Helicopter crashes along U.S.-Mexico border, killing three
Two National Guard members and a U.S. Border Patrol agent died in the crash in Starr County Friday afternoon. Full Story
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William Melhado
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William Melhado was an Austin-based general assignment reporter until 2024. He originally joined the Tribune in 2022 as a Poynter-Koch fellow. Before his time at the Tribune, William worked as a staff writer at the Santa Fe Reporter, an alt-weekly newspaper in New Mexico, and he also worked as an educator for five years at a public high school in the Bronx, New York and at international schools in Tanzania and Nepal. A native of Boulder, Colorado, William graduated from Middlebury College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and earned a master’s in secondary science education at CUNY Lehman College.
Past Contributions
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![Emergency vehicles and personnel at the site where a Texas National Guard helicopter crashed near La Grulla on March 8, 2024.]()
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“The families deserve more”: Uvalde city report clears local officers of wrongdoing
Families were infuriated by praise for local law enforcement in a report on the Robb Elementary School shooting released Thursday by a private investigator. Full Story
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![A mural in memory of Makenna Lee Elrod, one of the 21 Robb Elementary school shooting victims in Uvalde on Oct. 22, 2022.]()
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A petition to recall Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson fails
The former Democratic state lawmaker announced he was switching party affiliations last year — prompting the recall by community activist Davante Peters. Full Story
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![Dallas mayor Eric Johnson speaks with Chad Hasty about his second-term agenda and partisanship at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 22, 2023.]()
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Ken Paxton successfully ousts three Republican criminal appeal court judges
Three incumbent judges with nearly a century of criminal law experience fell victim to Paxton’s political revenge tour after they ruled against the attorney general in a 2021 voter fraud case. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Two law enforcement officials criticized in DOJ report for Uvalde response advance in reelection efforts
Sheriff Ruben Nolasco and Uvalde County Constable Emmanuel Zamora were named in the Justice Department’s blistering criticism of responding officers in its January report. Full Story
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![Copy of the Department of Justice's Critical Incident Review Active Shooter at Robb Elementary School, at the Herby Ham Activity Centerin Uvalde on Jan. 18, 2024.]()
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U.S. Supreme Court continues blocking Texas immigration law
Senate Bill 4 would allow Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border. Full Story
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![National Guard members tell migrants that they cannot cross through that area and that they need to walk until the end of the property to turn themselves in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through. Some will be sent back after being arrested for trespassing private property without allowing them to go through the immigration process in the U.S.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
As Biden and Trump visit the border, many Texas residents feel ignored
When the two presidents used the Texas-Mexico boundary as a backdrop for the national immigration fight, residents felt they were left out of the conversation. Full Story
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![Pedestrians walk through downtown Brownsville early Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. President Joe Biden visited Brownsville on Thursday, receiving briefings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS, and ICE along the border before giving remarks at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton’s Annunciation House investigation is the latest attack on religious organizations aiding migrants at the border
For years, conservative religious groups and Texas politicians have accused groups housing newly-arrived migrants of encouraging, and profiting from, illegal immigration. Full Story
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![Migrants wait inside a local migrant shelter, Annunciation House, after leaving immigration court, Tuesday, August 23, 2022, in El Paso.]()
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Texas executes Ivan Cantu for Dallas murders despite doubts of his guilt
Faith leaders and jurors from the original trial launched a public campaign to reconsider recanted testimony in Cantu’s case. Texas courts declined. Full Story
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![Ivan Cantu poses for a photo on Jan. 31, 2024. Cantu is locked in a room for visitation and uses a telephone to speak to a reporter.]()
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Former DA investigator faces federal heroin trafficking and money laundering charges
A federal jury convicted Alex Kassem of Houston after hearing evidence that the former county employee transported heroin across Texas and Louisiana in a marked police car. Full Story
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![The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on their headquarters on Feb. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via REUTERS