Some child care providers expect to shutter after Texas lawmakers leave $2.3 billion proposal off final budget

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• Texas AG appeals judge’s order that allows women with complicated pregnancies to get abortions

  by William Melhado Updated: Aug. 5, 2023

  State District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum on Friday issued a temporary exemption to Texas’ abortion ban. Hours later, the attorney general’s office filed an appeal, which blocked the order. Full Story 

• Texas A&M leaders’ text messages show desire to counteract perceived liberal agenda in higher education

  by Kate McGee Aug. 4, 2023

  Some members of the university system’s board of regents said they wanted to promote conservative causes at the flagship campus and resisted efforts to hire journalism professor Kathleen O. McElroy, who they believed would work counter to those goals. Full Story 

• TribCast: Turmoil at Texas A&M

  by Matthew Watkins and Todd Wiseman Aug. 4, 2023

  In this week’s episode, we discuss two cases at Texas A&M University that raised questions of academic freedom — and the fallout that ensued. Full Story 

• Top Texas A&M officials were involved in botched recruiting of journalism professor, who will receive $1 million settlement

  by Kate McGee Updated: Aug. 4, 2023

  A new internal report, conducted by the university system’s office of general counsel, also looked into Texas A&M’s decision to temporarily suspend a respected opioids expert after she was accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in a lecture. Full Story 

• Texans in Congress take bipartisan path to boost semiconductors, a crucial industry to the state

  by Matthew Choi Aug. 4, 2023

  Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrats like Rep. Colin Allred — opponents in the 2024 election — propose streamlining environmental reviews to promote investment and expansion by chipmakers. Full Story 

• LGBTQ+ advocates sue to block Texas’ new law that could criminalize some drag performances

  by Rebecca Schneid and William Melhado Updated: Aug. 3, 2023

  State officials backing Senate Bill 12 have said they want to protect children from seeing sexually explicit performances. But new legal challenges say the law is so broad and vague that it criminalizes constitutionally protected expression. Full Story 

• Body found stuck in buoys Texas installed in the Rio Grande

  by Uriel J. García and William Melhado Updated: Aug. 3, 2023

  Texas authorities believe the person drowned upstream and floated into the buoys near Eagle Pass. Mexico criticized Texas’ placement of the buoys along the river. Full Story 

• Ken Paxton moves one step closer to trial on long-delayed securities fraud charges

  by Patrick Svitek Updated: Aug. 3, 2023

  The impeached attorney general appeared in a Houston courtroom, where lawyers from both sides agreed to return in October to set an expected trial date on charges that have been pending since 2015. Full Story 

• As Texas sizzles, heat experts say preparation is needed for future extreme weather events

  by Alejandra Martinez Updated: Aug. 3, 2023

  The panelists at a Texas Tribune event emphasized the need for a response to combat the dangerous impacts of extreme events that ensures communities receive support to effectively plan, prepare, and recover. Full Story 

• Henry Cuellar, a previous Democratic primary target, touts 2024 support from national party leaders

  by Patrick Svitek Aug. 3, 2023

  The moderate Democrat from Laredo announced endorsements from top Democrats in the U.S. House, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Full Story 

• Texas A&M interim president pledges more transparency after accusations of political interference

  by Sneha Dey and Kate McGee Aug. 2, 2023

  In his first comments as interim president, Mark A. Welsh IIII cast recent concerns over political interference in Texas A&M’s employment decisions as “communication breakdowns.” Full Story 

• Suspended Texas A&M professor denies saying Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick believes overdose victims “deserve to die”

  by Kate McGee and James Barragán Aug. 2, 2023

  Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham alleged Wednesday that opioids expert Joy Alonzo told students in a guest lecture that “Your Lt. Governor says those kids deserve to die.” Alonzo denied the claims. Full Story 

• Border arrests surged in July, a blow to Biden migration plan

  by Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, The Washington Post Aug. 2, 2023

  Apprehensions on the U.S.-Mexico border plunged in June after the administration’s new policies took effect, but rose more than 30% in July. Full Story 

• East Texas missionaries stuck in Niger amid recent coup set to be brought home

  by Jayme Lozano Carver Aug. 2, 2023

  Members of a Lufkin church had been in the West African country on a mission trip when a coup broke out. Airspace had been restricted, but the U.S. government stepped in this week. Full Story 

• How an internship program hopes to end “brain drain” in Texas’ Permian Basin and other rural regions

  by Carlos Nogueras Ramos Aug. 2, 2023

  This is the third year businesses in the Permian Basin — known for high school football and oil fields — have participated in the University of Texas at Austin program. Students this year say they are seeing their hometowns in a new way. Full Story 

• Dallas attorney Sidney Powell appears to be “co-conspirator” in new Trump indictment

  by Robert Downen Updated: Aug. 1, 2023

  Though she is not named in the four-count indictment filed Tuesday against Trump, the Justice Department makes numerous references to a “co-conspirator 3” whose description matches Powell, a prominent election fraud conspiracy theorist. Full Story