Texas counties left scrambling after critical election equipment loses its certification
Texas decertified a widely used electronic pollbook after problems in November. Will a fix arrive in time for the next election? Full Story
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![People line up to vote at the Oak Lawn Branch Library in Dallas on Election Day, November 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Lubbock celebrates native Dustin Burrows’ rise to Texas House speaker
Meanwhile in the Panhandle, Republicans were less excited that Burrows won the speaker contest thanks largely to Democrats. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, addresses the House after being sworn in as House speaker, on the first day of the 89th Texas Legislative Session at the capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Abbott sends state troops to U.S.-Mexico border to work with Border Patrol
The 400 members of a special tactical unit left bases in Houston and Fort Worth on Monday morning, according to the governor’s office. Full Story
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![Gov. Abbott speaks to DPS Troopers and National Guard troops at a Thanksgiving dinner event in Edinburg on Nov. 26, 2024.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Social media isn’t the only cause of mental health woes among Texas youth, advocates say
Social media’s danger on youth mental health has captured the attention of Texas lawmakers, at times, eclipsing focus on bigger threats — provider shortages and funding cuts to programs. Full Story
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![Social media appliations are seen grouped on a mobile device in this illustration photo taken in Warsaw, Poland on 16 January, 2025.]()
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Several bills filed to weaken vaccine mandates as more Texas families opt out of immunizations
Emboldened by Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s nomination and disdain for pandemic-era mandates, skeptics are pushing for bills to make it easier to opt out of vaccines. Full Story
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![A man carries a sign protesting Houston Methodist Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown on June 7, 2021. Employees who chose not to inoculate themselves by the hospital's Monday deadline faced suspension without pay and job termination, a policy criticized by the protesters as unfair and unauthorized.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Feds drop charges against Texas doctor accused of leaking transgender care data
Dr. Eithan Haim of Dallas had faced four counts for wrongfully disclosing the individually identifiable health information of underage patients at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Full Story
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![Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
Gaza ceasefire brings bittersweet relief to Texans with ties to the war-torn region
Israeli and Palestinian supporters in Texas welcome the tenuous halt to the war sparked by a 2023 attack with cautious optimism. Full Story
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![Ayman Alafifi joins friends at Lakeline Park in Cedar Park, Texas on January 18, 2024.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Greg Abbott seeks $11 billion in federal reimbursements for border security
In a letter to U.S. congressional leaders, the governor blamed previous border security policy for leaving Texas “defenseless,” forcing state officials to spend billions. Full Story
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![Then-former President Donald Trump greets and shakes hands with Gov. Greg Abbott at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, on Nov. 19, 2023, after the governor announced his endorsement of President Trump. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America,” the governor proclaimed.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Conservatives clinch longtime goal of booting Democrats from leadership ranks in Texas House
Conservative activists in the GOP caucus called any power sharing with the minority party a betrayal of Republican voters. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, addresses the House after being sworn in as House Speaker, on the first day of the 89th Texas Legislative Session at the capitol in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court tosses state bar case against Ken Paxton
The state bar had sought to sanction Paxton, which could have carried a punishment ranging from a private reprimand to disbarment. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, speaks to the media Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, during a press conference following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas,” at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, a push for residents to lose weight and curb diabetes
In Brownsville, the city and local hospital have helped residents lose more than 23,000 pounds since 2008. Full Story
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![Pedro Mego, a medical doctor specializing in treating peripheral artery disease and helping patients prevent the need for limb amputations, poses for a photo at his clinic in Mission on Jan. 21, 2025.]()
Credit: Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
School vouchers in Texas: Everything you need to know
Vouchers would let parents use public funds to pay for their kids’ private education. Learn about how they could work and the political battle around them. Full Story
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![Lorenzo G Alarcon Elementary School received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to create a calming and quiet room with the school counselor in San Elizario, Texas on July 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas budgets pitch vouchers, teacher raises, border security
Both chambers set aside $1 billion for a voucher-like education savings account program — double what was on the table two years ago — in a sign that supporters are emboldened after recent electoral gains. Full Story
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![The Texas State Capitol on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas regulators overhaul oilfield waste rule for the first time in four decades
The new rule modernizes some aspects of commercial oilfield waste disposal and recycling. But rules for burying oilfield waste on private property remain limited. Full Story
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![An aerial view of produced water ponds constructed by Martin Water in Lenorah.]()
Credit: Julian Mancha for The Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News -
State employees suspected of stealing from low-income Texans' public assistance accounts
Seven human services employees were fired after a string of fraud and theft — and the largest data breach in agency history. Full Story
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![The fresh produce section of a Brookshire Brothers grocery store in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023.]()
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Ken Paxton investigation could come to an end under Trump
Donald Trump and the Texas attorney general have forged a friendship over the years, one that has been cemented in their shared political and legal struggles and their willingness to come to each other’s aid at times of upheaval. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump, center, greets Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, right, at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Nov. 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via REUTERS -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 22 other states sue to halt planned federal methane fines
The rule fines certain oil and gas facilities that exceed federal limits for methane emissions. Full Story
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![The Rebel Gas Plant vents off natural gas into two flare stacks Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Garden City.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Trump to tap Texas “border czar” to lead U.S. Border Patrol, report says
Mike Banks, a former Border Patrol agent, has served in his current role as a special advisor to Gov. Greg Abbott since January 2023. Full Story
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![Texas Border Czar Mike Banks at a news conference regarding border security at the Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Feb. 21, 2023.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers eye sharing health care workers with other states to address provider shortages
Advocates say interstate compacts, which allow professionals to use their work licenses in multiple states, can solve Texas’ workforce shortage. Skeptics fear Texas would send more workers than it would receive. Full Story
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![Scenes from UT Health San Antonio’s NOW Clinic on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at the NOW Clinic in San Antonio, Tx. The New Opportunities for Wellness (NOW) Clinic provides San Antonio with quick and reliable behavioral health services from professionals.]()
Credit: Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court weighing constitutionality of Texas’ age-verification requirement for porn sites
The Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ law, which adult entertainment website attorneys said were the most overreaching in the country, could determine the fate of similar laws in more than a dozen other states. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, during a press conference following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas,” at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune