TEXAS NEWS
South Texas woman loses wrongful arrest lawsuit in controversial abortion case
Read full article: South Texas woman loses wrongful arrest lawsuit in controversial abortion caseA federal judge on Tuesday dismissed Lizelle Gonzalez’s suit seeking $1 million in damages in which she accused local officials of malicious prosecution and conspiracy.
White Texans, students previously in private school or home-school make up bulk of voucher applicants
Read full article: White Texans, students previously in private school or home-school make up bulk of voucher applicantsThe demographic breakdown of applicants shows Texas’ voucher program will likely not reflect the diversity of Texas public school students.
T-Squared: We’re relaunching our Texas Public Schools Explorer to better serve parents and teachers
Read full article: T-Squared: We’re relaunching our Texas Public Schools Explorer to better serve parents and teachersToday, we are unveiling our most ambitious update yet to The Texas Tribune’s schools explorer, with more information and added context to help Texans interpret information about our schools.
AI-aligned super PACs are pouring millions into Texas congressional races
Read full article: AI-aligned super PACs are pouring millions into Texas congressional racesGroups funded by artificial intelligence industry leaders have spent more than $2.8 million in the state, mostly on U.S. House GOP candidates who favor a light regulatory touch.
Explore our newly redesigned Texas Public Schools Explorer with expanded data
Read full article: Explore our newly redesigned Texas Public Schools Explorer with expanded dataThe explorer now shows long-term trends, school funding data, and newly released Texas Academic Performance Reports, among other updates.
TDCJ official confirms in trial testimony that it could cost $1.5 billion to fully cool Texas prisons
Read full article: TDCJ official confirms in trial testimony that it could cost $1.5 billion to fully cool Texas prisonsCurrent and former heads of Texas’ prison system defended asking for lesser amounts to air-condition facilities during a federal trial on extreme heat in TDCJ facilities.
Texas will launch its own clinical trials into ibogaine psychedelic after failing to find a drug company to help
Read full article: Texas will launch its own clinical trials into ibogaine psychedelic after failing to find a drug company to helpThe Legislature last year approved $50 million to research the psychedelic and find a company to develop it into a drug for FDA approval.
Texas judge rejects push to let churches make political endorsements
Read full article: Texas judge rejects push to let churches make political endorsementsA group of Texas churches and the IRS agreed to nix the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofits from endorsing candidates. A Trump-appointed judge said no.
Photos: The last day Texas stores can sell smokeable hemp cannabis
Read full article: Photos: The last day Texas stores can sell smokeable hemp cannabis4:42 P.M.Huey Ellis purchases smokeable hemp-derived THCA products at Happy Clouds smoke shop in Austin on March 30, 2026, the day before Texas bans the sale of them. 4:48 P.M.Ellis poses for a portrait after purchasing smokeable hemp-derived THCA products the day before Texas bans the sale of them. 4:55 P.M.Hemp flower under a magnifying […]
TribCast: Assessing the rollout of Texas school vouchers
Read full article: TribCast: Assessing the rollout of Texas school vouchersIn this week’s episode, hosts Matthew and Eleanor talk with Tribune K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison about who in Texas applied for school vouchers and why Muslim schools were shut out of the program.
Hardline conservative donors Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks ballooned Bo French’s Railroad Commission campaign
Read full article: Hardline conservative donors Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks ballooned Bo French’s Railroad Commission campaignTim Dunn and Farris Wilks made their fortune in the oil business. They’ve deployed millions of dollars to pull the Texas GOP and Legislature toward their hardline stances.
Thousands of Texas students lose college credits when transferring. Here are pitfalls to avoid.
Read full article: Thousands of Texas students lose college credits when transferring. Here are pitfalls to avoid.Early planning and paying attention to which classes are relevant for their major can help students save time and money.
Student shoots teacher, then fatally shoots himself at Texas high school, authorities say
Read full article: Student shoots teacher, then fatally shoots himself at Texas high school, authorities sayAuthorities say a 15-year-old student shot a teacher at a Texas high school and then fatally shot himself.
