Mandy Mann thought she had paid her dues for a 2009 traffic stop. But six years later, the Waco mom was stopped and arrested — for failing to comply with the state’s troubled Driver Responsibility Program.
Alana Rocha
Alana Rocha was the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune until June 2022. She was previously a multimedia reporter, after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and Texas and traveled the country reporting from the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaign trails. She was the lead reporter on several award-winning projects and launched “The Brief,” a daily audio update. A native of Tampa, Florida, Alana received bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from the University of Florida.
Posted in
Demographics
Dreamers grateful efforts to repeal in-state tuition benefit never materialized
Efforts to strip undocumented students in Texas of their in-state college tuition benefit failed to pass during the latest legislative session.
Posted in
State Government
Trump administration says Texas’ new voter ID law checks all the boxes (video)
The U.S. Department of Justice argued in a legal filing Thursday that courts should drop any further action over the old version of Texas’ voter ID law. That story tops the Texas Political Roundup.
Posted in
Politics
New Yorker’s Lawrence Wright: Here’s what Speaker Straus told me on “bathroom bill”
During an interview on KUT’s Texas Standard, Lawrence Wright talked about his latest piece in The New Yorker, including strong words from House Speaker Joe Straus on the “bathroom bill.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Trump slow to fill judicial seats in Texas (video)
All four U.S. attorney seats, 11 district judgeships and two slots on the historically conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sit open.
Posted in
Demographics
Houston is the latest city to join court fight over Texas immigration law (video)
The four largest cities in Texas are now party to a lawsuit that seeks to stop the state’s new controversial immigration law from going into effect.
Posted in
State Government
State removes license for eyebrow threaders (video)
The Texas Legislature passed a bill deregulating eyebrow threading, which has for years required practitioners in Texas to pay licensing fees and undergo hundreds of hours of unrelated cosmetology training.
Posted in
State Government
What to expect in a special session
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling lawmakers back for a special session of the Legislature to address some key issues that failed to pass during the regular session. Watch how the session will work in a condensed time frame.
Posted in
Demographics
State capitol among lawmakers’ summer travel destinations (video)
Members of the Texas Legislature have six weeks to prepare to tackle an ambitious agenda in a special session that begins July 18.
Posted in
State Government
Lawmakers cap session with scuffle over immigration (video)
Things got heated on the Texas House floor on the last day of the legislative session.