Blogs

The State's Task Force on Indigent Defense yesterday awarded $4.1 million in grant monies to establish a new public defender program in Harris County. The county had been the largest jurisdiction in the nation without a coordinated defense program for indigent defendants.

The Task Force also released reports from the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions. This panel was created in 2009, and exists to study the causes of wrongful conviction in Texas, and make recommendations on methods of preventing such instances in the future.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and other agencies overseen by HHSC, have demonstrated that further cuts to their agencies would have devastating results for very poor families and individuals. The cuts would affect welfare payouts, and would cut some funding from programs for those suffering from conditions such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and cystic fibrosis. In 2006, Texas had the fifth-lowest welfare benefits among the states.

A Dallas Morning News article cites the concerns of advocates, who fear that the state's budget will be balanced on the backs of Texas' poorest citizens.

Florida lawmakers proposed a draft bill Wednesday that mimics and expands upon measures put forth in the now-enjoined Arizona immigration law. The legislation, which seeks to curb illegal immigration in the state, delineates a host of new requirements for law enforcement.

A CNN article describes details of the bill and its reception among Floridians.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor for an individual to seek employment in Florida if they are in the United States illegally, and require non-citizens to carry documentation or face possible charges and jail time.

The looming budget deficit has Texas lawmakers prepared to make tough decisions about cuts and spending for the biennium. While many state agencies have already undergone budget cuts, billions and billions of dollars still stand between Texas and a balanced budget.

Our legislators aren’t the only ones mulling over the state of the State. A recent Dallas Morning News editorial proposes an exhaustive list of where to start with budget cuts during the session. Click here to read the editorial.

BP has officially capped the main leak, although reports say that the oil is still seeping two miles away from the leak. The seep is occurring at another well site and, fortunately, are not a risk to the cap. In what was hopeful news, the relief well will reach the busted well by the end of this week which means that they can start pumping cement and mud into the well shutting it off permanently.

Unfortunately, a new tropical storm depression is brewing in the gulf halting all relief well drilling operations. The depression which formed in the Bahamas is headed straight for the well and will pass over it within a few days.

Two weeks before the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP’s Texas City refinery began spewing an enormous quantity of toxic chemicals into the Texas air. The release of toxins began on April 6 and lasted for 40 days unnoticed by BP. The refinery discharged an estimated half a million pounds of benzene, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and other toxins.

This appears to be one of the largest chemical releases to happen in the last decade. The amount of chemicals released greatly exceeds the limit that the state and federal government permits. It is unclear whether the pollutants have had any health impacts on any of the Texas City residents.

FREE Cooking Class Series

The Happy Kitchen presents:

Learn to prepare delicious, healthy and inexpensive meals. Be informed of good nutrition for you and your family. Learn how to get the most food for your money.

Classes meet once a week for 1.5 hours for a period of 6 weeks. After each class, you will receive a free bag of groceries to prepare the recipe taught in class at home.

***Registration priority for Greater Mt. Zion parishioners***
***Childcare available***
***Must register for entire class series***
Contact Adriana Prioleau: 512.236.0074 x 115 or adriana@sustainablefoodcenter.org

When/Where

Tropical Storm Alex (briefly Hurricane Alex) inaugurates the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Forming on June 25th, it developed from a tropical wave to a tropical storm in the Caribbean, sruck Belize, and moved into the Gulf of Mexico. On June 30th, it was upgraded to a Category 2 Hurricane as it made landfall in northeastern Mexico. As it traveled over rough Mexican terrain, it has been downgraded back to Tropical Storm Alex. Alex is the first hurricane to strike in June since 1995 with Hurricane Alice. And only 11 hurricanes have struck in June since 1944.

One of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) most important changes to the health insurance system is its provision for Individuals who are unable to obtain private health insurance coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions. For the past 12 years in Texas, the High Risk Insurance Pool has served as a “safety net” for those excluded from regular coverage. This year, Texas had the option of adapting the high risk pool to follow new federal guidelines, but decided to opt out, allowing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to run the program instead.

Texas' juvenile justice system has seen recent gains in efficiency and reform. Because of sweeping measures passed in 2007 by the Texas Legislature, agencies have made dramatic changes in structure and practice. Since 2007, agencies have established oversight offices, reduced the maximum age of confinement (from 21 to 19), improved and diversified treatment programs, and ceased to refer misdemeanor offences to Texas Youth Commission (TYC) facilities.