Here are the biggest stories from our data visuals team in 2024
The Tribune’s data journalists helped visualize everything from voter participation and extreme weather to gaps in the state’s border wall. Here are some of the highlights.
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2024: The year in photos
A look at some of the best photos from the stories we published over the last year.
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environment
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Texas Legislature 2025
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criminal justice
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Latest News
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Beginning Jan. 1, cars registered in Texas won’t need to pass a safety inspection, but owners will still pay the fee
Noncommercial cars in 17 counties will still have to pass an emissions test to obtain a state registration. Full Story
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![Inspection stickers will begin disappearing from Texas vehicles when the state rolls out a new single-sticker program for inspection and registration on March 1, 2015.]()
Credit: Ryan McCrimmon for The Texas Tribune -
Look back at some of the best Texas Tribune reads of 2024
Our journalists brought life to the experiences of everyday Texans, held powerful institutions accountable and surfaced stories that went beyond the daily news cycles. Full Story
![The dome of the Texas State Capitol on Thursday, April 24, 2014.]()
Credit: Anneke Els Paterson for The Texas Tribune
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Seven Texans facing federal execution given clemency, four others given state pardons
On the same day that President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of seven Texans, Gov. Greg Abbott issued his own set of pardons. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden speaks as he visits the Department of Labor for an event honoring the nation's labor history and Frances Perkins, longest serving U.S Secretary of Labor, in Washington on Dec. 16, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
A new personalized way to read The Texas Tribune
We’re partnering with aLayer, a research organization, to test a tool that will help Tribune readers customize their reading experience. Full Story
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![Logos for The Texas Tribune and aLayer, a research firm leading a presentation experiment for Tribune content.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune and aLayer
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Advocates say there aren’t enough of them in Texas long-term care facilities
Officials hope state lawmakers will boost the budget of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman office, an independent state agency, which can often be an elderly Texan’s only lifeline to the outside world. Full Story
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![An empty room at the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on April 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
As Texas Chief Justice Nathan Hecht prepares to retire, he reflects on the Supreme Court he helped change
Over 35 years, Hecht modernized the court, increased access to justice for the poor and saw his conservative views come to dominate the bench. Full Story
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![Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht delivers his State of the Judiciary speech at the Supreme Court in Austin on Apr. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton sues NCAA over transgender athletes’ participation in women’s college sports
The attorney general is accusing the organization of misleading fans by allowing transgender college athletes in women’s sports. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to delegates at the Texas Republican Convention in San Antonio on June 15, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune
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Retiring U.S. Rep. Kay Granger discloses “health challenges” after congressional absences
The Fort Worth Republican’s last vote in Congress was in July. She did not seek reelection this year. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, sits in the House Chamber during a second round of voting for Speaker of the House, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Donald Trump picks Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta as ambassador to Italy
Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets and Landry’s restaurant group, hosted a fundraiser for Trump earlier this year. Full Story
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![Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta leaves the court during the fourth quarter of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Toyota Center in Houston on Oct. 15, 2024.]()
Credit: Erik Williams/Imagn Images/USA TODAY Sports via REUTERS -
South Texas coal-fired power plant to switch to clean energy after receiving more than $1 billion in federal money
San Miguel Electric Cooperative's plan to turn into a solar and battery plant will leave only 14 coal-fired power plants in the state. Full Story
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![The San Miguel Electric Cooperative power plant can be seen in the background of a sign for the Peeler Ranch on April 26, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
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Farm Bill gets extension as Congress passes spending package and averts shutdown
The legislation includes financial aid and money for recent natural disasters, but farmers still will be relying on outdated provisions from the 2018 bill. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmaker files bill to reduce “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer
The bill would require companies to test fertilizer made from sewage sludge for PFAS and meet limits before selling them to Texas farmers and ranchers. Full Story
![Biosolids are collected at the SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House panel may never hear Robert Roberson’s testimony after new legal move
Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to delay legal proceedings until Jan. 13 — the day before the committee disbands — even as lawmakers vowed to continue fighting to hear from Roberson. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Innocence Project
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Why were border wall materials put up for auction? Here's what you should know.
Some Texas lawmakers including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick slammed the Biden administration over the auction of wall materials. But the sale was directed by Congress — and Texas has already bought some of it. Full Story
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![Building supplies and construction equipment sit along a section of state border wall Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, outside of Del Rio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Cartels turn to social media to lure Americans into human smuggling as Texas enforces stricter laws
Thousands of people have been arrested under Texas’ human smuggling law. Now they face at least a decade in prison under sentencing guidelines that took effect this year. Full Story
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Credit: Tara Anand for The Texas Tribune -
Attorney General Ken Paxton files motion to block death row inmate Robert Roberson from testifying
The motion escalates a tense standoff between Paxton and a bipartisan Texas House committee, which had subpoenaed Roberson to testify at the Capitol on Friday. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
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Texas is now home to 31 million people even as population growth slows
Texas added nearly 563,000 residents within the last year, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. Full Story
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![The Austin skyline begins to light up as the solar eclipse reaches peak totality on Monday, April 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Donald Trump hopes a Republican challenges U.S. Rep. Chip Roy over debt ceiling opposition
President-elect Donald Trump blasted the Austin Republican for opposing his plans to raise the debt ceiling unless there are restrictions on future spending. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, outside the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2024.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Texas’ latest effort to deter migrants is a billboard campaign in Mexico, Central America
Gov. Greg Abbott announced the new strategy, which will cost an estimated $100,000, during a press conference in Eagle Pass. Full Story
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![Gov. Abbott speaks at a press conference in Eagle Pass where he unveiled state-sponsored billboards being placed in Central and South America to deter migrants from coming to the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 19, 2024.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune - More News