Carla Astudillo
@carla-astudi.bsky.social
data visuals journalist & developer at @texastribune.bsky.social. Let's talk elections & politics data.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
It's been more than 3 months since the Central Texas floods, and the application window for FEMA aid has closed. So @carla-astudi.bsky.social and I looked at where things stand. We found about one-fifth of FEMA applications from Kerr County have been approved so far.
FEMA denied or didn’t advance most Kerr County flood requests
Advocates are questioning why so many applicants from the flood-ravaged county have not received federal disaster help. Nonprofits are trying to fill in the gaps.
www.texastribune.org
October 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
It's been more than 3 months since the Central Texas floods, and the application window for FEMA aid has closed. So @carla-astudi.bsky.social and I looked at where things stand. We found about one-fifth of FEMA applications from Kerr County have been approved so far.
Just how catastrophic was the scope, scale and intensity of the Central Texas floods? The
@texastribune.org team have put together graphics explaining. Visuals by me, Chris Essig and Edison Wu. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/h...
@texastribune.org team have put together graphics explaining. Visuals by me, Chris Essig and Edison Wu. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/h...
July 10, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Just how catastrophic was the scope, scale and intensity of the Central Texas floods? The
@texastribune.org team have put together graphics explaining. Visuals by me, Chris Essig and Edison Wu. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/h...
@texastribune.org team have put together graphics explaining. Visuals by me, Chris Essig and Edison Wu. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/h...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
NEW: Sec. Noem has now admits "last mile" disaster communications weren't up to par in the Texas catastrophe. But while bodies were still being recovered on Tuesday DHS canceled a $3 million grant focused on improving precisely those kinds of "last mile" comms. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dhs-c...
DHS Cancels Extreme Weather Comms Grant While Bodies Still Being Recovered in Texas
As more than a hundred fatalities have been confirmed in Texas flash...
talkingpointsmemo.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:14 PM
NEW: Sec. Noem has now admits "last mile" disaster communications weren't up to par in the Texas catastrophe. But while bodies were still being recovered on Tuesday DHS canceled a $3 million grant focused on improving precisely those kinds of "last mile" comms. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dhs-c...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
With the House bill now passed, I wanted to re-up two important stories:
The bill benefits the rich, and inflicts deepest harm on the poorest Americans, data show www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/b...
The deep federal aid cuts will not arrive immediately. A timeline: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...
The bill benefits the rich, and inflicts deepest harm on the poorest Americans, data show www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/b...
The deep federal aid cuts will not arrive immediately. A timeline: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...
Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package
www.nytimes.com
July 3, 2025 at 6:44 PM
With the House bill now passed, I wanted to re-up two important stories:
The bill benefits the rich, and inflicts deepest harm on the poorest Americans, data show www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/b...
The deep federal aid cuts will not arrive immediately. A timeline: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...
The bill benefits the rich, and inflicts deepest harm on the poorest Americans, data show www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/b...
The deep federal aid cuts will not arrive immediately. A timeline: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
NEW:
Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations and then failed to disclose it
www.propublica.org/article/kris...
w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations and then failed to disclose it
www.propublica.org/article/kris...
w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations
A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirem...
www.propublica.org
June 30, 2025 at 12:02 PM
NEW:
Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations and then failed to disclose it
www.propublica.org/article/kris...
w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations and then failed to disclose it
www.propublica.org/article/kris...
w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Now that the 2025 #txlege is over, are you wondering how your legislators voted on key bills? I got ya covered! I built a nifty little lookup tool to help you do just that for the
@texastribune.org Link: www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/t...
@texastribune.org Link: www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/t...
June 13, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Now that the 2025 #txlege is over, are you wondering how your legislators voted on key bills? I got ya covered! I built a nifty little lookup tool to help you do just that for the
@texastribune.org Link: www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/t...
@texastribune.org Link: www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/t...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. Texas lawmakers are betting on this solution to solve the state’s water crisis. But it is expensive and there are environmental concerns. For @texastribune.org graphics: @carla-astudi.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/e...
To avoid a water crisis, Texas may bet big on desalination. Here’s how it works in El Paso.
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns.
www.texastribune.org
April 14, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. Texas lawmakers are betting on this solution to solve the state’s water crisis. But it is expensive and there are environmental concerns. For @texastribune.org graphics: @carla-astudi.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/e...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
At #NICAR25 the CFPB’s Chief Technologist @erie.bsky.social says the agency is still here and can only be ended by an act of Congress, despite her team being recently fired. The DOGE team has “god mode” access to all CFPB complaint data. “It's a 5 alarm fire for me that they have this data.”
March 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
At #NICAR25 the CFPB’s Chief Technologist @erie.bsky.social says the agency is still here and can only be ended by an act of Congress, despite her team being recently fired. The DOGE team has “god mode” access to all CFPB complaint data. “It's a 5 alarm fire for me that they have this data.”
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
Tip for @ire-nicar.bsky.social #nicar25 newcomers: Go to any session by Paul Overberg. It's always a master class.
He began his hands-on workshop on CDC deaths data with an overview of record-keeping in the American colonies before the Declaration of Independence.
He began his hands-on workshop on CDC deaths data with an overview of record-keeping in the American colonies before the Declaration of Independence.
March 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Tip for @ire-nicar.bsky.social #nicar25 newcomers: Go to any session by Paul Overberg. It's always a master class.
He began his hands-on workshop on CDC deaths data with an overview of record-keeping in the American colonies before the Declaration of Independence.
He began his hands-on workshop on CDC deaths data with an overview of record-keeping in the American colonies before the Declaration of Independence.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
How we did it: Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Since Texas banned abortion, no one has studied the statewide effects on pregnant women experiencing complications. Here’s how we sifted through data on millions of pregnancy hospitalizations and anal...
www.propublica.org
February 20, 2025 at 12:11 PM
How we did it: Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
www.propublica.org
February 20, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
🧵 THREAD: In the second Trump administration, we’re devoting a significant part of our staff to detailing dramatic changes in the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans.
Here are some of the issues we’re watching — and how you can inform our work.
Here are some of the issues we’re watching — and how you can inform our work.
February 12, 2025 at 1:04 AM
🧵 THREAD: In the second Trump administration, we’re devoting a significant part of our staff to detailing dramatic changes in the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans.
Here are some of the issues we’re watching — and how you can inform our work.
Here are some of the issues we’re watching — and how you can inform our work.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
New: @propublica.org is tracking who's in Musk's DOGE crew. 20+ names so far including some that haven't yet been reported.
Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. ProPublica is attempting to document who is working with him and what they are doing.
projects.propublica.org
February 6, 2025 at 10:19 PM
New: @propublica.org is tracking who's in Musk's DOGE crew. 20+ names so far including some that haven't yet been reported.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
Texas school district warns Border Patrol may board buses and question students about citizenship
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...
Texas school district warns Border Patrol may board buses and question students about citizenship
A letter sent to Alice ISD parents Wednesday said a student may be detained and possibly deported if they cannot prove they are in the country legally.
www.texastribune.org
February 6, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Texas school district warns Border Patrol may board buses and question students about citizenship
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...
Texas colleges would be required to submit compliance reports and they don’t fix a violation within 180 days, they would be ineligible for future funding increases. via @jessicapriest.bsky.social @snehadey.bsky.social
Texas lawmakers may ban certain lessons at state colleges under expanded DEI crackdown
Legislators are expected to take up a $360 million proposal that would change the landscape of financial aid in the state.
www.texastribune.org
February 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Texas colleges would be required to submit compliance reports and they don’t fix a violation within 180 days, they would be ineligible for future funding increases. via @jessicapriest.bsky.social @snehadey.bsky.social
this piece also never truly makes the case as to why the Star-Ledger was great in its heyday other than high circulation and staffing numbers + namedropping some reporters. Why were they so great? What stories did they publish? Why waste half the article ranting about how much the SL sucks now?
Telling the history of a publication from the moment you left is profoundly self-serving.
What a poor, incomplete and bitter obituary for a great publication. What happened in 2008 was terrible. It does not erase the great work of people who followed.
newjerseyglobe.com/media/demise...
What a poor, incomplete and bitter obituary for a great publication. What happened in 2008 was terrible. It does not erase the great work of people who followed.
newjerseyglobe.com/media/demise...
Demise of The Star-Ledger: End of an Error - New Jersey Globe
OPINION In a few days, The Star-Ledger will cease printing after 86 years and then fade into history as a daily newspaper produced by what was once one of
newjerseyglobe.com
February 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
this piece also never truly makes the case as to why the Star-Ledger was great in its heyday other than high circulation and staffing numbers + namedropping some reporters. Why were they so great? What stories did they publish? Why waste half the article ranting about how much the SL sucks now?
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
They went out to buy baby formula and were pulled over for a traffic stop. The man in the process of getting a green card is now facing deportation.
He has no criminal record. His wife is an American citizen and they have 3 kids.
via @serranoalej.bsky.social
www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/t...
He has no criminal record. His wife is an American citizen and they have 3 kids.
via @serranoalej.bsky.social
www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/t...
An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fear
Advocates worry that rapidly shifting federal and state immigration initiatives will prompt more city police to funnel migrants without criminal records to federal agents.
www.texastribune.org
January 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
They went out to buy baby formula and were pulled over for a traffic stop. The man in the process of getting a green card is now facing deportation.
He has no criminal record. His wife is an American citizen and they have 3 kids.
via @serranoalej.bsky.social
www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/t...
He has no criminal record. His wife is an American citizen and they have 3 kids.
via @serranoalej.bsky.social
www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/t...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
One overlooked part of RFK Jr’s bid to be HHS secretary — what would he do with the agency’s *Human* services?
RFK Jr derided Trump’s first immigration policy as cruel. But as a presidential candidate, he embraced some of Trump’s border ideas.
And if confirmed, RFK Jr could help implement them.
RFK Jr derided Trump’s first immigration policy as cruel. But as a presidential candidate, he embraced some of Trump’s border ideas.
And if confirmed, RFK Jr could help implement them.
RFK Jr., once a Trump critic on immigration, now could help enforce it
Kennedy, who derided Trump’s family-separation policy as forcing “Sophie’s Choice” on migrants, seeks to lead the agency that takes custody of migrant children.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
One overlooked part of RFK Jr’s bid to be HHS secretary — what would he do with the agency’s *Human* services?
RFK Jr derided Trump’s first immigration policy as cruel. But as a presidential candidate, he embraced some of Trump’s border ideas.
And if confirmed, RFK Jr could help implement them.
RFK Jr derided Trump’s first immigration policy as cruel. But as a presidential candidate, he embraced some of Trump’s border ideas.
And if confirmed, RFK Jr could help implement them.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
a word of caution: there are a ton of reports flying around right now about which programs have been immediately cut off from federal funding because of trump's freeze. much of it seems unconfirmed at this point, so be discerning in what you share.
January 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
a word of caution: there are a ton of reports flying around right now about which programs have been immediately cut off from federal funding because of trump's freeze. much of it seems unconfirmed at this point, so be discerning in what you share.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
please for the love of all that is true on earth, do not share the list compiled via chatgpt of all discretionary programs as if it is what the administration is actually covering.
the poster is not a journalist and has not fact-checked her work.
the poster is not a journalist and has not fact-checked her work.
January 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
please for the love of all that is true on earth, do not share the list compiled via chatgpt of all discretionary programs as if it is what the administration is actually covering.
the poster is not a journalist and has not fact-checked her work.
the poster is not a journalist and has not fact-checked her work.
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
Some thought Texas AG Ken Paxton might be a candidate for Trump’s new attorney general. He didn’t get the job. But there’s a significant way Paxton could benefit from the new administration & his longtime ally. My latest for @propublica.org & @texastribune.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...
A Trump DOJ Could Bring an End to the Yearslong Investigation of His Ally Ken Paxton
Donald Trump and the Texas attorney general have forged a friendship over the years, one that has been cemented in their shared political and legal struggles and their willingness to come to each othe...
www.propublica.org
January 17, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Some thought Texas AG Ken Paxton might be a candidate for Trump’s new attorney general. He didn’t get the job. But there’s a significant way Paxton could benefit from the new administration & his longtime ally. My latest for @propublica.org & @texastribune.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Reposted by Carla Astudillo
In addition, we have a BRAND NEW feature where you can search for your address and find out who is your Texas representative and how they voted for. Hopefully, we will be using a similar feature for important Texas Legislature votes in the future.
January 14, 2025 at 11:04 PM
In addition, we have a BRAND NEW feature where you can search for your address and find out who is your Texas representative and how they voted for. Hopefully, we will be using a similar feature for important Texas Legislature votes in the future.
Lawmakers have voted for the next Texas House speaker (in only two rounds) and we have a total vote breakdown of the final tally as well as a searchable list of how each lawmaker voted. www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/t...
January 14, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Lawmakers have voted for the next Texas House speaker (in only two rounds) and we have a total vote breakdown of the final tally as well as a searchable list of how each lawmaker voted. www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/t...
Also s/o to our photo team for showing the random gaps in the border walls were people could just... walk around...
December 19, 2024 at 4:15 PM
Also s/o to our photo team for showing the random gaps in the border walls were people could just... walk around...