Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Why Are Texas' Smaller Utilities Not Cleaning Up Drinking Water? |
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Several recent national studies have found dozens of public utilities in Texas that supply tens of thousands of people with drinking water that contains illegal levels of radiation, lead and arsenic. So how concerned should Texans be when they turn on the tap? For those who live in urban areas, not very. But the studies have found that rural Texans are particularly at risk. The latest, published earlier this month by the Washington D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, identified 37 water utilities serving nearly 25,000 Texans in violation of federal standards for radium ' a known carcinogen that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says isn't safe for human consumption at any level.
PAUL COBLER, Texas Tribune 01/22/2018    |
| Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| A Fort Bend Engineer's Warning, 25 Years Old, Comes True During Harvey |
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Twenty-five years ago, Fort Bend County's assistant engineer emerged from a meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He had new information, and he was worried. Charles Glen Crocker, then 38, had learned that the footprint for Barker Reservoir was bigger than the land owned by the government, placing future homeowners in the Cinco Ranch and Kelliwood subdivisions within what engineers called "flood pools." The reservoir, dry much of the time, could fill during a major rainstorm and spread into the homes of unsuspecting residents.
James Drew, Houston Chronicle 01/22/2018 |
| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| USA Gymnastics Top Leadership Resigns Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal |
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The top leadership of USA Gymnastics' board of directors resigned Monday following days of withering public criticism by women who accused Larry Nassar of sexually abusing them and the federation of being indifferent and slow to make changes that will protect young gymnasts in the future. Chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley submitted their resignations effective immediately.
Nancy Armour, USA Today 01/22/2018 |
| Read Article: USA Today |
| Texas Joins Legal Battle Against Tree Firm Blamed in 2011 Bastrop Fire |
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Friday joined hundreds of other people in suing a tree-trimming company they blame for the 2011 fire that ravaged Bastrop State Park and Bastrop County. Asplundh Tree Expert Co., the lawsuit argues, diverted crews away from tree-trimming along the power lines it was responsible for clearing and put them on more profitable jobs, even as drought conditions reached historic proportions. Paxton's suit piggybacks on a Bastrop County state District Court case filed last year by nearly 300 owners of fire-damaged property, who originally fought to be recognized as a class-action suit in 2012. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, who owned the power lines, also sued Asplundh in 2013 after more than 60 homeowners and insurance companies sued Bluebonnet. The electric company settled with homeowners in 2014.
Elizabeth Findell, Austin American-Statesman 01/22/2018 |
| Read Article: Austin American-Statesman |
| Texas Justices To Hear FMLA Leave Unemployment Issue |
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday granted a request from the Texas Workforce Commission to review a ruling that an employee taking an absence from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act can't get unemployment benefits under the Texas Labor Code. The high court set oral arguments for Feb. 28 in the case that pits the TWC against Wichita County in a dispute over former county employee Julia White. In December 2016, Texas' Second Court of Appeals sided with the county.
Michelle Casady, Law360 ($) 01/22/2018 |
| Read Article: Law360 ($) |
| Google Facing Discrimination Lawsuit From Two Former Employees |
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Google is facing a class action lawsuit by two ex-employees who say they were discriminated against by their former employer. According to the complaint, the plaintiffs were discriminated against because they were white men with conservative political views. The lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial, comes after a September 2017 lawsuit which alleges that Google systematically paid its male employees more than its female employees. In a statement, the company stated that they "look forward to defending against Mr. Damore's lawsuit in court.'
David Ingram, Reuters 01/08/2018 |
| Read Article: Reuters |
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