https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/terri-langford/The latest news by Terri Langford.enThu, 20 Mar 2025 19:09:22 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/The measles vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective against the disease, which is highly contagious and can be life threatening.By Terri LangfordThu, 20 Mar 2025 19:09:22 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/An unvaccinated 6-year-old girl at Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock became the first person to die of measles in Texas in a decade on Feb. 26.Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/texas-covid-pandemic-readiness/Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold.By Terri Langford, Jayme Lozano Carver, Pooja Salhotra, Eleanor Klibanoff and Stephen Simpson, Graphics by Dan Keemahill and Yuriko SchumacherTue, 18 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/texas-covid-pandemic-readiness/Illustration by Diana Branzan for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-measles-house-public-health/Texas’ health commissioner fielded questions from state lawmakers about the outbreak and vaccine risks.By Terri LangfordMon, 03 Mar 2025 17:51:37 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-measles-house-public-health/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-measles-abbott-lawmakers-response/Declining vaccination rates, decreasing trust in government and a political unwillingness to endorse vaccines is shaping Texas’ measles response.By Eleanor Klibanoff, Pooja Salhotra, Terri Langford and Jayme Lozano CarverFri, 28 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-measles-abbott-lawmakers-response/Covenant Children's Hospital, pictured on Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, has added a patient screening check before patients go to the children's emergency entrance.Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-measles-death/More than 120 people across nine counties have been infected during the largest Texas outbreak in 30 years.By Jayme Lozano Carver, Pooja Salhotra and Terri LangfordWed, 26 Feb 2025 09:28:05 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-measles-death/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/The West Texas outbreak has spread to one new county – Lamb – for a total of 15 affected counties, as of Tuesday.By Terri Langford, Stephen Simpson, Eleanor Klibanoff and Pooja SalhotraTue, 18 Feb 2025 19:30:14 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/Covenant Children's Hospital located in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. The hospital has been treating patients who have fallen ill with measles.Covenant Childrens hospital located in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has addd a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/texas-foster-care-deaths-treatment-center-greenville/The death of an 11-year-old at a Greenville residential treatment center is among 16 deaths reported in the Texas foster care system in the last 15 months.By Terri LangfordTue, 11 Feb 2025 17:35:44 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/texas-foster-care-deaths-treatment-center-greenville/The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-foster-care-death-residential-treatment-center/The Greenville-based treatment center has closed after the death of an 11-year-old boy the day before Thanksgiving.By Terri LangfordFri, 07 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-foster-care-death-residential-treatment-center/Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville, pictured here on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, has closed after the death of an 11-year-old foster care boy who was living there.The Thompson’s Residential Treatment Center in Greenville, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-senate-finance-health-data-breach/So far, nine HHSC employees have been fired for accessing without a “business” purpose the private information of Texans seeking public assistance that includes Medicaid and food stamps.By Terri LangfordMon, 03 Feb 2025 18:53:27 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-senate-finance-health-data-breach/Health and Human Services Commission Commissioner Cecile Young made her first public comments about the data breach affecting more than 61,000 Texans during the Senate Committee of Finance hearing Monday.The Brown Heatly Health and Human Services building in Austin on Nov. 29, 2017.Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-seniors-assisted-living-nursing-homes-generators/After failed attempts in 2021 and 2023, southeast Texas lawmakers have filed bills to require generators in nursing homes and assisted living centers.By Terri LangfordMon, 03 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/texas-seniors-assisted-living-nursing-homes-generators/Nettie Carlisle, a cook at Ella Springs Senior Living Community, an assisted living center in Houston, holds open the empty freezer on July 12, 2024. All the food had to be thrown out after the widespread power outage caused by Hurricane Beryl.Nettie Carlisle, a cook at Ella Springs Senior Living Community in Houston, holds open the empty freezer at the assisted living center on July 12, 2024. All the food had to be thrown out after the widespread power outage caused by Hurricane Beryl.Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-trump-federal-spending-freeze/Texas cities, counties, higher education institutions and nonprofits clambered Tuesday to gauge the potential fallout from the suspension, later blocked temporarily by a federal judge.By Jayme Lozano Carver, Jessica Priest, Joshua Fechter, Matthew Choi and Terri LangfordTue, 28 Jan 2025 20:35:02 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-trump-federal-spending-freeze/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texas-legislature-vaccine-mandate-bills/Emboldened by Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s nomination and disdain for pandemic-era mandates, skeptics are pushing for bills to make it easier to opt out of vaccines.By Terri Langford and Dan KeemahillMon, 27 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texas-legislature-vaccine-mandate-bills/A man carries a sign protesting Houston Methodist Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown on June 7, 2021.A man carries a sign protesting Houston Methodist Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown on June 7, 2021. Employees who chose not to inoculate themselves by the hospital's Monday deadline faced suspension without pay and job termination, a policy criticized by the protesters as unfair and unauthorized.