new study from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University warns that droughts in the latter part of this century could be the worst on record.
Hanna brings flooding, power outages to southern Texas Gulf Coast
July 27, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.66 MBA section of the Texas coast already reeling from thousands of coronavirus cases will continue to feel the effects of the storm, which was the first hurricane of the season.
Ten in this South Texas family got COVID. She doesn’t want to be next.
July 25, 2020 11:00 - 8 minutes - 16.4 MBElisa Soliz says she’ll retire before subjecting herself again to driving a busload of kids, many of whom lack access to health care. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. www.texastribune.org
As school reopenings falter, some Texas parents hire private teachers. Others can only afford to cross their fingers.
July 24, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.18 MBWith the safe reopening of schools this fall in doubt, parents with the resources are setting up "learning pods" or seeking other options. But the do-it-yourself approach to education threatens to leave behind students of color and poorer families.
Undocumented immigrants behind on their rent are self-evicting across Texas
July 23, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.26 MBWithout money to pay rent, facing pressures from landlords and afraid of courts, people without legal immigration status have limited options.
Facing budget shortfalls, nearly 100 Texas mayors plead with Congress for coronavirus relief funding
July 22, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.25 MBCity leaders are asking for more spending flexibility to address the financial shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
With 4 in 5 Texans living in a "red zone," coronavirus hot spots are moving targets
July 21, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.41 MBEarly pandemic hot spots have been eclipsed by new regions in crisis. Now that so much of Texas is battling major coronavirus outbreaks, some severely ill patients have to travel long distances to receive the care they need.
Five U.S. Navy teams deploy to Rio Grande Valley, other Texas coronavirus hot spots
July 20, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.68 MBDoctors and nurses at local hospitals across South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley have been working a number of extra shifts as their hospitals near capacity.
Texas schools may reopen this fall. This teacher is scared.
July 18, 2020 12:42 - 7 minutes - 13.6 MBDarcy Vogt Williams says districts want flexibility deciding how and when to start the new school year, given the pandemic. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
Officials in Texas scramble to provide school reopening guidelines with only weeks of summer left
July 17, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.61 MBConflicting mandates pingponging between state and local officials are frustrating many parents, students and teachers trying to plan for a fall semester during a raging pandemic.
Runoff elections show Texas not quite ready for November's main event
July 16, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.3 MBMost in-person voting Tuesday ran smoothly, but thousands of voters who sought to vote by mail may not be heard. And returns from the secretary of state's office were balky.
Hospitals in Texas are running out of drugs, beds, ventilators and even staff.
July 15, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.31 MBMany Texas hospitals are no longer accepting transfer patients in order to maintain space for a surge that’s expected to come. In some parts of the state, it’s already here.
Trump says he disagreed with privately funded border wall. The builder got $1.7 billion in wall contracts from his administration.
July 14, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.28 MBPresident Donald Trump now claims this privately funded border wall in the Rio Grande Valley — touted as the "Lamborghini" of fences — was built to "make me look bad," even though the project's builder and funders are all Trump supporters.
Teachers in Texas caught in the middle of political battles over schools reopening
July 13, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.8 MBMany Texas Education Agency employees are working from home, but the agency is requiring schools to open five days a week for in-person instruction this fall. Teachers say that mandate has grave implications for their health.
Why one Texas bar owner joined a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott
July 11, 2020 11:00 - 8 minutes - 7.45 MBChris Bergeron is one of more than 30 bar owners who've filed suit against Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing his latest order that forbids Texans from visiting their establishments in an attempt to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, "picks and chooses winners and losers" and effectively sentences their bars to bankruptcy. www.texastribune.org
Parents in Texas face a frightening lack of information on coronavirus risks in child care centers
July 10, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.43 MBState health officials are providing little detailed information on the spread of coronavirus in Texas child care facilities, and experts aren't sure to what extent children spread the virus.