TSA pay may be coming, but airport delays could persist and ICE agents may not leave soon
Read full article: TSA pay may be coming, but airport delays could persist and ICE agents may not leave soonHeading into the weekend, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay the tens of thousands of TSA officers who have been working without pay for over a month during a partial government shutdown.
“Don’t take me to the hospital”: Undocumented immigrants in Texas are delaying medical care
Read full article: “Don’t take me to the hospital”: Undocumented immigrants in Texas are delaying medical careSince Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas hospitals to start asking patients for their citizenship status in November 2024, reported visits by undocumented immigrants have dropped.
Strict schedules, long days, high pay: What Waco schools can expect from new charter operator
Read full article: Strict schedules, long days, high pay: What Waco schools can expect from new charter operatorThe Waco school district is expected to be the latest to contract with the charter operator founded by Mike Miles, the state-appointed superintendent of Houston schools.
Texas Supreme Court ends lawsuits against power generators over 2021 winter storm
Read full article: Texas Supreme Court ends lawsuits against power generators over 2021 winter stormTens of thousands of residents and small businesses sought damages from power generators after losing electricity during the storm that resulted in billions in losses and 246 deaths.
Dan Patrick adds data centers, prediction markets and THC to Senate priorities
Read full article: Dan Patrick adds data centers, prediction markets and THC to Senate prioritiesPatrick’s Friday release of priorities calls on lawmakers to study the emerging issues ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
At CPAC, Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French calls for deportation of 100 million people
Read full article: At CPAC, Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French calls for deportation of 100 million peopleFrench, a former Tarrant County GOP chair, also said Republicans should more openly embrace Islamophobia.
How a 27-year-old upstart unseated longtime Texas House Democrat Chris Turner
Read full article: How a 27-year-old upstart unseated longtime Texas House Democrat Chris TurnerJunior Ezeonu, a Grand Prairie City Council member, defeated Turner in the Democratic primary, becoming the representative-elect for the southeast Tarrant County House district.
Long lines linger at Houston’s biggest airport as TSA agents miss work during partial government shutdown
Read full article: Long lines linger at Houston’s biggest airport as TSA agents miss work during partial government shutdownWait times at George Bush Intercontinental Airport are expected to worsen over the weekend as agents miss a second paycheck and increasingly call in sick.
After Minnesota scandal, Texas reviewed its child care spending. It found little fraud.
Read full article: After Minnesota scandal, Texas reviewed its child care spending. It found little fraud.An investigation ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott found that less than half a percent of federal money spent on child care scholarships in Texas was considered “improper.”
Speaker Dustin Burrows lists data centers, property taxes and annexing slice of New Mexico among 2027 priorities
Read full article: Speaker Dustin Burrows lists data centers, property taxes and annexing slice of New Mexico among 2027 prioritiesThe Republican speaker’s interim charges also covered water resources, foreign threats and government accountability.
Legislators, business leaders highlight Texas policies driving competition with Wall Street
Read full article: Legislators, business leaders highlight Texas policies driving competition with Wall StreetThe panelists at the Dallas event hosted by The Texas Tribune said “Y’all Street” is poised to become the nation's financial capital.
Forced to sell medications at a loss, rural Texas pharmacies seek new survival tactics
Read full article: Forced to sell medications at a loss, rural Texas pharmacies seek new survival tacticsIndependent rural pharmacists are starting other businesses or selling baby shower gifts to keep their stores operating. Pharmacy deserts affect 4 million Texans.
Texas suburbs lead U.S. for population growth as international migration slows, census finds
Read full article: Texas suburbs lead U.S. for population growth as international migration slows, census findsWaller County, near Houston, was the second fastest growing county in the U.S. Another three Texas counties were among the 10 fastest growing in U.S.
Measles spike in federal detention facility reaches the Texas public, records show
Read full article: Measles spike in federal detention facility reaches the Texas public, records showMost of the state’s measles cases reported so far this year are inside the West Texas Detention Facility in Hudspeth County, where four infected El Paso residents worked.
Texas State University professor sues to block firing after Israeli-Palestinian comments
Read full article: Texas State University professor sues to block firing after Israeli-Palestinian commentsPhilosophy professor Idris Robinson argued that his comments, made in an off-campus setting, were protected speech.
Ken Paxton won’t represent Comptroller Kelly Hancock in school voucher suit amid grudge match
Read full article: Ken Paxton won’t represent Comptroller Kelly Hancock in school voucher suit amid grudge matchIn a Thursday letter, Paxton said Hancock jeopardized the state’s defense in the case by leaking a separate letter he sent to the AG’s office on Tuesday.
Mayes Middleton nabs former opponent Aaron Reitz’s endorsement in GOP attorney general runoff
Read full article: Mayes Middleton nabs former opponent Aaron Reitz’s endorsement in GOP attorney general runoffReitz, a former aide to Texas AG Ken Paxton, had sharply criticized both Middleton and Chip Roy on the campaign trail.
After years of pushing for better jobs, Rio Grande Valley leaders land high-skilled manufacturing plant
Read full article: After years of pushing for better jobs, Rio Grande Valley leaders land high-skilled manufacturing plantMcAllen leaders hope the new Valeo manufacturing plant is a sign that the region, one of the most impoverished in the state, can attract better-paying jobs for its college graduates.
After killing its desalination project, Corpus Christi explores buying water from a privately owned plant
Read full article: After killing its desalination project, Corpus Christi explores buying water from a privately owned plantThe City Council rejected building a plant to turn seawater into drinkable water because of the cost and environmental concerns. Now it’s looking at water from a different plant.
Texas will require proof of legal immigration status to get professional licenses
Read full article: Texas will require proof of legal immigration status to get professional licensesOfficials approved the change after hearing from speakers who argued it would hamper the state’s economy and push immigrants to work without licenses in the black market.
Abbott legal brief criticizes Paxton’s rushed lawsuit against Harris County’s immigrant legal fund
Read full article: Abbott legal brief criticizes Paxton’s rushed lawsuit against Harris County’s immigrant legal fund“Perhaps the Attorney General only recently learned of this program; perhaps the office’s attention was focused elsewhere,” lawyers for Abbott wrote, noting the fund has existed for five years.
Corpus Christi is scrambling to ward off a water crisis. Here’s a guide to its water projects.
Read full article: Corpus Christi is scrambling to ward off a water crisis. Here’s a guide to its water projects.From drilling groundwater wells to recycling wastewater, Corpus Christi has launched a host of projects as it races against the clock to find more water.
Texas’ ban on smokeable hemp cannabis has begun. Here’s what you need to know.
Read full article: Texas’ ban on smokeable hemp cannabis has begun. Here’s what you need to know.New rules from state health officials ban smokeable intoxicating hemp products, including pre-rolled joints and hemp flower.
Taylor Goldenstein and Lomi Kriel join Texas Tribune’s revamped investigative team
Read full article: Taylor Goldenstein and Lomi Kriel join Texas Tribune’s revamped investigative teamThe Texas Tribune has added some new faces to the roster who will be digging deep and investigating some of the state’s most urgent and interesting storylines.
Texas Education Agency orders public schools to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez from lessons
Read full article: Texas Education Agency orders public schools to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez from lessonsSchools were also directed to cancel or change celebrations of the late civil rights leader amid allegations of sexual abuse.
Dead gardens, dusty cars: Frustrated Corpus Christi residents take precautions as water crisis nears
Read full article: Dead gardens, dusty cars: Frustrated Corpus Christi residents take precautions as water crisis nearsThe city’s water supply has been nearly depleted by a prolonged drought and a recent boon of oil refineries in the area. Locals have been limiting outdoor watering, shower time and car washes.