Starting Sept. 1 in Texas, your speed limit may vary based on local highway conditions
Lawmakers who ushered through the change say the new law will make roads safer during storms or construction. Full Story
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Noah Alcala Bach
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Noah Alcala Bach was a summer 2023 Austin-based reporting fellow. Before arriving at the Tribune, Noah was an intern in Brussels at Politico EU, a reporter for the Columbia Missourian, an intern at the San Antonio Current and a contributing correspondent for the San Antonio Express-News.
Past Contributions
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![Cars drive down the highways after winter weather went through Dallas on Feb. 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
New forecast predicts more hurricanes because of record-warm sea surface temperatures
Texas meteorologists remind residents to make sure they have a plan in the event of a tropical storm Full Story
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![Highway 225 in Deer Park along the Houston Ship channel during a heavy downpour from Hurricane Harvey on Saturday Aug. 26, 2017. Deer Park is in U.S. Congressional District 36.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas state troopers are routinely stopping motorists of color in Austin, data shows
More than 8 in 10 people charged by state troopers since they began helping Austin police have been people of color. In Southeast Austin, a neighborhood president calls it “outright racial profiling.” Full Story
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![DPS troopers make a traffic stop in southeast Austin on Aug. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
On the Texas-Mexico border, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives an owl protected status, seeks to declare two mussel species endangered
Wildlife groups have long lobbied for increased protection for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The agency says the mussels species are threatened by reduced flow and poor water quality in the Rio Grande. Full Story
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![The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, which lives in South Texas, Arizona and Mexico, as a threatened species. This owl was photographed in Costa Rica.]()
Credit: Ninahale via Wikimedia Commons -
U.S. sues Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott declines to remove floating border barrier
The U.S. Department of Justice made good on its warning last week that it would sue Texas unless the state agreed to remove the barrier in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. Full Story
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![Workers construct a string of buoys which is being deployed to prevent migrants from swimming across the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on July 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
EPA will decide if the state is doing enough to reduce pollution in two East Texas counties
The federal agency has settled a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought over pollution from a coal-burning power plant. The agreement requires the EPA to weigh in on the state’s plan to improve air quality in Rusk and Panola counties. Full Story
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![Steam rises from the stacks at the Martin Lake Coal-Fired Power Plant in Tatum on March 30, 2011.]()
Credit: Tom Pennington for The Texas Tribune -
Mexico files diplomatic complaint over Gov. Greg Abbott’s floating border barriers
The Mexican government plans to send an inspection team to see if Texas’ buoys have crossed into Mexico’s side of the border. Full Story
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![An unfinished strand of orange buoys, meant to deter migrants from crossing the river, sits in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass on July 11, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Beal -
A Comal County ranch owner ponders selling his land, setting off another clash between property rights and environmental concerns
When the owner applied for a state permit that could pave the way for a subdivision, neighbors and environmentalists rallied against it in the name of protecting the area’s rivers and the Edwards Aquifer. Full Story
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![A car drives by Doug Harrison’s property in Comal County nearly halfway between New Braunfels and Bulverde, on June 16, 2023. Harrison’s application for a wastewater treatment plant on his 500-plus-acre plot of land in Comal County stirred controversy as residents have raised environmental concerns.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott sends more state police to patrol Austin after city leaders call for end to partnership
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson had said that troopers pulling a gun on a 10-year-old prompted the end of the agreement. A video of that encounter shows troopers with guns pointed at the ground, not the child. Full Story
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![Increased presence of DPS at the state Capitol after a suspicious package was reported in Austin on Oct. 30, 2018.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Third-party candidates may have an easier time getting on the ballot in Texas
A federal judge blocks an 118-year-old state law that required minor political party candidates to collect more than 83,000 signatures on paper in order to appear on the ballot. Full Story
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![T-Shirts for sale at the Green Party Presidential Convention in Houston on Aug. 5, 2016.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune