T-Squared: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin will close out the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival
The senator from West Virginia — who’s at the center of so much 2024 speculation — joins us Sept. 23 for the big finish of our annual ideas conference. Full Story
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Texas just recorded its second hottest summer on record
The average temperature in Texas this summer was 85.3 degrees, putting it behind only 2011 for summer misery. Full Story
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![Tumbleweeds cling to a barbed wire fence approximately 10 miles north of Brownfield on the Lubbock Road. High winds kicked up a dust storm that blanketed parts of West Texas on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Texas avoids rolling blackouts during evening grid emergency
ERCOT has called on generators to push all available electricity to the grid as rising demand threatens to surpass the state’s power supply. If that fails, rolling blackouts are likely to begin. Full Story
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![Reliability Coordinators monitored the state power grid during a tour of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor in 2012.]()
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Ken Paxton’s top deputy, the first impeachment witness, describes an attorney general out of control
Jeff Mateer testified that Paxton was so intent on helping Austin real estate investor Nate Paul that he worried the attorney general was being blackmailed. Full Story
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![Whistleblower Jeff Mateer give impassioned testimony about his former boss Ken Paxton in the morning session of Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial in the Texas Senate on September 6, 2023. (Bob Daemmrich/Pool for the Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton trial, Sept. 6: Witnesses claim AG was fixated on Nate Paul
On the second day of the impeachment trial, former officials in the attorney general’s office say Ken Paxton’s relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul raised alarms. Defense attorney accused the witnesses of “staging a coup.” Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and his staff listen as defense lawyer Tony Buzbee, bottom right, cross examines former first assistant attorney general Jeff Mateer on the second day of the impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas prison system issues statewide lockdown to combat illegal drugs, inmate violence
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Meet the newest class of Tribune fellows
Fellows play key roles in the most important work of the Tribune, helping with The Texas Tribune Festival and covering the biennial legislative sessions, education and the environment, among other important topics. Full Story
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Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Paxton loyalists, but few others, turn out for impeachment trial opening
Texans came to the Capitol to witness Tuesday’s proceedings in which the Senate rejected motions to dismiss suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment charges. Full Story
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![Members of the general public line up to receive a pass to watch the impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023 in Austin. Members of the public were required to wait in line for access before and following the trial’s lunch recess.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Embattled Nueces County prosecutor joins Democratic primary to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz
Targeted by local conservative activists, Mark Gonzalez joined an increasingly crowded 2024 primary — a move that triggered his resignation as district attorney. Full Story
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![Mark Gonzalez speaks on a panel on criminal justice at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2017.]()
Credit: Kelly West for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton trial, Sept. 5: Suspended AG pleads not guilty to all impeachment articles, leaves before afternoon proceedings
On the first day of the impeachment trial, senators rejected defense attorneys’ attempts to dismiss all 16 articles of impeachment. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also ruled that Ken Paxton couldn’t be forced to testify. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton looks up at the gallery during the first day of his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News -
Ken Paxton impeachment trial begins with sniping: “Slow creep of corruption” vs. “nothing of significance”
After senators rejected the suspended attorney general’s bid to dismiss all accusations against him, lawyers for both sides laid out their cases and impeachment managers called their first witness. Full Story
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![Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick calls the attorneys and staffs to the dais during the afternoon session of Day 1 of the Ken Paxton impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Essay: Fifth Ward, Houston, 1952 — One Girl’s Story
In this excerpt from her new memoir, “Up Home,” Ruth J. Simmons recalls moving to Houston at age 6 from rural East Texas. She would go on to serve as president of Smith College, Brown University and Prairie View A&M. Full Story
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Texas Senate rejects all motions to dismiss Ken Paxton impeachment charges
The pretrial motions required a majority vote. All but one were rejected by two-thirds of the Senate, suggesting an openness in the chamber to hear the allegations against Paxton. Full Story
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![Senators file into the Senate floor at the beginning of the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton on Sept. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton cannot be forced to testify at his impeachment trial, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick rules
The suspended attorney general argued that he should have the same protection from testifying as any defendant in a criminal trial. Patrick, acting as trial judge, agreed. Full Story
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![From left: Attorney Tony Buzbee, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton and attorney Dan Cogdell on the Senate floor on Sept. 5, 2023. The attorneys are part of the team defending Paxton in his Senate impeachment trial.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News -
Watch former Prairie View A&M President Ruth Simmons talk about her new memoir
Simmons talked with The Texas Tribune about “Up Home: One Girl’s Journey,” which depicts an era long gone but whose legacies of inequality still persist. Full Story
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5 questions loom as Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial gets started
Will the suspended attorney general testify, and will any — or all — articles of impeachment be dismissed before opening arguments? Answers are finally coming. Full Story
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![The Texas Senate gallery on Aug. 31, 2023 as technical staff prepares communications for the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton on September 5th. Paxton is accused of several ethics violations during his three terms as Texas Attorney General.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrch for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton tried to hide his affair from his wife and voters. It may be his undoing.
The impeachment trial that starts Tuesday is expected to center on Paxton’s infidelity, and could air out the sordid details of the staunch, Christian conservative’s life as he sits just yards away from his wife, and her 30 Senate colleagues. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the oath of office for the third time from Gov. Greg Abbott, as his wife, state Sen. Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, holds the Sam Houston bible Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Here’s how Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial will operate
Under rules previously adopted by the Texas Senate, the trial will feature crucial votes on dismissing articles of impeachment as well as testimony under oath, private deliberations by senator-jurors and votes conducted without debate or discussion. Full Story
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![The Texas Senate gallery as technical staff prepares communications for next week's start in the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton on September 5th. Paxton is accused of several ethics violations during his three terms as Texas Attorney General.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
“Let’s clean house”: Paxton tells supporters to lead charge in removing his Republican rivals who impeached him
Paxton named House Speaker Dade Phelan, a fellow Republican, in his brief remarks Saturday in North Texas. The suspended attorney general faces a trial Tuesday that would remove him from office permanently. Full Story
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![Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a Collin County Labor Day picnic in Plano, on Sept. 2, 2023, just days before his impeachment trial.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Attention returns to Sen. John Cornyn’s future after GOP Leader Mitch McConnell’s latest health scare
The senior senator from Texas has the ambition to become the Senate’s top Republican, but he remains loyal to McConnell, who has downplayed concerns about his well-being. Full Story
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![Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Senate Minority Leader, speaks with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Monday, January 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS