Texas Rural Report - News Clips 4.1.2024

#TXLEGE

Commentary - Glenn Rogers: Abbott owes Texans an explanation

This primary season, Political Action Committees flooded our mailboxes with junk, oversaturated the TV market with commercials, and ventured into the streaming realm to run false and misleading political advertisements. If you noticed, many of the PACs and even “non-profits,” such as “Texans United for a Conservative Majority,” “Texas Family Project,” “Texans for Fiscal Responsibility,” “Make Liberty Win,” and “Texas Gun Rights,” along with the voucher lobby, spent all their ad time trashing Republican incumbents, without any commentary on the opponent.

‘It’s about follow the dollars’: Drew Darby breaks down future of school vouchers & rural Texas

In this week’s Big Country Politics Sunday conversation, House District 72 State Representative Drew Darby discussed what the future of school vouchers and rural Texas could look like. Darby represents the Concho Valley area as well as Runnels and Coleman counties in the Big Country region. He won against Stormy Bradley in the recent election but questions the true meaning of victory.

POLITICS

Ken Paxton agrees to community service, paying restitution to avoid trial in securities fraud case

Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop the securities fraud charges facing Attorney General Ken Paxton if he performs 100 hours of community service and fulfills other conditions of a pretrial agreement, bringing an abrupt end to the nearly nine-year-old felony case that has loomed over the embattled Republican since his early days in office.

They counted primary ballots by hand. Now a Texas county Republican party says they found errors

An hour after Gillespie County Republican Party Chairman Bruce Campbell declared the hand-counted primary election results completely accurate and certified them as final, he found another discrepancy. “It’s my mistake for not catching that,” he said, sitting in front of his laptop inside the Gillespie County election administration office Thursday. “I can’t believe I did that.” The late catch meant that Campbell had to ask the early voting ballot board chair, who had already left and lives 30 minutes away, to return to the elections offices, figure out how the error happened, and fix it.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Urban Institute Researchers Examine Fallout from Texas Wildfires on Rural Communities in the Region

Several factors will need to be addressed to provide equitable recovery to those living in West Texas who experienced losses from the wildfires sweeping through the area, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute.  As of March 5, 2024, the fires in the Texas Panhandle have left at least two people dead and burned more than 1.3 million acres of land. Several towns have been evacuated.

‘Overwhelming’: Rural communities prepare for thousands to pack their small towns during eclipse weekend

Even with a limited crew, Rhonda Garofano said the Utopia Volunteer EMS is ready to handle emergencies throughout the eclipse weekend. “It’s overwhelming for a rural EMS,” said Garofano, the EMS director. “We’re going to do what we have to do when it happens, and we’ll handle it. We’ll handle the situation when it comes.” The total solar eclipse is set to cross over South-Central Texas next week. Bandera County leaders said they are concerned about the number of people traveling to their rural communities. In a town like Vanderpool, the population is only about 100, but throughout the eclipse weekend, officials predict thousands to travel through.

A Move to Texas as 'House-Sitters' Results in First-Time Home Ownership

Bradley and Janna Lanphear, along with their four children, found themselves facing uncertainty when unforeseen circumstances forced them out of their long-time rental in Bend, Oregon. With rental prices skyrocketing in their area, the dream of homeownership seemed increasingly out of reach. The family was offered an opportunity to house-sit for a friend, also providing them with a temporary place to recover. The decision to move and house-sit would result in the Lanphears becoming first time homeowners in Texas.

TX nonprofit helps rural towns secure infrastructure improvement grants

A lack of staff and know-how often means rural towns miss out on grants to improve their communities, and a Texas group is trying to balance the scales. Billions of dollars will soon be flowing from the federal government to states for broadband, water and energy upgrades, transportation infrastructure and other projects. To help rural towns and nonprofits secure the money, Texas Rural Funders has stepped in.

EDUCATION

School voucher proponents spend big to overcome rural resistance

In rural Texas, public schools are the cultural heart of small towns. People pack the high school stadium for Friday night football games, and FFA classes prepare the next generation for the agricultural life. In many places, more people work for the school district than for any other employer. For years, many rural Texas school districts, often barely scraping by on lean operating budgets, have relied on their local representatives in the Republican-led state legislature to fend off school voucher programs. Some of these GOP lawmakers, along with many of their liberal colleagues from larger cities, have argued that giving families taxpayer dollars to send their children to private schools or to educate them at home would drain money from the public schools.

School Voucher Proponents Spend Big to Overcome Rural Resistance

In rural Texas, public schools are the cultural heart of small towns. People pack the high school stadium for Friday night football games, and FFA classes prepare the next generation for the agricultural life. In many places, more people work for the school district than for any other employer. For years, many rural Texas school districts, often barely scraping by on lean operating budgets, have relied on their local representatives in the Republican-led state legislature to fend off school voucher programs. Some of these GOP lawmakers, along with many of their liberal colleagues from larger cities, have argued that giving families taxpayer dollars to send their children to private schools or to educate them at home would drain money from the public schools.

HEALTH

Dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas test positive for bird flu

Milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu, U.S. officials said Monday. Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people. The virus is affecting older dairy cows in those states and in New Mexico, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.

Illness Impacting Texas Cattle Confirmed as Bird Flu

AgWeb’s Tyne Morgan reported Monday that “a mystery illness that’s impacted dairy herds in the Texas Panhandle now has a diagnosis: Influenza A. USDA says genetic sequencing revealed it’s the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that’s been in the U.S. for two years.” “APHIS says the ‘National Veterinary Services Laboratories’ detected Influenza ‘A’ in samples from several impacted herds in Texas and Kansas,” Morgan reported. “The virus is carried by wild waterfowl, which experts think is how the illness is spreading. Even with the diagnosis, USDA is still not recommending movement restrictions of animals.” The Texas Department of Agriculture said in a press release on Monday that “to date, three dairies in Texas and one in Kansas have tested positive for HPAI. The Texas Department of Agriculture is vigilantly monitoring this outbreak.'”

Texas A&M School of Public Health identifies rural America’s top health priorities

The Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health has released Rural Healthy People 2030—a companion piece to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Healthy People 2030. Rural Healthy People is published once each decade to identify the most important priorities from Healthy People for rural America stakeholders. This is the third iteration of this work for the center, and it can be downloaded for free at srhrc.tamu.edu.

Midland College physician program preparing West Texans to serve their rural communities

There is a constant need and demand for healthcare workers in the Permian Basin.  That reality ranges beyond the growing communities in Midland-Odessa to include the more rural areas of West Texas as well.  At Midland College, there is a program trying to change that.  The Primary Care Pathway Program is a program that gives West Texans a start and a path to serve their communities when their education is complete. 

Texas medical board proposes guidance for exceptions to abortion bans

The Texas Medical Board released guidance on what qualifies for an exception to the state’s multiple abortion bans, weighing in on how physicians can provide care in medical emergencies. While the board voted to publish the guidance publicly, they will vote on adopting the guidance in the future. The guidance was released publicly, with the board asking physicians, patients and the public to weigh in with comments on whether it addresses physicians’ confusion.