Texas wants $32 million in unemployment benefits back after finding 46,000 people were overpaid
July 08, 2020 10:00 - 2 minutes - 2.44 MBThe Texas Workforce Commission said that incorrect filings and fraud can lead to overpayments, but the money must be paid back even if it was the state's mistake.
Several Texas cities worry hospitals may run out of beds in two weeks or sooner
July 07, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.78 MBAs local officials express concerns that their hospitals could be overloaded with coronavirus patients, some are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to empower local governments to issue stay-at-home orders.
"Kill 'em." Houston GOP powerbroker Steve Hotze left Greg Abbott a voicemail requesting National Guard "shoot to kill" rioters.
July 06, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.27 MBHotze, a staunch critic of Abbott's coronavirus response, left a voicemail with the governor's chief of staff in early June with the incendiary instruction.
More than 300 children in Texas daycares have caught COVID-19, and the numbers are rising
July 03, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.07 MBNationwide, coronavirus transmission rates among children have appeared to be low, which has informed the push to reopen schools. But Texas day cares are seeing cases increase quickly.
Doctors reverse course, say Texas GOP should cancel in-person convention
July 02, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 2.92 MBOne day after The Texas Tribune reported that the Texas Medical Association was a sponsor for the indoor Republican convention that is expected to draw 6,000 people, the doctors' group announced it was calling on organizers to cancel.
More than 30 Texas bars sue over Gov. Greg Abbott's recent shutdown order
July 01, 2020 10:00 - 2 minutes - 2.24 MBAbbott has said the actions of his executive order "are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health."
Texas city and county leaders ask Gov. Greg Abbott for authority to implement local stay-at-home orders
June 30, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.71 MBAt the beginning of the pandemic, local officials across the state implemented stay-at-home orders for their regions. But now, with cases across Texas' metros surging, those leaders say Abbott has stripped them of the authority to reinstate the same measures.
Want a coronavirus test in Texas? You may have to wait for hours in a car.
June 29, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.72 MBMonths into the pandemic, demand for coronavirus tests in Texas is soaring. Residents across the state report problems with almost every facet of the process, starting with glitchy websites and unanswered phone lines to long delays in receiving test results.
A Fort Worth police officer whose uncle died in police custody hopes departments can change
June 27, 2020 10:00 - 8 minutes - 7.54 MBTwo years ago, Tiffany Bunton’s uncle, Christopher Lowe, died in Fort Worth police custody. Now, Bunton — an officer with the department and a leader in the police union— is hopeful that the national reckoning over the police killing of George Floyd can spark change in departments like hers.
Gov. Greg Abbott pauses Texas' reopening, bans elective surgeries in four counties to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients
June 26, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 2.9 MBIn early May, Gov. Greg Abbott pointed to the positivity rate — a ratio of positive COVID-19 tests to all tests — and said anything over 10% was cause for alarm. As of Wednesday, Texas exceeded that mark for the first time since April.
Gov. Greg Abbott recommends Texans stay home as coronavirus cases surge
June 25, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.92 MBThe governor also moved to allow the tightening of two kinds of restrictions that had been eased under his reopening plan.
U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Joaquin Castro call on ICE to release migrants in immigration detention centers as coronavirus cases surge
June 24, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.49 MBAs cases surge in Texas and the pandemic rages on, the representatives said ICE should release all detainees who are not a safety risk and who are more vulnerable to contracting the virus.
Local leaders warn Texas is heading down a dangerous path as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge in big cities
June 22, 2020 23:57 - 4 minutes - 4.29 MBWhen Gov. Greg Abbott let businesses start reopening, he pointed to two metrics as encouraging signs: the hospitalization rate and the infection rate, or the ratio of positive cases to tests conducted. Both of those metrics are on the rise in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott says he supports making to-go alcohol sales permanent in Texas
June 22, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.49 MBState Rep. Tan Parker also said that he will file a bill in the upcoming legislative session to extend to-go alcohol sales past the coronavirus pandemic.
What a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling means to LGBTQ Texans
June 20, 2020 11:00 - 7 minutes - 6.63 MBIn the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, Fran Watson — a Houston attorney who is a lesbian and represents LGBTQ clients — explains how it feels to finally be protected in the workplace. www.texastribune.org
U.S. Supreme Court's DACA ruling protects more than 100,000 Texans from deportation
June 19, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.27 MBPresident Donald Trump had tried to end the program, but the court ruled Thursday that the administration had not followed the proper procedure to do so.
Lawmakers in Texas want to add more LGTBQ safeguards after U.S. Supreme Court guarantees workplace protections
June 18, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.08 MBA new ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court makes clear that firing an employee on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation is a violation of federal law. Now Texas lawmakers want to guarantee similar protections for LGBTQ Texans in housing, health care and other spheres.
Gov. Greg Abbott points to “abundant” hospital capacity as Texas continues with business reopenings
June 17, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.05 MBThe state reported Tuesday that the number of people hospitalized who are confirmed to have the coronavirus has reached a new peak of 2,518.
U.S. Supreme Court says civil rights law applies to LGBTQ workers, granting protections long denied in Texas
June 16, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.51 MBTexas has no laws on the books explicitly protecting people from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday now gives federal protections.
With coronavirus cases climbing, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says "no real need" to scale back business reopenings
June 15, 2020 10:00 - 5 minutes - 4.67 MBAbbott cited the number of hospital beds available in the state as a reason.
Joshua Howell wants Austin police accountability for “less-lethal” rounds
June 13, 2020 11:00 - 8 minutes - 7.56 MBWhile Howell says he’s pleased Austin police have vowed to stop using such tactics in crowds, he hopes his brother's story sparks real change. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. www.texastribune.org
Houston officials increase police budget as Dallas and Austin officials consider decreases in wake of police brutality protests
June 12, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.9 MBSome of Texas' biggest cities appear headed in different directions with police budgets during nationwide calls to cut law enforcement funding.
Number of Texans hospitalized with coronavirus hits all-time high as experts say cases are likely to continue increasing
June 11, 2020 10:00 - 5 minutes - 4.81 MBThe figures come a little more than a month since Gov. Greg Abbott's stay-at-home order expired and about two weeks after Memorial Day.
The Texas lawmakers who led the Sandra Bland Act are pushing to reinstate the police reforms stripped from their original bill
June 10, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.41 MBThe lawmakers said they are acting in response to the death of Houston native George Floyd.
Inmates report dangerous practices inside the Texas prison with the most coronavirus deaths
June 09, 2020 10:00 - 5 minutes - 4.74 MBThe Wynne Unit in Huntsville has had at least 10 deaths connected to the new coronavirus. In letters, inmates said conditions were unsanitary and disorganized, and sick men often went untested.
George W. Bush won't support Donald Trump’s reelection, report says.
June 08, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.5 MBFormer President George W. Bush — and some other prominent Republicans — won't be voting to reelect Donald Trump, The New York Times reports.
Black Lives Matter Houston leader says change is coming after George Floyd
June 06, 2020 11:00 - 7 minutes - 7.29 MBIn the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, Ashton P. Woods says this moment stands out because “no one can look away" from what happened to George Floyd. www.texastribune.org
With convention plans in flux, Republicans considering Dallas for Trump nomination acceptance speech
June 05, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.8 MBThe North Texas city is among several that RNC officials are looking at after the president's announcement that Charlotte, North Carolina, won't work out.
Texans in Congress divided over President Donald Trump's protest response
June 04, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.5 MBMembers of Congress and staff worry that the country's political dysfunction has rendered the federal government incapable of addressing police violence legislatively before the November elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas does not need U.S. military's help responding to protests
June 03, 2020 10:00 - 3 minutes - 3.49 MBAbbott also said Texas will not be sending the National Guard to Washington.
Texas sales tax revenue dips 13.2% in May, the largest year-over-year decline in a decade
June 02, 2020 11:00 - 4 minutes - 4.14 MBSignificant declines in sales tax receipts were evident in all major economic sectors, with the exception of telecommunications services," Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in a statement.