Emma Platoff
summer @TexasTribune, alum @yaledailynews @phillyinquirer & @hartfordcourant. tips and taco recs to [email protected]
Last synced from Twitter Not synced yet
The attorney general's office has sidelined four of the seven whistleblowers who reported Ken Paxton to law enforcement
Two were fired and two placed on leave — moves employment attorneys say will likely spark a whistleblower lawsuit. A spokesperson for Paxton said the personnel changes were not related to the whistleblower allegations.
Second whistleblower fired from Texas attorney general's office after accusing Ken Paxton of bribery
Blake Brickman and Lacey Mase, two whistleblowers who accused their boss of crimes including bribery and abuse of office, were both fired Tuesday.
Defending himself against criminal allegations, Ken Paxton gave his first interview to a website identified as part of a pay-for-play network
Ian Prior, a Republican operative who promoted the story for the Texas attorney general's campaign, denied that the campaign had paid the Southeast Texas Record to publish it. “Definitive no,” he said.
Top aide in Texas attorney general's office terminated after accusing Ken Paxton of bribery
The departure "was not voluntary," said Lacey Mase, one of several senior aides who said Attorney General Ken Paxton used his office to serve the interests of a donor.
1
Emma Platoff
NEW: Lacey Mase, one of the senior aides who alerted law enforcement to potential criminal violations by @KenPaxtonTX, was fired today after working @TXAG since 2011.
"it was not voluntary," she told me.
136d
Texas schools tell teachers with medical risks they must return to classrooms during the pandemic
Several school districts are trying to accommodate teachers with health conditions who want to work from home, but many are being called back in as more students return to classrooms.
1
Emma Platoff
As more kids return to classrooms, some Texas educators have no choice but to do the same.
We spoke to one counselor with a high-risk pregnancy whose school said only people exposed to COVID-19 could work remotely.
With @AliyyaSwaby: texastribune.org/2020/10/20/tex… #txlege #txed
136d
Harris County tried to make voting easier during the pandemic. Texas Republicans fought every step of the way.
In a bitterly contested election overlaid with the fears and risks of an uncontrolled pandemic, Harris County has become a case study in raw politics and partisan efforts to manipulate voter turnout.
Texas counties can offer only one drop-off ballot location, federal appeals court rules, upholding Gov. Greg Abbott’s order
Civil rights groups and voting advocates had argued the restriction would disproportionately impact low-income voters, voters with disabilities, older voters and voters of color in Democratic counties.
Harris County can't send mail-in ballot applications to all registered voters, Texas Supreme Court rules
The elections administrator for the county, Texas' most populous and a critical stronghold for Democrats, has already sent the applications to voters 65 or over. The GOP Texas Supreme Court ruled he may not send them to the rest of the county's 2.4...
As Ken Paxton faces criminal allegations, an agency at war with itself must carry on the state’s business
Top officials in the Texas attorney general’s office accused their boss of bribery and abuse of power. He called them “rogue employees.” But the work has to go on.
Early voting can start Oct. 13, as scheduled, Texas Supreme Court rules
The Texas Supreme Court ruled against several GOP officials who pushed to keep early voting to a two-week period during the pandemic.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top aides want him investigated for bribery and other alleged crimes, report says
Seven senior officials said in a letter obtained by the Austin American-Statesman that they have reason to believe Paxton is violating the law.
Voters, voting rights groups sue Gov. Greg Abbott over order to close ballot drop-off locations
The Texas and National Leagues of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters of Texas and two Texas voters asked a federal judge in Austin to overturn the governor’s order, which forced Travis and Harris counties — two of the state’s...
Gov. Greg Abbott limits counties to one absentee ballot drop-off location, bolstering GOP efforts to restrict voting
The Republican governor's order Thursday was a rebuke to large, Democratic counties that have set up numerous locations where voters may drop off their completed absentee ballots in person. Civil rights groups say it will suppress voting.
No straight-ticket voting for Texas' 2020 election, federal appeals court says
A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2017 state law ending the popular one-punch option — and admonished a lower court judge for trying to bring the practice back so soon before early voting starts Oct. 13.
After Ginsburg’s death, high stakes for Texas’ legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act
Experts say the Supreme Court is unlikely to strike down the law in its entirety. Texas’ GOP leaders have yet to produce a promised plan to replace it.
Houston Republicans sue to limit in-person and absentee voting options in Harris County
Conservative activist Steve Hotze and a number of Republican candidates and officials are asking the Texas Supreme Court to shorten the early voting period and limit drop-off locations for absentee ballots in the state’s largest Democratic county.
Straight-ticket voting ends in 2020. For some down-ballot Republicans, that wasn't soon enough.
The Legislature voted last year to end straight-party voting for the 2020 elections. After a tough night for some down-ballot Republicans, some are wishing they'd done it sooner.
As Texas college towns emerge as coronavirus hot spots, universities try to keep students from infecting locals
In counties where four-year college students make up at least 10% of the population, cases have grown 34% since Aug. 19, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. That’s compared with 23% in counties with a smaller proportion of students.
Less than 1% of Texas students who returned to public school in person have tested positive for COVID-19
The state's first effort to publicly report coronavirus data from schools shows low statewide infection rates. Breakdowns by school districts should be reported next week.
1
Emma Platoff
There are:
-5.5 million Texas public school students
-1.1 million learning in person (so far)
-at least 2,344 coronavirus cases — a rate of about 0.21%.
w/ @AliyyaSwaby
169d
Absent widespread testing, Texas schools have limited tools to prevent coronavirus spread
Coronavirus cases are inevitable as Texas schools reopen. The challenge for administrators will be preventing large-scale outbreaks.