State calls for investigation into cause of Texas Panhandle wildfires
As officials try to determine a cause for the wildfires, a Canadian homeowner filed a lawsuit blaming an energy company for the destruction. And more are expected. Full Story
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![Texas Governor Greg Abbott, center, speaks at a press conference with Nim Kidd chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, left, and Hutchinson County Judge Cindy Irwin, right, Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Borger, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
New Panhandle wildfire emerges, forcing evacuation of tiny town of Sanford
Get the latest updates as firefighters continue battling massive fires that have burned more than 1 million acres. Full Story
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![A plane prepares drops retardant on the Roughneck fire near Sanford on Sunday, March. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex 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.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
In two Texas border towns, Biden and Trump push for different immigration approaches
Immigration is a driving issue in the almost-certain presidential rematch between the Democratic incumbent and ousted Republican. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden gives remarks during a visit to Brownsville on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw testifies before grand jury investigating Uvalde school shooting
McCraw, the state police chief, traveled to Uvalde to appear before a grand jury considering criminal charges against officers for their botched response to the 2022 school shooting. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testifies during the Homeland Security & Public Safety committee hearing at the state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 28, 2023. McCraw emphasized the drug and human smuggling crisis at the border, and answered questions concerning the training that DPS officers undergo in relation to school shootings.]()
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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.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Years before Texas conservatives painted them as criminals, Colony Ridge residents sought help from state agencies
Texas has little to show for conservative leaders’ uproar — or previously unreported complaints about the community developer. Full Story
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![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in New Caney, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott signals support for IVF in Texas after Alabama ruling
Abbott stopped short of calling on the Legislature to take actions to protect IVF after a Alabama court ruling threw fertility treatments into legal limbo in that state. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Abbott recounted policy victories in regards to fentanyl and the border crisis, as well as limiting gender affirming care and banning DEI practices in higher education. Abbott ended the event by promising to call a special session for school choice, after the current special session for property tax resolves.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Railroad Commission approves oilfield waste ponds next to Baptist camp in Permian Basin
Martin Water is building an oil and gas waste recycling facility next to the Circle 6 Baptist Camp in the Permian Basin despite concerns about water and air pollution. Full Story
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![Circle 6 Baptist Camp, bottom, and produced water ponds, constructed by Martin Water, top, in Lenorah on Feb. 24, 2024. The Railroad Commission approved the construction of the ponds, used to treat and recycle produced water from fracking, next to the Circle 6 Baptist Camp in the Permian Basin.]()
Credit: Julian Mancha for The Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News -
Does the First Amendment apply to social media moderation? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide.
In 2021, Texas passed a law restricting large social media companies from banning political posts or users. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a legal challenge to the state law. Full Story
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El Paso leaders rally around migrant shelters after Attorney General Ken Paxton’s threat to shut them down
Paxton’s office demanded records of migrants that Annunciation House has helped and threatened to shut down the Catholic shelter network. Full Story
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![Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, speaks at a press conference on Feb 23, 2024. Earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced a lawsuit against the migrant shelter Annunciation House for allegedly operating a stash house and human trafficking. Annunciation House has been providing aid and shelter to migrants in El Paso for more than 40 years.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Victoria Neave Criado launched a surprise bid against fellow Democrat Sen. Nathan Johnson. Here’s why she did it.
In a district composed mostly of communities of color, Neave Criado hopes to topple Johnson with her stances on immigration, domestic violence and women’s issues. Full Story
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![State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, and State Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune and Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune. -
Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families
The USDA estimates the families of 3.8 million children could have received $120 per child to cover summer lunches if the state participated in the new $2.5 billion program launching this summer. Texas is one of 15 states opting out. Full Story
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![Siblings Stacy Hurd, 11, Angelica Hurd, 5, and Sheniya Hurd, 8, eat a free meal together at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, one of more than 70 sites the East Texas Food Bank sponsors in the summer.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
A Texas school has punished a Black student over his hairstyle for months. Neither side is backing down.
In a test of Texas’ new CROWN Act prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles, a judge said the Barbers Hill school district can limit the length of male students’ hair. Full Story
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![Darryl George has been punished by the Barbers Hill school district for his hair.]()
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Child welfare officials move to reduce Texas judge’s oversight of embattled foster system
The request to remove several court orders marks the first time the state has made any major attempt to get out from under an injunction issued in the 13-year-old case. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offices in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
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Frustration boils as Abbott, Paxton target GOP incumbents
Big spending and anger surround reelection bids for state House members like Glenn Rogers, who’s facing heat for votes on vouchers and Ken Paxton’s impeachment. Full Story
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![State Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, walks to his desk on the House floor prior the gaveling in of the second special session of 2021 on Saturday, August 7.]()
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Texas has spent more than $148 million busing migrants to other parts of the country
Since Gov. Greg Abbott announced the program in 2022, Texas has paid to bus more than 102,000 migrants to cities around the country. Full Story
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![Two buses transporting migrants from Texas arrive at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott’s new plan in response to the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era emergency health order which allowed immigration authorities at the border to deny entry.]()
Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas to build 80-acre base in Eagle Pass for National Guard troops
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that the base will hold up to 2,300 soldiers who have been deployed to the border. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at a press conference with several other states leadership at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Feb. 04, 2024.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Texas and Biden administration lawyers face off in court over new law making illegal border crossing a state crime
An Austin judge will decide whether Senate Bill 4 will go into effect on March 5. The new law allows police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border. Full Story
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![Migrants speak with a State Trooper at the bank of the Rio Grande at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, on Jan. 19, 2024.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
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