Raw Story

"Texas reports new measles outbreak in West Texas" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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At least 10 cases of measles — eight of which are among school-aged children — have been reported in Gaines County in West Texas over the past two weeks, driving worries of an escalating outbreak.

Of the cases so far, seven have been hospitalized, according to a Texas Health and Human Services alert. All were unvaccinated and residents of Gaines County, which has a population of about 22,000 and borders New Mexico.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” the alert said.

The new cases come more than a week after Texas health officials reported two Measles cases out of Gaines County, both involving unvaccinated school-aged children. Both children were hospitalized in Lubbock and later discharged. Earlier this week, state health officials said the number of cases had grown to six. Since then, cases have increased further.

West Texas is not alone in new cases of measles. In January, new measles cases were also reported in Harris County, prompting a health alert from the state and marking the first time Texans were confirmed to have the disease since 2023. The two Harris County cases involved unvaccinated adult residents.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease. Symptoms could include a high fever, cough, runny nose and rash that starts on the face but then extends to the rest of the body. The health consequences of getting measles can be serious and sometimes result in death.

Last year, 40% of all the 245 nationwide who contracted measles were hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of those hospitalized with measles last year were under the age of five.

The disease’s prevalence has accelerated in recent years. According to the CDC, by March 2024 there were more reported measles cases that year than in all of 2023. The rise comes more than two decades after measles was considered eliminated by health agencies in 2000, meaning that there had been no continuous spreading of the disease for 12 months.

The new cases both nationwide and in Texas come as the state’s measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners has dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccination rate was 97% in the 2019-20 school year and declined to 94.3% for 2023-24. Around the same time, the number of vaccine exemption requests in Texas have doubled from 45,900 in 2018 to 93,000 in 2024.

State lawmakers have filed more than 20 bills so far this legislative session aimed at weakening vaccination mandates. One proposal would even amend the Texas Constitution to preserve a Texans’ right to refuse vaccination.

Texas health officials have consistently said that vaccination is the best way for people to steer clear of measles and other preventable diseases. The vaccination process includes two separate doses.

“Children too young to be vaccinated are more likely to have severe complications if they get infected with the measles virus,” the Texas health officials wrote in a Jan. 30 release. “However, each MMR dose lowers the risk of infection and the severity of illness if infected.”

Experts recommend that children get the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in two doses: the first between 12 months and 15 months of age and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is about 93% effective at preventing measles infection, and two doses are about 97% effective.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/08/measles-west-texas-vaccine-outbreak/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Donald Trump's decision to choose Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to be his ambassador to the United Nations may have doomed multiple initiatives pushed by his administration in the closely divided U.S. House of Representatives.

According to a report from Politico, the House currently stands at a 218 Republicans to 215 Democrats majority that could shrink to 217 GOP members if New York Democrats have their way.

As Politico's Nick Reisman is reporting, New York State "lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill that would allow Gov. Kathy Hochul to schedule special elections under some circumstances until the November general election."

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With the bill expected to pass on Monday over GOP objections, Hochul has expressed approval and she could have a hand in handicapping House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) who is already struggling with his fractious caucus.

According to the report, Republicans are furious at he prospect of months with the seat sitting empty as the House attempts to forward Trump's agenda.

New York Senate Minority Leader Robert Ort complained, "These shameless Albany politicians can’t win on their disastrous policies like sky-high crime, out-of-control taxes, or an illegal migrant crisis they created, so they’re resorting to using Albany swamp tactics. The Senate Republicans are prepared to join any effort with the Trump administration to bring the hammer down on the brazen corruption in Albany.”

House Rep. Richard Hudson (R-VA) also expressed his disgust.

“The voters deserve to have a voice in Congress as soon as possible, any delay is a pure power grab by Kathy Hochul and Hakeem Jeffries to silence working families across Upstate New York," he stated.

You can read more here.

“The Tennessee Constitution is clear – the legislature has oversight of cities and counties,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said in a statement. “If local governments refuse to follow state law or circumvent state laws, they should not expect to benefit from state resources. This legislation makes it clear that political stunts will not be tolerated at the expense of law-abiding Tennesseans.”

Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally promised to punish Memphis last August by cutting its share of sales tax revenue – more than $75 million – if the city put referendums on the November ballot restricting weapons. Memphis refused to back down, and voters subsequently approved changes to the city charter requiring a handgun permit, restricting gun storage in cars, banning assault weapons and enacting extreme risk protection orders, which are often called red flag laws.

The Memphis City Council adopted those measures after the referendum, but they aren’t expected to take effect unless state laws change, making it unclear whether Memphis would be punished.

Memphis City Council Chairman JB Smiley endorsed the gun-control measures amid a spike in gun violence, but Mayor Paul Young opposed placing the questions on the ballot.

Tennessee lawmakers rolled back the state handgun permit requirements at the request of Gov. Bill Lee four years ago, declined to enact red flag laws at the governor’s request and refused to pass gun storage and assault weapons bans.

Democratic Sen. London Lamar of Memphis called the bill an “affront to the separation of powers” taught in elementary schools.

“The attorney general doesn’t have the authority to choose which laws are constitutional and which ones aren’t. The power belongs to the courts,” Lamar said. “Let’s get back to work solving real issues – instead of creating legal problems.”

GOP leaders promise punitive tax move if Memphis passes gun restrictions; state moves to block them

Under the Sexton bill, which is sponsored in the Senate by Republican Sen. Adam Lowe of Calhoun, a state lawmaker could file a complaint about a local government and ask the attorney general to investigate. If the attorney general determines the local government is breaking the law and failing to reverse course within 30 days, the state could withhold all or a portion of state funds allotted to the local government, not just state-shared sales taxes.

McNally said in a statement the state Constitution is clear about constraining local governments to follow the law.

“Local government officials need to understand that there are real and tangible consequences for venturing outside their constitutional lane,” McNally said.

Sexton added that the legislature won’t allow “rogue” local leaders to sidestep state law or the Constitution and that they should “correct their course immediately.”

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti declined to challenge a judge’s order allowing the referendum questions to be placed on the ballot last year. Yet Skrmetti also called the referendum questions a “fraud on the voters” and a “futile stunt that wastes time and money.”

by Hillary ORINDE

Heated exchanges between South Africa and the United States this week are an eruption of tensions over several policy issues that have come into focus under President Donald Trump's administration, analysts said.

And more turbulence is in store, with South African-born billionaire Elon Musk a key ally of the new US president, they said.

Even if the recent outburst seemed surprising, "the trigger goes some time back," said Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group consultancy firm.

Senators in the previous US administration "were already questioning their relationship with South Africa", he said.

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For instance, in 2023 a bipartisan group of lawmakers called for former president Joe Biden to punish South Africa for not condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"All of a sudden, those voices that were minority are now more important," said Roodt.

Trump started the latest spat by accusing South Africa of "confiscating" land and treating "certain classes" of people badly, a likely reference to an expropriation act criticised by white farmers.

The government rejected the claim as misinformed.

Musk followed by charging that President Cyril Ramaphosa had "openly racist ownership laws".

Secretary of State Marco Rubio then weighed in, saying he would not attend a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Johannesburg this month because South Africa -- this year's president of the forum of top economies -- had an "anti-American agenda".

America's biggest trading partner in Africa has also come under fire from Washington for leading a case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of "genocidal" acts in its Gaza offensive, an accusation Israel has denied.

Pretoria has also shown its loyalty to Beijing, over Washington's preference for Taipei, by issuing a March deadline for Taiwan's de facto embassy to move out of the capital.

Trump has meanwhile threatened to place 100-percent tariffs on BRICS nations, of which South Africa is one, to dissuade them from replacing the US dollar with a rival currency.

- 'Elon factor' -

"The Elon factor is huge," political scientist Sandile Swana told AFP of the world's richest man, who left South Africa in the late 1980s when he was aged 17 and is now in Trump's government.

"Certain high-profile white South Africans are whispering things in the ears of Trump which are not verified," he said.

"White supremacist groups are gaining state power and using it to impose conservative right-wing views," he said, and South Africa is "an easy target".

Musk's barb about "racist ownership laws" may have been a reference to a black empowerment policy that has reportedly been behind delays in the licensing of his Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa.

Ramaphosa has not been shy about courting Musk's wealth as he seeks investment for the country. But "we will not be bullied," he said in an address to the nation on Thursday.

Despite the brave face, commentators say South Africa lacks the leverage to stand up to the United States.

"Trump has the US economy, technology, a number of billionaires, huge political movements behind him," Roodt said. "The big loser is going to be South Africa."

- 'Age of darkness' -

After Trump last month abruptly suspended US foreign aid funding -- which made up about 17 percent of the costs of South Africa HIV/AIDS treatment programmes -- there are renewed fears for the fate of the AGOA deal that gives some African products duty-free access to the US market.

Enacted in 2000, the deal -- of which South Africa is the largest beneficiary -- is due for renewal this year.

"If the Trump administration could shut down USAID in the way in which they have done, affecting the lives of millions, I don't think the AGOA has got a big chance to survive," Neil Diamond, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the United States, told AFP.

"It would require a massive intervention from the African leaders to change Trump's view on this."

The absence of the United States, the world's biggest economy, at the G20 summit at the end of the year would be a blow for South Africa's hosting of the key event.

Despite the escalation, the whole saga could also just fade away, political scientist Susan Booysen said.

"If it was pure provocation on the side of Trump, like he deliberately does, it seems it can end any time because he can just say, 'Oh, forget about what I said,'" she told AFP.

But Swana was less optimistic. "Trump is taking us back into the age of darkness," he said.

Florida International University trustees voted Friday to install Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as interim president, meaning she will leave her statewide-elected office 23 months before her term expires. Trustees expect she will assume the presidency officially after a formal search.

“The governor’s office has contacted me and suggested that we consider Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez as the next leader for FIU,” Board of Trustees Chair Roger Tovar said during a special meeting held via Zoom. “Subsequent to that, I have had several conversations with the Lt. Gov. Nuñez, who confirmed her interest in leading this great university, which happens to be her alma mater.”

During a news conference on immigration Friday morning, DeSantis said the leap actually was her idea. He applauded Nuñez for her support for his policies as lieutenant governor, including efforts to “bring some sanity” to higher education.

“This is something she was interested in doing, she had my endorsement and my support, and I think that she’s somebody that is very well regarded in the community anyways,” DeSantis said.

The interim hiring would be effective Feb. 17. The university must launch a formal search to name a president, although trustee Dean Colson said the “probable results of the search are already known.”

Sitting FIU President Kenneth Jessell, who served for three years and whose contract was set to expire in November, will become senior vice president and chief administrative officer. Tovar called the administrative changes “additive.”

“I have complete confidence in the lieutenant governor,” Jessell said. “She’s a double Panther, and I look forward to supporting her. I look forward to continuing supporting our students, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, our great supporters and donors, and our community.”

Finding funding

Trustees praised Jessell’s leadership while emphasizing a desire to boost fundraising efforts.

“Given the university FIU is today, a top 50 public preeminent research university, we need to increase our endowment to at least $500 million and triple our annual fundraising. World class universities have healthy endowments. This is imperative for the university’s future,” Tovar said.

The move, notably, comes shortly before the 2025 legislative session starts, when lawmakers will decide how much state support the Miami institution will receive.

Tovar said Nuñez’s experience as a health care lobbyist and lieutenant governor make her “an ideal leader to help transition FIU into the future,” noting her connections in the community and in Tallahassee.

She graduated from FIU in 1994 with a bachelor degree in political science and international relations and in 1998 earned a master degree in public administration.

Nuñez posted to X following the vote, saying she is “deeply committed to the success of FIU. I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees in the coming days.”

Her salary as lieutenant governor is $135,000. The outgoing president, Jessell, made a base salary of $650,000.

Opposition

Trustee Noël Barengo, representative of the FIU Faculty Senate, was the lone no-vote on Nuñez. He questioned the need to remove Jessell before the contract ended and voiced “deep concern about what we see as another effort by the governor’s office to interfere with public higher education.”

Several of the about 15 people speaking during public comment questioned Nuñez’s qualifications to serve in higher education, as well as the need for a new president given the lack of criticism of Jessell’s leadership.

Kassandra Toussaint, an FIU student, speaks in opposition to trustees voting to name Lt. Gov. Nuñez as interim president. (Screenshot via FIU trustees livestream)

“Jeanette Nuñez is a textbook example of what happens when politicians prioritize partisan loyalty over genuine leadership. Rather than standing up for people, for the people of Florida, Nuñez has acted as a rubber stamp for policies that erase history, limit opportunities, and push a narrow, exclusionary agenda,” said Kassandra Toussaint, mentioning Nuñez’s recent walk-back of her previous support for in-state tuition for Dreamers.

Every public-comment speaker was against the change in leadership.

“FIU deserves better than a yes-woman for DeSantis’ dangerous agenda,” Toussaint said. “We deserve leaders who fight for all of us, not just those who fit their narrow vision of who belongs.”

DeSantis specifically mentioned the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at FIU, a think tank studying free-market policies labeled as non-partisan. He suggested the center might increase its activity under Nuñez.

“I think you have pretty much every right-of-center former head of state in the entire Western hemisphere has been there to talk, and so they’ve really been great at promoting free enterprise and the rule of law and constitutional government. I think they’re going to be able to do a lot more of that going forward,” the governor said.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the hiring “Republican hypocrisy.”

“Just a few weeks after she backflipped on protecting in-state tuition for Dreamers — Jeanette Nuñez will now lead one of the most diverse colleges in the state. With her record, how can she be trusted to lead the college with the largest population of Hispanic students in the country?” Fried said in a prepared statement Friday morning.

“Her appointment is just the latest move in Ron’s hostile takeover of Florida’s colleges and universities, as he continues to install political hacks and loyalists to push his partisan agenda,” Fried continued. “It has nothing to do with improving Florida’s cratering educational outcomes and everything to do with rewarding loyalty.”

‘Engaged governor’s office’

Naming of an interim president often follows the retirement or resignation of a sitting president. The transition at FIU defies common practice, Colson acknowledged.

“Is the current way we are selecting a president a perfect system? I don’t think so. Is the current selection process what was anticipated when the Florida Constitution was amended to create an independent board of governors? Again, I don’t think so,” Colson said.

“But will FIU find itself not just surviving but thriving over the next decade under its new leadership team? Well, I think so, and for that reason, I’m hopeful in support of your motion.”

Colson advocated for the Board of Governors to revise its presidential selection rules.

“We all know that the BOG is an independent constitutional body, but its rules did not anticipate the reality of an engaged governor’s office being involved in the hiring of our presidents. I don’t think this engagement is going to change in the next two years. And I think you can’t help but wonder what happens in two years when we have a new governor — are these presidencies going to be included in the jobs that a new governor might want to fill during his or her transition or first few years in office?”

Presidential searches often take months, requiring appointment of a formal search committee that names a shortlist of finalists (in the case of University of Florida and Ben Sasse the list was as short as one) that must be approved by the Board of Governors and university trustees.

The transition from interim to permanent president would cost “a lot of time and money,” “when the probable results of the search are already known,” Colson said.

The Trump administration continued its head-scratching appointments by anointing billionaire Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education — even though he had campaigned on a pledge to abolish the department. The president has expressed his hope that McMahon would eventually “put herself out of a job.”

She has been part of the president’s inner political circle, but is best known as president and co-founder, with her husband, of World Wrestling Entertainment. McMahon used to be a wrestler herself. Her only K-12 experience was a brief stint on the Connecticut Board of Education, although she feels wrestling showed her what all students should learn about respect, leadership and such.

