T-Squared: We won our first-ever awards from Texas Managing Editors
The Texas Tribune was recognized, along with ProPublica and NBC News, for coverage of carbon monoxide poisoning during the 2021 winter storm. Full Story
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![Impact, Recognition and Awards]()
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Problems remain for We Build the Wall group after founder’s guilty plea
Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage faces more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding donors to the private wall effort. Full Story
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Credit: Devon Ravine/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP -
TribCast: Ross Ramsey reflects on four decades of Texas politics
On this week’s episode, Matthew, Evan and Alexa reminisce with Texas Tribune co-founder and Executive Editor Ross Ramey as he wraps up his last day of work. Full Story
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![Ross Ramsey moderates the “Fade to Blue” panel with guests Rodney Anderson, John Bucy, KP George, Larry Gonzalez and Erin Zweiner at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 27, 2019.]()
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Texas moves one step closer to adopting a new, more rigorous teacher certification exam
The State Board of Education must still approve use of the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment, which was dropped by two states that had adopted it. Full Story
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![Kindergarten teacher Angie Hogan reads a book to her class on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott redirects $500 million from other agencies to fund border security mission through end of fiscal year
Abbott said the money would be taken from the budgets of other Texas agencies, including nearly $210 million from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission over two years and about $160 million from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Full Story
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![Department of Public Safety agents arrest an undocumented migrant for trespassing private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 9, 2021.
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Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
Analysis: Texas is great — and ought to be better
Texas is a great state, but there’s a lot of work to do, and it starts with the public — and what Texans really want. The political class isn’t going to do this on its own. Full Story
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![An aerial view of the Capitol in Austin on Jan. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over asylum plan
The plan would overhaul the process for migrants seeking asylum, aiming to reduce the average wait time for a decision from five years to six months. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, gestures as he speaks at a press conference with Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II, center right, and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, center left, at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2022. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Texas v. Texas, the enforcement of the Trump-era “remain in Mexico” policy that required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as they waited for hearings in U.S. immigration court.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
New federal lawsuit seeks to halt Texas’ border trespassing arrests, give more than $5 million to illegally detained migrants
Thousands of men have been arrested on trespassing charges under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown. A new lawsuit claims the attempt to skirt federal immigration authority is unconstitutional. Full Story
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![The migrant processing facility adjacent to the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office in Del Rio on Oct. 26, 2021.]()
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Facing a teacher shortage, Texas considers a more rigorous teacher certification exam
Two states have dropped the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment, and three others passed on it or want it gone. Full Story
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![Fifth graders at Jacob’s Well Elementary School in Wimberley lineup at the door as they prepare to walk back to their classroom from the science lab on Sept. 4, 2020.]()
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Jessica Cisneros saw a fundraising boost after an FBI raid on U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s home
Cisneros raised about $700,000 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 9. Cuellar, whose office was raided Jan. 19, raised $146,000 — about $100,000 less than what he raised during the same reporting period before the 2020 primary. Full Story
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![Jessica Cisneros and Henry Cuellar.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott asks for private donations to bus migrants to D.C. after criticism for using taxpayer money
The decision to crowdfund the free bus trips for migrants is a new development since his initial announcement on April 6 that the rides would be paid for by Texas taxpayers. Full Story
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![Two buses transporting migrants from Texas arrive at Union Station on April 21, 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott’s new plan in response to the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era emergency health order which allowed immigration authorities at the border to deny entry.]()
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How Sandy Hook lies and the Jan. 6 inquiry threaten to undo Alex Jones
The Texas-based conspiracy theorist recently sought immunity from federal prosecutors investigating the U.S. Capitol riot. Three of his companies have filed for bankruptcy in an apparent effort to delay his Sandy Hook defamation trial. Full Story
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![Alex Jones records a video for InfoWars on a street corner in downtown Austin outside of the Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 29, 2018.]()
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Judge orders Biden administration to send Central American migrants to Mexico rather than their home countries
The federal judge in Louisiana said he’ll hold a hearing in May to decide whether to block the administration from halting Title 42, the Trump-era health order that quickly sends all migrants back to Mexico. Full Story
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![Enrique Valenzuela, director of the Chihuahua State Population Council, guides a group of Central American families that were deported to the Ju·rez Migrant Assistance Center, in Ciudad Ju·rez, Chihuahua, Mexico on March 16, 2021. Migrants that have crossed in the Rio Grande Valley are being flown to El Paso to be deported to Ciudad Ju·rez, where shelters are already saturated.]()
Credit: Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribune -
Texas soldier who drowned trying to help migrants wasn’t equipped with flotation device
Spc. Bishop Evans died after jumping into the Rio Grande to save migrants. He and other members of Operation Lone Star were not provided safety equipment. Texas Military Department said an order for buoys and ropes was made but has not been fulfilled. Full Story
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![A Border Patrol boat on the Rio Grande between Piedras Negras, Mexico, and Eagle Pass on Nov. 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Trevor Reed, former Marine from Texas, freed from Russia in prisoner swap
Reed traveled to Russia in the summer of 2019 with his Russian girlfriend to learn the language. That August, Russian police arrested him for intoxication and took him to a jail to sober up. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed during a 2020 court hearing in Moscow on March 11, 2020.]()
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Here’s how two Texas constitutional amendments could lower some property taxes
The propositions on the May 7 ballot would lower property taxes by shifting more public school costs to the state. But the measures’ language can be hard to understand. Full Story
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Analysis: The case for big ideas in Texas government
Texas political leaders usually settle for caution. The big stuff is risky, but it’s also possible — and even inspiring — to see leaders ignoring the small stuff and aiming higher. Full Story
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![United States astronaut Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag on the surface of the Moon after he and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first men to land on the Moon during the Apollo 11 space mission July 20, 1969.]()
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Fact-checking Texas leaders’ claims about Operation Lone Star
As reporters investigated Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative, they repeatedly found situations in which Abbott and Department of Public Safety officials cited accomplishments that lacked crucial context or did not match reality. Here are a few examples. Full Story
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Credit: Photo Illustration by John Whitlock for ProPublica/Texas Tribune/The Marshall Project. Source images: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune; Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune, Jordan Vondehaar for The Texas Tribune -
In Democratic runoff for South Texas congressional seat, nonprofit backing a candidate is accused of campaign finance violations
Michelle Vallejo faces Ruben Ramirez in a runoff for the Democratic nomination in the 15th Congressional District. A nonprofit that supports Vallejo is accused of breaking campaign finance rules. Full Story
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![Michelle Vallejo, U.S. Representative District 15 Candidate, responds to questions during a Futuro RGV candidate forum in McAllen on Jan. 11, 2022.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
New “resiliency center” at Houston Community College aims to prepare Texas’ largest city for disasters
After back-to-back major flooding events devastated Houston, the community college is launching a new program to ensure that citizens, businesses and emergency responders are better equipped to respond to catastrophic events. Full Story
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![Houston Community College Chancellor Cesar Maldonado speaks at a press conference after his state of the college address on April 26, 2022, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune