In some parts of the state, the skies cleared enough for people to see the total solar eclipse.
Alejandra Martinez
Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
Posted in
Environment
Eclipse fever hits Texas towns as residents and officials prepare for a crush of visitors
Llano residents are told to stock up on groceries. A Sulphur Springs church is renting its parking spots. And everyone’s watching the weather forecast ahead of Monday’s eclipse.
Posted in
Politics
President Joe Biden visits Dallas and Houston for fundraisers
Biden landed in Dallas late Wednesday afternoon. He had no public events on his schedule.
Posted in
Economy
New EPA rule to slash cancer-causing emissions from sterilization facilities
Laredo residents who live near a sterilization plant say the new federal limits on the pollutant will improve air quality and reduce their city’s high cancer risk.
Posted in
Energy
Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tóxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos públicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
Posted in
Graphics and data reporting
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred wins Democratic primary to face Sen. Ted Cruz in November
Allred bested state Sen. Roland Gutierrez in a crowded pool of Democrats.
Posted in
Environment
Texas greenlights negotiations with SpaceX for Boca Chica State Park land exchange
Monday’s vote lets Texas Parks and Wildlife staff begin negotiations to swap 43 acres in the park for 477 acres next to a federal wildlife refuge.
Posted in
Panhandle Wildfires
Wildfires ravage cattle country, threatening Texas’ agriculture economy
Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought.
Posted in
Panhandle Wildfires
Texans in the Panhandle recall towering smoke and darkened skies as wildfires crept near their towns
The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake.