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-hhsc-food-stamp-fraud-data-breach/Seven human services employees were fired after a string of fraud and theft — and the largest data breach in agency history.By Terri LangfordFri, 17 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-hhsc-food-stamp-fraud-data-breach/The fresh produce section of a Brookshire Brothers grocery store in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023.The fresh produce section of a Brookshire Brothers grocery store in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023.Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-summer-school-lunch-food-stamp/After the state missed the Jan. 1 deadline, lawmakers still have time to approve administrative costs before applying for $400 million in federal summer meal assistance.By Terri Langford and Dan KeemahillThu, 09 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-summer-school-lunch-food-stamp/Ector County school district employees serve lunch to Bonham Middle School students on Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.Ector County Independent School District employees serve lunch to Bonham Middle School students Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/11/texas-medicaid-food-stamps-application-legislature/The request, which includes hiring more staff and updating the online application system, comes as applicants must wait for months to receive approval for benefits.By Terri LangfordWed, 11 Dec 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/11/texas-medicaid-food-stamps-application-legislature/Texas Health and Human Services Commission is asking the state Legislature for $300 million next legislative session to improve the Medicaid enrollment process.A Texas Health and Human Services client application on April 24, 2018.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/30/texas-robert-roberson-judge-recuses/Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself after a challenge to her impartiality over longtime relationships with case prosecutors and judges.By Terri LangfordSat, 30 Nov 2024 13:14:23 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/30/texas-robert-roberson-judge-recuses/Senior state District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presides over a hearing in Palestine on Aug. 14, 2018, as Robert Roberson's attorneys seek a new trial. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis. Evans, who initially set an execution date of Oct. 17, 2024, has since agreed to recuse herself.Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presides over a hearing in Palestine on Aug. 14, 2018 as Robert Roberson's attorneys seek a new trial. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis.Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/25/robert-roberson-joe-moody-jeff-leach-texas-death-penalty/The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee plans to issue a new subpoena to the death row inmate for a Dec. 20 hearing if Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office does not cooperate.By Kayla Guo and Terri LangfordTue, 26 Nov 2024 10:14:54 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/25/robert-roberson-joe-moody-jeff-leach-texas-death-penalty/From left: Texas Tribune reporter Kayla Guo moderates a conversation with State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso, in Austin on Dec. 6, 2024. Moody, who is chairman, serves with Leach on the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.John Jordan/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/texas-hospitals-immigration-questions/Gov. Greg Abbott wants to know how much hospitals spend caring for undocumented immigrants. Hospitals should not deny care based on how patients respond.By Terri LangfordThu, 21 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/texas-hospitals-immigration-questions/The emergency drop-off at an Austin hospital on March 30, 2020.The emergency drop-off at an Austin hospital on March 30, 2020.Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/texas-alzheimers-dementia-research-dan-patrick/Modeled after the state’s $6 billion cancer research fund, the dementia fund — a legislative priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — could pump hundreds of millions of dollars into Texas researchers.By Terri LangfordThu, 21 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/texas-alzheimers-dementia-research-dan-patrick/The facilities of El Faro Health and Therapeutics clinical research facility has an infusion room, pictured here on Nov. 13, 2021, to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Rio Grande City.The facilities of El Faro Health and Therapeutics clinical research facility count with an infusion room to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Rio Grande City on November 13, 2021.Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune.https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/hospitales-texas-preguntas-immigracion/El gobernador Greg Abbott quiere saber cuánto gastan los hospitales en el cuidado de inmigrantes indocumentados. Los hospitales no deben negar atención en ningún caso.By Terri LangfordThu, 21 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/21/hospitales-texas-preguntas-immigracion/La entrada a la sala de emergencias del Centro Medico St. David en Austin el 30 de marzo de 2020.The emergency drop-off at an Austin hospital on March 30, 2020.Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune