If it seems like facts no longer matter in politics, there’s a sliver of good news:
Investigative journalists are still writing powerful, evidence-based stories that help us understand a complicated world.
Here are the latest examples of watchdog stories in Texas that show why facts still matter
Bigger wells, but more water | The San Antonio Express-News
“Shale wells are swallowing twice as much water as they did a few years ago — around 10 million gallons each, or about 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The process of making a Texas oil well has grown increasingly intense since the start of the shale boom, with more water, more sand, and more stages in the hydraulic fracturing process leading to wells that make more oil, but also require more resources, according to a San Antonio Express-News analysis of the data drillers have reported to the industry website FracFocus for the past seven years.” Story by Jennifer Hiller
Dangerous Deliveries: Is Texas doing enough to stop moms from dying? | The Texas Tribune
Humbled to share my @TexasTribune project on why Texas women face pregnancy complications or death from childbirth.
Took months of interviews to understand scope of how Texas got here, where Texas has failed women and how families are impacted. https://t.co/w12FZqx0G4
— Marissa Evans (@marissaaevans) January 16, 2018
“Researchers were stunned by Texas, where the maternal mortality rate had apparently doubled between 2010 and 2012. That year, 148 women died as the state’s mortality rate hit its highest level since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started recordkeeping with its current disease codes in 1999. The study’s authors called the increase troubling and difficult to explain ‘in the absence of war, natural disaster, or severe economic upheaval.’ But the state’s real maternal mortality rate is now a matter of debate.” Story by Marissa Evans and Chris Essig
Emails show aide to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner repeatedly used city resources for personal business | The Houston Chronicle
Helluva scoop from @HoustonChron: Former press secretary to mayor of Houston used city resources (lots of them!) to promote her idea for a reality showhttps://t.co/SJR4Xnx1WU?amp=1 pic.twitter.com/duF8J4cJiR
— Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) January 20, 2018
“Darian Ward sent or received roughly 5,000 pages of emails about personal business from her government account over the last four years, some of which dealt with a reality series she was pitching to television networks.” Story by Rebecca Elliott and Mike Morris
As storms batter Texas, billions in state property goes unprotected | The Austin American-Statesman
Despite frequent hurricanes, fires and floods much state-owned property remains stubbornly uninsured. Great read from @Dexinvestigates https://t.co/Bi4C7ky2uH
— Jeremy Schwartz (@JinATX) January 19, 2018
“You are a responsible property owner, so you make sure to buy insurance to pay for repairs or rebuilding in the event of a disaster. Unless you’re the state of Texas.” Texas leaders erroneously claim that state-owned property is self insured, when in fact Texas is one of the few states that carries no property insurance at all. “Analysts say the unprotected system adopted by state leaders has probably cost taxpayers millions of dollars, the difference between an insurance premium and regularly siphoning general revenue fund money to cover big fixes.” Story by Eric Dexheimer
Rape allegations embroil Kingwood Pines psychiatric hospital in Houston | The Houston Chronicle
“A Houston Chronicle review of medical records, court filings, hospital accreditation reports and records from state and federal regulators, and interviews with parents, portray an understaffed facility that has failed to watch over patients, leaving the most vulnerable among them open to further victimization.” Story by St. John Barned-Smith
I can't get this out of my head: "The hospital was cited for placing 2 adolescent patients in the same room, even though 1 had a documented history of perpetrating sexual abuse and the other had previously been a victim of sexual violence." https://t.co/JgD4D5r3s3 via @stjbs
— Andrea Zelinski (@andreazelinski) January 19, 2018
Did I miss a good story? Contact me or leave a comment below. Don’t forget to sign up for blog updates and check out more watchdog journalism from the great state of Texas.
