Texas cities and counties largely control when and where liquor can be sold. Just three counties are totally dry.
Jess Huff
Jess Huff joined the Tribune in 2023 and is based in Lufkin, Texas. She grew up in Utah and has also lived in Arizona and the Netherlands. Her latest adventure brought her to East Texas where she worked for The Lufkin Daily News, leading the publication to numerous awards for investigative reporting in the region. Jess attended Northern Arizona University on a debate scholarship and fell in love with the journalism program after a course on alternative storytelling devices. Her work has been published in the Arizona Daily Sun, The Associated Press, The Lufkin Daily News, Capital & Main and a number of local outlets across Texas.
Posted in
Immigration
Immigrant families in Texas have gone into hiding after latest Trump administration policy
Last month the Trump administration made people from 19 nations ineligible to obtain legal status. “Fear won,” said one woman who came from Venezuela nearly a decade ago.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Education Agency taking over Lake Worth, Connally and Beaumont school districts
The three interventions come after the state’s education agency announced plans to take over Fort Worth ISD in October.
Posted in
Economy
Last Christmas: An East Texas Christmas tree farm closes after 40 years, despite booming sales
Christmas tree sales are up in the Lone Star State, even as many tree farmers are aging out of the business with no successors.
Posted in
2025 Legislative Recap
Texas hoped $100 million would help more families pay for child care. Here’s why it didn’t.
Increased costs in food and payroll at child care centers effectively wiped out the one-time investment state lawmakers approved earlier this year, a new report found.
Posted in
Politics
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues a second state agency over rules he says discriminate on religious grounds
Paxton, who is running to unseat fellow Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate, has vowed to strike down Texas laws that “undermine religious liberty.”
Posted in
The 2025 Texas Tribune Festival
Texas still needs a plan for its growing water supply issues, experts say
Panelists at The Texas Tribune Festival shared their opinions on what the state should do after voters approved a historic investment in water infrastructure.
Posted in
Politics
Texas Head Start closures during government shutdown add to state’s child care woes
Hundreds of families lost child care when certain programs weren’t funded earlier this month, and scores more may be affected if Congress doesn’t fund the government by Dec. 1.
Posted in
Environment
Dallas businessman sues over stalled plans to export East Texas water
The proposed project that would install 43 high-capacity wells drew the ire of East Texans, worried their wells would run dry.
Posted in
State Government
Texans have started to receive partial SNAP payments
The federal government paused SNAP payments at the beginning of the month because of the shutdown.