Page 2 - Schaefer Edwards News Today

At the end of a Thursday press gaggle in Fort Worth, Gov. Greg Abbott made clear he was none too pleased with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s attempt to publicly pressure him into ordering the Texas Legislature to work overtime through June to force through red-meat, right-wing legislation that died in the Texas House...

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has fired 11 of his employees and suspended six others due to “serious policy violations” they had committed in connection with the death of 23-year-old inmate Jaquaree Simmons in February, which was ruled a homicide by the county’s Institute of Forensic Sciences earlier this month. The county found that Simmons — who was jailed on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm on February 10 — died due to blunt force trauma to his head and in...

Houston Methodist Nurse Jennifer Bridges told the Houston Press in April she wasn’t willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine to keep her job. Now, Bridges and dozens of her coworkers are fighting back against the hospital chain’s vaccine requirement in court. On Friday, 117 Houston Methodist employees sued the hospital...

After getting hammered by Houston area officials, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced Wednesday night that he’d asked the federal government to send $750 million for flood mitigation directly to Harris County, days after his General Land Office iced-out the county and the city of Houston from receiving any funds at all from the latest round of Hurricane Harvey relief dollars. Bush attempted to blame President Joe Biden for Houston and Harris County not getting any of the first $1...

After weeks of backroom negotiations and plenty of pressure from gun fans, both the Texas House and Senate have voted to pass a new law that would completely gut the state’s requirements for handgun owners to get licenses and firearm safety training before they can lawfully carry their pistols in public.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner went after Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush Wednesday with a letter expressing their “profound disappointment” with how Bush’s General Land Office blocked Houston and Harris County from receiving even one cent of the latest round of federal...

Houston Press. Senate Bill 8, which critics have called one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country, received a final vote of approval from the Texas Senate on Thursday, at which point it was sent to Abbott’s desk for his signature. When SB 8 goes into effect on September 1, 2021 after Abbott signs the measure, it will allow people to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps someone get an abortion after a “heartbeat” is detected in a fetus for up to $10,000 in damages. E...

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Wednesday an 18 percent pay raise for city firefighters that would be implemented over the next three years. The raise, which still has to be approved by City Council, would cost $115.3 million, all of which is coming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, Congress’ latest coronavirus relief package. It’s the latest development in the years-long battle between Turner and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, the city fire union. Bot...

The Lone Star State’s coronavirus response has been a lopsided battle between Gov. Greg Abbott — who’s wielded his executive powers to issue a statewide mask mandate and business restrictions — and local officials like Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who were blocked by the governor’s orders from putting tougher COVID restrictions in place. But thanks to the fact that the Texas Legislature only meets in odd-numbered years, and because Abbott’s ex...

Texas lawmakers have finally rubber-stamped Senate Bill 8, a set of controversial new abortion regulations that would effectively ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy by allowing people to sue abortion providers as well as anyone who helped someone get an abortion after a “heartbeat” is detected in a fetus. The state Senate approved an amendment to SB 8 on Thursday added by the Texas House which forbids rapists from suing anyone connected to an abortion carried out by their victim, th...