Category Archives: The great state of Texas

Measles update: Maybe I should call this the “RFK Rampage update”

Posted on June 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Wednesday eight new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent vaccine advisory committee, some of whom have been critics of shots — especially during the … Continue reading →

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Measles update: There’s nowhere to go but down

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What a depressing headline. Amid a widespread decline in childhood measles vaccination rates since before the COVID-19 pandemic across the United States, a study published Monday found that coverage can vary substantially within a state. Looking at county-level data in 33 states, researchers at … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Never forget who RFK Jr is

Posted on May 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

He’s a liar. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his “Make America Healthy Again” Commission report harnesses “gold-standard” science, citing more than 500 studies and other sources to back up its claims. Those citations, though, are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated … Continue reading →

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The DOGE effect on feral hogs

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The hogs approve this message. Wild hogs are exceptionally hard to kill. They can leap over fences and run 30 miles per hour on open ground, making them difficult to shoot. And they’re smart, learning to avoid traps if other … Continue reading →

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Measles update: El Paso the exception

Posted on May 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Weird. As soon as measles started spreading in West Texas, El Paso health officials began preparing schools and day care facilities for the day the virus would inevitably arrive. But now that it’s here, it’s not kids who are making … Continue reading →

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RIP, George Coulam

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Texas Renaissance Festival founder George Coulam was found dead Wednesday morning in his home in Todd Mission, according to law enforcement officials. He was 87. The Todd Mission Police Department was dispatched to Coulam’s home just outside the Renaissance … Continue reading →

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It should still be the same old RenFest

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good to hear. The Texas Renaissance Festival will soon be under new ownership, but will remain much the same as it has been for the last half century, attorney Anthony Laporte of Houston law firm Hanszen Laporte tells CultureMap. “All … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Maybe we really are slowing to an end

Posted on May 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t get much slower than that. Texas health officials reported only one new case of measles on Friday, the smallest increase since the outbreak began four months ago. The latest update from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows … Continue reading →

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Houston hospitals have done worse with the abortion ban than Dallas hospitals have

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Unacceptable. Nearly four years ago in Texas, the state’s new abortion law started getting in the way of basic miscarriage care: As women waited in hospitals cramping, fluid running down their legs, doctors told them they couldn’t empty their uterus … Continue reading →

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Measles update: The wastewater still has something to tell us

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. An outbreak detection program found the presence of the measles virus in samples of Houston wastewater in early January 2025, before cases were reported, new findings show. The findings were possible because almost three years earlier, a team … Continue reading →

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How can we stand all this winning?

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Item 1: More than 1 million people count on Houston-area food pantries, which are staring down empty shelves after losing $11 million in federal funding. Until recently, 100 tractor-trailers full of federally-funded food pulled up each month to the Houston … Continue reading →

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Measles update: It would help if the people with measles stopped traveling while sick

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know what else to say. An El Paso resident’s two-day visit to Austin has prompted a warning from city public health officials, after the person was confirmed to have measles. The person was in Austin from April 25 … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Who needs research?

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m very sorry to say that we once again have to talk about RFK Jr and his continued quest to make us all sick and stupid. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s motto is “ Make America Healthy Again,” … Continue reading →

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Whooping cough is way up in Texas this year

Posted on May 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is what happens when vaccine rates decline. Amid the worst measles outbreak Texas has seen in over 30 years, pertussis cases are spiking as well. Also known as whooping cough, pertussis is surging across Texas and the nation. Already … Continue reading →

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Measles update: We can’t escape the main character

Posted on May 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

No matter how much we might want to. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a visit to Texas on Tuesday that measles deserves less attention than other chronic diseases, while downplaying the number of deaths that have … Continue reading →

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The tariff effect on your homeowners’ insurance

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What can’t tariffs do? President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs could cause homeowners insurance premiums in Texas to rise even faster this year than they otherwise would have, a new study finds. Even without tariffs, average premiums in Texas will rise … Continue reading →

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Measles update: The liars keep gaining

