Nine accused of sex trafficking at center
 
Nine employees at a Bastrop County facility that cares for young victims of sex trafficking have been accused of trafficking those same girls, according to the Austin American-Statesman.  

Several races headed to runoffs
 
A number of statewide races are headed for a May 24 runoff after the votes were tallied in the March 1 primary.
Topping the ballot in the Republican races is the contest for attorney general, where incumbent Ken Paxton led the field with 42.7% of votes cast, followed by George P. Bush, current land commissioner, who garnered 22.8%. The remainder of GOP ballots went to former Supreme Court justice Eva Guzman at 17.5% and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert with 17%.

State high court hears challenge to abortion law
The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on the question of whether state regulators can be sued by abortion providers hoping to block enforcement of the state’s restrictive abortion law, known as Senate Bill 8.

Early voting ends Friday
Early voting for the March 1 primary ends Friday. Initial reports indicate turnout has been low, as is traditional in midterm primary elections, with less than a fourth of registered voters going to the polls most years.
Voters will pick nominees for Texas’ governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, comptroller and railroad commissioner, as well as legislative and county races.

Mail-in ballot applications rejected at high rate

Early primary voting starts on Valentine’s Day
 
Early voting in the March 1 primary begins on Feb. 14 and runs through Feb. 25. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Feb. 18.
There are seven statewide seats on the ballot: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, comptroller and one seat on the railroad commission. Winners in the Republican and Democratic primaries will face off in the Nov. 8 general election.

Two proposed amendments on May ballot

Registration form shortage as deadline nears

Dozens of school districts close due to COVID-19 outbreaks
 
Several dozen school districts across the state were forced to close last week due to the omicron variant of COVID-19 sending home students, staff and teachers. Most school districts planned to reopen on Tuesday following the MLK holiday.

Emergency SNAP benefits again extended
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is again extending emergency food benefits this month, with more than $307 million in emergency allocations expected to help more than 1.5 million Texas households.