Texas House committee approves bill to spend an extra $2 billion on border enforcement
A border sheriff told lawmakers that some landowners who are afraid of migrants crossing their property have asked him, "When can I shoot?" Full Story
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![A portion of an unfinished border wall stands near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio on July 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas extends pandemic benefits for families whose kids have lost access to free or reduced-price meals
Texas families with students relying on free or reduced-cost meals are eligible for a $375 payment in food aid. Families have until Sept. 13 to apply for aid from the 2020-21 school year. Full Story
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![Central Texas Food Bank volunteers prepare to distribute free food to help people facing increasing food insecurity at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin on July 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas' biggest county saw a sixfold jump in vaccine rates after offering $100 for first doses
Other city and county governments in Texas are offering incentives to unvaccinated people to get a shot. Statewide, vaccination rates have increased modestly. Full Story
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![Dave DeJohn, a teacher at Yates High School, gets vaccinated by pharmacist Ilana Druker at Houston Independent School District’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center in Houston on Jan. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House speaker says “absolutely no deals made” to bring back absent Democrats
Navigating the quorum break, Speaker Dade Phelan said he was especially mindful of not doing “un-repairable harm” to the chamber, indicating that could have happened if members were physically detained and brought to the chamber. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan sits on an interview with The Texas Tribune at the Capitol on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
“I wanted to teach differently than I had been taught”: How some Texas educators practice anti-racist teaching
Conservative lawmakers denounce critical race theory and say it facilitates racism. Some teachers say it actually informs their efforts to counter racism in the curriculum and classroom, even though they don't teach it directly to students. Full Story
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![Alejandra Lopez, president of San Antonio Alliance, sat for a portrait at their main office in San Antonio on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House solidifies quorum with burst of returning Democrats but has only two weeks left to pass jam-packed agenda
It’s unclear what the Legislature will be able to accomplish with just two weeks left on the 30-day clock. Key legislative deadlines are coming. Member relationships are frayed. Some Democrats warn the quorum could be broken again. Full Story
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![Roll call is tallied on the House Floor on Aug. 23, 2021]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House committee again passes the voting restrictions bill that instigated Democratic quorum break
Senate Bill 1 would outlaw local efforts to make it easier to vote, ratchet up vote-by-mail rules and bolster protections for partisan poll watchers. The Senate already passed the legislation, but a House panel Monday replaced that with the lower chamber’s version of the bill. Full Story
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![A poll worker feeds a voting machine and power cord through a voter’s car window in the drive-through line at NRG Stadium in Houston during the first day of early voting on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Dallas police defend DWI arrest of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West’s wife as her lawyer questions their evidence
An affidavit obtained by The Texas Tribune shows Angela Graham-West showed signs of intoxication in some — but not all — portions of a field sobriety test. Her lawyer attributes some issues to a previous brain aneurysm Graham-West suffered behind her right eye. Full Story
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![Angela Graham-West and Allen West.]()
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Full FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine opens door for vaccine mandates in Texas
With the U.S. Food and Drug administration’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine, Texas is in uncharted territory when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
State lawmakers again try to ban most dangerous nuclear waste as feds consider allowing it at West Texas site
A failed regular session bill sought to give a financial break to a West Texas nuclear waste disposal company. Now, lawmakers have removed what opponents called a giveaway and are again trying to pass a bill to stop highly radioactive materials from coming to Texas. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
As Gov. Greg Abbott beefs up border enforcement, some locals want very different kinds of help
Amid the heated rhetoric around an increase in migrants, people on opposite ends of the Texas-Mexico border see the problems — and solutions — differently. Full Story
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![A man gazes up at a stained glass window in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church while exiting the church with other asylum seekers in Mission on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Asylum-seeking families and children made up nearly half of July border crossings: “This is young mamas and daddies trying to save their families”
Migrant crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 21-year high in July. This video takes you to the epicenter: Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where more crossings are happening than in any other region in the country. Full Story
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![Asylum seekers exit the respite center across the street from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas lawmakers have two contentious voting fights ahead — if they can stay in the same room
After a standoff that lasted more than a month, the Texas House appears to have enough state representatives in Austin to conduct business. The divisions are deep, relationships are frayed and redistricting lies ahead. Full Story
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![State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, leads a prayer on the House floor on Aug. 19, 2021. Democratic lawmakers Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Lucio Walle returned to the House floor, giving their Republican members a quorum.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Desperate Texas doctors turn to antibody treatments to slow down surging COVID-19 hospitalizations
The infusions are more available and accessible to Texans than ever before, and new criteria for who can receive antibody treatment have led more doctors to prescribe it. Full Story
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![Dr. Fritz Thurmond speaks to Kathy Hardman as she waits a one-hour observation period after receiving a COVID-19 antibody infusion at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant on Aug. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Houston-area U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls tests positive for COVID-19
The Republican congressman and former Fort Bend County sheriff, who is fully vaccinated, announced Saturday he'd tested positive for COVID-19. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Richmond, speaks at a press conference about his recent trip to the southern border, in Washington on April 20, 2021.]()
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests negative for COVID-19 four days after positive test
The governor credited his vaccination for keeping his infection "brief and mild" and encouraged others to consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 3 at the Texas Capitol on June 8, 2021. The omnibus power grid bills will change the state’s power grid and the people who oversee it.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Allen West, GOP candidate for governor, calls wife’s DWI arrest in Dallas “insidious”
Angela Graham-West, wife of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West, was arrested by Dallas Police Friday night for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Allen West said she hadn’t been drinking, that her 3-month-old grandson was in the car with her, and called the arrest “insidious.” Full Story
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![State GOP Chairman Allen West speaks at a Texas Republican Party rally on the east side of the Capitol Grounds on January 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
After some Democrats return to the Texas House, holdouts say they’re complicit in moving GOP elections bill forward
The return of three Democrats on Thursday allowed the House to reach a quorum, meaning enough members were present so lawmakers could work for the first time in nearly six weeks. Full Story
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![State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, leads a prayer on the House floor on Aug. 19, 2021. Democratic lawmakers Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Lucio Walle returned to the House floor, given their Republican members a quorum.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas House finally makes quorum, but Democrats say Republicans cheated to get there
There were 99 members registered as present Thursday evening, the exact number needed to end the 38-day Democratic quorum break over the GOP’s priority elections bill. But not all of those members were physically on the floor. Full Story
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![House members watch as roll call is tallied on Aug. 19, 2021. The House reached a quorum after weeks of absence by House Democrats who left the state in protest over a GOP elections bill.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge rules for Texas, temporarily restores federal health care funding extension
The agreement was set to expire next year after federal health officials rescinded the Trump administration's 10-year extension to the 1115 waiver agreement. Full Story
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![Helen Hawkins, Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, at Carousel Pediatrics in Austin on Nov. 8th, 2012.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune