Floodwaters threaten the Grand Vista neighborhood in Richmond on Aug. 28, 2017. Residents were forced to evacuate due rising water from the Brazos River.
Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune
<p><span>Floodwaters threaten the Grand Vista neighborhood in Richmond on Aug. 28, 2017. R<span>esidents were forced to evacuate due rising water from the Brazos River.</span></span></p>

Hey, Texplainer: How is FEMA distributing money to areas hit by Harvey?

Following Harvey, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested money from the federal government, which has sent nearly $1 billion since the federal disaster declaration issued by President Donald Trump on Aug. 25.

 
Christopher Scott, wrongfully convicted of murder, tells his story next to a photo of fellow exonerees in a Dallas office in July 2017.&nbsp;
Justin Dehn / The Texas Tribune
<p><span>Christopher Scott, wrongfully convicted of murder, tells his story next to a photo of fellow exonerees in a Dallas office in July 2017.&nbsp;</span></p>

How some see Texas as the "gold standard" against wrongful convictions

This year, Texas legislators continued efforts to prevent wrongful convictions by passing a law focused on fixing unreliable jailhouse informants, unfair police station lineups and coerced confessions.

How some see Texas as the "gold standard" against wrongful convictions

Christopher Scott, wrongfully convicted of murder, tells his story next to a photo of fellow exonerees in a Dallas office in July 2017.&nbsp;
Justin Dehn / The Texas Tribune
<p><span>Christopher Scott, wrongfully convicted of murder, tells his story next to a photo of fellow exonerees in a Dallas office in July 2017.&nbsp;</span></p>

This year, Texas legislators continued efforts to prevent wrongful convictions by passing a law focused on fixing unreliable jailhouse informants, unfair police station lineups and coerced confessions.

 

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Hell and High Water: How Houston is ill-prepared for a hurricane

Oil tankers in the Houston Ship Channel on November 10, 2015.
Oil tankers in the Houston Ship Channel on November 10, 2015.

In Houston, low-income residents struggle after losing vehicles in floods

Daniel Gonzalez, who freelances for a remodeling company and can't get to work because his car flooded during Hurricane Harvey,&nbsp;shows a video of his flooded vehicle in Houston on&nbsp;Sept. 14, 2017.&nbsp;
<p><span>Daniel Gonzalez, who freelances for a remodeling company and can't get to work because his car flooded during Hurricane Harvey,&nbsp;</span>shows a video of his flooded vehicle in Houston on&nbsp;Sept. 14, 2017.&nbsp;</p>

In addition to replacing clothes and finding new places to live, many in southeast Texas must repair vehicles or buy new cars. But not being able to get to work for more than three weeks makes that a challenge.

Houston looks to Supreme Court to resolve same-sex marriage benefits fight

Pamela Holwerds holds up her marriage license following the ceremony that married over 40 same-sex couples on the south lawn of the Texas Capitol in Austin on July 4, 2015.
Pamela Holwerds holds up her marriage license following the ceremony that married over 40 same-sex couples on the south lawn of the Texas Capitol in Austin on July 4, 2015.

The city of Houston is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the Texas Supreme Court in which it suggested a landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage does not fully address the right to marriage benefits.

The Brief: Protests in Dallas over Confederate statues and more Harvey recovery updates

A statue of Robert E. Lee is harnessed to a crane as workers cut it from its base at Lee Park in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2017.
<p>A statue of Robert E. Lee is harnessed to a crane as workers cut it from its base at Lee Park in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2017.</p>

Texans are still grappling with Confederate statues, some more prisoners in the state are getting a break from the sweltering heat thanks to Hurricane Harvey and GOP efforts in the U.S. Senate to repeal Obamacare could come back to life. 

Analysis: In politics, you must be present to win

Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tom Noonan joined other business leaders in opposition to SB6, the so-called "bathroom bill, on March 6, 2017.
Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tom Noonan joined other business leaders in opposition to SB6, the so-called "bathroom bill, on March 6, 2017.

House Speaker Joe Straus wants business to stay the course through 2018’s elections and into the 2019 session, buttressing business-friendly Republicans against a conservative tide. It's a lot to ask.

 

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus calls for removal of "inaccurate" Confederate plaque

The "Children of the Confederacy Creed" plaque, highlighted in a letter state Rep. Eric Johnson sent to the&nbsp;State Preservation Board, asking that it be taken down.
<p>The "Children of the Confederacy Creed" plaque, highlighted in a letter state Rep. Eric Johnson sent to the&nbsp;<span>State Preservation Board, asking that it be taken down.</span></p>

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus asked the State Preservation Board to take down a plaque at the Capitol that asserts that slavery was not the underlying cause of the Civil War.

New law aims to help elderly Texans fooled by scammers

Julie Krawczyk, Director of the Elder Financial Safety Center,&nbsp;at the organization's Dallas office on July 17, 2017.
<p><span>Julie Krawczyk, Director of the Elder Financial Safety Center,&nbsp;at the organization's Dallas office on July 17, 2017.</span></p>

A new Texas law gives financial institutions greater authority to stop transactions that they suspect are aimed at defrauding elderly or disabled clients.

 

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Hell and high water – Riding out Hurricane Harvey

  • by Texas Tribune Staff

New law lets Texas drivers help tackle the state's rape kit testing backlog

Jenny Black, executive director/coordinator at Austin/Travis County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, shows a sexual assault evidence collection kit at St. David's Medical Center in Austin on July 29, 2013.
<p>Jenny Black, executive director/coordinator at Austin/Travis County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, shows a sexual assault evidence collection kit at St. David's Medical Center in Austin on July 29, 2013.</p>

Driver's license applications will soon ask Texans whether they'd like to donate $1 or more for sexual assault kit testing. It's the state's latest effort to reduce a backlog that has swelled for years. 

As a result of Hurricane Harvey, 600 more Texas prisoners getting AC

Here's a look at an aerial view of flooding from Hurricane Harvey at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Terrell and Stringfellow units in Brazoria County on Aug. 30, &nbsp;2017.
<p>Here's a look at an aerial view of flooding from Hurricane Harvey at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Terrell and Stringfellow units in Brazoria County on Aug. 30, &nbsp;2017.</p>

As Hurricane Harvey approached Texas, state prison officials moved thousands of inmates to higher ground. But now that the storm has passed, about 600 of the evacuees gained protection from hot conditions in their cells thanks to an ongoing federal lawsuit.