Texas Senate passes bill to make illegal voting a felony again
The priority bill, backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, reverses a change the Legislature made two years ago during an omnibus voting bill that made illegal voting a misdemeanor. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bfdead4c9af0c3ee4dbb72775107d53d/Election%20Day%20San%20Marcos%20EH%20TT%2006.jpg)
-
![Voters line up outside of the Hays County Independent School District Arnold Transportation Building voting center to cast their vote in the Texas General Elections on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Kyle.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
A storied Texas Panhandle newspaper halts publication after 130 years
The end of The Canadian Record’s print edition — even if temporary — is another indication of how perilous the news business is for local publishers and the communities they’re a part of. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/108d037dd9086083c7f2b3dc41324b6d/0308%20Canadian%20Newspaper%20MR%20TT%2008.jpg)
![Canadian Record editor Laurie Ezzell Brown talks about the current state of small Texas newspapers. Her newspaper has ceased its print publication leaving only the online version to serve the community’s needs.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Texas removed six Black children from their homes. Their adoptive parents drove them off a cliff.
After a murder-suicide in 2018, a reporter spent years investigating Texas’ troubled foster care system. Too often, it prioritized terminating parental rights over keeping birth families intact. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2ff3f9568fb47475bb8b374c1ef56677/IMG_3178A%20SQUARE.JPEG)
![Clockwise: Devonte, Ciera, (group photo) and Jeremiah are seen in a CPS photo used for the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TERE)]()
Credit: Roxanna Asgarian/The Texas Tribune -
Shuttered Fairfield Lake State Park will reopen temporarily starting Tuesday
State officials plan to offer free day access to the property as they consider how to acquire the land before its sale. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9a908f1e13770caaeec98120be128861/0227%20Fairfield%20Lake%20SP%20EG%2008.jpg)
![State Park Police Officer Kyle Ware points at a map of Fairfield Lake State Park in Fairfield on Feb. 27, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
National Republicans say they will spend big to oust Rep. Vicente Gonzalez from his South Texas seat in 2024
Congressional Republicans’ campaign arm will make another effort to unseat the South Texas Democrat who ran in one of the state’s most competitive races last year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9b9bffb6e7ef218f60697cb5e8723af5/1108%20Vicente%20Watch%20Party%20MG%20TT%2008.jpg)
![U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, at his election night watch party in Brownsville on Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of Feb. 1. It includes detailed data for the 113 agencies in state government and positions at each of those agencies. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7e482060af5d495ae1ef490c81731a70/TT-GSE-pointer-art.png)
![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
How could Texas spend its record $32.7 billion surplus?
If Texas’ budget surplus were distributed directly to Texans, it could pay for 12 years of school lunches, seven months of rent or 11,000 miles of travel. Here’s how to put the big number into perspective. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f3922a316909b9d00ad3eba871cbae39/budget-surplus-lede-art.png)
![An illustration of people gathered.]()
Credit: Alex Ford/The Texas Tribune -
Legislature has little appetite to fund Ken Paxton’s settlement with whistleblowers
A lack of lawmaker support jeopardizes the attorney general’s $3.3 million settlement, which would resolve a lawsuit alleging Paxton fired high-ranking deputies who accused him of misconduct. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a87a413a52e2fbcb4a64b69de1112dfa/0110%20Lege%20Opening%20BD%20TT%2039.jpg)
![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gave a speech in the Senate chamber during his swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 10, 2023. This is Paxton's third term in the office.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Hundreds of frustrated Venezuelan migrants block bridge linking El Paso and Juárez
Migrants rushed through the toll booths on the Juárez side of the bridge Sunday afternoon after rumors spread that the border was temporarily opened. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/af6e4031b4a3719d00113ac69ce6455a/0312%20Paso%20Del%20Norte%20EPM%2001%20TT.jpg)
![Venezuelan migrants gather at the top of the Paso del Norte International Bridge on Sunday as rumors swirled that Customs and Border Protection would receive migrants without prior appointments.]()
Credit: Photo courtesy Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters -
Hearing scheduled for abortion-pill lawsuit, but Texas judge delays announcing it publicly
Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk wanted to minimize protests and threats in connection with the closely-watched case, people familiar with the plan said. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bf4ce433ddd1edbd0e5d63c9e3454537/0211%20Amarillo%20Abortion%20DW%20TT%2009.jpg)
![Protestors opposed to a possible ban on medication abortions march through the streets around the Potter County Courthouse in downtown Amarillo on Feb. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: David Bowser for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate’s priority bills on higher ed would end tenure, diversity policies
The bills are part of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s list of priorities and, if passed as filed, could have profound impacts on how Texas universities recruit top faculty and other employees. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9e60853f1ab2b82bb9e674a674f0ca25/03_University_of_Houston_MS_TT.jpg)
![University of Houston students back on campus in Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, after Hurricane Harvey.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
House unveils bill giving state authority to “repel” and return migrants crossing from Mexico
House Bill 20 by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would test the boundaries of the state’s ability to enforce immigration law, which courts have historically ruled falls under federal purview. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d9284ea9562acc18bb3c7569628b1f9c/Operation%20Lone%20Star%20VGC%2039.jpg)
![Department of Public Safety agent arrest an undocumented migrant after he was caught on private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Texas families would get $8,000 in tax dollars to send students to private school in sweeping “parental rights” bill backed by lieutenant governor
The bill, which has the blessing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, will create new rules on how gender and sexual orientation is taught. It will face a tougher test in the House. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9ab2f461a5a521b8c264cb1700a10f2f/Chapa%20Middle%20School%20JV%20TT%2012.jpg)
![An empty classroom at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Three Texas women are sued for wrongful death after allegedly helping friend obtain abortion medication
In the first lawsuit of its kind since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a husband seeks damages from women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain the medications to terminate her pregnancy. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1d1a0ff6a64783a4c034c238e9b33bbc/Mifepristone%20REUTERS.jpg)
![A patient prepares to take mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, on Jan. 13, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein -
Conservative radio host Glenn Beck buys Roe v. Wade attorney Linda Coffee’s archive to highlight “bloody legacy”
Coffee, the last living member of the legal team that argued the landmark abortion case, put her archive up for auction. Beck bought it for $600,000. He says it will fit in with his “German eugenics” collection. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e57f8b3fc5a24fdc85868cd8152a272d/Linda%20Coffee%20ST%20TT%2017.jpg)
![The filing receipt for Roe vs. Wade from the U.S. Northern District Court of Texas in Linda Coffee’s home in Mineola, TX on July 7, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Landowners fear injection of fracking waste threatens West Texas aquifers
Operators pump a sea of “produced water” underground for disposal. Intensifying tremors raise fears that the deep toxic waste pits could intermingle with water used for farming and drinking. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f94405d0d5feca765a337f77eb21f873/2023-01-30_David_Schifflett_Farming_Pu.Ying.Huang085.jpg)
![David Shifflett, a farmer in Reeves County, parses records of his protests to the Texas Railroad Commission against permits for nearby wastewater injection wells.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Talking politics with Jen Psaki
In this week’s episode, James speaks with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki as she prepares to transition to hosting a new show on MSNBC. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ac4072b9d8dcd39ddc9f293e4234aa55/TribCast%20March%209.jpg)
![Jen Psaki.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Jen Psaki -
Workforce shortages in the state psychiatric hospital system prolong jail time for mentally ill Texans
The state has added more beds for jail inmates who need psychiatric treatment to be considered competent to face trial. But at least a third remain empty because the state can’t hire enough people to staff them. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/29/IMG_5042.jpg)
![The Austin State Hospital is shown on April 29, 2016. Despite an infusion of funding from lawmakers for the state’s mental health care system, Texas struggles to provide psychiatric care for all patients who need it.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber/The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates
Under Senate Bill 23, all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. It’s meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/710d1b396057cfda720b7dce4357c2e4/San%20Marcos%20Gun%20Show%20JV%20TT%2003.jpg)
![Assault-style weapons are laid on a table at a gun show in San Marcos on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Arthur Brown Jr. for Houston slayings despite claims of innocence, intellectual disability
Brown’s appeals ran out after almost 30 years on death row. Defense attorneys claim Harris County prosecutors hid evidence pointing to another suspect in the 1992 shooting deaths of four people in a Houston drug house. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/50994b8bdf3522dbe584ad76f7794b40/02%20Death%20Chamber%20TDCJ%20GR%20TT.jpg)
![Interior of Death Chamber]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice