Latest Headlines in Detail
Abortion law remains in limbo, even after ruling
KTRK-TV Texas News
Jan 12The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals may have ruled that Texas should be allowed to enforce a new law requiring doctors to conduct a sonogram before performing an abortion, but that doesn't mean the law will be enforced anytime soon At issue is how much ... »
10 state psychiatric hospitals to get more windows
KTRK-TV Texas News
Jan 10The state's 10 psychiatric hospitals will be getting more windows to help prevent alleged abuse of patients by staff or anyone else The Texas Department of State Health Services is spending up to $135,000 to retrofit nearly 340 doors at psychiatric hos... »
Psychiatrist protests Austin State Hospital firing
KTRK-TV Texas News
Jan 05A former Austin State Hospital psychiatrist under investigation over sexual abuse allegations has protested his 2011 firing The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that Dr. Charles Fischer has filed an official grievance over his Nov. 14 dismi... »
State mental health psychiatrist fired last month
KTRK-TV Texas News
Jan 04Documents show a state psychiatrist has been fired for not disclosing a 2001 settlement banning him from working in other Texas mental health facilities The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that Dr. Alejandro Munoz was fired last week from ... »
State estimates 68,000 Texans living with HIV
KTRK-TV Texas News
Dec 27An estimated 68,000 Texans have the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, about an 8 percent increase over the past two years That's according to numbers from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The Victoria Advocate reports about 4... »
Latest Blog Posts in Detail
Grits commenter played role initiating lawsuit over timely competency restoration
Grits For Breakfast
Feb 01The SA Express News had an editorial today praising a district court ruling last week requiring state mental hospitals to timely accept defendants for "competency restoration" who've been deemed incompetent to stand trial by the courts. Here's a notabl... »
'Neither punished nor treated, just jailed'
Grits For Breakfast
Jan 16At the Dallas News, columnist Steve Blow had a piece yesterday ("Mental illness leaves man trapped in county jail," Jan. 15) about a defendant named Reveau Skinner suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who was declared incompetent to stand trial but th... »
Consumption advisory issued for gafftopsail catfish in Sabine Lake
Examiner Houston Edition
Jan 16The Texas Department of State Health Services today advises limiting consumption of gafftopsail (gafftop) catfish from the Texas waters of Sabine Lake because of concerns about chemicals known as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). PCBs are known to... »
Eradicating rabies
Off the Kuff
Jan 15Did you know that the state of Texas has been funding a program to wipe out rabies in foxes and coyotes by dropping vaccines for it from airplanes. It’s called the Texas Oral Rabies Vaccination Project, and it’s been a smashing success. The program beg... »
How state agencies outside law enforcement use and store fingerprint data
Grits For Breakfast
Oct 11A Texas state auditor's survey released in August analyzed practices at 20 state agencies that collect fingerprints for criminal background checks. Not much controversial here, but I did learn a few new tidbits from the report.For instance, "Seventeen ... »
