ACLU sues seven Texas towns for passing local anti-abortion ordinances
The lawsuit takes aim at towns that have declared themselves "sanctuary cities for the unborn." Full Story
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Edgar Walters
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Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin. He is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked as an editor for The Daily Texan. When not in the newsroom or at the Capitol, he could be found on the volleyball court, standing 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Past Contributions
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![Joaquin is a small town that borders Louisiana.]()
Credit: Ben Fenton for The Texas Tribune -
Texas improperly picked winners for contracts worth $10 billion, health insurers argue
More than half a dozen health plans are appealing the contract decisions for STAR+PLUS, the state's privatized insurance program for elderly, blind and disabled Texans. Full Story
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![The Brown Heatly Health and Human Services building in Austin on Nov. 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Leader of Texas’ health department leaving after a year for Louisiana job
Courtney Phillips is leaving the state Health and Human Services Commission to take a job as Louisiana's new secretary of the Department of Health. Full Story
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![Courtney Phillips heads the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.]()
Credit: Office of the Governor -
Obama cut women's health money in Texas for the state's targeting of Planned Parenthood. Trump just restored it.
The Trump administration announcement reverses an Obama-era decision in 2012 to cut federal women’s health funding to Texas. That came as punishment after the Texas Legislature excluded Planned Parenthood from the Healthy Texas Women program in 2011. Full Story
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![From left, Gov. Greg Abbott reacts as President Donald Trump speaks at a church relief center during a visit with flood survivors and volunteers of Hurricane Harvey in Houston on Sept. 2, 2017.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
Three Texas towns vote in favor of "sanctuary cities for the unborn," hoping to ban abortion
Big Spring, Colorado City and Rusk are the three latest towns to vote in favor of such ordinances, which are of contested legality and enforceability. Full Story
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![A billboard on Interstate 20 outside of Waskom displays an anti-abortion message.]()
Credit: Ben Fenton for The Texas Tribune -
What you need to know about Texas’ new surprise medical billing law
The law aims to remove patients from billing disputes between health plans and doctors, but it only applies to the 16% of Texans with state-regulated health insurance. Full Story
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![Francisco Garcia arrives at Kelsey-Seybold clinic in Sugar Land to see his doctor Spencer Berthelsen for annual physical. Sept. 22, 2011.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Nonprofits claim Texas broke the law by leaving them out of Medicaid contracts
The Houston region’s Community Health Choice and San Antonio’s Community First Health plans are suing the state, saying the law promises them a piece of roughly $10 billion in Medicaid contracts. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman/The Texas Tribune -
With a deadline for Hurricane Harvey assistance near, Galveston advocates say hundreds could miss out due to bureaucratic mixups
Recovery workers in the area say the Texas General Land Office owes hurricane victims more time to apply for assistance after losing their paperwork, but the agency says the claims are baseless. Full Story
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![Christine Lopez outside her home in Friendswood on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019. The home was severely damaged by flood water as a result of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The family has received a lot of help from the community but they still have a long way to go before their home is finished. They currently have no working hot water or heat.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge hammers Texas officials over failures to improve foster care system
An exasperated U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack found the state in contempt of court for failing to comply with some of her earlier orders in the wide-ranging lawsuit filed on behalf of Texas foster children. Full Story
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Credit: Getty Images -
Capitol insiders: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is letting the state's budget agency fall apart
The Texas Legislative Budget Board is hemorrhaging staff and has been without an executive director for a year. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the dais on the Senate floor on May 25, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune