A package of bills aims to better prepare the state to prevent and fight wildfires.
Jayme Lozano Carver
Jayme Lozano Carver is the Tribune’s first Lubbock-based reporter, covering the South Plains and Panhandle through a partnership with Report for America. Jayme previously worked for Texas Tech Public Media, Lubbock’s NPR station, where she spearheaded “Rural Healthcare: The Other Texas Drought,” a series for PBS’ “Frontline” on rural hospital closures in Texas. She also covered a broad range of topics for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, including climate change, agriculture, entertainment and health care. Born in Levelland, Jayme is a native of the South Plains area and studied at South Plains College and Texas Tech University. She loves to talk about her cats, horror movies and pro wrestling.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
The one thing Texas won’t do to save its water supply
Texas property owners can use nearly as much water under their land as they want. That’s unlikely to change even as the state approaches a crisis.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
Lawmakers near deal to spend $20 billion over two decades on water crisis
The deal allocates $1 billion a year to water projects for 20 years, which some groups estimate is a fraction of what Texas needs to save its water supply.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Republicans want to block cities’ gun buyback programs
Much of the debate focused on the tense relationship between cities and the Texas Legislature. The bill is head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
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Texas Legislature 2025
THC ban will destroy Texas’ hemp agriculture industry, farmers say
While state leaders say growers can still produce industrial hemp, farmers say they will quit growing the plant altogether under a total THC ban.
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Texas measles outbreak
As measles outbreak continues, new parents in Lubbock face unexpected fears
Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Improved response to mass shooting is goal of “Uvalde Strong” bill approved by Texas Legislature
Uvalde’s former mayor, now in the Legislature, wrote the bill so that law-enforcement agencies would have better coordination and leadership as they respond to a mass shooting.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. Track them here.
Most lawmakers — as well as Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — want to invest big in water. Here are the proposals that would do it.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas will share equipment database with local fire departments to help beat wildfires
The legislation, which won unanimous approval in both chambers, was written following the state’s historic Panhandle wildfires last year.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
The Texas House wants voters to approve billions to save the state’s water supply
The Senate has a similar proposal, but is more prescriptive in how the money should be spent. The two chambers must agree on the final proposal to send to voters.
