How Texas counts ballots and keeps elections secure
From election equipment to ballot counting and storage, Texas elections officials follow a long list of laws and procedures to ensure free and fair elections. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d0dda93a49bd8462cb35795437d3b4f2/Harris%20County%20Votes%20AM%20TT%2009.jpg)
-
![Harris County Elections Staff members sort ballot bags at the Elections Technology Center in northwest Houston on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
An Afghan soldier fleeing the Taliban spent months reaching the U.S. to request asylum. He was arrested at the Texas border.
Abdul Wasi Safi was trying to reach his brother, who immigrated legally to Houston after helping the U.S. military. Legal experts say Wasi may have to serve a criminal sentence before he can pursue asylum. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1415aaad5e57382ac3e0121fd72467f6/Afghan%20Translator%20TT%2004.jpg)
![Abdul Wasi Safi stands in the foreground of Afghan military vehicles surrounded by HESCO barriers and concrete bunkers.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Sami-ullah Safi -
Watch a conversation on higher education and tomorrow’s workforce
The discussion took place at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. You can watch the conversation in person or online. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/897efc6c41fc3c513ef608c3b25fb2eb/12-8_HigherEd_Leadart-01-v1.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
El Paso DA Yvonne Rosales a no-show in Walmart shooting hearing
The district judge has asked the embattled district attorney, who resigned Monday, to appear in court Thursday or risk being arrested. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/eb360b0466fb12bbab032d612cee51cd/DA%20Rosales%20Hearing%20EPM%20TT%2022.jpg)
![El Paso County District Attorney Yvonne Rosales listens to District Judge Sam Medrano at a hearing on the Walmart shooting case on July 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prioritizes property tax relief, electric grid fixes and border security for 2023 legislative session
Patrick, who presides over the Senate and wields tremendous power over legislation, said lawmakers have an “extraordinary opportunity” to shape the future of Texas at the start of the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 10. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9de83ac4c56b8a6b911727fa403a0485/Redo%201130%20Patrick%20Presser%20JM%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick discusses the state budget and legislative priorities at a press conference at the Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, July 30, 2022.]()
Credit: Jack Myer for The Texas Tribune -
Republican requests recount after loss in battleground race for state Senate seat in South Texas
Adam Hinojosa finished 659 votes behind Democrat Morgan LaMantia in a race that garnered 175,415 total votes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/75b061329b3d90aba1fbf37b1da8e122/Hinojosa%20and%20LaMantia%20TT.jpg)
![From left: Adam Hinojosa and Morgan LaMantia. Hinojosa, Republican candidate for Texas Senate District 27, has asked for a recount against LaMantia, his Democratic opponent.]()
Credit: Campaign websites -
Texas lawmakers have a $27 billion surplus, but a spending cap complicates their goal of lowering property taxes
Texas homeowners have some of the highest property tax bills in the nation, a byproduct of the state’s reliance on such taxes to help pay for public schools and the state’s lack of an income tax. Full Story
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Migrants flown from Texas to Massachusetts sue “Perla,” who recruited them for flights
The flights, financed by Florida at the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, were filled by Perla Huerta of San Antonio, who was added to a lawsuit against DeSantis and others on Tuesday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5fa549fd83b3f8bdb3467370a9c56e16/Marthas%20Vineyard%20Migrants%20REUTERS.JPG)
![Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew's Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. September 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS -
Texas’ rural hospitals are — once again — at grave risk of closing
A rural hospital hasn’t closed in Texas since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. That could change as federal relief ends. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c09eb76ba664d4038169f85a257b6d9e/Lamesa%20Hospital%2001%20TT.jpg)
![The nursery at the shuttered labor and delivery unit of Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa on Dec. 9, 2017. The rocking chair pictured came from the original facility when the staff moved into the current facility in 2009.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
Suspect in Vanessa Guillén’s killing pleads guilty
The 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier’s murder prompted nationwide outrage and calls to reform the way the military addresses sexual violence within its ranks. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7ae6e1c4827cb52f2e112dd5947a4c95/HTX%20Vanessa%20Guillen%20BV%20TT%2012.jpg)
![People gather outside of Power House Gym in Houston to honor Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen on July 5, 2020.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Senate gives final passage to same-sex marriage bill without support from Cruz and Cornyn
