The Latest Breaking News from Public Health Watch

The all-GOP 15th Court of Appeals soon will hear disputes involving the state’s environmental regulators. “It’s BYOC—bring your own court—for polluters and powerful interests.”

Addressing a problem first identified 50 years ago, federal regulators say stricter new rules to limit miners' exposure to silica dust are expected to finally go on the books on Tuesday.

In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law undoing local protections that ensured breaks for laborers who spend their days in scorching heat. The law takes effect Sept. 1.

A fire broke out at a Deer Park Shell plant the day after a public hearing on renewing the permit for ITC, a nearby facility that caught fire in 2019, sparking a Texas Tribune/Public Health Watch investigation that documented failures in state and federal oversight.

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.

"The people there are tired of being studied. We need to take action.”

More than two-thirds of Texans support Medicaid expansion. But on the eve of the midterm elections, the subject is still taboo for the state GOP. Why?

Texas ranks last among states in access to health care and has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country. Two longtime doctors in rural Henderson County created a homegrown safety net to fill the gap.

Heat waves, drought, massive storms. The bad news just keeps coming and there's no denying these issues are anxiety-provoking. If you feel that way, you're not alone.