New Texas law criminalizes drone use near animal farms
House Bill 1643 makes it a crime to operate a drone over “concentrated animal feeding operations,” as well as telecommunication facilities and certain oil and gas facilities. Full Story
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Andy Duehren is a 2017 newsletters fellow for the Texas Tribune. Previously, he covered the Connecticut state house for the Hartford Courant and wrote a vaguely amusing travel guide for Let’s Go student travel guides. A Massachusetts native, he’ll be a senior at Harvard in the fall, where he studies History and Literature and is the managing editor of The Crimson.
House Bill 1643 makes it a crime to operate a drone over “concentrated animal feeding operations,” as well as telecommunication facilities and certain oil and gas facilities. Full Story
House Bill 3287 requires craft brewers that produce more than 225,000 barrels a year to pay a distributor to deliver their beer — even if the destination is inside their own facility. Full Story
Founded in 2003 as a group of Houston-area pastors, the Texas Pastor Council has grown into a burgeoning statewide apparatus with eyes on someday becoming a nationwide force. Full Story
The Texas House has given early approval to a bill that would allow property owners to plant new trees to offset municipal fees for tree removal on their land. Full Story
The governor held the first of three scheduled meetings with Texas mayors on Wednesday — but there's no word yet on whether he'll meet with mayors from the state's five largest cities. Full Story
The Senate gave early approval to a measure Tuesday night that would require physicians to take certain steps before issuing do-not-resuscitate orders to patients. Full Story
Senate Bill 15 would pre-empt local ordinances on mobile phone usage, effectively rolling back provisions in more than 40 Texas cities that currently post hands-free ordinances stricter than the statewide texting ban. Full Story
With the beginning of the special legislative session, opponents of construction permitting rules in Austin that require more worker protections in exchange for a faster process have the chance to overturn local regulations like Austin's. Full Story
As state lawmakers and city officials gear up to battle over land-use legislation, a liberal watchdog group says $34 million in campaign donations from real estate and construction industries "paved the way" for this month's special session agenda. Full Story
In this week's Q&A, we interview Aaron Wolf, a professor of geography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Full Story
Between 2006 and 2015, the last year for which data is available, residential electric prices for Texans who live in a competitive market decreased by 17.4 percent, while prices increased by 5.5 percent in other areas. Full Story
Within hours of Gov. Greg Abbott issuing his proclamation announcing next week's special session, lawmakers had filed dozens of bills including two so-called bathroom bills from state Rep. Ron Simmons, a Carrollton Republican. Full Story
In this week’s Q&A, we interview Katie Krummeck and Rob Rouse, who are both educators at Southern Methodist University. Full Story
Organizations representing hundreds of Texas cities and school boards unsuccessfully urged Gov. Greg Abbott to veto a bill aimed at restricting drone use around the state. Full Story
Cheap, imported solar panels have fueled growth in the solar industry in Texas, and reinvigorated the careers of laid-off oilfield workers. Some industry leaders fear a trade case will increase prices and end that growth. Full Story
In this week’s Q&A, we interview Carrie Kasnicka, the executive director of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust. Full Story
The two U.S. Senators from Texas took opposing positions on the Senate GOP's long-awaited plan to overhaul the American health care system Thursday. Full Story
Texas rules barring sex offenders from using certain websites were thrown into jeopardy Monday morning after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar statute in North Carolina violates the First Amendment. Full Story
One of the most surprisingly contentious measures of the legislative session — ending "lunch shaming" for Texas public school students — was signed into law Thursday. Full Story
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday that his office had picked an Austin-based company to build and operate the first state-administered gold depository in the country and that it could open as early as January. Full Story