Joshua Fechter 📝
@JoshuaFechter
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Urban affairs reporter @TexasTribune • Cities, housing, property taxes, transpo, policing • Past @ExpressNews • joshua.fechter @texastribune .org
Dallas, TX
Joined June 2012
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BREAKING: An appeals court has held up San Antonio's mask mandate for public schools, ruling against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
#txlege
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BREAKING: Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins signs executive order requiring masks in schools and businesses -- becoming the latest official to defy Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on local mask mandates
#txlege
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BREAKING: An appeals court has upheld Dallas County's mask mandate for public schools, colleges and businesses, another court defeat for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
#txlege
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Bombshell from
@ExpressNews
: Surveillance footage shows Uvalde police never tried to open a door to the classrooms where the Robb Elementary shooter holed himself up, according to a law enforcement source
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USPS workers were instructed to hide backlogged mail from Congressman
@JoaquinCastrotx
as he toured a San Antonio post office, a union official said
From
@liz_hardaway
&
@bchasnoff
@ExpressNews
#USPS
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NEW: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned vaccine mandates of any kind in a new executive order
#txlege
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Can confirm: dropping in for the first time is horrifying
My daughter overcoming her fear in real time (wait for it). I might have been more nervous than she was.
👧🏼🛹⬇️
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Boil water notice issued for Houston, a city of (checks notes) 2.3 million people
A boil water notice has been issued for the City of Houston ‼️ Everyone should boil the water before drinking, cooking, bathing, and brushing their teeth.
More Information Below
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BREAKING: San Antonio & Bexar County just sued Gov. Greg Abbott for the authority to make masks mandatory in public schools
#txlege
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NEW: The Texas Supreme Court has rejected AG Ken Paxton's bid to ban school districts’ mask mandates — at least for now
#txlege
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When it rains, it pours
BREAKING: An appeals court has upheld Dallas County's mask mandate for public schools, colleges and businesses, another court defeat for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
#txlege
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Breaking: Austin just became the largest U.S. city to get rid of minimum parking requirements for new developments
Nixing those requirements will allow more housing units amid the city's affordability crisis, encourage density & discourage car-dependency, supporters say
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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is switching parties from Democrat to Republican, he writes in
@WSJopinion
#txlege
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BREAKING: Chris Hollins, the man who brought drive-thru voting to Texas, is running for Houston mayor in 2023
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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San Antonio Police Chief William McManus fired an officer caught on a body cam calling a handcuffed prisoner the n-word. An arbitrator gave him his job back,
@bchasnoff
reports
Here’s how the head of the police union defended the officer
@ExpressNews
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Inbox: San Antonio ISD, which has a vaccine mandate for employees, says it plans to move forward with the mandate — defying Gov. Greg Abbot's latest ban on vaccine mandates
#txlege
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BREAKING: A state district judge has upheld the city of San Antonio & Bexar County's mask mandate
Judge Antonia Arteaga: "I don't take it lightly"
#txlege
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BREAKING: A Travis County judge has granted a group of Texas school districts — including Houston, Dallas & Austin ISDs — a temporary injunction blocking Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates
#txlege
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Just an incredible map no matter how many times I see it. A city split right down the center
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BREAKING: the Texas Supreme Court has temporarily blocked mask mandates in Dallas & San Antonio, siding with Gov. Greg Abbott
#txlege
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Everyone says Chris Wallace should be able to mute their mics when they’re talking at the same time but dropping Nickelodeon slime on them would be much more effective
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JUST IN: Austin will now allow duplexes & triplexes to be built nearly anywhere single-family homes are allowed in a bid by city officials to curtail the city's housing affordability crisis
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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San Antonio police just shot
@ExpressNews
reporter
@m_b_dunphy
with a wooden bullet.
@Ron_Nirenberg
,
@ejwskk
: are you okay with this?
Caught one of them to the leg. Free Yin Yang tattoo, I suppose.
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Abbott's previous prohibition on vaccine mandates previously applied to COVID-19 vaccinations approved by the FDA for emergency use. In wake of FDA approving Pfizer, Abbott has expanded the order
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NEW: Texas HOAs can no longer bar landlords from renting to Section 8 tenants thanks to a new state law
The rare, tenant-friendly move from the
#txlege
came after an HOA sought to oust Section 8 tenants — who are predominantly Black
@TexasTribune
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BREAKING: San Antonio Water System will issue a boil water notice later this afternoon, CEO Robert Puente told City Council members
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In which
@MillerForTexas
calls
@HillaryClinton
the c-word. He's since deleted the tweet
#txlege
#Election2016
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Some professional news: I'm joining the
@TexasTribune
in August to take over the urban affairs beat!
I'm beyond excited to cover policy & politics in Texas' major urban areas, tackling the state's housing crisis, economic segregation & battles between state and local leaders
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Right now: A city panel in Dallas is hearing a proposal to nix the city's minimum parking requirements for virtually every kind of property citywide
If ultimately approved, Dallas would be the largest U.S. city to get rid of those requirements
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Inbox: San Antonio will sue the state of Texas over HB 2127, the state’s new sweeping law preempting city regulations known as the “Death Star” bill
#txlege
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Hey, y'all: Today's my first day at the
@TexasTribune
as the new urban affairs reporter, covering politics & policy in Texas' major cities
Let's talk!
Reach out in my DMs or at joshua.fechter
@texastribune
.org
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.
@ADL_National
considers Pepe a hate symbol.
@MartinShkreli
wore a Pepe pin on live TV today
Turing's drug price hike was "blown out of proportion" because of politics, former CEO
@MartinShkreli
tells us
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San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg & Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff have said the same thing the past two days: They've heard from the White House but not from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
Turner says he has heard from White House, but not Gov. Abbott during winter freeze via
@houstonchron
#hounews
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NEW this a.m.: A neighborhood’s new ban on Section 8 renters will push more than 150 families out of a North Texas suburb
The town is majority-white. The families are overwhelmingly Black
@TexasTribune
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By a 31-0 vote, the TX Senate just passed a bill aimed at city restrictions on a building's height based on proximity to single-family homes
The idea: to allow more apartment construction amid the state's housing crunch
Background:
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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Inbox: The Alamodome will become a no-cost mass COVID-19 vaccine site, beginning next week, San Antonio officials say
The site will be able to handle about 1,500 vaccinations a day, per a city release
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Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo has not responded to Texas Rangers' request for a follow-up interview in their probe of the police response to the
#Uvalde
shooting, Texas DPS tells
@TexasTribune
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San Antonio is seeing so many 911 calls related to COVID-19, the fire department ran out of EMS units "for some time" Thursday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg just said at a media briefing
"You see the stress that is occurring in our medical system"
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Jalen McKee-Rodriguez just became the first openly gay man on San Antonio's City Council
BREAKING:
@Jada_District2
concedes to
@theloserteacher
after early vote totals put her behind by 24 points:
"We did our best for our community and we're thankful for the opportunity"
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50+ Texas school districts & 8 counties have adopted mask mandates in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott, per this list compiled by AG Ken Paxton's office
#txlege
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There it is:
@SAMetroHealth
has mandated masks in San Antonio/Bexar County schools after winning a court battle against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott earlier today
#txlege
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NEW: Texas hospitals are on the brink of catastrophe, close to being completely overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, leaders of some of the state’s largest hospitals told lawmakers Tuesday
@TexasTribune
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Now: Austin City Council members holding a presser in support of zoning reforms to allow more housing density amid the city's housing affordability crisis
The council is voting Thursday to allow up to 3 housing units on most single-family lots
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Inbox:
@TonyGonzales4TX
seeks publicity for a project on San Antonio's West Side funded by the $1.2T infrastructure bill
Except he voted against the bill — and deleted the statement he made after voting against it
(h/t
@RWebner
)
#txlege
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The
#uvalde
shooter’s grandmother’s condition has improved to “fair,” according to a San Antonio hospital. The shooter shot her in the face before the massacre
A 10 y/o girl shot at the school is in serious condition while a 9 y/o girl is in good condition
Update on the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde: at University Hospital we currently have three patients:
66-year-old woman, fair condition
10-year-old girl, serious condition
9-year-old girl, good condition
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“The pastor told congregants that demonic spirits were operating through members of the City Council”
An account of unchecked political activity by churches in violation of federal law from
@JinATX
&
@jessica_priest
@TexasTribune
@propublica
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Inbox: City of San Antonio says its mask mandate for K-12 public schools remains in effect despite the Texas Supreme Court ruling temporarily blocking the mandate
#txlege
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A pretty blatant swipe at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has taken away the ability of cities/counties/school districts to enact mask & vaccine mandates
Pres. Biden: "If some governors aren't willing to do the right thing to beat this pandemic, then they should allow businesses and universities who want to do the right thing to be able to do it."
"If you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way."
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San Antonio Councilman Manny Pelaez, visibly frustrated:
"I don’t how the hell anyone’s going to boil water if they have no electricity"
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NEW: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott & AG Ken Paxton have vowed to punish local gov't & school district officials who defy Abbott's ban on mask mandates
But in court, they're saying there's little they can do to enforce the ban
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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Texas DPS reverses course on whether the
#Uvalde
shooter was confronted by a school police officer.
They're now saying he wasn't
Steve McCraw, the head of DPS, said yesterday that he was
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Pete Arredondo, the school police chief whose response to the
#Uvalde
school shooting has drawn intense scrutiny, has broken his silence
Arredondo says he never thought he was in charge & didn’t order police not to breach the building
@TexasTribune
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BREAKING: A disability rights group has sued Gov. Greg Abbott in federal court over his ban on mask mandates in public schools
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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UPDATE: Valero Energy and USAA are rethinking their political spending after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and a cadre of congressional Republicans sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results
@ExpressNews
NEW: San Antonio employers — including Valero and USAA — gave more than $1.2M within the past four years to congressional Republicans who voted to overturn the presidential election results
@ExpressNews
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Democratic incumbent Lina Hidalgo is leading Republican challenger Alex Mealer by a slim margin in the Harris County Judge’s race
Hidalgo 50.7%
Mealer 49.3%
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BREAKING: Gov. Greg Abbott floats pardons for Austin police officers charged for excessive force in May 2020 protests
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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"People have to know that there are consequences" -- San Antonio Congressman
@JoaquinCastrotx
on a possible second Trump impeachment in wake of last week's Capitol insurrection
@ExpressNews
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BREAKING: Shelter-in-place order to slow coronavirus appears imminent in San Antonio, Bexar County
Mayor Nirenberg and County Judge Wolff met for several hrs on the matter Monday morning
City & county attorneys are drafting the order
@ExpressNews
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JUST IN: The San Antonio police union quietly spent $600K to defeat Prop B -- far more than previously thought
The massive spending flew under the radar because the union didn’t report the activity under its own name
@ExpressNews
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NEW: The
#Uvalde
gunman walked unopposed onto school grounds, officials now say. They previously said the gunman encountered a school police officer
Once the shooter was inside, it took police an hour to stop him
w/
@reeseoxner
@TexasTribune
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Oh, yeah, that remote town of *squints* New Braunfels
“People have found New Braunfels — the word is out,” Mayor Rusty Brockman said. Many of the 32,500 new arrivals are fleeing pricey housing markets in states like California, Colorado and New York, but some come from larger Texas cities.
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Here's where the Harris County judge's race stands:
Lina Hidalgo (D) 50.7% (546,745)
Alex Mealer (R) 49.3% (530,788)
782/782 voting centers reporting
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Here's the partisan breakdown from last night's vote on ADUs in the
#txlege
Ayes: 55 Rs, 13 Ds
Nays: 27 Rs, 43 Ds
Amid Texas' housing crisis, a bill to loosen city rules on the construction of ADUs — or “granny flats” — in the backyards of single-family homes has failed in the Texas House
The bill fails by a 68-70 vote
#txlege
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Question: how is
@HistoricPearl
allowed to charge for parking when San Antonio/Bexar County taxpayers heavily subsidized its development?
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NEW: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott & state officials have accused Harris County of slashing constables’ budgets — but they’re actually going up
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said he won't prosecute school districts that initiate their own mask mandates
The move comes hours after the TX Supreme Court paused the county's mask mandate
#txlege
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.
@realDonaldTrump
channeling his buddy Putin when he talks about jailing his political opponent
#debate
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Two years ago, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez alleged homophobic harassment and discrimination while working for San Antonio Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan.
Now, he has her job.
From
@liz_hardaway
:
@ExpressNews
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Spurs player Lonnie Walker is walking around downtown San Antonio handing out water bottles in the aftermath of last night’s violence
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NEW: Officials in some of Texas' largest cities are challenging Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates as COVID-19 surges
This a.m., officials in San Antonio sued Abbott for the power to mandate masks in schools
@TexasTribune
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White man sucker punches black protester at
#DonaldTrump
rally. Guess which one police officers pushed to the ground
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Mask-wearing is now required in Austin/Travis County public schools as well as city & county buildings
Mayor Steve Adler & County Judge Andy Brown just signed orders, Brown says
#txlege
NEW:
@MayorAdler
& I signed orders requiring masks in public schools and county/city buildings.
With our kids back in school next week, our community & public health officials have called on us to take this reasonable measure. This will protect countless lives & keep us safe.
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@TexasTribune
.
@LesliePoolATX
speaks to opposition of these measures:
"We neighbors who live here now have the ability to make room in our city for all who are coming here wanting to make this their home...just like room was made for us when we were in the same place in our lives and careers"
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The first school shooting where I’ve realized the parents of the victims are my age. The generation that grew up in the shadow of Columbine is now losing their kids to school shooters
Amerie Jo Garza's father, a med aide, says he found out she was one of the victims when he arrived on the scene and was helping another little girl covered in blood. She told him her best friend had been shot. When he asked her name, she said his daughter's. There aren't words.
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BREAKING: San Antonio voters will get to decide in May whether to strip the police union of their collective bargaining rights. Fix SAPD had enough eligible signatures to make it onto the May ballot, the city clerk's office said Thursday
Story TK.
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Congressman Joaquin Castro calls on Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to resign
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JUST IN: San Antonio officials are weighing whether to buy a hotel to house the homeless a day after city crews removed dozens of people who had been living in tents under a downtown highway
@ExpressNews
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Texas is getting hotter — and it's because of climate change
From
@erinmdouglas23
,
@yuriko_a_s
&
@alex_andra_ford
@TexasTribune
#txlege
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Inbox: Former San Antonio Mayor
@JulianCastro
comes out and backs Prop B, a ballot initiative pushed by
@fixsapd
that would strip the police union of the right to collectively bargain their contract
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I can’t remember a protest in San Antonio this large in recent years, unless I’m missing something. Crowds tend to be thin at protests here
The crowd is just beginning to head down Travis Street
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In light of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson switching to the GOP,
@tplohetski
jokingly asks Austin Mayor Kirk Watson if he’s going to do the same
Watson: “This won't be the first time I don't follow Eric”
#TribFest23
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DPS director Steve McCraw on decision to wait for tactical team before breaching classroom where gunman was holed up: "Of course it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision"
@TexasTribune
#uvalde
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Inbox: Amid Dallas' housing affordability crisis, a city council committee headed by
@JesseForDallas
will discuss how to allow more homes to be built
The proposals:
-Allowing up to 4 units on single-family lots
-Reducing the city's minimum lot size for single-family homes
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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has thrown his weight behind San Antonio's Prop B, which would take away collective bargaining from the police union
"An organization that seeks as little accountability as possible should be a problem"
@tom_orsborn
@ExpressNews
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