“I think we fared well,” said one official in Matagorda County, where Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday morning.
Joshua Fechter
Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Texas sues six school districts that issued mask mandates in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order
Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have long threatened to sue school districts that defy Abbott’s ban on local mask mandates. On Friday, Paxton made good on that threat.
Gov. Greg Abbott slams Biden administration over vaccine mandate for employers
Abbott has long resisted making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory. There may be legal precedent on Biden’s side.
Gov. Greg Abbott wanted state lawmakers to ban mask mandates in public schools. They didn’t.
As Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to punish any school district that defied Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, Republican legislators were largely indifferent on the matter.
The nationwide ban on evictions is over. Here’s what Texas renters need to know.
There’s $1 billion in rental assistance available to struggling Texas tenants. But for many renters, getting the help they need depends on where they live.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can’t enforce mask mandate ban, he argues in court
Abbott says local district attorneys have the authority to enforce his ban on local mask mandates. But urban DAs are unlikely to go after their fellow local officials.
Full FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine opens door for vaccine mandates in Texas
With the U.S. Food and Drug administration’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine, Texas is in uncharted territory when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations.
Texas Supreme Court temporarily allows school mask mandates to remain
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott wanted the high court to disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts. Justices dismissed their request on a technicality, without issuing a ruling on their legal arguments.
Texas Supreme Court says House Democrats can be arrested and brought to the Capitol, siding with Republicans trying to secure a quorum
In a bid to block a voting restrictions bill, House Democrats for weeks have denied the lower chamber the number of present members needed to pass legislation. House Speaker Dade Phelan has already signed dozens of civil arrest warrants.
Confusion reigns in Texas as legal fight over mask mandates rages between local officials and Gov. Greg Abbott
Back-and-forth legal rulings have left some school districts with the choice of flouting Abbott and mandating masks — or waiting for the dust to settle.



