Amarillo breaks ground on psychiatric hospital, part of the state’s $1.5B investment in mental health
The facility will bring mental health resources closer to the largely rural region that’s home to nearly 436,000 people. Full Story
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Jayme Lozano Carver
Reporter/South Plains and Panhandle
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Jayme Lozano Carver is the Tribune’s first Lubbock-based reporter, covering the South Plains and Panhandle through a partnership with Report for America. Jayme previously worked for Texas Tech Public Media, Lubbock’s NPR station, where she spearheaded “Rural Healthcare: The Other Texas Drought,” a series for PBS’ “Frontline” on rural hospital closures in Texas. She also covered a broad range of topics for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, including climate change, agriculture, entertainment and health care. Born in Levelland, Jayme is a native of the South Plains area and studied at South Plains College and Texas Tech University. She loves to talk about her cats, horror movies and pro wrestling.
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![Artist rendering of the new Panhandle State Hospital in Amarillo, expected to be completed in 2027.]()
Credit: West Texas A&M University website -
As lawmakers tried to name an official steak, Texas students learned how to find the best beef
Far from the Capitol, students at Texas Tech spend time examining the quality of beef for meat judging competitions. Full Story
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![Zachary Buckley, production manager at Red Raider Meats, shows the different facilities at Texas Tech University's campus meat processing lab on May 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Jacob Lujan for The Texas Tribune -
A look at the wins rural Texas scored in this year’s legislative session
Lawmakers sought to close gaps in education and support funding for agriculture, disaster preparedness and health care this year. Full Story
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![The Texas State Capitol on March 17, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
What Texas lawmakers did after the state’s largest wildfire
A package of bills aims to better prepare the state to prevent and fight wildfires. Full Story
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![The Rolling Pines Fire blazes through Bastrop State Park on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
The one thing Texas won’t do to save its water supply
Texas property owners can use nearly as much water under their land as they want. That’s unlikely to change even as the state approaches a crisis. Full Story
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![High Plains Underground Water District field technician supervisor Billy Barron, left, and IT and permit administrator Gray Sanders measure a well, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, outside of Slaton.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers near deal to spend $20 billion over two decades on water crisis
The deal allocates $1 billion a year to water projects for 20 years, which some groups estimate is a fraction of what Texas needs to save its water supply. Full Story
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![The SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans want to block cities' gun buyback programs
Much of the debate focused on the tense relationship between cities and the Texas Legislature. The bill is head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. Full Story
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![A private gun buyer advertises cash sales outside the Alamodome parking lot where the City of San Antonio hosts a gun buyback event on Nov. 24, 2024.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
THC ban will destroy Texas' hemp agriculture industry, farmers say
While state leaders say growers can still produce industrial hemp, farmers say they will quit growing the plant altogether under a total THC ban. Full Story
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![Ann Gauger stands in one of the Caprock Family Farms’ grow rooms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock. “Agriculture is changing and the new age of agriculture has to be cutting edge,” Ann Gauger says.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
As measles outbreak continues, new parents in Lubbock face unexpected fears
Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated. Full Story
![Kelly Johnson hold her six-week-old son, John, as seen Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Lubbock. “Normal things that are hard [in postpartum], are hard,” Johnson says, “but been having that plus keeping an eye out on a measles outbreak.”](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/URU0s5SYuUzlKPR3CYUInbQOqnI=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ccd4cfbf039229af889cd7031bb70f6c/0409%20Measles%20New%20Parents%20AR%20TT%2009.jpg)
![Kelly Johnson hold her six-week-old son, John, as seen Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Lubbock. “Normal things that are hard [in postpartum], are hard,” Johnson says, “but been having that plus keeping an eye out on a measles outbreak.”]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will share equipment database with local fire departments to help beat wildfires
The legislation, which won unanimous approval in both chambers, was written following the state’s historic Panhandle wildfires last year. Full Story
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![A firefighter with Forest Bend Fire Department extinguishes flames at the site of the Borrega wildfire on March 31, 2022. The wildfire burned through a large part of the King Ranch and surrounding areas in Brooks, Jim Wells and Kleberg counties.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune