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Jessica Priest is an engagement reporter on The Texas Tribune/ProPublica Investigative Initiative. She’s previously worked for the Fort Worth Report, USA TODAY out of the Austin-American Statesman newsroom, the Victoria Advocate and the Temple Daily Telegram. She is a Texan whose work has often made an impact — be it local officials in Victoria pursuing funding for mental health after she highlighted a gap in services or the state’s highest criminal court granting a death row inmate a new trial after she detailed a prosecutor’s conflicts of interest. Jessica also has experience reporting on local government and the environment. After she exposed questionable hirings and payments at a port and later a water district in another part of the state, both public entities underwent reforms. After she showed the effects of companies’ air and water pollution on the Gulf Coast, residents organized and regulators took action.
Two years later, the donation highlights a gap in government oversight at a time when state and local officials are increasingly blurring the lines between church and state. Full Story
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Fines issued to Scott Beard of Abilene’s Fountaingate Fellowship and two pastors follow reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune that revealed the churches donated to his campaign for local office despite state and federal prohibitions. Full Story
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We want to hear about how heated elections affect the people learning, teaching and living in districts across Texas. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune and ProPublica analyzed 35 Texas school districts that held trustee elections last fall and found none that posted all of the required campaign finance records. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general said he’s “back to work” after his recent acquittal, but his office has repeatedly declined to fulfill one of its key duties: representing state agencies who are being sued. Full Story
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Records obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune give deeper insight into how Paxton’s representation denials often pushed agencies to look for outside legal counsel that was ultimately funded by taxpayers. Full Story
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West Texas voters rejected three conservative Christian candidates who sought to infuse religious values into local politics. The campaign support the candidates received from local churches has prompted calls for state and federal probes. Full Story
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A candidate for the Abilene City Council said that three churches made an honest mistake by donating to his campaign and that he is returning the money. The race has been beset by allegations of electioneering by churches. Full Story
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Most of the state’s 19 mass shootings over the past six decades were carried out by men who legally possessed firearms, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Full Story
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State lawmakers have rejected dozens of bills that would have prevented people from legally obtaining weapons used in many mass shootings. Instead, they’ve made it easier for residents to get guns and harder for local governments to regulate them. Full Story
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