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Paul Cobler is the Tribune's economy and industry reporter, covering the socioeconomic and political forces that impact Texans’ pocketbooks and upward mobility. Before joining the Tribune, he was a politics reporter for the Houston Landing and covered Baton Rouge City Hall for The Advocate in Louisiana. Paul grew up in Victoria, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. His reporting has appeared in news publications across the state, including the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. He is based in Houston.
Three years after one of the worst droughts in Wichita Falls history, life is returning to normal. But as Texas creeps back into a drought, water experts say residents in the city and around the state can do more to conserve water and prepare for the next shortage, which is always on the horizon. Full Story
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Housing advocates criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for ending hotel vouchers for more than 1,300 Texans because renters were more likely to be affected. Homeowners, meanwhile, can have their hotel stays extended through May. Full Story
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United States presidents, first ladies and Texas governors gathered Saturday in Houston to honor the life of former first lady Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday. A motorcade after the service transported Bush to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, where a private family ceremony was held at her burial site. Full Story
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The Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir was recently approved for its second $500 million loan as the project nears the beginning of construction in North Texas. The dam and accompanying man-made lake will be Texas' first new major reservoir in almost two decades. Full Story
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Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio have found that development along the Blanco River intensified the impact of a 40-foot wall of water that gushed down the waterway on Memorial Day weekend 2015. Full Story
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Just five months after the monster storm gave Texas its wettest month in history, much of the state is now in a drought — including areas that saw historic flooding. Full Story
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Dozens of small and rural utilities in the state have for years provided water that contains illegal levels of radiation, lead and arsenic. Lack of resources is largely to blame — but there's more to it than that. Full Story
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Lawyers spent almost an hour in the Texas Supreme Court arguing whether Laredo’s 2015 ban on plastic grocery bags was illegal. The future of bag bans in cities across the state could hinge on the case. Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday in the case, Laredo Merchants Association v. The City of Laredo, in which the merchants’ association is arguing a ban on single-use bags by the city is illegal. Full Story
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