Brass knuckles and other self-defense items will be legal in Texas starting Sept. 1
House Bill 446, authored by state Rep. Joe Moody, lifts a ban on brass knuckles and similar self-defense items. Full Story
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Riane Roldan
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Riane Roldan was a reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune in 2019. She is a graduate of Emerson College, where she studied journalism and Latin American/Latinx studies. Before that, she received her associate's degree in mass communication from Miami Dade College. Riane has worked as an investigative reporter for Northwestern's Medill Justice Project, where she wrote about a Miami man who spent 12 years in prison for a murder he claimed he didn't commit. She speaks Spanish and was an intern for NPR affiliate WLRN in South Florida, where she covered the safety commissions created in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.
Past Contributions
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New law makes it easier for college students to avoid taking classes that won't transfer
The bill mandates required reporting from colleges and universities about courses that don't transfer, and aims to help students save time and money. Full Story
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![The Austin Community College Riverside campus on Feb. 27, 2019.]()
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Texas raises the legal smoking age, exempting members of the military
Senate Bill 21, authored by Sen. Joan Huffman, a Republican from Houston, made Texas the 16th state to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Full Story
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![English student Kristin Miller smokes a cigarette and checks her phone on the South Mall between classes.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
President Trump is talking about red-flag laws. Texas lawmakers have blocked those bills in the past.
In the wake of shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, the president and Congress are discussing laws blocking access to firearms for people considered an imminent threat. But here in Texas, bills that would do that have made little traction. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.]()
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Here's everything you need to know about Texas gun laws
A debate over gun control was reignited after a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso. Here's a rundown of Texas' gun laws. Full Story
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![Guns at McBride's Guns in Austin on Mar 26, 2013.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Residents told to "stay indoors, shut their windows," after fire at ExxonMobil plant in Baytown
A fire at a plant east of Houston left six people injured, according to the Houston Chronicle. Full Story
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![Smoke rises from a fire at Exxon Mobil's refining and chemical plant complex in Baytown on July 31, 2019.]()
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Number of detained migrant children without U.S. sponsors spikes, federal official says
The Office of Refugee Resettlement's director told CBS News that thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could be held longer — some past their 18th birthdays — because they don't have U.S. sponsors. Full Story
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![Two young children are seen inside a temporary migrant holding area setup by CBP under the Paso del Norte International port of entry between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso on March 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
The federal government opened a model facility for migrant kids last month. Now it's being closed.
Kevin Dinnin, head of the San Antonio-based nonprofit that runs the Carrizo Springs shelter, said it was "too much, too late." Full Story
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![A group of mostly teenage migrants on the grounds of The Studios, a converted temporary shelter for migrant kids in Carrizo Springs on July 12, 2019.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
ICE has released this Dallas-born U.S. citizen detained for more than three weeks
Customs and Border Patrol agents detained Francisco Erwin Galicia, a Dallas-born citizen, at a checkpoint in late June, according to The Dallas Morning News. Full Story
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![Francisco Erwin Galicia]()
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Near the border, a former camp for oilfield workers now holds hundreds of migrant children
The emergency shelter in Carrizo Springs has already drawn protests, but the company that runs it says it's providing a better environment for migrants than overcrowded Border Patrol facilities. Full Story
![A group of mostly teenage migrants on the grounds of The Studios, a converted temporary shelter for migrant kids in Carrizo Springs on July 12, 2019.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune