Past Contributions

• Texas hospitals brace for coronavirus surge with uncertain stocks of protective gear

  By Emma Platoff March 25, 2020

  “’I will give you X number, you are to make these last for however long,’” a Panhandle hospital executive told one of his clinics when it sought more respirators. “We’ve got to ration these resources.” Full Story 

• Coronavirus pauses many Texas court proceedings. For some, that means more time in jail.

  By Jolie McCullough and Emma Platoff March 19, 2020

  Courts have slowed across the state, and jury trials are on hold. Defense attorneys worry the outbreak could leave their clients sitting in jail waiting for justice — and vulnerable to catching the virus. Full Story 

• For Texas' ill and immunocompromised, coronavirus brings a new threat and familiar precautions

  By Emma Platoff March 17, 2020

  “We are perpetually at risk,” said Shelby Chiles of Lewisville, who has a rare autoimmune disease. Full Story 

• At Fort Worth church where the pastor has coronavirus, "thanks be to God" for Facebook Live

  By Emma Platoff March 15, 2020

  The building is closed, and some 40 members of the parish are in quarantine. They refuse to let that keep them apart. Full Story 

• Houston Rodeo called off as fears about new coronavirus continue to spread in Texas

  By Emma Platoff March 11, 2020

  It’s another devastating cultural and economic blow to a state that has confirmed more than 30 cases of the virus. Last year, the event drew more than 2.5 million attendees. Full Story 

• Democratic male judges may be headed for extinction in Texas. The cause? Voters

  By Emma Platoff March 9, 2020

  Women got more votes than men in all of the roughly 30 gender-split primary contests for high court, court of appeals and district court. Rarely was it even close. Full Story 

• Jerry McGinty to head troubled Legislative Budget Board

  By Emma Platoff March 5, 2020

  McGinty, the CFO of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, will lead an embattled agency of nonpartisan budget analysts who have been without an executive director since October 2018. Full Story 

• In Texas, a chaotic primary yields status quo results

  By Emma Platoff March 4, 2020

  As Democrats and Republicans gear up for a competitive general election in Texas, there seems to be less appetite for intraparty warfare. Full Story 

• Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton concedes Republican primary in surprising upset

  By Emma Platoff Updated: March 4, 2020

  Sitton was elected in 2014 to the three-member board, which oversees Texas' oil and gas industry. Jim Wright, who beat him in an upset, owns an oilfield waste services company. Full Story 

• San Antonio mayor demands extension of coronavirus quarantine, bans evacuees from entering city

  By Sami Sparber, Carrington Tatum and Emma Platoff Updated: March 2, 2020

  Those moves — and an unsuccessful attempt to get an injunction against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — came after a person who tested "weakly positive" for the new coronavirus was released over the weekend. Full Story