Human Trafficking: Slavery in our Backyards

Texas House Proposes State Services Cuts

The Texas House held hearings this week about proposed cuts to state services. Disabled Texans and child advocates have been pressuring legislators to tap the so-called Rainy Day Fund, to avoid hefty cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

She Teaches

Protesters of Death Penalty March to Capitol

Citizens recently gathered on the steps of the Texas Capitol Steps for the 11^th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty. Among those in attendance were six individuals who once sat on death row, all having been exonerated of the charges against them.

Rally to Restore Sanity Draws Diverse Crowd

An estimated 5,000 people, including Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, gathered at the Texas Capitol in November  for Austin’s Rally to Restore Sanity, an offshoot of the national rally in Washington sponsored by The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart.

Struggle at the Center of Asia: China vs. the Uighurs. Mike Jeffers Reports

Facing Down the Issue of Childhood Obesity

What do you get when you super size? Obese kids. One in three American children is now overweight and at risk for some grown-up problems, like heart disease and diabetes. But the causes, and possible solutions, are complex.

Vet Shortage May Mean Risks for Food Supply

Most folks only encounter veterinarians in the local office where they take their dogs and cats. But about one in six vets work as regulatory veterinarians, inspecting livestock to make sure the American food supply is safe. But as the U.S. population and food supply are growing, the number of regulatory vets is not.

Potential Country Docs Face Roadblocks

Medical care in rural Texas isn’t as healthy as it could be. Rural medicine is restricted not only by lower income than in big cities but also by a state law that bars hospital hiring of physicians. Local leaders have to get creative to get doctors to make a move.

School Experiment Grows, Succeeds

The Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP, began with a single school in Houston in 1994. Now KIPP schools serve more than 20,000 mostly minority students in 19 states, including 25 schools in Texas. The program is based on high expectations and focuses all students on a single, lofty goal — earning admission to a four-year college.

Ghosts of Katrina in the Ninth Ward

More than 70,000 homes are still damaged or vacant in post-Katrina New Orleans; thousands in the Ninth Ward. Photojournalist Tara Haelle shows us.

“Voluntourism” Serving New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005. Now volunteers from colleges and service groups are spending their vacations rebuilding.

Pedaling to Mexico on Trash Bicycles

Every January, volunteers travel from East Austin to Mexico to deliver hand-built bicycles to workers in Mexican maquiladoras — work camps around American manufacturing plants. Each journey begins with second-hand parts in an Austin warehouse, where the bikes take shape. They end up nearly 400 miles away. Saddle up with reporter Mike Melanson as he takes us along with the recyclists on an adventure across the border…on a bicycle made from trash.

After 12 Years, Wrongfully Convicted Men Go Free

In 1997, Claude Simmons and Christopher Scott were convicted of murder and locked behind bars. In March of 2010, they walked free – not because they had completed their sentences or earned parole…but because they were innocent men. Students helped earn their release, but getting the men out of prison was only part of the battle.

Struggling to Treat the Poor in New Orleans

The New Orleans area lost thousands of hospital beds to Hurricane Katrina–most notably those at Charity Hospital, the institution that cared for  indigent and uninsured patients. Now, community clinics are trying to answer the need.

Volunteer Spirit Brings President Obama to A&M

Former president George H.W. Bush hosted President Obama at Texas A&M University. Although they have political differences, they agree on the need for public service. They shared the stage to mark the 20th anniversary of Bush’s Thousand Points of Light volunteer campaign.