“Hunting for warm places to go”: Austinites cope as outages linger
While families search for warmth, light and distractions, line workers race to restore normal life. Full Story
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![On day four without power, Justin Havird and Vernon, 2, build with Lego bricks at the Austin Central Library on Feb. 4, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott issues disaster declaration for Texas ice storm
Abbott declared disaster in seven Texas counties hard hit by this week’s winter storm. Austin has been the epicenter of a power crisis as tens of thousands wait for electricity to be restored. Full Story
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![Dora Portello, right, hands out boxes of free food to help people outside of their store, Brianna’s Home Decor Thrift Shop, during the winter weather that went through Dallas on Feb. 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Is Texas uniquely bad at disaster preparedness?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with University of Texas at Austin professor Michael Webber and environment reporter Erin Douglas about the state’s widespread power outages. Full Story
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![A tree limb rests atop a car after an ice storm caused power outages across Austin on Feb. 2, 2023.]()
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Gambling proponents have a new plan to ask Texas voters to legalize casinos
If state lawmakers agree, Texas voters will have the final say on whether the state will expand gambling and casinos this November. Full Story
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![A woman is seen reflected wearing a protective face mask, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, outside a closed poker room in a casino in New Orleans on Aug. 30, 2020.]()
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Texas Senate leaders signal intent to spend big on border security
The state has spent $4 billion on border initiatives in the past two years, including $40 million to bus migrants out of Texas into Democrat-led cities. Full Story
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![Texas DPS special agents take a group of five undocumented migrants from Honduras that were caught in private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 8, 2021. The owner of the property did not sign an affidavit for arrests of undocumented migrants to be taking place at their property so the group will be processed by Border Patrol instead.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Texas is well-positioned to weather a potential national recession, Dallas Fed economist says
Despite worries of a national recession, Texas’ robust labor force and strong energy sector could help it fare relatively well in a potential 2023 slowdown. Full Story
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![Construction in downtown Austin's warehouse district on May 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
State Board of Education eases stance on vouchers after previously rejecting “school choice” policies
This comes two days after Gov. Greg Abbott voiced his most explicit support yet of a new school choice policy at a Parent Empowerment Night event in Corpus Christi. Full Story
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![A student walks down the hallway at Cactus Elementary School in Cactus on Jan. 28, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Chainsaws and dry socks: Austinites step up for neighbors during ice storm
Friends in North Austin removed downed trees from neighbors’ roofs, while closer to the city core, volunteers rushed to meet the immediate needs of people without homes — those most severely impacted by the freezing temperatures. Full Story
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![Eric Calder and his son Thomas, 14, help move large tree limbs from a neighbors backyard after an ice storm, in northwest Austin on Feb. 2, 2023. Calder and his son were part of a neighborhood effort to clean up their neighbor's yards.]()
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Texas cities debate costly infrastructure investments in age of extreme weather
Experts say local governments should prioritize extreme weather preparedness. Cost can be a deterring factor. Full Story
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![Holly Phillips, an employee at 7-Eleven, finally waits for a bus to get home after she was stuck in the store for two nights as the roads iced over and other employees were not able to come in to take over her shift as winter weather moved through Dallas on Feb. 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
For many Central Texans, latest bout of cold weather and outages reopens old wounds
Severe weather this week is confronting Texans with old problems and stirring up memories of previous crises. Experts say this can be a detriment to mental health. Full Story
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![A man attempts to scrape the ice from his truck windshield after a winter storm in north Austin on Feb. 1, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ tech capital again fumbles digital communication amid a power crisis
As tens of thousands of households and businesses face a third day in the dark, Austin leaders say they will improve emergency communications. But residents and critics have little patience for bungled warnings. Full Story
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![A fallen tree blocks most of Barton Skyway in South Austin, Texas, U.S., during a winter storm on Feb. 1, 2023.]()
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Austin doesn’t know when it’ll fully restore power as hundreds of thousands of Texans remain in the cold
Close to 325,000 electricity customers statewide lacked power Thursday evening. Austin’s main power provider said it can no longer promise full restoration by 6 p.m. Friday. Full Story
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![Crews from Pedernales Electric Company work to repair downed power lines in Buda on Feb. 1, 2023.]()
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In Central Texas, an urban tree canopy bends to the ice
The Hill Country loves its trees. But improper pruning and a drought earlier in the year may have contributed to the huge number of downed branches this week that frequently took power lines with them. Full Story
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![Joe Rendon, a worker with Medxcel, cuts off a broken tree limb near the Ascension Seton Medical Center after an ice storm caused power outages across Austin on Feb. 2, 2023. Rendon and his crew had spent the day cleaning out other hospitals and said that there was enough damage from fallen trees for over two weeks of work.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Cruz, Cornyn renew calls for release of Mark Swidan, Texan detained in China for 10 years
The two Texas Republicans are drumming up attention to the decade-old case as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang this week. Full Story
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![Mark Swidan.]()
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The Rio Grande Valley is at the epicenter of an Alzheimer’s spike among Latinos and is now the focus of new research efforts
Compared to other large states, fewer state dollars go to Alzheimer’s disease services in Texas. Now with more national attention on research here, could that change? Full Story
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![Photographs of her father, Tomas, decorate the home of Jessica Cantú. Cantú’s father received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2016.]()
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Texas Legislature gears up to tackle long-standing and fresh issues in public education. Here’s what you need to know.
Lawmakers are looking at ways to keep teachers in the profession, make schools safer, give parents money for private schooling and censor conversations about sex and gender. Full Story
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![Students get onto a bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 27, 2023. Public school officials in rural areas like Lufkin face budget challenges because of proposed school choice legislation, which provides taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to a local public school.]()
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Critics say state tax break helps petrochemical companies and hurts public schools
In December, legislators killed a controversial tax abatement program known as Chapter 313, but its effects will last decades. Full Story
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![Corpus Christi Ship Channel on April 17, 2022.]()
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Texas executes Wesley Ruiz despite ongoing fight over state’s use of old lethal injection drugs
Ruiz was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix after a high-speed chase. Full Story
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![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
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Environmental advocates push feds to investigate Texas’ enforcement of water quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries. Full Story
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![Downstream from Inland Environmental & Remediation, Inc., contaminated water empties from Skull creek into the Colorado River south of Columbus, Texas, on April 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Company that wants to build oilfield dump in East Texas gave $53,750 in campaign donations to regulators
McBride Operating LLC and its owner, Joseph McBride, contributed to the political campaigns of the three commissioners on the Texas Railroad Commission now considering his request. Full Story
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![Two wells of the Paxton Water Supply Corporation sit about 1,000 yards away from the proposed dumpsite on Jan. 18, 2023.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News