The latest East Texas news from The Texas Tribune.
Republicans believe rural Texas will play a crucial role in delivering Texas for President Donald Trump on Tuesday as polls continue to show a close race in the state. Full Story
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Native American tribe members say mistrust of the government and a history of erasure of indigenous people contribute to a lack of voter participation. Full Story
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Don Darby's crop bloomed perfectly this year. But with many churches closed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, most will never leave his greenhouses. Full Story
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The lawsuit takes aim at towns that have declared themselves "sanctuary cities for the unborn." Full Story
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Waskom declared itself a "sanctuary city for the unborn." City leaders acknowledged that the decision will likely lead to a lawsuit. Full Story
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The bill, which goes into effect Sept. 1, prevents cities and neighborhood associations from prohibiting or regulating children who sell nonalcoholic drinks on private property. Full Story
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The region has some of the highest suicide rates in the state. But the safety net for people who need help is being stretched thin, and some Texans are falling through. Full Story
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Upshur County is suing a slew of prescription painkiller manufacturers and distributers in federal court, accusing them of fueling a nationwide opioid addiction epidemic. Other Texas governments may follow suit. Full Story
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University of Texas at Austin researchers call it “plausible” that underground injections of oil and gas waste triggered a series of temblors that rattled Timpson residents in 2012. Full Story
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The Texas State Board of Education doesn't hold the national sway it once did, so if the controversial East Texas grandmother is elected her impact might be marginal. Full Story
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State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is reaching out to voters in conservative hotbeds in North and East Texas — a nod to Democrats’ dependence on increasing voter turnout in statewide races. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Water Development Board's executive director issued a final recommendation Monday that the controversial Marvin Nichols reservoir in northeast Texas remain in the state water plan for now. Full Story
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Filmmaker Richard Linklater always thought life in prison was too harsh for Bernie Tiede, the East Texas mortician who murdered his 81-year-old companion. Now — in large part because of Linklater's film on him — Tiede is no longer behind bars. Full Story
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The East Texas town of Jasper has reached an $831,000 settlement in the federal discrimination lawsuit brought by its first black police chief after his 2012 firing. Full Story
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When Bernie Tiede went to trial in 1999 for murdering a wealthy Carthage widow, many in the town wanted the young man to see a light punishment. But 15 years into his life sentence, many now say prison is where he belongs. Full Story
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About eight months after a ruptured pipe spewed at least 210,000 gallons of tar sands oil in Arkansas, residents and some public officials in East Texas are calling on regulators to permanently shutter the Pegasus pipeline, which runs beneath local reservoirs and backyards. Full Story
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Former Police Chief Rodney Pearson has become a reluctant symbol for many in Jasper's black community of how little has changed in race relations since James Byrd Jr.’s dragging death. Full Story
Jasper continues to deal with fallout from the dismissal of its first black police chief. Black community leaders in the East Texas town say racial tensions are at "an all-time high." Full Story
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The short-lived tenure of Jasper's first black police chief — and the public feuding it has provoked — threatens to wrench open still healing wounds from the town's troubled past. Full Story
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GOP leaders from East Texas see a tight race in the HD-7 primary rematch between state Rep. David Simpson and Tommy Merritt, a former seven-term House member. Full Story
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