Gov. Greg Abbott calls for five-year mandatory sentence for human smugglers
Abbott is making his pitch ahead of the upcoming legislative session. Full Story
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Alejandro Serrano writes about Texas politics and government, with a focus on immigration and education issues. Since joining the Tribune, he has helped investigate the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, lived for half a year in Eagle Pass during a temporary assignment covering immigration and documented a variety of major occurrences in the state from Houston, where he used to live. He previously covered education for the Houston Chronicle and breaking news for the San Francisco Chronicle. The Long Island, New York, native received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He is based in Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference with nine other governors regarding the southern border at Anzalduas Park in Mission on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Houston native Brittney Griner, a WNBA star, released from Russian custody in prisoner swap
The Texas basketball star was first detained in February and was recently moved to a Russian penal colony before her release Thursday. Full Story
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![WNBA MVP candidate and All Stars player Brittney Griner during media day before she enters her eighth season with Phoenix Mercury.]()
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Uvalde officials say local prosecutor impeded investigation into police response to shooting
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the city of Uvalde says the district attorney is restricting information needed by its independent investigator. Uvalde wants a judge to compel the prosecutor to hand over all relevant investigative information. Full Story
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![District Attorney for the 38th Judicial District of Texas (Uvalde & Real Counties) Christina Mitchell Busbee at a press conference at the Uvalde High School on May 27, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for 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
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![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.]()
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Four Uvalde shooting victims left classrooms alive. Investigators are reviewing whether a faster response could have saved them.
The inquiry will help determine whether criminal charges should be brought against responding officers. Full Story
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![Crosses for the people killed at Robb Elementary School on Thursday, May 26, 2022.]()
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“I’m so scared”: 911 recordings reveal fear and urgency of those trapped in Uvalde elementary school
Audio obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica shows just how long police and dispatchers likely knew that children and teachers were in danger before taking action at Robb Elementary School. Full Story
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![At 12:33 p.m. May 24, exactly an hour after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a group of unidentified police officers began advancing toward the classrooms where he had trapped more than 30 students and teachers. But after one officer said “no, no, no,” they stopped. That moment exemplified the overall failed law enforcement response.]()
Credit: State trooper body camera footage obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Texas DPS chief Steve McCraw says his agency “did not fail” at Uvalde school shooting
At a public meeting where families that lost children in the school shooting said he should resign, McCraw said members of the Department of Public Safety made mistakes. But he said he’ll step down only “if DPS as an institution failed the families.” Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw gives a statement at a Public Safety Commission Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022 in Austin. The public meeting took comments from families of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court rejects request to review Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas’ case
Thomas’ attorneys appealed saying that some members of the jury that sentenced him had expressed racist views. In their dissent, the court’s three liberal justices wrote that Thomas’ conviction and death sentence were unconstitutional. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 1, 2021. Today, the Supreme Court will hear cases regarding abortion in Texas.]()
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Uvalde school district suspends its entire police department, and superintendent announces retirement plans
All of the department’s activities were suspended for an unspecified period of time, and two employees were placed on administrative leave after it was revealed this week that one of the first state troopers to respond to the deadly school shooting in May was later hired as a district police officer. Full Story
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![The Board of Trustees of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District meets to hear from members of the Uvalde community at Uvalde High School on July 18, 2022.]()
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New York City mayor declares state of emergency over busing of migrants from Texas
Mayor Eric Adams said the city needs emergency funding to provide shelter to migrants and other people without housing. He also asked El Paso to stop sending migrants there. Full Story
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![Dozens of migrants, including several family units, line up to board a New York City-bound bus inside a shelter in El Paso on Aug. 31, 2022. The city and county of El Paso are sponsoring (to be reimbursed by FEMA) the voluntary trips to relieve pressure on local resources and shelters.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune