Voter turnout in the November 7 election reached 14.4% of registered voters. The good news is that is the highest turnout for a constitutional amendment election since 2005, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. The bad news: well, it was just 14.4% of the electorate.
Voters approved all but one of the 14 propositions on the ballot, the lone loser being a bid to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 75 years to 79. Measures providing property tax relief and a boost in teacher retirement pay passed overwhelmingly.
Also receiving approval was Proposition 5, which establishes a $3.9 billion permanent endowment for research in eligible universities. Those include Texas State University, the University of North Texas, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston.
“We feel like we won the Super Bowl,” Texas State University
Texas Medicaid recipients were victims of data breach
A data breach of a data file transfer company has exposed Texas Medicaid recipients, whose names and Social Security numbers were obtained in the hack. The breach occurred in late May when hackers obtained files being transferred using the MOVEit platform, The Dallas Morning News reported. A total of 67 million people in multiple countries had their personal information illegally obtained, including the Texas Medicaid recipients.
Anyone concerned about being affected by the hack can call UMass Chan, which was providing services directly to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to find out. That number is 855-4576006. October rain reduces drought conditions About half the state received above- normal precipitation in October, which reduced drought conditions to 65%, down 16 percentage points, according to Mark Wentzel, hydrologist with the Texas Water Development Board. Central Texas and much of Deep East Texas have the most severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“El Niño conditions, warmer- than-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern Equatorial Pacific, are in place and expected to persist into next year. El Niño typically brings Texas wetter and cooler-than-normal conditions during fall and winter. Those conditions are at least partially responsible for the improvements
we saw in October,”
Wentzel wrote.
Texas road fatality streak surpasses 23 years
On an average day for more than two decades, a dozen people have been killed on Texas roadways. That streak nearly ended in February on a day when Texas experienced just one traffic fatality, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The streak of daily deaths on Texas highways has continued since November 7, 2000, despite the state investing $17 billion in safety improvements through its 10-year plan.
“ Each life lost means a family, neighborhood and community are impacted for a lifetime, and we take safety very seriously as we work to end this horrible streak,” said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. “But it’s going to take all of us working together to get this done.”
Among those safety changes are wider pavement striping, rumble strips on centerlines to alert drivers when they cross over, and roundabout intersections. Drivers can make a difference as well by not operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and fastening their seatbelts. TxDOT reports 48% of deaths on Texas roads come from people not buckling up.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@ texaspress.com.