Professional news update!

I am leaving the Houston Chronicle to become the managing editor @USAFacts !

I'm overseeing content strategy, helping find new data sources and elevating the mission of promoting facts from govt data so we can have debates based on reality. I truly loved my time in Houston. I did some of my best work here.

From my work on chemical industry oversight in 2016 to in depth analysis of the impact of hurricane harvey and many many more stories, it was an amazing experience.

This story about Texas not including antigen results in its public reports came directly from the HC Data Team's nightly counts.

@jordan_rubio @stephanierlamm and I got the tip from updating our numbers and chased the issue from there.

houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga… The San Antonio mayor and Bexar County judge openly talked about including "probable" cases in its totals since May.

But the county didn't separate them out in its totals.
We started asking around to see what these cases were and where they came from.

I think every data journalist who tracks this pandemic is with me on this:

It is utterly exhausting explaining and shooting down the same misinformed arguments related to this virus over and over again.

We've done stories on these things. Everyone has done stories on this. Cases, hospitalizations, deaths, all on the rise.

It's not an increase in testing.
Hospitalization increase is not due to elective surgeries.
It's not only old people who are dying.
Yes, children can get COVID and pass COVID to others.
Yes, masks help prevent the spread.

The @HoustonChron Data Team COVID Count Update for July 8, 2020:

We set a record high for :
New deaths- 112.
Hospitalizations- 9,610
Positive test rate- 15.03%
Roll avg for new cases- 7,564.

Statewide cases- 225,701
Deaths- 2,870. The statewide total went from 216,167 to 225,701. That’s an increase of 9,534 cases (4.4% increase). Added 112 new deaths for a total of 2,870 statewide (4.1% increase).

Record high for new deaths. 2nd highest for new cases.

Thread:

Just a few weeks ago, Watson Grinding & Manufacturing exploded, killing three people and injuring many more.

Houston's mayor and fire chief both stressed the need for more transparency to the public about hazardous material facilities.

SO

I sent a TPIA on Jan. 27. I asked for:
name, address, owner of all hazmat facilities permitted in Houston
Date of the last fire inspection for each of those facilities
All inspections, permits, service calls and penalties paid by Watson since 2000.

I was encouraged cause the mayor wanted transparency!

Questions I've asked of @TCEQ that I do NOT have answers to:
Is TCEQ testing runoff from the fighting of the ITC Deer Park fire?

Is TCEQ testing water or soil from the runoff produced from fighting the ITC Deer Park Fire? What is the location and data from your portable air monitors? I'm not talking about the CTEH stuff. I'm talking about TCEQ's use of portable air monitors.

Can you provide a list of chemicals that TCEQ is screening for as part of its air monitoring?

It's a great day because today, 20 newsrooms all across Texas came together to purchase a prohibitively expensive public data set.

So what's the data set? We all pitched into buy the Texas Voter Registration Database, as well as voting history data from 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 My face when we actually pulled this off.

This is the most Richard Cohen thing I've ever seen. Seriously. That dude is the living embodiment of male privilege and entitlement.

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Oh and don't forget this either:
observer.com/1998/05/washin…

That news assistant later became Warren Buffet's chief of staff btw.