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Several groups in Texas have recently sued to expand access to mail-in voting, arguing that a pandemic might keep people away from the polls.
But the state is pushing back with the stance that fear of contracting coronavirus should not qualify voters to request mail-in ballots.
We want to know what you think.
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The City of Austin law department has more than 100 attorneys and staff. Yet when time came to litigate a new land use proposal last year, the city turned to an outside firm. That decision has so far cost the city $119,583 in a hitherto fruitless lawsuit.
Financial records reviewed by The Austin Bulldog show that the city paid that amount to the firm Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP, mostly for attorney Jane Webre, who charged $480 an hour.
Read the full story at The Austin Bulldog.
(Laura Figi/Austonia)
Despite being the second most populous state and administering more vaccines on average than the top 10 biggest states on a per capita basis, Texas ranks 48th against other states for vaccine distribution with fewer vaccines received than the four most populous states.
<p><a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">According to the Centers for Disease Control</a>, 31,161,075 doses of the vaccine have been distributed across the U.S as of Monday. That means that 9,438 doses are allocated per 100,000 people. However, Texas has received 7,262 doses per 100,000 people, or 2,105,600 total vaccines, which is around 600,000 doses less than the state should have received had it received its fair share.</p><p>Texas Congressional offices don't seem to be aware or concerned with the discrepancy at the moment, according to <a href="https://billkingblog.com/texas-is-getting-shortchanged-on-vaccine-distribution/" target="_blank">author Bill King</a>, who said in a newsletter this weekend that two officials told him that they were too busy with the impeachment to look into it at the moment.</p><p>Texas is more than <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-vaccine-rollout/1-austin-public-health-debuted-a-pre-registration-portal-for-its-supply-for-12-000-covid-vaccines-on-wednesday-are-they-any-spots-left" target="_self">five weeks into the vaccine distribution</a> effort, and so far it has been a rocky one, marked with struggle, confusion and a distinct lack of doses to go around.</p><p>Texas ranks 48th among U.S. states in the number of COVID vaccines it has received on a per capita basis but outperforms in terms of how many of these vaccines it has administered—7th in the nation—as of Jan. 17.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="585" data-rm-shortcode-id="ca8552e3313be7cd0064071d8e1bae98" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUwMTIxNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTg3OTAxM30.zpd_EqckCjlmT1YbNxcg-fu1-HcOWltEPp17C3SEqAc/img.png?width=980" data-width="1200" id="e35eb" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">(Bill King)</small></p><p>Whether the federal government is allocating vaccines to the states on a prorated schedule or based on the level of outbreak, Texas has not received enough doses. This week, Texas received an additional 332,850 doses of the vaccine. <br/></p><p>Even with the additional vaccines from this week's allocation, Texas will still be shortchanged by more than 670,000 vaccines. However, Texas has been assigned the second-highest number of vaccines, behind California, which will receive more than 150,000 more at 485,800, this week.</p><p>Like most states, Texas is still focusing its efforts on Phase 1A and 1B, leaving many Austinites frustrated and wondering when it will be their turn to get the vaccine. With reports of people jumping ahead in line, ICUs running out of beds and shipments being delayed, Texas is in dire need of vaccines—and fast.</p>
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Texas ranks number one in more than just state pride—Texans now rank as the physically strongest men and women in the country, according to LiftVault, an online website on bodybuilding, strength training and other workout programs.
<p>LiftVault's <a href="https://liftvault.com/strongest-states/" target="_blank">study</a> used five years of research from the <a href="https://openpowerlifting.org/" target="_blank">Open Powerlifting</a> database to determine where the nation's strongest live. Competitors were measured by performance in three traditional powerlifting exercises: squat, deadlift and bench press. Each state's top ten lifters were then compared to find state averages.</p><p>With an average squat of 687 lbs., average deadlift of 742 lbs. and an average bench press of 438 lbs., Texas topped all 50 states.</p><p>Texas also hosts two of the nation's top five lifters. Ashton Rouska ranked fourth overall with a 794 lb. squat, 457 lb. bench and 844 lb. deadlift; while Jesus Olivares had the nation's highest deadlift (882 lbs.) to reach number five on the list.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"></div><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" allowtransparency="" frameborder="0" height="1600" id="data_map_iframe" src="https://liftvault.com/wp-content/infographic/index.html" style="border:0;" width="100%"></iframe><p style="text-align:center"><small>Created by <a href="https://liftvault.com/" target="_blank">Lift Vault
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