Texas Republicans in Congress vote against bill to protect right to contraception
The House passed the measure, but it will have a harder time getting through the evenly divided Senate. Full Story
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Matthew Choi is a Washington correspondent for The Texas Tribune. He previously covered energy and climate policy at Politico, where he wrote the Morning Energy newsletter and covered campaign events as a breaking news reporter during the 2020 presidential election and the Mueller investigation. Before joining Politico, Matthew was a two-time reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune based in Austin, reporting on education, health care, immigration, guns, agriculture and land management. He graduated from Northwestern University where he studied journalism and political science and was managing editor of The Daily Northwestern. Matthew is a native of Northern Virginia and speaks both French and English. In his free time, Matthew enjoys cooking French country food while listening to Simon and Garfunkel.
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![Emergency contraceptives.]()
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U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar arrested outside Supreme Court during protest over Roe reversal
Escobar was part of a demonstration with several other Democratic congresswomen, including high-profile Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass; all of whom were also arrested. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, votes no on the first article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2019.]()
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Blogger with ties to Vicente Gonzalez lobs racist attack at his congressional opponent Mayra Flores
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s campaign has a history with the politics blogger, using more than $1,000 in campaign funds to pay him for advertising services. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, speaks at the Pro Life America's Hopeful Future conference in McAllen on July 9, 2022. Flores, recently sworn into office after a special election, faces an uphill battle in November as she competes against Democrat Vicente Gonzalez for the Texas CD-34 seat.]()
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How Texas educators train before arming themselves at school
The school marshal program allows certain school staffers to carry a firearm and neutralize active shooters on campus. Here's how participants train. Full Story
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![An educator partakes in a simulated shooting as part of a training for school marshals. School marshals are school staff trained and armed to take out a threat to their campus.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate school safety committee recommends focusing on mental health, avoids gun control
The Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Safety also wants to explore new funding to help arm certain school employees. Full Story
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![Left to right: State Sens. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownville, and John Whitmire, D-Houston, at the second day of hearings held by the Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security on June 12, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Blocked from distributing plans for 3D-printed guns, "crypto-anarchist" is still in the DIY gun business
Cody Wilson's group Defense Distributed is known for attempting to upload the digital blueprints for 3D-printed guns. But he also helps customers make unregistered, unserialized conventional firearms. Full Story
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![Cody Wilson, gun rights activist and founder of Defense Distributed, a Texas-based company developing and publishing open source gun designs for 3D printing and manufacture.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Following lawsuits, Texas company's plans to upload blueprints for 3D-printed guns are on hold
An Austin organization founded by a self-identified anarchist is no longer releasing information on how to use 3D printers to make guns at home in light of legal challenges from states. Full Story
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West Texas A&M president finds home in Panhandle after controversial past
Walter Wendler, president of West Texas A&M University, has expanded community outreach and doctoral programs for rural areas, but his past has its share of contentious moments. Full Story
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![West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler.]()
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The Trump administration will aid farmers hurt by trade war. Some Texas lawmakers call it welfare
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $12 billion in emergency aid to offset the effects of new tariffs — to the relief of many Texas farmers. But some Republicans in Congress would rather see Trump end the tariffs. Full Story
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![Cotton fields ready for harvest, Highway 87, south of Lubbock, Texas.]()
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Texas senators agree on the need for school mental health services, but can they fund it?
In their third scheduled meeting, the Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security discussed the role of mental health in school shootings and ways to address it. But questions of funding kept popping up. Full Story
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![State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, listens to testimony during a Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security hearing on July 18, 2018.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune