TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

The mother of twin sisters Mitzi and Nitza Alvarado Espinoza disappeared from their home in Mexico in 2009. Now exiled in El Paso, they formed a movement aimed at providing comfort to young victims of the drug war.

La Salle County officials have agreed to pay a portion of the repair costs and all the maintenance costs for 20 miles of roads that the Texas Department of Transportation had intended to convert to gravel.

As 2014 approaches, Texas district and county attorneys are preparing to implement a new law that aims to prevent wrongful convictions by requiring prosecutors to open their files to defense lawyers. 

Nearly 30,000 Texans were among more than 610,000 Americans who were homeless this year. But Texas was among the states with the largest decreases in the homeless population.

Fort Bend has been called the most ethnically diverse county in America, with a population that comes close to an equal division among blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos.

At a contentious hearing on Monday, lawmakers expressed skepticism about transforming Texas' wholesale energy market in an attempt to ensure the long-term reliability of the state's electric grid.

The state's two U.S. senators couldn't be more different — at least on the surface. They've done it in different ways and at different speeds, but both John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are near the center of national politics. 

Thanks to conservation efforts and its remote location, the Devils River is seen as one of the state's last pristine rivers. But change could be coming for the river, as some are eyeing its basin for new water supplies.

If the state's Republican leadership succeeds, Texans could find themselves growing accustomed to the sight of openly carried handguns.

Fishing and tourism in Matagorda Bay depend in large part on freshwater supplied by the Colorado River. But the drought has all but cut off those flows, and wildlife and recreation on Texas' Gulf Coast have suffered.