Texas

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A small, inexpensive item might have averted some of these deaths. Fentanyl testing strips can be used to check for the presence of the synthetic opioid. With an appearance similar to an at-home COVID-19 test, the strips are dipped in water in which a small amount of the drug has been dissolved. A line indicates if fentanyl is present.

But such testing strips are illegal in Texas. They’re considered paraphernalia, and possessing one is a Class C misdemeanor. While the Texas House passed a bill that would have legalized them in 2023, the Senate declined to vote on it.

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In 2023, the Legislature passed a law allowing prosecutors to bring murder charges in fentanyl overdose cases. Critics say this discourages people from reporting emergencies, and research shows such laws harm public health. Some who overdosed in Austin last April had shared drugs, putting survivors at risk of being charged. In 2021, the Legislature passed a good samaritan law ostensibly meant to protect people who call 911 to report an overdose. The law created a defense for people arrested for low-level possession, but it has so many caveats—you can only use it once in your life, it doesn’t apply if you’ve been convicted of a drug-related felony, you can’t use it if you’ve reported another overdose in the last 18 months—that you’d need a flow chart to understand it. Critics say the statute’s of little use.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23876879

Summary

A fire at a Dallas shopping center killed over 500 animals, mostly small birds, from smoke inhalation.

The fire, which took two hours to extinguish, caused severe damage to the building but no human injuries.

My SO and I have some contractors coming out to install new windows throughout our home. They will be here for around two days.

SO says that when they were growing up in the Deep South, it was expected that you would provide lunch for the workers if it was a multi-day job. Is that still a thing? What's the proper etiquette in Texas?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23880992

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23846986

Summary

Aubrey Vanlandingham, a 17-year-old Texas student, was charged with animal cruelty after poisoning a classmate's show goat, Willie, with pesticide, allegedly because she "does not like cheaters."

Surveillance footage captured her force-feeding the goat with a syringe on October 23, leading to its death the following day.

Investigators found searches on her phone related to poisoning animals. The Texas Future Farmers of America condemned her actions, emphasizing ethical behavior and animal welfare.

Vanlandingham faces up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine, with a court date set for January 15.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23814239

Summary

Texas has seen a spike in abandoned newborns since its abortion ban, with some infants found dead in dumpsters or ditches.

Critics link the rise to reduced access to abortion, cuts to prenatal care, underfunded safe haven programs, and fear of deportation among undocumented women.

Texas Republicans have resisted funding awareness campaigns for safe haven laws, instead allocating $165 million to crisis pregnancy centers that prioritize deterring abortion over aiding women.

The lack of support has drawn condemnation, highlighting the broader consequences of restrictive reproductive policies.

Your drinking water is being ruined so cryptobros and AI can run on nuclear power.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/29688238

In the lawsuit, the groups accuse TCEQ of exceeding its authority by allowing the discharges.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23421291

cross-posted from: https://fedia.io/m/[email protected]/t/1576101

A Republican Congresswoman who has been “missing” for the past six months has finally been found.

Rep. Kay Granger has served as the representative for Texas’s 12th Congressional District since 1997.

However, she suddenly disappeared from the public eye around July this year, when she cast her final vote against an amendment to reduce the salary of Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs to $1.

A curious reporter at the local Dallas Express newspaper did some digging on Granger’s whereabouts and has finally been able to give her constituents some answers.
[...]

We then received a tip from a Granger constituent who shared that the Congresswoman has been residing at a local memory care and assisted living home for some time after having been found wandering lost and confused in her former Cultural District/West 7th neighborhood.

The Dallas Express team visited the facility to confirm whether Granger was residing there and to inquire about how she planned to vote on the spending bill. Upon arrival, two employees confirmed that Granger is indeed living at the facility.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/23586835

Voters in Odessa, Texas, rejected three incumbent City Council members just one month after they voted to implement a harsh anti-trans bathroom ban, replacing one with the city's first out gay council member.

cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/31041767

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/29333257

This lawsuit is the first attempt to test what happens when state abortion laws are at odds with each other. New York has a shield law that protects providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, which has served as implicit permission for a network of doctors to mail abortion pills into states that have banned the procedure.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23092532

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/27886757

cross-posted from: https://ponder.cat/post/952397

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/20339542

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