Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give us feedback.
Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Every year, our stories go ever further into our vast and diverse state, and ever deeper into the lives of the people who live here. From the northernmost tip of the Panhandle to the southernmost point in the Rio Grande Valley, from El Paso to Beaumont, from the largest cities to the smallest towns, Texas Tribune photographers were there, helping reporters tell the stories of we, the Texans.
JANUARY
This town wants to be named the quinceañera capital of Texas
DIBOLL, Jan. 4
The growing Hispanic population in Diboll, a town about 11 miles south of Lufkin in East Texas, has inspired a new economy of party planners and DJs to produce quinceañeras. City leaders are taking notice. More here from reporter Jess Huff and photojournalist Joel Andrews.
Guests stand and applaud as Sienna Raley, flanked by her parents Maria and Troy, begins the grand entrance at her quinceañera on Dec. 16, 2023, in Diboll.
Credit:
Joel Andrews for The Texas Tribune
This West Texas town has a lot of money in the bank. Why can't it pick up its trash?
KERMIT, Jan. 4
Like local leaders in many other towns in West Texas, the Kermit City Council spent years saving its tax revenue fearing the energy economy would crash. Now it is struggling to keep up with essential services like trash and road repair. Story by Carlos Nogueras, photos by Eli Hartman.
Texas Department of Public Safety contractors pave the intersection of Austin Street and Pine Street Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 in Kermit. The intersection, according to the mayor of Kermit, David Holbrook, is one of the busiest in town with a large majority of the traffic consisting of 18-wheelers hauling sand for the oilfields.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Left: Kermit Mayor David Holbrook: “Our home was not getting taken care of and we had a huge savings account,” Holbrook said about Kermit’s history of neglecting itself. Right: Oilfield traffic travels east along State Highway 302 out of Kermit.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
“The most hated people in Gunter”: How the government of this North Texas town broke apart
GUNTER, Jan. 18
Late in 2023, all five members of the City Council in this small Texas town north of Dallas quit. A fight over a railroad development had spiraled into political mudslinging, broken trust and conspiracy. Reporter Zach Despart and photojournalist Shelby Tauber on a town paralyzed by political dysfunction. Read the story here.
Gunter Mayor Karen Souther next to the historic water tower outside city on Jan. 11, 2024.
Credit:
Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
A railroad runs through the heart of Gunter, a town about 50 miles north of Dallas with a population of around 2,500.
Credit:
Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Uvalde victims’ families get an official acknowledgement of botched shooting response — but some want criminal charges
UVALDE, Jan. 18
Some relatives of the 21 people killed in Texas’ deadliest school shooting demanded criminal charges after federal officials said delayed police response cost lives. Read more here from reporters William Melhdo, Madeleine Rubin and Poojah Salhotra here. Photo by Chris Stokes.
Kimberly Mata-Rubio, mother of Alexandria Rubio, one of the children killed in the 2022 Uvalde mass shooting, speaks to media after U.S. Justice Department officials detailed failures in the law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary shooting.
Credit:
Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune
In Eagle Pass, a tense border standoff between Texas and the federal government is reaching a crescendo
EAGLE PASS, Jan. 22
A park in a remote town on the Rio Grande has the focus of a battle over border enforcement between the state and federal government. Story by reporter Uriel J. García, photos by Eddie Gaspar.
A group of migrants wades through the Rio Grande under the watch of Texas National Guard members near the riverbank at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Jan. 19, 2024. Texas has closed off Shelby Park, cutting access to federal agents to part of the Texas-Mexico border, according to a federal legal filing. The situation is escalating tensions between the Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott.
Credit:
Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
Maverick County residents Mike Garcia, left, and his daughter Amerika Garcia Grewal, right, at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass. The two have different political beliefs but are both alarmed at Gov. Greg Abbott's tactics on the border.
Credit:
Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
Migrants traverse the bank of the Rio Grande at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, on Jan. 19, 2024.
Credit:
Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
FEBRUARY
House Speaker Dade Phelan, enemy of the far-right, faces toughest reelection yet
BEAUMONT, Feb. 5
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and former President Donald Trump accused Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan of being a “RINO,” even as Phelan oversaw the passage of some of the most conservative bills in recent history. Learn more here from reporter Zach Despart and photojournalist Mark Felix.
Outgoing Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan at his office in Beaumont.
Credit:
Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune
Despite mounting doubts about his guilt, Ivan Cantu running out of time to avoid Texas’ death chamber
LIVINGSTON, Feb. 8
Convicted of killing his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée, the death row inmate hoped recanted testimony and other new details would spur a review of his case. Cantu was executed on Feb. 28. Reporter William Melhado and photojournalist Maria Crane with the story.
Ivan Cantu in prison at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Jan. 31, 2024.
Credit:
Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
These three “bandidas” are changing the face of Texas barbecue
LUBBOCK, Feb. 15
With menu items like birria brisket ramen, the Bar-B-Que Bandidas in Lubbock are challenging the norm of Texas barbecue and a male-dominated industry. Regional reporter Jayme Lozanos Carter reports. Justin Rex took the photos.
Simone See seasons ribs before putting them on the smoker at Hill Barbecue in Lubbock on Feb. 9, 2024.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
From left: Simone See, Jewel Hill and Raquel Lopez in the alley behind Hill Barbecue in Lubbock.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
The Panhandle Wildfires
TEXAS PANHANDLE, Feb. 26
In late February, wildfires swept across the Texas Panhandle in what became the largest such disaster in state history. Firefighters finally contained the largest, the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County. That inferno and a series of other blazes killed at least two people as they burned more than 1 million acres across several counties. The Smokehouse Creek fire wasn't declared contained until March 16, almost three weeks after it started.
Screenshots from the Texas A&M Forest Service of the fire in its early hours and a map of the fires raging in the Texas Panhandle taken at 8:44 A.M. on Feb. 29, 2024.
Credit:
Texas A&M Forest Service
A home near Fritch was destroyed by fire on Feb. 29, 2024.
Credit:
Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune
MARCH
Smoke hangs in the Canadian River Valley south of Stinnett after multiple days of wildfires on March 1, 2024.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
A plane drops retardant on the Roughneck fire near Sanford on Sunday, March. 3, 2024.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
Charred ground is all that's left on March 3 after the Smokehouse Creek fire burned through Currie Smith’s ranch in Hemphill County.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
Left: Cattle stand in the burn scar from the Smokehouse Creek fire on March 3 in Hemphill County. Right: A dead cow lays in a pasture burned by the Smokehouse Creek fire in Roberts County on March 3.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
At the Hemphill County Extension building in Canadian, Martin Ocasio loads pallets of cattle cubes onto a trailer to be delivered to a rancher on March 3, 2024.
Credit:
Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune
With Texas births rising post-Roe, disability advocates say child services need bolstering
CENTRAL TEXAS, March 11
Texas’ fertility rose after new abortion restrictions, raising concerns that special education and specialized health care will be stretched even thinner. Neelam Bohra reports. Photos by Maria Crane.
Debbie Wiederhold talks with her 31-year-old son Daniel at their home in Hutto on Feb. 29, 2024. Though Daniel was born with a rare brittle bone disorder, he lives an active life with support from state services.
Credit:
Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system
CLOVERLEAF, March 14
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe. The story is from Alejandra Martinez and Wendy Selene Pérez in English and Spanish. The photographers on the project were Go Nakamura and Danielle Villasana.
Cristina Lazo starts the daily routine of washing her daughter Alina’s hands, changing clothes and rubbing an ointment on her irritated eyes after coming home from outside. Lazo believes the fumes from the nearby industrial sector are contributing to her 7-year-old daughter’s symptoms.
Credit:
Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune
Alina Lazo watches a video while her mother Cristina Lazo looks out her front door while talking on the phone at their home in Cloverleaf. Sometimes the wind brings “smells like chemicals” and “you can see the dust in the house and in the cars,” Lazo said.
Credit:
Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune
Hundreds of chemical plants, refineries and terminals line the ship channel as seen in Pasadena, less than 15 miles southeast of downtown Houston. According to a report by Amnesty International, people living near the Houston Ship Channel, often low-income communities of color, have lower life expectancies than those living in wealthier, mostly white neighborhoods further from the industrial area.
Credit:
Go Nakamura for The Texas Tribune
Taking a cue from the pews, Texas churches expanding mental health services
AUSTIN, March 28
Many Texas faith groups have offered counseling services in the past. But more of them are expanding their programs and partnering with providers to help meet the growing need here for mental health services. Stephen Simpson reports. Photos by Montinique Monroe. Photojournalists Evan L'Roy and Chris Stokes also contributed to the story.
People attend praise and worship service at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Austin on March 24, 2024. The church has expanded its services to include mental health counselors as a resource for the congregation.
Credit:
Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
Church members attend worship service at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Austin on March 24, 2024.
Credit:
Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune
APRIL
Years ago, Texas hustled to get kids on state health care. Now it’s kicking them off.
McKINNEY, April 2
Texas’ recent unwinding of Medicaid and CHIP has been criticized after more than 1 million people eligible for the health insurance programs were dropped. Decades ago, Texas officials got kids health insurance in record time. Story by Karen Harper, photos by Azul Sordo.
August looks through the glass door of the birthday venue while cradling a balloon on Dec. 9, 2023. He had inoperable brain cancer and depended on Medicaid to pay for full-time home nursing care from a private agency to help his mother take care of him throughout years of health crises.
Credit:
Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune
August opens his birthday presents while surrounded by friends, a few with similar diagnoses, on Dec. 9, 2023. It was his first birthday party — August spent three of his five birthdays in the hospital.
Credit:
Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune
PHOTOS: Clouds break just in time for many in Texas to view eclipse
April 9
In some parts of the state, the skies cleared enough for people to see the total solar eclipse.
Left: The Austin skyline begins to light up as spectators watch the solar eclipse reach its totality in Zilker Park on April 8, 2024. Right: Attendees view the total solar eclipse at Cooper Lake State Park near Sulphur Springs.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune, Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
An edited image showing the phases of the total solar eclipse from Cooper Lake State Park near Sulphur Springs on April 8, 2024.
Credit:
Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
Spectators in Llano and Boerne take in the total eclipse of the sun. The eclipse's path cut a diagonal across Texas from Red River County in the northeast to Maverick County southwest of San Antonio.
Credit:
Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune, Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
South Texas farmers are in peril as the Rio Grande Valley runs dry — again
April 18
With the hottest days still ahead, local leaders have declared emergencies. And farmers are lobbying for the U.S. government to pressure Mexico to release water. Regional reporter Berenice Garcia reported. Ben Lowy took the photos.
Mike England walks across one of the fields on his farm near Mercedes on April 18, 2024.
Credit:
Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune
Texas politics leave transgender foster youth isolated — during and after life in state care
AUSTIN, April 23
Support once afforded LGBTQ+ foster kids has vanished and a culture of silence has blanketed the agency tasked with raising children growing up in the foster care system. See reporter William Melhado's and visual journalist Greta Díaz González Vázquez' story here.
Kayden Asher walks in a park near downtown Austin last year. Earlier this year, Asher moved in with his adoptive parents, whom he met while advocating for LGBTQ+ people at the Texas Capitol in 2021. He plans to stay with his family through his graduation in August.
Credit:
Greta Díaz González Vázquez/The Texas Tribune
Isabella Morningstar talks with Marcus Anthony, a case manager at Thrive Youth Center in San Antonio as he looks for an update on her new birth certificate. After she aged out of the foster care system in 2020, she had a difficult time updating her paperwork to reflect her legal name and gender marker.
Credit:
Greta Díaz González Vázquez/The Texas Tribune
University of Texas at Austin Protests
AUSTIN, April 24
Demonstrations supporting Palestinians turned chaotic at the University of Texas at Austin in spring 2024 as protesters and students clashed with school officials and law enforcement. More than 100 people were arrested. Leaders accused demonstrators of trying to disrupt campus, while protesters criticized law enforcement’s use of force. More of our coverage from various reporters and photographers here.
Pro-Palestinian supporters chant as law enforcement begins to remove demonstrators from an encampment on the UT-Austin campus on April 29, 2024.
Credit:
Julius Shieh for The Texas Tribune
Law enforcement disperses a crowd at a pro-Palestinian demonstration with flash bangs at the University of Texas Austin campus on April 29.
Credit:
Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune
MAY
Mangroves, expanding with the warming climate, are re-shaping the Texas coast
PORT ARANSAS, May 6
The tropical shrubs have been spreading north and growing more abundantly as climate change makes temperatures warmer. Scientists are unravelling what that means for coastal habitats. Story by Emily Foxhall, images by Angela Piazza.
Victoria Congdon, a marine scientist with Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Max Portmann, a doctorate student at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, talk about coastal ecology on April 18, 2024, in Port Aransas.
Credit:
Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune
Left: A young black mangrove grows with pickleweed, a succulent forb, near Oso Bay in Corpus Christi. Right: A whooping crane hunts in a salt marsh where a few mangrove trees dot the shoreline. Mangroves crowd out native plants, including Carolina wolfberry, a food source for the endangered cranes.
Credit:
Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune
The government wants to buy their flood-prone homes. But these Texans aren’t moving.
HARRIS COUNTY, May 20
In Harris County, the flood control district wants to buy properties along the San Jacinto River that have flooded repeatedly. Some residents aren’t leaving. Reporter Emily Foxhall and photojournalist Danielle Villasana with more.
Rodger Pace, left, and Veronika Scheid next to the tent where they’re currently living after flooding struck parts of Harris County. Scheid said that if the property owner took a buyout she would have nowhere to go.
Credit:
Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune
At Texas GOP convention, Republicans call for spiritual warfare
SAN ANTONIO, May 28
At the three-day convention, delegates moved the needle further to the right, preaching Christian nationalism and approving rules that would give them unprecedented control of elections. Robert Downen with the convention wrap-up, Tribune photographers Eddie Gaspar and Eli Hartman with the photos.
Nancy Leclerc poses for a photo in front of a GOP elephant statue during the Texas GOP Convention on May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Conventioneers browse a Donald Trump-themed clothing stand at the Texas GOP Convention on May 23, 2024.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Attendees at the Texas GOP Convention in San Antonio on May 24, 2024.
Credit:
Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
JUNE
How a chance meeting helped Texas become the nation’s top beekeeping state
SAN ANTONIO, June 3
Twelve years after a state law gave tax breaks for keeping bees on at least five acres, people are still getting into the trade — or throwing in the towel and hiring professionals to do it for them. Reporting by Emily Foxhall, photos by Jordan Vonderhaar.
Students learn how to inspect a bee hive at entomologist Molly Keck’s house during a beekeeping class in Boerne on May 10, 2024.
Credit:
Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
A hive at Molly Keck’s house during a beekeeping class in Boerne.
Credit:
Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
First: Gary Barber transports hives under red lights that help calm the bees during the move. Beekeeper Kasey Needham prepares for deliveries that can last until nearly dawn. Last: Honey Bees Unlimited hives are delivered to a property in Pilot Point.
Credit:
Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Unchecked growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water — a prelude for Texas
TERLINGUA, June 6
No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom. Regional reporter Carlos Nogueras Ramos and photojournalist Eli Hartman file from Far West Texas.
Diners sit for an evening meal at the Starlight Theatre in Terlingua Ghost Town. Despite its name, the Ghost Town has become a commercial hub in the region, offering art galleries, live shows, multiple restaurants and apparel shops for tourists to enjoy.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Left: Bill Gilles, president of the Study Butte Water Supply Corporation in Terlingua, recalls an incident where one of the corporation's wells went offline and created an emergency in late 2023. Right: Thomas Skinner, co-owner of Skinner’s Drilling and Well Service, examines the type of rock his rig is excavating while drilling a water well outside of Alpine. Skinner, who also services the southern part of Brewster County, says new wells in that area can cost more than $30,000 and aren't always guaranteed to produce water.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
JULY
As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas cities look to alternatives for water
EDINBURG, July 18
Many of the solutions are costly, putting them out of reach for small towns. But the region's most populous cities are getting innovative. Berenice Garcia and Eddie Gaspar report from the Valley.
Jairo Benavides, center, removes soil as the crew works on upgrading pipes and valves at a North Alamo Water Supply Corporation water plant in Donna on July 18, 2024. In order to increase the amount of water the plant is able to distribute, pipes were upgraded and replaced.
Credit:
Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
GEORGETOWN and TAYLOR, July 20
After an assassination attempt against Donald Trump and growing divisions among national Democrats, Williamson County voters mulled the November election. James Barragán with the story, Eli Hartman with the photos. 2024 Texas Elections
Left: Members of the Sun City Democrats meet to assemble Taylor Swift friendship bracelets in an effort to engage younger voters ahead of the upcoming elections on July 18, 2024, in Georgetown. Right: Annette Maruska, president of the East Williamson County Republicans, center, welcomes members to a July 18 meeting in Taylor.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Sun City, an age-restricted community, on July 18, 2024, in Georgetown, Williamson County’s seat.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
San Antonio church leaders train to serve as mental health counselors
SAN ANTONIO, July 22
Under a Harvard Medical School pilot program, church members and leaders will work as interns before counseling on their own, referring more serious cases to medical providers. Story by Stephen Simpson, photos by Olivia Anderson.
The St. Dominic Catholic Church in San Antonio on July 16, 2024. The church is one of eight in the city integrating mental health resources into their available services.
Credit:
Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune
AUGUST
Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states
TRINITY, SABINE AND HARRIS COUNTIES; August 13
Limits on who can be released without paying bail and difficulties hiring guards worsen the situation. Reporting by Pooja Salhotra, photos by Mark Felix and Hope Mora.
Left: A room where the personal items of inmates are stored at the Harris County Joint Processing Center. Right: A sheriff's officer drops off his belongings outside of the Harris County Detention Center in Houston.
Credit:
Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune
Sorcha Costigan holds up Jess Hampton’s army jacket in the bedroom of her home on Aug. 10, 2024 in Rosevine. “The goal is to get him out of jail, so he and I can both work on fighting this from the outside and get his name cleared,” Costigan said.
Credit:
Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune
Inmates rest on their bunks on June 4, 2024 in the Trinity County jail in Groveton.
Credit:
Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune
When Texas jail standards push inmates to lockups in other states, oversight doesn’t follow
HOUSTON, August 14
Jaleen Anderson’s mom is on a quest for details about her son’s death in a Louisiana prison that houses hundreds of Harris County inmates awaiting trial. Read Pooja's follow-up story, with photos from Danielle Villasana.
Raven Hall, right, shows Aminah Anderson, 9, left, where Anderson's father's name will be engraved on May 13, 2024 at the Paradise Funeral Home and Cemetery North in Houston. Hall's brother and Anderon's father, Jaleen Anderson, died while being held in LaSalle Correctional Facility in Louisiana.
Credit:
Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune
In a North Texas House race, two Asian candidates campaign on their version of the American Dream
GARLAND, Aug. 20
A Texas House race in the Dallas suburbs features the first Asian to win Miss Texas and the second Asian woman to serve in the state Legislature. Issac Yu has the story; Desiree Rios took the photos. 2024 Texas Elections
DFW Chinatown in Richardson on Aug. 19, 2024. The mall is in state House District 112, a largely suburban North Texas district where Democrat Averie Bishop is challenging Republican incumbent Angie Chen Button.
Credit:
Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune
Left: State Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson, (second from right) speaks to volunteers before they block walk at Big Springs Elementary School in Garland on Aug. 19, 2024. Right: Averie Bishop, the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 112 and former Miss Texas, puts on sunblock before block walking in Rowlett on Aug. 4, 2024.
Credit:
Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune
The oil industry is booming. This West Texas small business worries it’s been left behind.
GOLDSMITH, Aug. 22
Before the pandemic, Ben Bilbrey worked with some of the largest oil companies. Now he’s waiting for the phone to ring. Carlos Nogueras Ramos and Eli Hartman with a story from a small town in the Permian Basin.
Benny Ford carries a damaged tube anchor catcher to his truck from a well site outside Goldsmith on Aug. 14, 2024.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Odessa is still healing five years after a mass shooting
ODESSA, Aug. 29
“It’s like time passes, but it also freezes,” said Rosie Granados, whose twin sister was killed during the shooting. Carlos Nogueras Ramos looks back. Callie Cummings provided the photos.
The Bright Star Memorial on opening night in Odessa on Aug. 29, 2024.
Credit:
Callie Cummings for The Texas Tribune
SEPTEMBER
What Texas can learn from Italy’s big bet on tiny community health homes
EMILIA-ROMAGNA, ITALY, Sept. 3
In Italy, as in Texas, funding hospitals over primary care leaves many feeling “medically homeless.” Italy’s post-COVID plans show another way. Eleanor Klibanoff reports from Italy, with photos by Margherita Mirabella.
Cardiologist Paolo Pattoneri runs into several of his patients that see him at the community health clinic in San Secondo Parmense outside Parma, Italy.
Credit:
Margherita Mirabella for The Texas Tribune
The entrance of Casa della Comunitá di San Secondo Parmense outside Parma, Italy. Formerly a hospital, the building was converted in 2012 to become a community health home that provides a variety of health services to residents. Inside, a patient works through a session of physiotherapy.
Credit:
Margherita Mirabella for The Texas Tribune
Many Americans say immigration is out of control, but 24 hours on the Texas-Mexico border showed a new reality. Will it last?
TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER, Sept. 25
The Texas Tribune and The Associated Press visited five locations along the 1,254-mile span to separate the facts from the political narrative during a heated election year. A team of reporters and photographers from the Tribune and AP tell the story.
Clockwise from top left: A Venezuelan migrant family arriving in El Paso; the Rio Grande and Shelby Park in Eagle Pass; Andrés García, Border Patrol agent and public affairs officer at the border wall near Mission; a Customs and Border Protection officer and K-9 inspecting trucks at the Port of Laredo.
Credit:
AP Photo/Andres Leighton, Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune, AP Photo/Eric Gay, Gabriel Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Bernie Sanders tells Texas progressives to back Harris, says Allred win would “make all the difference”
OCTOBER
AUSTIN, Oct. 1
Joining Sanders as he campaigns up and down the Interstate 35 corridor are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Greg Casar, and former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke. Jasper Scherer with the story; Lorianne Willett took the photos. 2024 Texas Elections
From left, Beto O’Rourke, Lloyd Doggett, Greg Casar, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak at a rally organized by the University Democrats organization at the University of Texas at Austin on Oct. 1, 2024.
Credit:
Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune
How a school voucher supporter won in a Texas House district with almost no private schools
SPLENDORA, Oct. 2
Gov. Greg Abbott said the primary showed Texans want vouchers. In House District 18, an ad blitz and immigration fears may have played a larger role. Reporter Jaden Edison filed this story, with photos from Annie Mulligan. 2024 Texas Elections
Cheer teams chant on beat during the "Meet the Wildcats" community event at Splendora High School on Aug. 16, 2024.
Credit:
Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
First: Attendees watch as students from different teams are introduced during the "Meet the Wildcats" community event at Splendora High School on Aug. 16, 2024, in Splendora. Next: Young participants show goats during a fundraising event for the FFA program. Last: Matilda Shaefer asks her mom Allyson to look over a class folder on their way to Timber Lakes Elementary School on Aug. 29, 2024, in Splendora.
Credit:
Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
Colin Allred, Ted Cruz blast each other as “extreme,” throw jabs on border and abortion in Senate debate
DALLAS, Oct. 15
The debate proved combative from start to finish, with Cruz and Allred trading barbs on nearly every issue that came up. Political reporters Jasper Scherer and Renzo Downey reported, Tribune freelancer Shelby Tauber was the pool photographer.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, left, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, take part in a debate for the U.S. Senate hosted by WFAA on Oct. 15, 2024, in Dallas.
Credit:
Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune via POOL
Delta-8 hemp and Texas medical marijuana industries to face off in the upcoming legislative session
AUSTIN, Oct. 23
Medical marijuana providers say they must operate under strict rules while hemp products like delta-8 can proliferate. Stephen Simpson reports, with photos from Lorianne Willett.
Jason Sanders, director of cultivation at Texas Original medical marijuana dispensary, gives a tour of his facility on Sept. 26, 2024.
Credit:
Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune
NOVEMBER
Election Day
Nov. 6
After a protracted series of pitched partisan battles over how elections should be conducted, a mostly quiet Election Day ensued in Texas. Donald Trump was reelected and state Republicans won handily down the ballot, showing strong gains in traditionally Democratic South Texas. The whole newsroom at the Tribune was on, and photographers fanned out across the state north to south, east to west, and many points in between. Read our extended coverage here.
Ector County residents cast their vote at a polling location inside a Market Street grocery store on Election Day in Odessa.
Credit:
Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Presiding election judge Dina Patel, center, gives final instructions to election workers before polls open on Election Day at Parker Elementary in Houston.
Credit:
Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks at his election night watch party after losing the U.S. Senate seat to incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas.
Credit:
Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Ted Cruz celebrates on stage at his watch party on Nov. 5, 2024, in downtown Houston.
Credit:
Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election at the Esperanza Acosta Memorial Library in El Paso. Some voters waited in line for around two hours.
Credit:
Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune
DECEMBER
Texas farmers say sewage-based fertilizer tainted with “forever chemicals” poisoned their land and killed their livestock
JOHNSON CO., SAN ANTONIO, FORT WORTH AND ARLINGTON; Dec. 2
The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land. Alejandra Martinez has the story. Photojournalists Azul Sordo, Erika Nina Suarez and Chris Stokes provided the images.
Tony and Karen Coleman stand over a plot of land where they buried a deceased calf and bull on their property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024.
Credit:
Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune
The two most common ways to dry sewage sludge is through a belt press or drying beds. The belt presser is a mechanical device that sandwiches the sewage sludge between two tensioned belts. The sludge is passed over and under rollers, which squeezes out the water. Sand drying uses rectangular sand beds where sewage sludge is spread and left to dry using sunlight. Heat from the sun evaporates the moisture from the sludge. Once dried, it looks like a crumbly material.
Credit:
Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune
Tony Coleman pets "Tank," a bull they raised and bottle-fed as a calf on their property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024.
Credit:
Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune
Handshakes, murals and ministry: A reopened Texas prison focuses on rehabilitation
BARTLETT, Dec. 2
The Bartlett Unit in Williamson County will house 1,049 male inmates who will participate in educational programs aimed to help them secure a job after they’ve served their time. Pooja Salhotra reports; Lorianne Willett was the photographer.
Men incarcerated at the Bartlett Innovation Unit sit in a dormitory-style room on Nov. 21, 2024.
Credit:
Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune
As landowners resist, Texas’ border wall is fragmented and built in remote areas
TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER, Dec. 19
At least one-third of landowners approached by state officials have refused to let wall be built on their properties. That’s forced the state to largely build on ranch land in remote areas, or erect sections that are full of gaps. Read the monthslong investigation from Zach Despart, data visual journalist Yuriko Schumacher,Uriel J. García, and photographers Ben Lowy and Eli Hartman.
Border wall construction near Del Rio in Val Verde County in September. Texas has allocated $3.1 billion for wall construction to date. It says it has built 50 miles. The state pays between $17 million and $41 million per mile of construction.
Credit:
Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune
Eduardo Riojas, 84 was shot by a stray bullet from Mexico in 2021 that went through the wall of his house, pierced his hand, and went through his hip as he was sleeping in bed.
Credit:
Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune
A man rides a horse next to border wall in Starr County. The Legislature prohibited the use of eminent domain for the wall in 2021, meaning the state can’t seize land for the infrastructure project. But a bill for consideration in the new legislative session could change that.
Credit:
Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Texans need truth. Help us report it.
Independent Texas reporting needs your support. The Texas Tribune delivers fact-based journalism for Texans, by Texans — and our community of members, the readers who donate, make our work possible. Help us bring you and millions of others in-depth news and information. Will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount?
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3ff03878d3cf42172b40c93aec497063/1216%20Quincenera%20Capital%20JA%2015.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/950bf3fad1ed07ba518d7cac38b8f0ec/1108%20Cash%20Strapped%20Kermit%20EH%20TT%2006.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c7317e1740ca7a81560252b1fc57c4da/0118%20Uvalde%20DOJ%20Presser%20CS%20TT%2016.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5074899999b3d45179178e61c9cef8ff/0119%20Eagle%20Pass%20Day%20IV%20EG%2004.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dbe5aa373422065dcdead6cf5d1dc861/0126%20House%20District%2021%20MF%20TT%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/02f73e3a65d4a7d6253d19ed9bc554ce/0131%20Ivan%20Cantu%20MC%20TT%2017.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/211184055c8b570f9b9ceeebca535596/0229%20Panhandle%20Fire%20MR%2012.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b5f6e6da0264880ee8954d021297c7c5/0301%20Panhandle%20Fires%20JR%2002.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/81d8479dfc4db338527bcb765533eeff/0303%20Roughneck%20Fire%20JR%20TT%2003.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6cdb1ce27ce93cf70fff1c5dd1c5a1e1/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%2035.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/92f044c14a802368989044a922eb3dce/0229%20PT%20III%20Disabled%20Services%20Post%20Roe%20MC%2009.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b6508a43dac4976f4ef54160975ef653/1%20-%201210%20Cloverleaf%20Family%20DV%2005.JPG)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bacfef5d93f9838a53aa944fd5e2e10f/3%20-%201028%20Bike%20Ride%20EV%20GN%2023.JPG)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5ea82aab783b5678f06e4cce95b19a92/0324%20Rehoboth%20Chruch%20MM%2005.JPG)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3b88902b9a0855f9685fc7d0ca8bdbcd/0324%20Rehoboth%20Chruch%20MM%2011.JPG)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c18a51e69c9074136c00832d3c1bc753/1209%20McKinney%20Medicaid%20AS%20TT%2020.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5e6d7a6b34aa92eddd366b50ca67a3b1/1209%20McKinney%20Medicaid%20AS%20TT%2023.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/994e865c1cc5d3f4be54076cf9fa772b/1119%20Trans%20Foster%20Youth%20GDGV%20TT%2001.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7627d5985f516e6ae0d5bb315f5d55cf/1121%20Trans%20Foster%20Youth%20GDGV%20TT%2060.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/62254644c4b7f0f7010d650f2907a2b2/0429%20UT%20Protest%20JS%2014.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/eea8c8f96fefdf7ec4aeaaddcf8a5c0c/0429%20UT%20Protest%20LS%20TT%2018.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/02744b5d419c2da6421713a876a7194a/0418%20Mangrove%20Aransas%20AP%20TT%2009.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/40f83c6fc5f416163350236f17c24329/0514%20Flood%20Buyouts%20DV%20TT%2024.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b168bf2072d7c5edb67a71bc865511de/0523%20GOP%20Convention%20EH%20TT%2067.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/353e2a557f43708b64c625b0587ad640/0523%20GOP%20Convention%20EH%20TT%2057.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a240c075cdf6910b39c8e2fc44de817d/0524%20Texas%20GOP%20Con%20EG%20TT%2060.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b033aeb084ee5e515fb0ee2abc2a3c61/0510%20Beekeeping%20Field%20Day%20JV%2006.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/84a52e25380a6733b961af1caa08dd65/0510%20Beekeeping%20Field%20Day%20JV%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/12c8f1351d36f66f7f47debe39d6d815/3-%200404%20Terlingua%20Water%20EH%2005.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2c26b661deb6a099dacae33fa7898819/0717%20RGV%20Water%20-%20NASWC%20EG%20TT%2028.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/143af73e03ccde8cfa16a0b53b36c791/0718%20GOP%20Friendship%20Steak%20Bracelets%20EH%20TT%2019.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/fd1f26d2ff9eb6577384c175c7b17501/Religion%20Mental%20Health%20OA%20TT%2071.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6f6b2b45e4bd24fee9167c51d6403189/0810%20Rosevine%20Jail%20HM%2018.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9481b7282b89e0147719f7ed1054d5f3/0604%20Trinity%20County%20Jail%20MF%2010.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/436c013088ffe7f14fb9b97e6453642f/0513%20Jail%20Due%20Process%20DV%20TT%2032.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/72528c15bb199fec09c0f9745148844f/0819%20Chen%20Button%20DR%20TT%2032.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7eca307e14342badd4c8d87d38cbbefa/0814%20Goldsmith%20EH%20TT%2059.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/41cf94d2fd118ef61499cfaa7f457e53/0829%20Bright%20Star%20Memorial%20CC%20TT%2021.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bbc30533c23a7648fe2ad590ac090f57/Casa%20della%20Salute_San%20Secondo%20Parmense_Cardiologist_Paolo%20Pattoneri_DSC_5578.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/af0ca2e018cae87504bee46a7658c4d7/1%20-%2024%20hours%20lead%20quad%20-%20w%20borders.JPG)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a1659910a6afaa4b6a9e7560b2423092/1001%20UT%20Bernie%20Rally%20LW%20TT%2012.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/595168f79a583caffd29da00ffe42b37/Public%20Schools%20Vouchers%20AM%20TT%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c5a27bfa4b82f3e46faced41f671a744/1015%20Cruz%20Allred%20Debate%20ST%20TT%2023.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d568e4b0eb2ee90efd9d05c683f82d62/0926%20Weed%20Law%20LW%20TT%2026.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/70a4f4550c1eba54bdadd0cf8d579092/1105%20Election%20Day%20Permian%20Basin%20EH%20TT%2019.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/85d0c9d6fa9cd8d4704584778cc32506/Houston%20Voting%20AM%20TT%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8c9cefa999fc4287be7eb556991bd284/1105%20Colin%20Allred%20Watch%20Party%20ST%20TT%2003.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3eb7980191cf18cb031ff02472c07aa7/crop-%201105%20Ted%20Cruz%20Election%20AM%2006.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/393b1e32443eda938284c20549f2336b/1105%20Election%20Day%20El%20Paso%20JH%20TT%2025.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/79de5d5714a19a228f1824435e94b572/Farmer%20PFAS%20AS%20TT%2040.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/57527adb390b97549f0e21e19b0ad931/1121%20Bartlett%20Prison%20LW%2033%20TT.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4af49550503928353966164c88b3e7a3/1023%20Texas%20Border%20Wall%20Mapped%20BL%20TT%2042.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/John_Jordan_2020_TT.jpg)