The bill is largely a safeguard against potential action by the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which made the Defense of Marriage Act unenforceable and enshrined the right to same-sex marriages across the country. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/80ac13595b5b1250a37ef4729ebd7e94/DC%20Pride%20Parade%20REUTERS.jpg)
![People attend an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2021.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Erin Scott -
Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice
For more than 24 hours, nearly everyone in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city had been asked to boil water after a power outage at a water treatment plant Sunday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a2f4fab41fc597c499f72e64168eab37/Houston%20Boil%20MF%20TT%2016.jpg)
![Isaiah Chirip helps push a pallet of bottled water during a water distribution and free flu vaccination event at the Holman Street Baptist Church in Houston on nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Stephen F. Austin State University moves to join the University of Texas System
Regents said they chose the UT System because of its access to the Permanent University Fund, which consists of oil and gas assets. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8043ae70477441662159b491ca5db0a2/Stephen%20F%20Austin%20MF%20TT%2010.jpg)
![The campus of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches on Oct. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner hasn’t endorsed a successor — yet
In a wide-ranging discussion with Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Sewell Chan, Turner spoke about the recent citywide boil-water notice, public safety and the state’s partisan divide. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a1dce3084e51eb3f2421cfb4d25300fa/1115%20Turner%20Cancer%20Intv%20AM%20TT%2009.jpg)
![Houston mayor Sylvester Turner describes his bout with cancer in an interview at City Hall in Houston on Nov. 15, 2022. Turner revealed he had had cancer during the summer of 2022 at the State of the City address on Nov 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas grid still vulnerable to extreme winter weather, ERCOT estimate shows
Changes to Texas’ power grid have improved ERCOT’s ability to keep power flowing during major winter storms, but in an extreme scenario, the grid could still face rolling blackouts, a seasonal assessment shows. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/120f80cda439cd42c625fb6ed66de545/ATX%20Winter%20Storm%20SF%20TT%2020.jpg)
![Electrical workers repair a power line in Austin on Feb. 18, 2021. Many Texas residents are still without power, and many don't have clean drinking water or working water at all.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court wrestles over Biden’s immigration enforcement policy
The Biden administration instructed immigration agents to focus on deporting undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of felonies or pose a danger to public safety. Texas filed a lawsuit saying the change was illegal. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/98e5ae7bb7081d2ad96d215bacdf4687/04%20ICE%20TT.jpg)
![U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers execute criminal search warrants and arrest more than 100 company employees on federal immigration violations at a trailer manufacturing business in Sumner on August 28, 2018.]()
Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS -
Mother of 10-year-old Uvalde shooting victim sues school district, police and gun manufacturer
The lawsuit accuses Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the shooter’s weapon, of marketing that primes “young buyers to purchase AR-15-style rifles as soon as they are legally able.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c8ef78321d20c2d0511457bb0f6a4b74/25%20-%20Uvalde%20Murals%20EL%2026.JPG)
![A mural in memory of Eliahna A. Torres near the town plaza in Uvalde, on Sept. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Houstonians say the city fumbled sounding the alarm on boil water notice
Many residents in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city heard that they couldn’t drink tap water from friends or neighbors, not from City Hall. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7773487c3b9b38a64f063fbd4ddde7f9/Houston%20Boil%20MF%20TT%2008.jpg)
![Eboni Davis and her boyfriend Jesse Holloway load water into their car outside an H-E-B grocery store in Houston on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Beto O’Rourke returned $1 million check from FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried
O’Rourke’s campaign said they gave the money back before the company’s scandals became widely public, because they were taken aback by such a large unsolicited donation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/972a7b1c608f85633e9ebf059f4d0906/Sam%20Bankman%20Fried%20REUTERS%20TT%2002.jpg)
![Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried attends a press conference at the FTX Arena in downtown Miami on Friday, June 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Matias J. Ocner/TNS/ABACA via REUTERS -
Fort Worth Star-Telegram journalists go on strike, citing unfair labor practices
In response to the open-ended strike, the McClatchy-owned newspaper has revoked their health care benefits and listed their jobs. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5ac740e420efe535b98bb184e7a20a16/FWST%20MCCLATCHY%20STRIKE%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Cristian ArguetaSoto
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6b27a728f3a0fbc20fb1697a34a76524/Capitol%20File%20Jan%202022%20JV%20TT%2023)