Happy Friday, Houston! ☀️ It'll stay in the upper 80s and mostly sunny today, but a cold front and possibly rain are coming next week.
⚾ The Astros continue to lead the ALDS over the Seattle Mariners after Thursday's 4-2 win at Minute Maid Park. They head to Seattle next.
Let's get this weekend started. |
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Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle |
If you read one thing: Houston's BARC shelter has already euthanized more animals in 2022 than it did in all of 2021. How many animals have been put down this year? According to the most recent data released September 30, the shelter has put down 1, 556 dogs and cats since the beginning of the year. In 2021, it euthanized 1,026. However, the number is still well below pre-pandemic rates. Why have euthanizations increased? Shelter overcrowding, staffing issues and low adoption numbers have prompted a sharp uptick in animal euthanizations. While BARC has the space to care for 621 animals under normal conditions, the shelter is currently operating at a capacity of only 250 to 275 animals because of staffing shortages. On top of that, adoption numbers have also dropped since the start of the pandemic. BARC reported 7,7000 adoptions in 2019, but only 3,386 in 2021. Is BARC still a "no kill" shelter? To maintain a "no kill" status, shelters must have a live-release rate above 90%. The rates are based off the percentage of positive outcomes for animals entering the shelter. In 2020, BARC saw a record-breaking live-release rate of over 95%, but by September 2022, the shelter's rate had dropped to almost 80%, meaning it would no longer be considered a "no kill" shelter. |
Luba Boemmel, a long-distance trucker, spends her spare hours in Houston looking for her son, Andrey, 35. She's not sure when he started taking drugs, or even what substances he is abusing. All she knows is that her son, who has been living on the streets, needs help. But that help can be hard to find. |
If you read one thing: A wave of misinformation and disinformation is targeting Latinos online ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, as they are poised to play a prominent role in deciding major Texas races, experts warn. What kind of misinformation or disinformation is being shared? Experts say they've seen false messages spreading on Whatsapp and other services about Democrats in Congress voting to open the border to immigrants, or telling Latino voters not to bother casting ballots because the elections will be stolen anyway. Other examples include rumors that spread after the Uvalde massacre that claimed the shooter was an immigrant in the country illegally, or that he was transgender. How is this different from other misinformation online? Experts say social media companies have been slower to respond to Spanish-language misinformation than they are to lies in English. According to a report last year: "Much of the content, both user-generated and shared, is in Spanish, Spanglish, or colloquial Spanish, challenging conventional fact-checking and moderation procedures to keep up."
Meanwhile, research indicates Latinos are especially susceptible to online misinformation as they use social media platforms more than other groups.
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Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle |
🗳️ Elections: Like the county clerk race, the Harris County district clerk race is a rematch between the incumbent Democrat, Marilyn Burgess in this case, and the Republican who served before her, Chris Daniel, who lost to Burgess in 2018. Go deeper: Peruse up-to-date information on political contributions for the Nov. 8 elections. (Houston Chronicle) 🏰 Castle: The Santa Fe Castle near Galveston is full of legends, myth and crumbling infrastructure. Its new owners, Ian and Kristen Dennis, have risked everything to try and restore it. (Houston Chronicle) ⚕️ Medical: The primary health record system remains offline at St. Luke's Health hospitals in Houston, more than a week after a ransomware attack at its parent company, CommonSpirit. Patients cannot access MyChart, an online tool used to access medical records. (Houston Chronicle) 🚨 Border: Houston immigration advocates are decrying the Biden administration's plan to turn away most Venezuelan asylum seekers as a record surge of migrants arrive at the border, fleeing violence, poverty and political instability in their home counties. (Houston Chronicle)
🕰️ Antique town: Celebrities, influencers and high-end shoppers are among the throngs that descend up on Round Top's biannual antiques fair. So how did this tiny town become a whole vibe? (Texas Monthly)
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Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle |
Today we're talking with politics reporter Jeremy Wallace about his most recent profile of Gov. Greg Abbott that looks at the way Abbott and his politics have changed since he first was elected governor in 2014. What has changed the most about Gov. Greg Abbott since his initial governor race in 2014? There has been a clear rightward push to Abbott's politics since that 2014 campaign when he presented himself to voters as a conservative, but one who could work with Democrats on bipartisan issues and would fight to get mandates off the back of school teachers. Polling data shows, independent and moderate voters that he used to dominate with, now have a negative view of him as he's effectively banned most abortions even in cases of rape, restricted how teachers can talk about race in the classroom and ordered investigations of parents who provide gender-affirming care to transgender children. The issue of abortion has obviously dominated state and national politics recently. Abbott was obviously never a support of abortion-rights, but has his stance on the issue shifted at all? If so, how? Abbott has definitely always been opposed to abortion, but in 2014 talked about how women had months to make a decision before the state would be involved. While Abbott says back then he was simply reciting the law, it gave no hints that his ultimate goal would be signing some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation that polling shows most Texans don't agree with. Finally, what does Abbott have to say about this? Does he see himself as changed? Abbott says he's remained consistent in his principles and points to how the political left has forced him and other Republicans to respond. He said back in 2014 they couldn't have envisioned some of the "provocative progressive sexuality-based issues" that have been pushed in places like schools. |
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Enjoy the weekend, y'all! And if any of you check out Houston's newest food hall, Lyric Market, let me know what you think and what I should try. Cat DeLaura cat.delaura@chron.com |
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