.@JulianCastro on what has gone wrong with the coronavirus response: “There was a slow response at the national level and state level ... we have a president who wanted to pretend like this really wasn’t an issue.” bit.ly/3gZTEfZ
.@JoaquinCastrotx says he thinks @GovAbbott should have called a special session to address the coronavirus crisis, asks: “Why hasn’t the governor taken the lead and used what he can of the rainy day fund toward this problem?”
.@JulianCastro says he is not currently aiming for any elected office, but he will wait to see if he wants to run for office again in the future. bit.ly/3gZTEfZ
@JulianCastro .@JoaquinCastrotx says going to prison should not be a death sentence as coronavirus runs rampant in Texas prisons.
To hear more from @JulianCastro and @JoaquinCastrotx, join us at The Texas Tribune Festival online in September — we’ve got a great lineup of important conversations planned.
On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education approved a state-authored curriculum under intense scrutiny in recent months for its heavy inclusion of biblical teachings.
Here’s what you need to know about the new lessons and how an Abbott-appointee became the deciding vote. 🧵
The new curriculum proposed by the Texas Education Agency inserts Bible teachings into K–5 reading and language arts lessons.
For example, a fifth-grade lesson on the Renaissance uses Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper to teach students about Jesus and the twelve disciples.
Religious and nonreligious groups raised concerns that the increased emphasis on Christianity could lead non-Christian students to face bullying and isolation, undermine church-state separation and grant the state too much control over how children are taught about religion. texastribune.org/2024/07/19/tex…
In Texas’ biggest purple county Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare is creating a playbook for local governing. From cutting social services to changing election rules, the far-right republican has pushed his agenda with an uncompromising approach.
Over the past two decades, O’Hare methodically amassed power in North Texas as he pushed incendiary policies such as banning undocumented immigrants from renting homes and vilifying school curriculum that encouraged students to embrace diversity.
He rode a wave of conservative resentment, leaping from City Council member of Farmers Branch, a suburb north of Dallas, in 2005 to its mayor to the leader of the Tarrant County Republican Party.
1/ Overnight, House managers published nearly 4,000 pages of evidence ahead of next month’s impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
2/ Included in the 3,760 pages are 150 exhibits. These documents give granular details of how Paxton allegedly abused his office to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
3/ 📃In an interview, Paxton’s former personal aid said he ferried documents to Paul on Paxton’s behalf and witnessed conversations about the renovations to Paxton’s home that suggested Paul had paid for it.
1/ Over the past quarter century, a war machine was constructed inside the Texas Office of Attorney General, designed to push conservative legal doctrine through the courts.
Here’s how Texas got here — and what it means for the country's future. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
2/ Under three attorneys general, John Cornyn, Greg Abbott, and Ken Paxton, the office began assembling an all-star team to barrage the federal courts with state-funded lawsuits born of increasingly overt right-wing activism. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
3/ In 1998, John Cornyn became the first Republican attorney general in Texas since Reconstruction.
One of his first acts was creating the Office of the Solicitor General to handle state and federal appeals, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. bit.ly/3KjCMC1
1/On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed in the Robb Elementary shooting.
The shooting also caused emotional and psychological damage to a generation of children in Uvalde. The Treviños are one of many families adapting to a new reality.texastribune.org/2023/05/22/tex…
2/ Three of the Treviños’ kids — Austin, Illiaña and David James — have been diagnosed with PTSD.
The kids attended Robb Elementary and were on campus on May 24 for an awards ceremony. Their mom, Jessica, picked them up from school shortly before the shooting began.
3/ Illiaña’s best friend was killed during the shooting. While visiting her friend’s memorial, Illiaña suffered cardiac arrest from acute stress.
“Nana was born with a heart of gold. So when it breaks, that’s how she reacts,” her mom Jessica says.
1/ Officers responding to the Uvalde shooting said they were afraid to immediately engage the gunman because he was using an AR-15, a Texas Tribune investigation has revealed.
This drove their decision to wait over an hour for a Border Patrol SWAT team. bit.ly/40lOYHX
2/ In never before released body camera footage and post-action interviews, officers described realizing the gunman had an AR-15 style rifle and concluding that confronting him would be too dangerous because of its firepower. bit.ly/40lOYHX
3/ Even though some officers were armed with the same rifle, they waited for a Border Patrol SWAT team that had more protective armor, stronger shields and more tactical training.
Bullets from AR-15s can penetrate standard body armor worn by police. bit.ly/40lOYHX