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Alexa Ura reported for The Texas Tribune from 2013 to 2023. She covered the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, wealth, poverty and power and how they are shaping the future of Texas and Texans, in the long and short term. Alexa started at the Tribune as a reporting intern before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin and joining the staff full time. Originally from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, she is a native Spanish speaker and is based in Austin.
In at least 66 cases — about 10 percent of police shootings in Texas’ largest cities between 2010 and 2015 — the officer pulling the trigger was off duty, according to an analysis of police data obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story
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Texas is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of its lawsuit against the federal government and a refugee resettlement agency over the placement of Syrian refugees in the state. Full Story
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Policymakers and the public have begun to question with renewed fervor whether police shoot at minorities at a disproportionate rate, whether it’s possible to tell how often and what can be done about it. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune spent nearly a year collecting data from the state’s largest cities on every incident in which police officers pulled the trigger between 2010 and 2015. Here's a look at what we found. Full Story
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Police officers in Texas unholstered their guns and fired at suspects in at least 656 incidents between 2010 and 2015, but that total is undoubtedly incomplete. There is so little reliable, consistent information on police shootings in Texas that the public, lawmakers and police officials are largely flying blind. Full Story
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Ramping up its fight over the rights of transgender people, Texas filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government over a regulation prohibiting discrimination against transgender individuals in some health programs. Full Story
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In the first hearing over a Texas-led lawsuit against the federal government, state attorneys argued that the Obama administration’s guidelines to accommodate transgender students unconstitutionally “hold a gun to the head” of states and school districts. Full Story
The legal distinction between gender identity and sex will be central as Texas on Friday tries to block the Obama administration's order that public schools accommodate transgender students. Full Story
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Dozens of health care providers, funeral directors and reproductive rights activists packed a hearing before state health officials Thursday to criticize a proposed new rule that would require that all fetal remains be cremated or buried. Full Story
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Health care providers, funeral operators and women's rights activists on Thursday are expected to tell Texas health officials that a rule requiring the cremation or burial of fetal remains will do little to improve public health and could be burdensome to women. Full Story
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