Texas leaders zero in on exploding hemp market
Thousands of hemp dispensaries have sprung up in Texas in the years since consumable hemp became legal. Full Story
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Karen Brooks Harper
Health and Human Services Reporter
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Karen Brooks Harper reports on the state budget and health and human services. An alumna of the University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism School, Karen arrived in Texas in 1995 to join the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, spent several years in Laredo and Mexico covering immigration and the drug war for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and has covered Texas politics for more than two decades for news organizations including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News and Reuters. She is based in Austin.
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![Owner Shayda Torabi, poses for a photo inside of Restart CBD on Thursday, May 9, 2024 in Austin. Torabi, along with her two sisters, become curious about the properties of the plant after Torabi had an accident and started using CBD as a solution to manage her pain.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Legalized marijuana supporters hope voters in this Texas city will send a message to state lawmakers
There is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum. So, supporters are going city by city to build statewide momentum. Full Story
![A shirt promotes the legalization of marijuana in Lubbock at the South Plains Fair in Lubbock on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
State’s premature release of bid proposal info touches off new battle over $116 billion in Medicaid contracts
The early release of documents meant a single competitor got an early look at the other bidders’ playbooks before final winners were announced. Full Story
![Sonia Wood, a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, treats a patient at Carousel Pediatrics in Austin, Texas on Nov. 8th, 2012.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for the Texas Tribune -
Seattle Children’s Hospital won’t have to provide trans patient records to Texas under new settlement
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suspected the hospital was helping Texas kids access puberty blockers or hormone treatments that are outlawed for juveniles. Full Story
![State Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a press conference at the Houston Recovery Center on Oct. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Proposed changes to state Medicaid plans could shake up health coverage for 1.8 million low-income Texans
The move, which has not been finalized, would drop three large health plans run for two decades by nonprofit children’s hospitals. Full Story
![Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for the Texas Tribune -
Appeals court blocks $100,000 daily fine for Texas’ troubled foster care program
Jack’s order to fine Texas Health and Human Services on Monday was the third time the state has been found in contempt over foster care conditions since 2011. Full Story
![U.S. District Judge Janis Jack administers the U.S. oath of citizenship to more than 100 area residents representing 25 countries in 2008 aboard the USS Lexington. Jack was the first woman federal judge to serve in Texas south of San Antonio. July 5, 2008.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Todd Yates/Corpus Christi Caller-Times -
Texas counties, cities embrace new child care center tax credit even though few providers qualify
Child care centers are struggling to make ends meet, and a new voter-approved tax credit is a first step toward boosting the flagging system, advocates say. Full Story
![Kindergarten students are loaded into a van by Pita Espinosa so they can be driven to their elementary school from the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum, on Sept. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Years ago, Texas hustled to get kids on state health care. Now it’s kicking them off.
Texas’ recent unwinding of Medicaid and CHIP has been criticized, dropping more than a million people eligible for the health insurance programs. Decades ago, Texas officials got kids health insurance in record time. Full Story
![August Johansen looks through the glass door of the birthday venue while cradling a balloon on Dec. 9, 2023. He had inoperable brain cancer and depended on Medicaid to pay for full-time home nursing care from a private agency to help his mother take care of him throughout years of health crises. But in December, he became one of 810,000 children dropped from Texas’ Medicaid program in the previous five months, but was reinstated through his mother's efforts.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Texas appeals court overturns Crystal Mason’s conviction, 5-year sentence for illegal voting
Mason gained national attention after she was convicted for voting while under supervised release for felony tax fraud. She said she didn’t know she was ineligible to vote. Full Story
![Crystal Mason in Fort Worth on Sept. 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
School voucher supporters bask in primary wins, say goals are within reach
Gov. Greg Abbott called the results “an unmistakable message.” His allies said the state is “closer than ever” to a voucher program. Full Story
![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to students, parents and staff at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth while trying to build support for school vouchers legislation on April 19, 2023.]()
Credit: Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram via REUTERS
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