Texas House majority signs on to new bill restricting the use of bathrooms in public buildings by transgender people
House Bill 239, which echoes a bathroom bill that failed in 2017, includes new provisions for shelters and prisons. Full Story
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![Bathroom stalls at the Austin Convention Center in 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Vance visits Texas-Mexico border to promote Trump's immigration crackdown
The vice president, joined by two other top Trump administration officials, took an aerial tour of the border and met with law enforcement officials. Full Story
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![Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance speaks at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 5, 2024.]()
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Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner dies
Turner’s death comes two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District, the seat long occupied by former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also died in office last year amid a battle with pancreatic cancer. Full Story
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![Houston mayor Sylvester Turner describes his bout with cancer in an interview at City Hall in Houston, TX, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Greg Casar and Elon Musk bring Texas clash to D.C. stage
From Austin city council to the halls of Congress, this lawmaker has been increasingly critical of Musk, saying the billionaire receives special treatment and has conflicts of interest. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, chair of the of Congressional Progressive Caucus, speaks at a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center to oppose Elon Musk gaining access to the Treasury Department's federal payment system, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.]()
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Hemp industry pushes back against Senate bill to ban THC
There is little doubt that a ban will sail through the Senate. But its prospects are far less certain in the House. Full Story
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![Various Delta 8 THC products at a Valero station on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 in Spring Branch.]()
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U.S. Supreme Court takes up Texas nuclear waste disposal case
The case could establish the nation’s first independent repository for spent nuclear fuel in West Texas, despite the objections of state leaders. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Part of pro-Palestinian student art exhibit at UNT removed amid antisemitism complaints by state lawmakers
Five GOP lawmakers who targeted the exhibit also called for the cancellation of the “Palestinian Children and the Politics of Genocide” lecture, which is still scheduled. Full Story
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![Students walk the University of North Texas campus in Denton, TX on February 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Al Green disrupts Trump speech and is escorted out
The Texas Democrat who has a history of attention-getting acts repeatedly shouted “no mandate to cut Medicaid.” Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, is removed from the chamber as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS -
Texas lawmakers scold juvenile justice department over scathing DOJ report
Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu criticized the department for treating an August 2024 federal report as “nothing.” Full Story
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![Giddings State School, a Texas Juvenile Justice Department correctional facility, in Lee County on July 20, 2022.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
The Texas Senate wants more — and smaller — starter homes in new neighborhoods
The goal of the new legislation is to help drive down the cost of housing so that more Texans can afford homes. Full Story
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![Star Creek, a neighborhood in Allen, on May 8, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: The looming fight over regulating AI in Texas
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with University of Texas at Austin professor Sherri Greenberg about proposed state laws related to artificial intelligence. Full Story
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![On this week's TribCast, talk turns to the regulation of artificial intelligence in Texas.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Former Uvalde mayor files Texas bill to improve law enforcement response to mass shootings
The bill would require school districts and law enforcement to meet once a year to plan their response to an active shooter situation. It would also mandate annual multi-agency exercise drills on how to respond to an active shooter. Full Story
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![Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on July 11, 2022.]()
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Voucher bills want to prioritize low-income families and be open to all students. Those goals might be at odds.
Neither of the Legislature’s voucher bills require private schools to accept certain students, which some warn could block the neediest children from access. Full Story
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![Children draw self-portraits at the Rowlett Public Library in Rowlett, TX on October 26, 2023. The self portrait is part of a “hero’s journey” activity run by the mothers where the daughters think about who they are, what makes them special, and what they want to become.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
West Texans, Mennonites at center of measles outbreak choose medical freedom over vaccine mandates
In rural West Texas, measles has sickened nearly 150 people, most of them unvaccinated. A school-age child has died. The virus is spreading among Gaines County’s Mennonite community, where government mandates are not trusted. Full Story
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![A child holds a man’s finger during a service at Community Church of Seminole on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Seminole.]()
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Texas officials still don’t know how West Texas measles outbreak started
Texas’ health commissioner fielded questions from state lawmakers about the outbreak and vaccine risks. Full Story
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![An Austin Public Health truck is decorated with an advertisement encouraging vaccinations while parked outside the Austin Public Health office at the Bergstrom Technology Center in Austin, Feb. 28, 2025.]()
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Texas refugee aid group sues to unfreeze $36 million in federal funds
Catholic Charities Fort Worth says that its partners have had to lay off 750 people because of the freeze. Full Story
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![Afghan refugees arrive at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia while en route to military facilities in the U.S. on Aug. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via REUTERS -
A surge in bee deaths is hurting Texas beekeepers — and could affect the price of produce
Commercial beekeepers in Texas have lost about two thirds of their honey bees since June last year, according to a recent survey. Full Story
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![Luis Hernandez, a beekeeper with Frio Country Farms, shows off an empty bee frame from a hive where the bees have died at the Noria bee yard on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 in Davis, Texas. Robert Wheeler, co-owner of Frio Country Farms, estimates 35% of the bees at this particular bee yard have died since November. Beekeepers nationwide are experiencing their highest honey bee losses nationwide in decades, which has large implications for Texas, the top bee-keeping state in the nation.]()
Credit: Salgu Wissmath for The Texas Tribune