Nate Paul, real estate investor in Paxton corruption allegations, found in contempt of court, ordered to jail
The judge also issued a fine of almost $182,000, citing Paul’s conduct in a legal dispute with an Austin nonprofit. Full Story
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![Nate Paul is the CEO of World Class, a real estate holding company.]()
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Ron DeSantis proclaims Texas, Florida partners against “woke” left in Houston speech
Where others see a budding rivalry between GOP states, the likely presidential candidate focused on similarities with Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas. Full Story
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![Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, flanked by public officials and boat captains from Naples and Jensen Beach, holds a press conference in West Palm Beach at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium on June 8, 2022.]()
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Closing a critical loophole for gun background checks has gained bipartisan support in Texas
After a ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation found courts failed to report juvenile mental health hospitalizations to the federal firearm background check system, lawmakers from both parties are backing bills to ensure compliance with the law. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 9, 2023.]()
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Texas Tech basketball coach Mark Adams suspended over “racially insensitive” comment
The head coach is also being investigated for allegedly spitting on a player during a game earlier in the season. Full Story
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![Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Mark Adams reacts after the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock on Feb. 25, 2023.]()
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Texas GOP censures U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales over party-splitting votes in Congress
In rare rebuke, party leaders cite support for gun law, same-sex marriage proposal by San Antonio Republican. Full Story
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![District 23 Rep. Tony Gonzales speaks with a reporter at a Starbucks in San Antonio on Aug. 24, 2022.]()
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TribCast: How will Texas lawmakers cut property taxes?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Texas Tribune reporters Joshua Fechter and Patrick Svitek about the different proposals to reduce Texans’ property tax burdens. Full Story
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![A recently sold new home at a Longview subdivision on Dec. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Houston ISD braces for possible state takeover
Parents, teachers and retired HISD employees were among the many rallying Friday against an imminent midsemester district takeover by the Texas Education Agency. Full Story
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![Laurel Hays holds a poster against the Texas Education Agency (TEA) takeover of Houston Independent School District (HISD) during a press conference regarding HISD's imminent state takeover in Houston, on Friday, March 3, 2023.]()
Credit: Joseph Bui for The Texas Tribune -
Debate over Texas drag shows intensifies
A lawmaker is accused of hypocrisy after it emerges that he once wore a dress. He says it wasn’t sexual. Full Story
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![State Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, gives a speech in recommendation of state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington for Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 88th Legislative Session at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 10, 2023. Tinderholt was defeated 145-3 to elect state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, as Speaker of the House.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas A&M University System bans diversity statements from job applications
The Texas A&M, Texas State and University of Houston systems are the latest to make changes after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop considering diversity in their hiring practices. Full Story
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![John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, speaks during a press conference at the PalmWood Event and Conference center in downtown Fort Worth on May 19, 2022.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Education Agency would have new power to enforce school safety plans under Senate bill
The bill, introduced months after the Uvalde school shooting, also allocates more funds to the state’s school safety allotment, which is money given to districts to improve campus security. Full Story
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![A police officer monitors Maplewood Elementary School in Austin the Monday morning following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers could no longer “double dip” into pension funds under newly filed bill
State Sen. Joan Huffman filed a bill that would repeal a provision that allowed longtime lawmakers to increase their yearly take-home income by $140,000 by collecting pension payments without retiring. Full Story
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![State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, speaks to state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on his resolution to declare an emergency on the Texas-Mexico border on April 2, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Aging state vehicle fleet fuels tens of millions in new money requests by agencies
Many state-owned vehicles are aging past the standards for replacement. Early budget drafts signal that lawmakers are considering funding some $237.6 million in requests for new ones. Full Story
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![Sec. of State Jane Nelson stands beside a 25-year-old Ford Ranger with over 30,000 miles on it, the agency’s only vehicle since 1998, on Feb. 8, 2023. "She's a grand old dame, but it's time for her to retire," Nelson said.]()
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Texas legislative leaders — Dan Patrick, Dade Phelan — jab each other’s priorities in dueling speeches
During dueling speeches to a conservative think tank in Austin, state House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who have a history of animus, split over property tax relief, criminal justice reform and school choice. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan, left, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.]()
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U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales defiant as he faces censure for breaking with Republican Party
The censure resolution cites Gonzales’ rejection of a border security proposal by fellow Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, and his support of a bill for same-sex marriage protections and a bipartisan gun safety law. Full Story
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![US Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas senators, facing criticism, soften proposed ban on Chinese purchases of land
The measure, endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, originally would have banned citizens of China, Iran, Russia or North Korea from buying land in Texas. Under a new version considered Thursday, the ban wouldn’t apply to dual citizens or lawful permanent residents. Full Story
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![A ranch for sale about an hour west of Del Rio on Nov. 21, 2013.]()
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Ted Cruz continues to take aim at AG Merrick Garland at CPAC
At the conservative political convention, the Texas senator also criticized President Joe Biden for his response to the Ohio train derailment and Dr. Anthony Fauci for his role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on March 2, 2023.]()
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Texas House’s property tax bill calls for $17 billion in cuts, tighter appraisal cap
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session. Full Story
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![Construction workers build houses in the new Teravista neighborhood in Georgetown on May 18, 2016.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Plurality of Texas voters say they support school voucher-like program
The poll from the University of Texas at Austin, released Thursday, found a plurality of voters support redirecting tax revenue to help parents pay to school their kids outside the traditional public education system. Full Story
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![Esperanza Alejo, Cardenas' TA, has her students present their drawings to Cardenas' class using a projector on Apr. 21, 2022. After Cardenas' class split into two different rooms, one managed by Cardenas and her substitute, Nancy Lopez, and the other by her TA, Esperanza Alejo, Cardenas still planned all the curriculum. The students do the same activities and have the same lessons in both classrooms. Some of the lessons, like the drawing vocabulary activity (NEED CLARIFICATION ON THIS ACTIVITY), are done at the same time with a Google Meets video call bridging the classrooms. "I didn't want them to feel like they were pushed out of my classroom - that they were still just an extension of my classroom," Cardenas said.]()
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This rural Texas hospital has closed twice. Now reopened, it hopes a new partnership can save it for good.
Under a new federal law, the rural hospital will get higher Medicare payments for shedding inpatient services to instead staff a round-the-clock emergency department. Full Story
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![The nursery at the shuttered labor and delivery unit of Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa on Dec. 9, 2017. The rocking chair pictured came from the original facility when the staff moved into the current facility in 2009.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott vows to exclude renewable energy from any revived economic incentive program
In 2021, the Texas Senate declined to consider a bill extending the program, which discounted local property taxes to lure big companies to the state. It had become plagued with bipartisan accusations of “corporate welfare.” Full Story
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![Wind turbines spin in Central Texas on March 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune