Bills seek to improve state’s response to wildfires a year after devastation in Panhandle
A proposal to create a statewide system connecting emergency personnel and agencies is among several bills that target problems exposed in 2024. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/62cdccedde978ba0c3e1dfb6ef4dbcb8/0207%20Canadian%20Fire%20Anniversary%20JL%20TT%2016.jpg)
-
![Trees marked from the 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fires line the sides of the main roads of Canadian, Texas, Feb. 7, 2025. The Smokehouse Creek Fire is the largest wildfire in Texas history.]()
Credit: Jacob Lujan for The Texas Tribune -
How at-large voting creates conservative majorities on Texas school boards
In six Texas districts that used at-large voting systems, ideologically driven groups successfully helped elect school board members who have moved aggressively to ban or remove educational materials that teach children about diversity. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b474c1d5d44a979d66c113e8c9c22f0b/20241219-Tauber-LongGameAtLarge-0012_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg)
![Keller Independent School District’s Board of Trustees listens to public comment during a meeting on Dec. 19. Board members are elected using an at-large voting system that dilutes the power of voters of color, according to a lawsuit.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Lawmakers want to give schools more leeway to suspend Texas’ youngest and homeless students
The proposal aims to make working conditions safer for teachers but critics worry it could push the state’s most vulnerable students out of the classroom. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b816a4c52384cae4a589af6e29b313a5/TX%20Lege%20HB%206%20KCG%2001.jpg)
![Texas Rep. Jeff Leach delivers opening remarks and answers questions before the Public Education Committee regarding House Bill 6 relating to discipline in public schools in Austin on March 18, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
Two men convicted in the smuggling deaths of 53 immigrants in San Antonio
The 2022 tragedy was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cb9ac567bbdeb2037939e6cf53fcbc34/Migrant%20Truck%20Memorial%20SF%20TT%2005.jpg)
![A sign sits on display at a makeshift memorial on Thursday, June 30, 2022 outside San Antonio, TX. Community members paid their respects to the 53 people who died after being left in a truck trailer in a human smuggling operation. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate advances school prayer, Ten Commandment bills
The vote comes amid a broader push by conservative Christians to infuse more religion into public schools and life. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c7a1696609aad7f3c28290e0789cda42/0606%20Capitol%20File%20JT%20TT%2022.jpg)
![The Texas Capitol and the Ten Commandments Monument at sunrise on Tuesday, June 6, in Austin, Texas.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill would ban K-12 students from using cell phones during school hours
If the proposal becomes law, Texas would follow in the footsteps of several Democrat- and Republican-led states that have enacted similar bans. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5e102513522be27c8d9afba60a0391b3/0318%20House%20Public%20Ed%20KG%2002.jpg)
![The Texas House of Representatives Public Education Committee hears public testimony on House Bill 1481 relating to the use of personal wireless communication devices during school hours and activities in Austin on March 18, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
University of Texas System bans drag shows in campus facilities
The move comes a few weeks after the Texas A&M System issued a similar ban, which is being challenged in court. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/941196efbdb42e10be85562a71b1a996/0306%20Draggieland%20Ban%20Protest%20IS%2019.jpg)
![Dulce Gabbana applies makeup on Angelo Rios, a university student, for Day of Drag at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, on Wednesday, March 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Ishika Samant for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ first abortion arrests stem from monthlong attorney general investigation
These represent the first criminal charges under Texas’ near-total abortion ban. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b534c314d89665a816e8a3e0cdb090a3/Doctor%20Clinic%20Medical%20Women%20Health%20SS%20TT%2006.jpg)
![A nurse speaks with a patient at a clinic in Houston on Aug. 2, 2013.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Measles, COVID and the state of our public health system
On the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID pandemic, we discuss the measles outbreak and the state’s ability to respond to health crises. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d8c670478a41034fbbe4e666ebac38e5/Measles%20TribCast.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Texas measles cases rise to 279. Here is what you need to know.
West Texas measles outbreak still limited to 11 counties, as of Tuesday. All but two of 279 infected patients were unvaccinated. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/17360fa812038d11239fc276ebda8e86/0227%20Measles%20Lubbock%20REUTERS%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Devonay Pena comforts her 13-month-old daughter, Jaqi Herrera, after Herrera received her first dose of the MMR vaccine at the City of Lubbock Health Department in Lubbock on Feb. 27, 2025.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Annie Rice -
An abandoned West Texas oil well has created a 200-foot-wide sinkhole
The rapidly-growing sinkhole in Upton County is the latest of many problems caused by old wells in the Permian Basin. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/39648eac06eec7bd3698308f02c9e49a/0313%20Kelton%20Sinkhole%20MP%2002%20TT%20straight.jpg)
![A sinkhole formed by an old oil well on the Kelton Ranch in Upton County, Texas, has grown rapidly in the past year.]()
Credit: Martha Pskowski/Inside Climate News -
After COVID, Texas is less prepared for the next pandemic
Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/458ffd7e7ba31ad9465e21b335a37672/Covid-5%20Illo%20FINAL%20JPEG.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Diana Branzan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans seek to clarify when doctors can intervene under abortion bans
A Senate bill filed Friday does not expand abortion access, but aims to give doctors clarity while operating under laws that come with up to life in prison. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c7284c6c386d49a9f4b4ded31181faa2/05_Eastland_Memorial_GR_TT.jpg)
![A surgical suite at Eastland Memorial in Eastland on March 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers weigh moving bingo operations out of Texas Lottery’s purview amid agency’s uncertain future
A possible reassignment of the charitable games comes as 15 bills in the Legislature seek to either alter or abolish the troubled agency. Full Story
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers seek to transfer University of Houston-Victoria to Texas A&M system
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said Texas A&M is better positioned to grow the Victoria school and serve the region’s petrochemical and agriculture industries. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b282cda52e7bb2c6e29b684a9882d043/1115%20TAMU%20Achieve%20CTE%20Program%20EL%2006%20TT.jpg)
![Students walk to class on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station on Nov. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
As Trump vows mass deportations, Texas lawmakers want to require sheriffs to work with ICE
Some sheriffs worried that Senate Bill 8 could create an unfunded mandate, while civil rights advocates warned about possible racial profiling. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0132b5abfe1195f8d61d5143742dd19c/06202019%20ICE%20Raid%20REUTERS%20TT%2001.jpg)
![U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers carry out a raid as part of Operation Cross Check in Sherman on June 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Courtesy Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -
National Republicans target South Texas Democrats for 2026 election
Reps. Cuellar and Gonzalez are moderate Democrats who represent border districts that increasingly vote Republican. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7e25035f0b0e5a7082176d198a3c1cb7/NRCC%20Cuellar%20Gonzalez%20dip%20TT.jpg)
![U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Christian Menefee, top civil attorney for Harris County government, announces bid for Sylvester Turner’s congressional seat
The district has been a Democratic stronghold, held for decades by Sheila Jackson Lee and most recently by former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who died March 5. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a2433c3b3e46e04c8affdfbbace54960/0607%20TDP%20Convention%20JH%20TT%2065.jpg)
![Harris Co. Attorney Christian Menefee speaks at the first general session at the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso on June 7, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas schools have leaned on uncertified teachers to fill vacancies. Lawmakers want to put a stop to it.
Underprepared teachers have been tied to student learning losses. But amid a teacher shortage crisis, school leaders fear the restrictions will lead to fewer instructors in their classrooms. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9eb24e80b00d8a5791f3b60da8aa83cb/Cactus%20Elementary%20MG%20TT%2016.jpg)
![A classroom in Texas.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas to close border site used to process arrested migrants
The state opened the facility in Jim Hogg County in 2022. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1b293b83d1592eadb7608d8e48a8a229/0229%20Biden%20Brownsville%20EH%2020.jpg)
![A pedestrian films a video of Texas National Guard soldiers repairing concertina wire along the U.S.-Mexico border after a migrant swam north across the Rio Grande to the United States Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville. 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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/31eabd471bbc8243aa59ee41ae2b7dcc/Bingo%20Land%2005-12%20ES%20TT%2020)