News

Now that every opportunity for Medicaid expansion is gone at the state capitol, the lawmaker who authored the GOP plan, which eventually failed, explained what medical options are left for the state’s working poor.

Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, is a doctor and has seen first hand the problems the 1.5 million Texans without health insurance face when it comes to seeking medical care.

As the investigation continues into the cause of the oil spill that heavy rains carried into the San Antonio River on the final Saturday of Fiesta last month, officials say the spill has been remediated and restoration is almost complete. 

They said it was a perfect storm: An unknown amount of oil spilling into the street during Fiesta, when hundreds of cars had driven up and down Broadway, and a heavy rain that washed everything down the hill on 10th Street and into the river along the east bank of the Museum Reach.

In the first segment:

An annual report from Children At Risk, a Houston-based nonprofit and advocacy group, focused on public schools in Texas and found that while other major cities were seeing improvements in a variety of metrics, several of San Antonio's school districts were not measuring up.

The newest class of San Antonio police cadets wasted no time getting to work, heading out on the job directly after walking the stage at their graduation ceremony.

The class, known as 2012-B, which began training late last year, graduated Friday at the Lila Cockrell Theatre downtown.

39 police cadets spent eight months going through intense training, saying it was both mentally and physically challenging.

But graduation day is a time for pride and celebration.

Underneath heavily-traveled Interstate 35 at Theo and Malone, in an unexpected place for art, six spherical chandeliers bathe the ground, concrete columns and underside of the bridge with rich, vibrant color and transform an otherwise industrial thoroughfare into an enjoyable space for pedestrians and drivers.

Ballroom Luminoso is the first public art project to be completed under the new bond program approved by voters in 2012.

House Bill 928 would criminalize any police officer enforcing a new federal gun law in the state of Texas, and it immediately struck tensions between Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, and Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

"I could be for this if you take an amendment I’m going to offer to your bill," said Ellis. "I’m going to offer an amendment to close the 'gun show loophole.'"

"The criminal background checks at gun shows would doom this wonderful bill that we are trying to do right here," replied Estes.

The San Antonio City Council could soon take up an anti-discrimination ordinance to include additional groups.

District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal proposed a policy that would also be consolidated with other anti-discrimination regulations that he said are scattered about in a constellation of codes and ordinances.

City staffers are researching how to go about consolidating the policies. The council’s governance committee will meet Tuesday and decide whether to advance the issue to the full city council.