Ashley Lopez
Ashley Lopez joined KUT in January 2016. She covers politics and health care, and is part of the NPR-Kaiser Health News reporting collaborative. Previously she worked as a reporter at public radio stations in Louisville, Ky.; Miami and Fort Myers, Fla., where she won a National Edward R. Murrow Award.
Ashley was also part of NPR’s Political Reporting Partnership during the 2016 presidential election. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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A walkout by Texas Democrats over the weekend prevented a final vote on a bill that would have cut back polling hours and reduce access to mail-in voting. Where do things stand now?
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There's evidence that vaccination rates for Latinos are significantly lower than those for whites. But the rates have surged in the last month, and the gap is growing smaller.
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Harris County around Houston used drive-thru voting and extended voting hours to boost turnout in 2020. Republican leaders in Texas say such efforts were an overreach.
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Texas Republican lawmakers are considering a number of voting restrictions. Some seem to target diverse Houston, which got creative in expanding voting access last year.
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Texas has lifted its mask mandate and is opening up restaurants and other venues to full capacity. Frontline workers in the state do not have priority access to vaccines and many say they're nervous.
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Patients and families at a children's hospital are being asked to not take showers, KUT reports. They were also told the toilets can't flush, and staff are changing linens only as needed.
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An NPR analysis of COVID-19 vaccination sites in major cities across the Southern U.S. reveals a racial disparity, with most sites located in whiter neighborhoods.
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Several officials in Austin pushed back on Texas' initial COVID-19 vaccination plan, which would've put just nine of the city's 65 vaccination sites on the lower-income and more diverse east side.
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In 2021, states will redraw voting district lines to redistribute political power. In many places, the fight over where lines fall is expected to be bitter and partisan.
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Millions of dollars are flowing into state legislative races. Redistricting and the coronavirus are expected to be top of the policy agenda in 2021 and party control could mean everything.