1/ In Texas and across the country, college towns are emerging as new coronavirus hot spots.
With cases surging among students, universities are attempting to keep them from infecting broader local populations. bit.ly/2Ho478x
2/ In counties where students make up at least 10% of the population — like the counties that house Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University — cases have grown 34% since Aug. 19, compared to 23% in counties with a smaller proportion of students. bit.ly/2Ho478x
3/ For the past month, the Travis County ZIP code with the fastest-growing case count was the stretch including UT-Austin’s West Campus, an off-campus neighborhood where many students live. bit.ly/2Ho478x
4/ Since Aug. 1, Texas Tech has logged more than 1,400 cases of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech parties have gone viral, and the university is investigating a student who posted a video claiming she attended a house party despite having COVID-19. bit.ly/2Ho478x
5/ Schools, desperate to keep their doors open but worried about health risks to students, are being put in the uncomfortable position of governing young adult behavior that is mostly happening off university property.
6/ University leaders say they can’t control off-campus parties, but the infections that spread at those events are likely to trickle into the local communities where college students work, serve older residents and ride public transportation. bit.ly/2Ho478x
7/ While health and higher education officials anticipated rising case counts among students, they’re now focused on the risk students pose to more vulnerable populations. bit.ly/2Ho478x
8/ UT-Austin students were required to test negative for the coronavirus before attending a football game earlier this month.
The same precaution, however, wasn't required for thousands of other fans.
9/ During the first two weeks of September, UT-Austin accounted for almost 40% of the cases in Travis County.
That far exceeds its proportion of the county’s population, but the university is testing its population at a much higher rate than Travis County as a whole.
10/ University leaders say despite the risks, it was important to give students the option to return.
Some students struggle with virtual learning, and online courses are further complicated for low-income students who often lack access to reliable wi-fi. bit.ly/2Ho478x
11/ In the Rio Grande Valley, where over 90% of the population is Hispanic and is disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19, 20% of students don’t have access to reliable internet.
Many live in multigenerational households buzzing with distractions. bit.ly/3hQPnvv
12/12 To help curb the spread of the virus to surrounding communities, faculty members have been acting as messengers to students about the importance of health precautions. bit.ly/2Ho478x
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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
Many of the beloved trees across Texas’ Hill Country snapped under the weight of heavy ice that accumulated during multiple days of freezing rain this week.
They frequently damaged power lines, homes, and property on their way down.
While the historic drought last summer may have caused trees to have more dead limbs than usual, experts say it probably had less of an impact than the sheer amount of ice.
1/ Freezing temperatures and ice are expected in much of Texas through at least Thursday.
Here’s a running list of Texas warming centers, mutual aid and safety tips. If you know of any other resources in your community, please reply to this thread to share them with others.