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard out there for the facts. While the most serious measles epidemic in a decade has led to the deaths of two children and spread to 27 states with no signs of letting up, beliefs about the safety of … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Now in Collin County

Posted on April 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope this is an isolated case. A middle school student in Collin County has tested positive for measles, health officials confirmed Wednesday, the first reported case in a child in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year amid an outbreak … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Hello, Montana

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Put another state on the board, Johnny. Montana is the ninth U.S. state to have an active measles outbreak. The U.S. was up to 800 cases of measles nationwide on Friday. Texas is driving the high numbers, with an outbreak centered in West Texas … Continue reading →

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Galveston ghost wolves update

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Checking in on my new favorite local species. Long the object of intense interest among residents and a thorn in the side of developers, Galveston’s so-called “ghost wolves” have become something akin to the island’s unofficial mascots. As interest in preserving their habitat … Continue reading →

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Measles update: RFK Jr sucks

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll get to that in a minute. But first, here’s something else to worry about. As Texas battles against its largest measles outbreak in decades, immunization data obtained by Houston Landing shows that more than 1,000 kindergarten and seventh grade … Continue reading →

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Measles update: More on how we’ve done this to ourselves

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the Associated Press: The measles outbreak in West Texas didn’t happen just by chance. The easily preventable disease, declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of … Continue reading →

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More on the Australian redclaw crayfish

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Time to meet another invasive species. The South Texas odyssey of the Australian redclaw crayfish continues. Approaching five years since the lobster-like creatures were first reported in the Brownsville area, scientists are still trying to determine how disruptive this visitor from halfway around the … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Time for another moment of perspective

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the Friday numbers. The measles outbreak centered in the South Plains region of Texas grew to 541 cases across the state on Friday, according to health officials. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that 56 have … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Another needless death

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We have to start with some bad news. An 8-year-old girl with measles died Thursday morning, the second known measles-related death in an ongoing outbreak that has infected nearly 500 Texans since January. Her funeral was Sunday at a church … Continue reading →

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Measles update: We’re already making this harder on ourselves

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your weekend update. The measles outbreak centered in the South Plains region soared past a combined 500 cases in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma on Friday, according to health officials. Texas has seen 481 measles cases amid the outbreak … Continue reading →

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Tariffs are not good for beer

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’ll cost you more to drown your sorrows. Just getting a beer in Texas could become more expensive under President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on essentially every country in the world. While most industries are bracing for Trump’s … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Moving around the state

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And we have some new counties to add to the board, too. The measles outbreak that began in the South Plains region of Texas rose to 422 cases and spread to two new counties on Tuesday, according to health officials. … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Hello, Ohio

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Put another state on the board, Johnny. A measles outbreak in Kansas doubled in less than a week to 23 cases and has “a possible link” to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico that have sickened more than 370, the … Continue reading →

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Measles update: Hello, Kansas

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Put a new state on the board, Johnny. State health officials report the number of measles cases is growing in Kansas this year as cases climb nationwide. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported on March 20 on … Continue reading →

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El Paso’s wastewater recycling plant

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Dealing with our state’s water needs will require lots of different types of solutions. By 2028, El Pasoans will begin receiving water from a $295 million advanced water purification plant that will convert treated wastewater into drinking water, the first … Continue reading →

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The measles outbreak is going to go national

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the concern, anyway. With its measles outbreak spreading to two additional states, Texas is on track to becoming the cause of a national epidemic if it doesn’t start vaccinating more people, according to public health experts. Measles, a highly … Continue reading →

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The Pauline Road Fire

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is a little close for comfort. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough declared a local state of disaster as a 2,000-acre wildfire in Sam Houston National Forest prompted over 900 home evacuations and school closures. The disaster declaration comes as … Continue reading →

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Third Houston measles case documented

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Again, we hope that’s all there is. The Houston Health Department has confirmed the city’s third measles case, months after identifying two cases in adults which marked the first measles cases since 2018. The Houston Health Department Sunday reported an … Continue reading →

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