Big employers no strangers to benefits of cheap, illegal labor
Two cases illustrate how big-name employers benefit from illegal labor and why undocumented workers are easily exploited. Full Story
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![Target and HEB stores in Austin.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: On transgender Texans and bathrooms, a call to stay calm
Some Texas lawmakers were in a hurry to require transgender Texans to use the restrooms that match the genders listed on their birth certificates. But the policy and politics are complicated enough to prompt the governor to tap the brakes. Full Story
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![An accessible unisex bathroom at The University of Texas at Austin.]()
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In Texas, EPA proposing more emissions restrictions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to withdraw a plan aimed at reducing haze in Texas' national parks and tamping down on toxic air emissions. But it's also quietly proposing another. Full Story
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DNC chair hopefuls make pitches with an eye on Texas
The debate over the future of the Democratic Party came to Austin on Saturday, with all five candidates for national party chairman pitching activists on the path forward after a devastating loss in the presidential election. Full Story
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![Five candidates to chair the Democratic National Committee speaking in Austin (clockwise, from top left): Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown; New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley; U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison; U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez; and South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison.]()
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For transgender inmate who filed suit, parole and maybe a settlement
Passion Star has spent nearly 14 years in Texas prisons, where she alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted, beaten and threatened. State officials have discussed settling the federal lawsuit Star filed over her treatment, court records show. Full Story
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![Joshua Zollicoffer, who now goes by Passion Star]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas GOP readies for closely watched Electoral College vote
Texas Republicans are preparing for a closely watched Electoral College vote Monday in what is normally an afterthought to a presidential election. Full Story
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![Chair Tom Mechler at the GOP state convention on May 12, 2016.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texas schools will soon get a first peek at their grades
The state's new system of grading public schools and districts from A to F is barely starting to kick in, and many educators are already intent on killing it. Full Story
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![State Education Commissioner Mike Morath testifies Tuesday Aug 16, 2016 before the Senate Education Committee at the Texas Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune -
The Brief: Judge blocks implementation of fetal remains rule
The rule — which was scheduled to take effect Monday — would require health providers to bury or cremate aborted fetuses. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Analysis: A short history of Perry’s surprisingly long political career
Rick Perry has become the unsinkable Molly Brown of Texas politics — seemingly at the end of his career time after time, and now on his way to the biggest government job of his career. Full Story
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![State Rep. Rick Perry is shown on April 13, 1989, on the Texas House floor with state Rep. Pete Laney (right) and Rep. Ron Lewis the floor of the house during the 71st Legislative Session.]()
Credit: Texas State Library & Archives Commision -
Trump selects Perry to lead U.S. Department of Energy (video)
In the Roundup: Donald Trump selects former Gov. Rick Perry to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, Gov. Greg Abbott takes a wait-and-see approach on anticipated bathroom legislation and Attorney General Ken Paxton takes on a new fight over Christmas. Full Story
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In Texas, undocumented immigrants have no shortage of work
An underground labor market provides abundant employment opportunities for undocumented immigrants in the United States. But working in the shadows often means accepting low pay and exploitation. Full Story
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![Construction workers on a project in Houston on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. officials warn of further disability provider closures in Texas
As Texas seeks to implement a $350 million cut to the Medicaid budget for children’s therapy services, Texas health officials are scrambling to maintain a robust network of providers. Full Story
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![Lauretta Jackson, a physical therapist from Any Baby Can, works with Sara weekly to improve her body strength. Nonprofit therapy providers are worried budget cuts made by lawmakers will put them out of business.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Judge delays Texas' fetal remains rule until Jan. 6
Judge Sam Sparks ruled Thursday afternoon that the Texas Department of State Health Services would have to push back its start date requiring health providers to bury or cremate aborted fetuses. Full Story
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![Protesters on both sides of the issue face off in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt is argued inside, March 2, 2016. The case is focused on Texas law HB2, which if enforced would result in the closure of more than 75 percent of all women’s health clinics that provide abortion services in the state.]()
Credit: Allison Shelley for The Texas Tribune -
Corpus Christi residents scrambling after water supply contamination
Residents in Corpus Christi were caught by surprise Wednesday evening as city officials announced a ban on using the city’s water after a chemical made its way into the supply. Full Story
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![The shelves in the bottled water section of a Walmart in Corpus Christi were nearly empty on the morning of Dec. 15, 2016. Nearly two years after the city's water ban, the area's water now has a clean bill of health.]()
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Watch a conversation about health care and the 85th Legislature
In San Anontio, we discussed the biggest health care issues facing Texas lawmakers in the next legislative session. Full Story
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Credit: Callie Richmond -
The Brief: Texas executions, death sentences trend downward in 2016
This year, Texas is set to execute the lowest number of people in two decades, and juries in the state have handed out the second-fewest death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Full Story
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![The view of Texas' execution chamber from a witness viewing room.]()
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Forensic video analysis goes under the microscope in Texas
A Texas case shows that as cameras become more omnipresent, disputes over how such recordings are handled and analyzed are more likely to arise. Full Story
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Backers hopeful Texas ready to screen welfare recipients for drug use
While Texas already has some of the strictest eligibility requirements in the country for welfare benefit applicants, some lawmakers plan to try again next year to add required drug screenings or testing to the process. Full Story
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In an unusual year, Texas didn't lead the nation in executions
Texas didn't have the busiest execution chamber this year. In fact, it had the lowest number of executions in 20 years. Full Story
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In SEC case, Paxton lawyers zero in on Rep. Byron Cook
Fighting federal civil fraud allegations, Attorney General Ken Paxton is zeroing in on state Rep. Byron Cook's credibility in a new push to discredit the latest claims. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton entered a federal courthouse in Sherman on Sept. 2, 2016. Paxton's lawyers argued in a hearing that the federal civil fraud case against him should be dismissed.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune
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