President Joe Biden visits Dallas and Houston for fundraisers
Biden landed in Dallas late Wednesday afternoon. He had no public events on his schedule. Full Story
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Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
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![President Joe Biden speaks about U.S.-Mexico border security and enforcement during remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Jan. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
New EPA rule to slash cancer-causing emissions from sterilization facilities
Laredo residents who live near a sterilization plant say the new federal limits on the pollutant will improve air quality and reduce their city’s high cancer risk. Full Story
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![The Midwest Sterilization Corporation in Laredo on May 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tóxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos públicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro. Full Story
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![People walk through San Jacinto Park as a tanker ship passes through the Houston Ship Channel in La Porte. Thousands of families live and play near the world’s largest petrochemical complex.
Un grupo de personas camina por el Parque San Jacinto mientras un barco cisterna pasa por el Canal de Navegación de Houston en La Porte. Miles de familias viven y juegan cerca del complejo petroquímico más grande del mundo.
People walk in San Jacinto Park as a large tanker ship pass through Houston Ship Channel on the background in Saturday October 28, 2023 in La Porte, TX]()
Credit: Go Nakamura for The Texas Tribune -
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system
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. Full Story
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![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 the outside. Lazo believes the fumes from the nearby industrial sector are contributing to her 7-year-old daughter’s symptoms.
Al llegar a su casa desde el exterior, Cristina Lazo inicia la rutina diaria de lavarle las manos a su hija Alina, cambiarla de ropa y aplicarle una pomada en los ojos irritados. Lazo cree que la fuga de gases del complejo industrial cercano están contribuyendo a los síntomas de su hija de 7 años.
On November 10, 2023, Cristina Lazo helps her six-year-old daughter Alina wash her hands at their home in Cloverleaf, Texas.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred wins Democratic primary to face Sen. Ted Cruz in November
Allred bested state Sen. Roland Gutierrez in a crowded pool of Democrats. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Colin Allred shakes hands with Dallas City Council members Adam Bazaldua and Omar Narvaez during a campaign watch party for the Senate seat in Dallas, TX on primary election day, March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas greenlights negotiations with SpaceX for Boca Chica State Park land exchange
Monday’s vote lets Texas Parks and Wildlife staff begin negotiations to swap 43 acres in the park for 477 acres next to a federal wildlife refuge. Full Story
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![The SpaceX South Texas launch site in Boca Chica on Nov. 29, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Wildfires ravage cattle country, threatening Texas’ agriculture economy
Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought. Full Story
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![Don Gourd watches hay be loaded onto his trailer to take to neighbors affected by the Smokehouse Fire Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Borger, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texans in the Panhandle recall towering smoke and darkened skies as wildfires crept near their towns
The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake. Full Story
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![A car sits front of the burned the Rose Trailer Sales business on State Highway 136. Residents have been working to recover from the Tuesday grass fires that devastated parts of the panhandle.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
The EPA sets tougher national soot standards. These 10 Texas counties already exceed them.
Some environmental experts are skeptical that Texas can meet the new rules on particulate matter, which can cause serious respiratory problems. Full Story
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![Production units are seen in operation at Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, U.S., May 15, 2023.]()
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How Texas is playing a major role in the race to develop clean energy technologies
The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into developing clean power sources. In this conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune in Houston, panelists discussed how Texas companies are playing a major role in emerging technologies like hydrogen and geothermal. Full Story
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