Past Contributions

• For Texas ranchers living along border fence, talk of an illegal crossing crisis is exaggerated

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 30, 2018

  Many Rio Grande Valley residents have farmed land along the border fence for decades. On hot summer days, they mow their lawns and repair trucks, take care of ailing relatives and sip coffee at local convenience stores. What they don’t do, they say, is worry about a crisis at the border. Full Story 

• More than 1,000 rally in Brownsville to protest family separations

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 28, 2018

  Demonstrators from across Texas gathered in front of the federal courthouse in Brownsville on Thursday to protest the separation of undocumented children from their parents at the border. Full Story 

• A viral Facebook fundraiser has generated more than $20 million for immigration nonprofit RAICES

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 27, 2018

  Over the last week and a half, a Facebook fundraising page has generated more than $20 million for RAICES — three times the nonprofit's annual budget and more than 40 times what it raised in all of 2017. Full Story 

• Five years after Wendy Davis filibuster, Texas abortion providers struggle to reopen clinics

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 25, 2018

  For all Wendy Davis’ determination, getting an abortion in Texas is much harder today than it was in 2013. Abortion rights advocates believe it will take at least another decade for the state’s health care providers to re-establish the network of abortion clinics that existed before HB 2 became law. Full Story 

• STAAR glitches affected more than 100,000 Texas students, education commissioner says

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 13, 2018

  Education Commissioner Mike Morath said Wednesday that 41,702 students were affected by slow connectivity during testing in April, while another 58,743 experienced slowdowns or had trouble logging into computerized tests in May. Full Story 

• Texas education board votes to call long-sought Texas course "Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies"

  By David Yaffe-Bellany Updated: June 13, 2018

  During a hearing on Tuesday, dozens of Mexican-American educators and activists implored the board to change the name of the course from “Ethnic Studies: An Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent” to “Mexican-American Studies." Full Story 

• Scores of Texas women are running for office. Many of them are new to politics.

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 11, 2018

  With lots of female candidates in Texas trying to win spots in the state's male-dominated congressional and legislative delegations, a series of workshops on Sunday helped Democratic women navigate the challenges of running their first political campaigns. Full Story 

• Texas has 254 counties. Beto O’Rourke has campaigned against Ted Cruz in each of them.

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 9, 2018

  Beto O'Rourke's grassroots campaign in 254 counties represents a major deviation from the political playbook employed by the majority of Texas Democrats over the last 20 years. Most campaigns concentrate on the state's major population centers. Full Story 

• Lawsuit claims Texas senator interfered in liquor agency investigation

  By David Yaffe-Bellany June 8, 2018

  State Sen. Joan Huffman denies that she tried to influence an investigation into a bar in which she had a financial interest. A fired agent said he was told a state senator tried to kill the probe, but he doesn't have evidence that Huffman "told anybody to falsify records or delete records." Full Story 

• Texas just opened the nation's first state-run gold depository. Here's what that means.

  By David Yaffe-Bellany Updated: June 6, 2018

  Texas lawmakers signed off on building the country's first state-backed gold depository in 2015 after the project was reworked to ensure a private firm would absorb all the costs. Gov. Greg Abbott said at the time that the project would allow Texas to “repatriate” gold from New York. Full Story