Texas Rural Newsclips 10.5.22
#TXLEGE
Abbott to call Legislators back for Education
Gov Abbott has set Special Session #3 for October 9th at 1:00 p.m. and has indicated School Choice will be on the agenda for the Session.
Lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton’s whistleblowers can move forward, Texas Supreme Court rules
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled a whistleblower lawsuit against state Attorney General Ken Paxton can proceed. The ruling comes days after four of Paxton’s former employees renewed their pleas to the state’s highest civil court after not receiving any of the $3.3 million negotiated in a settlement agreement earlier this year.
Dick Trabulsi: Ken Paxton has no one to blame but himself
In the wake of his impeachment trial, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is blaming his political and legal troubles on, among others, Democrats, Republicans he considers RINOs, liberals, House Speaker Dade Phelan, the Bush family, Joe Biden, “business interests,” and groups like my own, Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
“The guy can’t keep his zipper up”: Karl Rove pushes back at Ken Paxton
Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove said Friday that Attorney General Ken Paxton only has himself to blame for his impeachment. At the Texas Tribune Festival, Rove pushed back against claims Paxton made in recent interviews that Rove colluded with other Texas officials to bring about the charges against him. Rove’s comments come six days after the state Senate voted to acquit Paxton in his impeachment trial.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Experts speak on broadband needs in Texas
Texas and national leaders are looking to close the broadband access divide in the Lone Star State. State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin; Greg Conte, Texas Broadband Development Office director; Joseph Wender, capital projects fund director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury; and Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation President Dalila Wilson-Scott were part of a panel at the annual Texas Tribune Festival, often called TribFest, on Friday. The panelists discussed the current state of broadband access and what is in the works to bring access to everyone.
Texas Legislative Rural Caucus Highlights Online Connectivity Importance for Texas Families
With Congress now back in session in Washington, D.C. following their August recess, they (and you) may have missed the Texas Legislative Rural Caucus's Letter to Sen. Ted Cruz that highlights the importance of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program established by President Donald Trump. It has transitioned into the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for rural communities and the families that live there.
Alvin New: Making a Historic Investment to Provide Statewide Connectivity
Texas has a lot to offer which includes over 80,000 highway lane miles. We also have worldclass rail and air facilities for freight and passengers. Nearly 2,000 people move here every day, steadily increasing the pressure on our infrastructure. That’s one of the reasons why my Texas Transportation Commission colleagues and I made history this month with the approval of a record $142 billion total investment for Texas’ transportation infrastructure, including the $100 billion 10-year Unified Transportation Program (UTP).
Building Community Capacity in Rural East Texas: The Long Lift
What would it look like for rural civic infrastructure to thrive, not just survive, in the 21st century? This is a question animating much of our work in East Texas, where a local family foundation (T.L.L. Temple) and a community development financial institution (Communities Unlimited) are teaming to develop bottom-up structural solutions to building rural capacity.
The Farm Bill Has Expired and Rural America Hangs in the Balance
While Republicans in the House of Representatives narrowly averted running the government off a cliff at the end of September, their reckless brinksmanship left rural America in a ditch by failing to reauthorize the farm bill. The stakes for rural America could not be higher.
Joining Hands in Rural Texas to Solve Community Problems
When Craig Rotter, Ph.D., took the lead of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Texas Rural Leadership Program, TRLP, it offered him the perfect opportunity to blend service and problem solving. What he discovered was a profound need for what the program had to offer in Texas’ smaller communities, a need that has ignited his commitment ever since.
Rural Development in the Farm Bill: What the Research Says
The farm bill is wide-ranging legislation that sets funding and directs priorities for a variety of federal food consumption and production programs in the U.S. — plus, economic development programs aimed at improving broadband access and providing small business loans, among other things, in rural areas.
For Rural Communities, Broadband Expansion Is No Single Thing
Tourism runs the economy in the old mining town of Silverton, Colorado. From skiers in the winter to hikers and four-wheelers and mountain enthusiasts of all stripes in the summer – without tourism, the town of around 600 people has very little industry. And there is one resource the town is absolutely dependent on – the internet.
The Forgotten Faces of Freer, Texas: A Town in the Shadow of a Political Battle
Growing up, stories of my ancestral town, Freer, Texas, painted a vivid image of a tight-knit community, flourishing with activity, warmth, and a unique southern charm. Fast forward to today, my recent visit revealed a different narrative, one that starkly contrasts those nostalgic tales.
EDUCATION
Nonprofit Shares Three National Lessons about Rural Higher Education
Across the country, rural educators are grappling with evolving workforce demands in fascinating ways.
Opinion: Texas’s Governor Is Trying to Destroy Public Education — and Dim Those Friday Night Lights
Texas governor Greg Abbott is on a crusade against public education. But even rural Republicans aren’t going along with his privatization scheme, recognizing the threat it poses to youth education, adult employment, and Texas’s beloved football teams.
HEALTHCARE
There's a shortage of doctors in rural America
There’s a shortage of primary care physicians for the more than 46 million Americans living in rural areas.
What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America
On a hot July morning, customers at the Dollar General along a two-lane highway northwest of Nashville didn’t seem to notice signs of the chain store’s foray into mobile health care, particularly in rural America.
A woman lifted a child from the back of an SUV and walked into the store. A dog barked from a black pickup truck before its owner returned with cases of soda. Another woman checked her hair in a convertible’s rearview mirror before shopping.
How the looming government shutdown will affect Texans
Over 100,000 active duty service members in Texas could go without a paycheck. Even more civilians working for federal agencies in the state could be furloughed or have to work without pay. Food subsidies for low-income women, infants and children could dry up. Airport security lines could get longer. FEMA payments to state and local governments could be late.
‘An understaffed and broken system’: 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid as others struggle to access SNAP benefits
Almost 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid since April and a backlog of applications has piled up, overwhelming the system and setting off a ripple effect that advocates worry is delaying families’ access to SNAP food benefits.
Dallas selected as one of three national hubs for new medical innovation federal agency
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H, is an effort by the Biden administration to prevent and treat diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Along with its other national hubs in Cambridge, Mass. and the Washington, D.C. area, ARPA-H will include a network of “spokes,” or local health institutions, across all 50 states.
Gov. Abbott Announces $4.5 Million in Rural Hospitals Emergency Assistance
Expanding access to Rural Healthcare remains a priority as we work together to build a healthier, stronger Texas of tomorrow," said Gov. Greg Abbott earlier today, announcing a $4.5 million grant opportunity awarded by the Texas Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) for four eligible Texas hospitals that are deemed critical to serving the state's rural population.