Jimmy Barrett and Shara Fryer take you through the stories that matter on the morning of 06/04/2019, including: Texas Department of Transportation officials set the ambitious goal Thursday of eliminating traffic deaths statewide by 2050, with a midpoint goal of reducing deaths by half by 2035.
With 3,641 traffic deaths statewide in 2018, nearly 10 per day, deaths would have to drop by about 120 annually to meet those goals. The last day without a death on a Texas road was Nov. 7, 2000. Democratic candidates are shying away from immigration in early stages of 2020 campaign. Besides blasting Trump, the presidential hopefuls aren’t offering many details on their own plans. Most Democratic candidates have decried the most extreme aspects of President Donald Trump's immigration strategy, blasting his family separation policy, vowing to reverse his decision to end protections for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) recipients and lamenting the images of "kids in cages."
But they have largely shied away from explaining how they would deal with the record-setting surge of Central American families seeking asylum, secure the southern border or overhaul a 50-year-old legal immigration system that's in dire need of an update. That strategy runs the risk of allowing Trump to define the immigration debate with his accusations that Democrats support "open borders" and migratory lawlessness. Could prostitution be the next vice to be decriminalized? Marijuana has gone mainstream, casino gambling is everywhere and sports wagering is spreading. Could prostitution be next? Lawmakers across the country are beginning to reconsider how to handle prostitution, as calls for decriminalization are slowly gaining momentum. The debate is unquestionably polarizing in many circles, even among advocates for sex-trafficked and abused women who fear that creating a legal path for prostitution will not eliminate, but rather actually encourage, underground sex trafficking.
And decriminalization is already facing intense pushback in state capitals from opponents who call the measures naïve and potentially dangerous.