Texan diagnosed with Zika illness after returning from trip
AUSTIN — A Texas resident who recently traveled to Miami, Florida, has tested positive for Zika virus disease, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported on Aug. 15.
The traveler, an El Paso County resident, sought testing after becoming ill. This is the first Texas case to be linked to travel within the continental United States. The case will be classified as “travel-associated” and is being investigated for more details, the DSHS said.

Court relaxes Texas voter ID law in time for fall election
AUSTIN — Voters will have more options when presenting personal identification at the polls for the November 8 general election, Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos announced last week.

Parties to campus-carry lawsuit to return to court
AUSTIN — Three University of Texas professors are seeking a temporary injunction “to at least retain the option of maintaining their academic classrooms as gun-free zones when classes start again.”
In a motion filed in connection with a federal lawsuit filed July 6, the professors are asking the court to bar enforcement of the law when the UT fall semester begins Aug. 24. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief in opposition.

State rolls out revised women’s health program
AUSTIN — A women's health program is in effect and ready to deliver more care to more women statewide who are 15 to 44 years old and whose income is up to 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

Appellate court strikes down Texas voter ID law
AUSTIN — Texas’ voter photo identification law is racially discriminatory, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled July 20.
In striking down the law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, the Fifth Circuit said it disproportionately and negatively affects African-American and Hispanic citizens’ right to vote.

Texas baby is born with Zika-related microcephaly
AUSTIN — The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a Zika virus infection in a baby recently born with microcephaly in Harris County.
The July 13 report is the first official confirmation of a Zika-related microcephaly case in Texas. According to the agency, the mother traveled from Latin America, where she was likely infected and the baby acquired the infection in utero.

Governor reacts to downtown Dallas ambush
AUSTIN — A “Black Lives Matter” protest turned tragic when a sniper fired into a crowd estimated at 1,000 people in downtown Dallas at about 9 p.m. on July 7. 
Dozens of shots were fired, reportedly from an assault rifle, leaving five police officers dead and seven police officers and two civilians wounded. Police pursued a suspect identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, a former U.S. Army reservist, and killed him in a parking garage using a robot-propelled explosive device early on July 8.

Supreme Court strikes down major changes to abortion law
AUSTIN — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 struck down parts of the state abortion law that Texas lawmakers revised and passed in 2013.
The law’s provision that physicians providing abortions must have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital and the provision that abortion facilities must meet minimum standards for ambulatory surgical centers are in violation of the Constitution, the court said in a 5-3 ruling.

Supreme Court affirms 5th Circuit in immigration case
AUSTIN — The deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 in effect affirmed a judgment that the Obama administration’s use of deferred action in implementing immigration policy violates the United States Constitution.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier ruled it was a presidential overreach to implement an immigration policy not approved by Congress. The Supreme Court’s 4-4 tie vote leaves that ruling in effect.

DPS asks citizens to report suspicious behavior
AUSTIN — In the wake of the widely reported June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, the Texas Department of Public Safety called on Texans to pay close attention to what’s happening in their own communities.
DPS Director Steven McCraw on June 17 said, “Amid today’s ever-present threat of terrorism and crime, we are reminded that members of the public can be law enforcement’s greatest resource.”