Past Contributions

• Gov. Greg Abbott says bars can reopen next week at 50% capacity if counties opt in

  By Alex Samuels, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Shawn Mulcahy Updated: Oct. 7, 2020

  “It is time to open them up,” Abbott said in a Facebook video announcing the move. “If we continue to contain COVID, then these openings, just like other businesses, should be able to expand in the near future.” Full Story 

• Who is Nate Paul, the real estate investor linked to abuse-of-office allegations against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton?

  By Edgar Walters and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Oct. 7, 2020

  Earlier in his career, media reports called the now 33-year-old real estate investor a “wunderkind,” a “rising star” and a “prodigy.” Now he’s fighting more than a dozen bankruptcies and has been linked to criminal allegations against an embattled Texas politician. Full Story 

• Gov. Greg Abbott has closed Texas bars twice since the pandemic began. Now he’s hinting at opening them again.

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Juan Pablo Garnham Oct. 5, 2020

  Abbott shut down bars for a second time in June, when the proportion of coronavirus tests with positive results was more than 18%. That number has dropped to just over 6%. Experts worry that opening bars will contribute to another surge. Full Story 

• The U.S. census will continue through October, paving the way for more Texans to be counted

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Oct. 2, 2020

  Experts say the extension could help the historically undercounted state regain lost ground. Texans are already responding to the census at a substantially lower rate than the national average. Full Story 

• Journalist Bob Woodward says pandemic, economy will decide 2020 election

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Sept. 30, 2020

  At the keynote event of the 2020 Texas Tribune Festival, Woodward discussed the process of reporting out his latest book on the Trump presidency. Full Story 

• Gov. Greg Abbott wants to raise the stakes for protesters during a divisive Texas election

  By Jolie McCullough and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Updated: Sept. 24, 2020

  Abbott's campaign event came after a majority of likely Texas voters in a recent poll said that law and order is a bigger issue than the pandemic. Yet they were also more likely to say that racism in the criminal justice system is a larger problem than riots in American cities. Full Story 

• Dallas City Council increases police budget overall, but reallocates $7 million from overtime budget

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Jolie McCullough Updated: Sept. 24, 2020

  Much of the overtime cuts were reallocated for other purposes in the department, including more than $3.8 million to hire nearly 100 civilian workers. Other new spending will go toward addressing root causes of crime and improving street lighting. Full Story 

• U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, who is sick with pneumonia, is released from hospital

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Sept. 23, 2020

  The freshman Republican has been undergoing treatment for cancer since 2019. Full Story 

• Texas begins letting people register to vote online when they’re updating their driver’s licenses

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Sept. 23, 2020

  The limited move, ordered by a federal judge, marks the first time Texans have been able to register to vote online. Full Story 

• Trump says new TikTok headquarters could land in Texas, but questions about the deal remain

  By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff Sept. 22, 2020

  Shortly after Oracle — a California-based tech company with an Austin campus — emerged as a potential buyer last week, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he had spoken to the president about Texas housing the possible new TikTok headquarters. Full Story