In Texas, Christian right grows confident and assertive
Emboldened by court rulings and election victories, the Christian right is outspoken as it pushes its moral views through the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![FILE: The 10 Commandments plaque on the Capitol grounds in Austin on July 17, 2012.]()
Credit: Ariel Min for The Texas Tribune -
Texas school districts hopeful lawmakers will help plug $1.7 billion gap in special education funding
Proponents say the changes would better serve special education students with widely varying needs — and help schools pay for it. Full Story
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![A classroom at Alfonso Borrego Sr. Elementary School. The school received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for new flexible seating, desks, and spaces for students to relax during class in San Elizario, Texas on July 23, 2024]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Sylvester Turner eulogized as a man of faith, family and public service to Houston
The former Houston mayor’s funeral drew more than 1,000 mourners on Saturday, including 20 of his congressional colleagues from both political parties. Full Story
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![Mrs. Ashley Paige Turner Captain, Sylvester Turner’s daughter arrives at her father, the late Congressman Sylvester Turner’s funeral service at The Church without Walls in West Houston, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Houston. (Lexi Parra / Houston Landing)]()
Credit: Lexi Parra/Houston Landing -
Houston police directed to call ICE on undocumented immigrants with deportation orders
The new guidance comes after ICE added 700,000 individuals with deportation orders to a national crime database that law enforcement uses to track warrants. Full Story
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![A Houston Police Department officer is seen during a demonstration on Presidents' Day outside City Hall in Houston, Texas, on February 17, 2025.]()
Credit: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via REUTERS -
University of North Texas and Rice University under federal investigation for “race-exclusionary practices”
The Texas universities are among dozens accused of violating the law by partnering with a group that had sought to increase diversity in graduate programs. Full Story
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![Rice University in Houston on March 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton says trans Texans can’t use court orders to change sex on driver’s licenses, birth certificates
Per the attorney general’s nonbinding opinion, state agencies should change gender markers on government documents back to a person’s sex assigned at birth. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media during a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers and charter leaders push back on the $870K paid to Valere schools’ superintendent
The rebuke from lawmakers and charter school leaders came after an investigation from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that Salvador Cavazos, who oversees fewer than 1,000 students, is among the most well-paid superintendents in the country. Full Story
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Credit: Lauren Crow for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Texas lawmakers are pushing harsher criminal penalties while prison and jail populations soar
Proposed legislation includes increased penalties for retail theft, car burglaries and forgery, among others. Full Story
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![Inmates are monitored at a security station at the Harris County Detention Center on April 16, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Feds are opening more detention centers in Texas as Trump administration steps up deportations
The feds are adding thousands of beds to hold families in Texas, which reportedly holds the most immigrants of any state at its 21 detention centers. Full Story
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![The South Texas Family Residential Center is an immigrant detention center in Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
In lawsuit settlement, Texas Tech’s med school promises it won’t consider race in admissions
George Stewart sued Texas Tech University Health Science Center and five other medical schools claiming they rejected him in favor of lesser qualified students of color. Full Story
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![The Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock.]()
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Texas bill would increase oversight of universities’ hiring, curriculum and compliance
Senate Bill 37 would create a state office to investigate complaints against universities and require governing boards to ensure courses don’t endorse certain ideologies. Full Story
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![View of the Administration building on the Texas Tech University campus on July 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers will debate saving the state’s water supply after key legislation is introduced
The state House and Senate have similar proposals to solve the state's water crisis, but there are stark differences on how to invest billions of dollars to resolve. Full Story
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![A water tower in Starr County near the Falcon Dam on Aug. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Tech officials trying to determine what caused explosion and fires that prompted campus closure
A day after the incident in which green flames could be seen coming out of manholes, 40% of the university in Lubbock remains without power. Full Story
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![Firefighters work the scene after an explosion at LP&L Brandon Power Station sparked a campus-wide power outage on March 12, 2025.]()
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Orator, conscience, advocate: State lawmakers honor Sylvester Turner with bipartisan accolades in Capitol ceremony
Turner, who spent nearly three decades in the Texas House and died last week, was remembered as a passionate Democrat committed to working across the aisle. Full Story
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![Two men embrace after Congressman Turner’s memorial service on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on March 13, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases
The Biden administration had challenged a Republican-led redistricting plan that diluted the political power of minorities. Other legal challenges will continue. Full Story
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![Census data from 2020 and redistricting maps at The Texas Tribune office in Austin on Oct. 7, 2021. The state population grew by nearly 4 million and was driven mainly by people of color.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country. Full Story
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![Migrants walk from a DHS tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton investigates Dallas for alleged sanctuary city policies
Attorney General Ken Paxton said a recent statement by Dallas’ interim police chief raised concerns that the city might be violating a state law against so-called sanctuary city policies. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on January 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Photo by Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Want to understand Texas’ water crisis? Start with the guide to water terms.
Water is complex. So are the terms used to describe it. Get to know the language as Texas debates how to save its water supply. Full Story
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![The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso on March 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is running out of water. Here’s why and what state leaders plan to do about it.
The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented. Full Story
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![Water gushes from Rick Bradbury’s truck to Shannon Montague’s reservoir as the Bradbury’s make a delivery Saturday, March 16, 2024 in Terlingua.]()
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Texas Southern University asks for $120 million to replace aging law school
Law students might lose financial aid if TSU does not address health and safety concerns about the building. Full Story
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![Students walk along the Tiger Walk through campus on the first day of class at Texas Southern University on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune