THE BIG STORY

Paying $45 for water and chasing electricity: Texas’s vulnerable residents are stranded in a deadly storm

In the wake of the deadly winter storm in Texas, a stark gap immediately emerged between the wealthy and the vulnerable. Wealthier residents are sorting out backup generators, booking pricey hotel rooms, or quickly getting out of state. The most vulnerable residents of Texas have few options.

Just a few examples:

👉 People experiencing homelessness are seeking shelter in crowded indoor spaces as new cases of COVID-19 surge.

👉 Older people and Texans with disabilities are stranded at home with no access to food and supplies, often unable to call for help.

👉 People in prisons are being forced to survive without running water, heat, working toilets, or anything to warm them beyond a single blanket.

Hourly workers are losing out on pay, and people have reported possible price gouging for basic supplies. We talked to one woman whose mom bought 3 cases of water for $45. A case normally costs $1.99.

“Seconds and minutes”: Energy officials said Texas was so unprepared for the storm, that the state was “seconds and minutes” away from an uncontrolled blackout. A grid failure like that would have led to many more people to lose power, indefinitely.

Failure to launch: Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas, flew to Cancún while millions suffered without power and water. After the news of his vacation broke, Cruz was promptly destroyed online over it. As you might expect, he quickly flew back home.

Houston police officers hand out blankets to people under the Interstate 45 overpass. Jon Shapley / AP

#FOIAFRIDAYS

#FOIAFridays are days where we in the journalism and transparency communities celebrate our Freedom of Information Act wins, air our frustrations, share tips and talk about documents we've secured. For today's #FOIAFriday, reporter Jason Leopold tells us about the fight over redactions:

The most difficult part about the FOIA process after filing is getting a government agency to give up what you're asking for. Agencies will often invoke one of nine FOIA exemptions, such as national security or internal deliberations, and redact documents to justify withholding crucial details. State agencies try to thwart the release of information with exorbitant fees. And sometimes it seems like the agency is trolling you. That was the case with the CIA when it turned over this completely redacted PowerPoint slide to me with the exception of a single, ironic word:

It's because of the way these agencies stonewall and hide information that BuzzFeed News goes to court and fights for transparency. For example, the Justice Department tried to stop our efforts to unredact the Mueller report. Had it not been for our FOIA lawsuit, key portions of that historic document would still be hidden under swaths of black ink. Thanks to compelling arguments by our attorneys, the public learned for the first time last year that Mueller's team of investigators believed Trump wasn't very forthcoming about what he knew and when he knew it about Wikileaks' release of hacked Democratic National Committee emails.

Here's what that page looked like before we sued the government and here's what it looks like after a judge ruled the government had to disclose the passage:

Crucial legal efforts like that are why, until March 15, all contributions to support BuzzFeed News go toward our FOIA fund, which covers lawsuits. You can help us reach our goal of $100,000 by contributing here. And to those who have already helped: Thank you.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Industry experts say the FinCEN Files investigation will help the fight against global corruption

In the fall of 2020, BuzzFeed News published The FinCEN Files, an unprecedented look at global financial corruption and the banks and policies that enable it. It was a massive project, based on thousands of secret “suspicious activity reports” from the Treasury Department.

In September, the Treasury Department warned that the disclosures could “impact the national security of the United States” and “compromise law enforcement investigations.” Some in the financial industry worried the project would have a chilling effect.

But half a year later, a new survey of the financial sector found wide support for the idea that the FinCEN Files investigation will help, not hinder, in the fight against global corruption.

SNAPSHOTS

How to request your medical records for your COVID vaccine appointment. Fifteen states have opened up vaccinations to people with certain health conditions. Here's how you can prove you are eligible.

ICE will focus more on arresting public safety threats instead of undocumented immigrants. The Biden administration began its overhaul of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, directing officers to focus on certain groups of immigrants, such as those suspected of being a national security threat and recent border crossers.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed on Mars to search for signs of ancient life. NASA launched Perseverance on July 30, 2020, and it has been traveling the more-than-100-million-mile journey since. It just made the landing.

A new TikTok trend has people turning anything and everything into album art. People are taking random screenshots and turning them into album art, and it’s a great time.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Trump can still be the Republican Party’s future. Just look to Arizona.

Before Donald Trump, Republicans in Arizona consistently won statewide elections. Now, Democrats occupy both Senate seats, the state went blue in the 2020 presidential election for the first time since 1996, and thousands of Arizonans have changed their party registration away from the GOP after the Capitol attack.

You might think this would be a moment of crisis for Arizona’s Republicans. But instead, the state party has leaned further into Trumpism. It turned itself into a Trump machine, trying to win an election that’s long over.

What does this have to do with the rest of America? As Rosie Gray writes, it might be a sign of what’s to come for Republican politics: “Arizona has for decades been the cutting edge of right-wing US politics, an early warning system for where national Republican politics were headed. So the battle here for the post-Trump future, defined by Trump even in his absence, could be the national party’s future too.”

TAKE A BREATHER

Stay warm and settle in with these weekend longreads

There’s no mystery to unravel around Tekashi 69. On Sunday, Supervillain, a new Showtime documentary on the rapper will arrive. It comes a year after Hulu’s documentary on the rapper. But as Scaachi Koul writes, there’s nothing left to magically unearth in his story: “It’s embarrassing to admit, maybe, that we’ve been waiting for an explanation or a moral to emerge from Tekashi’s story, as if it’ll justify all the hours we’ve spent staring at him and trying to understand why he’s like this. But there isn’t anything coming.”

Call My Agent! and Industry capture the dangers of mixing work with pleasure. There is so much talk about these TV shows. Shannon Keating explores how the French crossover hit and the darkly sexy investment firm drama each emphasize the thrills — and the downsides — of making work your identity.

Teachers: we want to hear from you! Are you a teacher? Tell us how you feel about school reopenings.

Be deliberate in taking time for rest this weekend,

Elamin