But then – surprise! – the deputy education secretary spot went to Penny Schwinn, who is far more famous to the likes of us education writers. Schwinn’s deep, impressive bona fides include becoming a teacher through Teach for America, followed by service as a classroom history teacher, school principal and then a swift ride up high-level administrative posts in various states including Texas. In 2019, at 43, she became Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education.

In Education Next’s extended interview, Schwinn emphasizes that educators must aim every single decision not merely toward achievement, but toward the best interests of kids. This “North Star” helps her to sift through irrelevant political chaff so she can stay with her agenda even in the face of constant opposition.

“That is always going to be personal and emotional; however, we must find a way to engage in hard conversations without taking them personally,” she said.

I’m hard pressed to think of another current politician or education leader with such credible dedication to kids, no matter what.

Schwinn’s biggest claim to fame was an all-hands-on-deck initiative designed to shift reading instruction from the terrible 3-cueing system that teaches kids to guess words, to one that is science-based. At the time, COVID raged. But for her, reading is a “nonnegotiable goal.” In a mere two years, Tennessee’s third graders improved by eight percentage points on their state reading assessment. The state has just under 1 million K-12 students, with 74,000 third graders, so eight points is a big average jump for a cohort that size.

Furthermore, the just released 2022 NAEPs showed Tennessee with a slight increase while most all other states’ results declined to varying degrees. (Rhode Island’s scores declined by three percentage points.) Tennessee also did well in math, which can be a side benefit of helping kids unpack word problems and written directions.

When first appointed, Schwinn turned to Carey Wright, the education commissioner who pulled off what is known as the “Mississippi miracle,” a show-stopping leap from Mississippi’s frequent dead last ranking to becoming the only state that didn’t tank in the 2019 national NAEP reading test.

Last summer, Wright and Schwinn wrote an op-ed for The74 begging political leaders to listen to what the research is saying about learning, especially reading. They note that in the late 1990s, the feds poured $9 billion into excellent research, which then went largely ignored. Their dedication to data-driven decisions means Schwinn wants to beef up federal research, not shut it down. (Yes, I know the feds are angling to shutter the Department of Education. But why would she take the job if that were really the goal?)

What really wins my heart are leaders who can change their minds with the right evidence and articulate reasons to make the change.

For example, in 2021, true to the Republican playbook, the Tennessee Legislature passed a law mandating holding back third graders who did not pass a reading proficiency test. Without apparent appetite, Schwinn acknowledged it was her job to implement state laws. While punishing third graders did boost scores in some states, the long-term effects of removing 9-year-olds from their age and friend cohort is almost never good. Schwin did not fight the law, but her “Reading 360” initiative did reduce the vast numbers of retained kids. It opened many pathways to the fourth grade including intensive tutoring, after-school and summer reading camps, allowing families to agree to intervention during fourth grade, and more.

Also, to help kids from the educational get-go, she established the only national teacher apprenticeship program designed to drag higher education’s butt into the 21st century with preparation driven by current research and contemporary children.

Mind you, Schwinn is far from everyone’s cup of tea. She’s a Republican. But that’s hard to tell from the totality of her actions. Her work has infuriated both the orthodox left and right.

Eventually, for example, her efforts to sidestep the culture wars proved to be too obstructive to stay focused on the work. In 2023, Tennessee passed a law designed to scrub curricula of information about race and gender. Again, Schwinn said she’d honor state law. But no hardliner, her directive to the field was to “limit” such discussions, enraging culture warriors on both sides of the aisle. In the end, her efforts got swallowed up in those unproductive battles, so she quit that summer.

Did the president’s vetters know what they were getting into? The two appointments to the federal DOE seem like a contradiction in terms — a wrecking ball and a design-build contractor. But Schwinn doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to put her North Star away, so she must have been convinced she could do real work.

Of course, we’ll see. The best interests of the kids could use a true champion. Good luck, Deputy.