State Rep. Joe Moody rushed to the site of a mass shooting in his city in 2019, then warned House colleagues that it would happen again as they passed a permitless carry bill. Now he’s at the center of the investigation into the Uvalde massacre.
Ariana Perez-Castells
Ariana Perez-Castells was a 2022 summer reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune. She reports and writes both in English and Spanish, and is interested in data and investigative stories. Ariana graduated from Bard College in 2015 with a B.A. in written arts and human rights. Since then, she's spent 6 years working in the publishing and cultural fields in New York City. She covers labor, climate change, education and health, among other topics. Her writing has appeared in Univision, City Limits, Compound Butter and The Bushwick Daily. She's currently pursuing an M.A. in Bilingual Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
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Climate Change in Texas
“A perfect storm”: Drought, extreme heat and two faulty wells threaten a North Texas town’s water supply
“We’re on the brink. We’re teetering. It’s a balancing act. It’s a 50/50 proposition,” said Gunter City Manager Rick Chaffin.
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Public Education
Texas suing USDA over requirement to add LGBTQ protections to nutrition programs’ nondiscrimination policies
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service announced in May that it would expand its definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Paxton and other attorneys general are suing in response.
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Environment
The Odessa water outage underscores a growing problem: Aging pipes in Texas cities are getting more fragile
Texas had 3,866 water boil notices in 2021, the most in the last decade. Aging water systems threaten water supply and quality — and for many small towns across the state, they won’t be cheap to repair.
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Operation Lone Star
Gov. Greg Abbott spends an additional $30 million on Operation Lone Star to aid local governments
Abbott announced that his already $4 billion border mission would provide grant funding for cities and counties, following a press conference by some local officials calling on the governor to take more drastic action to secure the border.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
Abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy can temporarily resume in Texas, judge rules
A ban in effect before Roe v. Wade cannot be used, as threatened last week by Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a judge’s ruling Tuesday. However, the stopgap measure will, at most, extend abortion access in the state for two months.
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Uvalde school shooting
Graduation in Uvalde gives tragedy-stricken town a night of normality
A month after their graduation was postponed by a mass shooting, Uvalde High School seniors finally got to celebrate their graduation on Friday.
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Criminal Justice
Russia again pushes back the trial for detained WNBA basketball star and Houston native Brittney Griner
The two-time Olympian is now set to appear in court in Russia on July 2. She is being held in pretrial detention.
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Criminal Justice
Texas suspends most transportation of inmates while it reviews convicted murderer’s escape
The review comes after Gonzalo Lopez escaped from a prison bus last month. Authorities say he killed a family of five before they found and killed him.