From a slew of new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules to undrinkable water at the Texas-Mexico border, these are the top environmental stories the Tribune covered in 2015.
Kiah Collier
Kiah Collier was a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative from 2020 through 2023. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Paxton: Universities Can’t Ban Guns in Dorms
Texas universities would be violating the state’s new campus carry law if they banned guns in dormitories, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a non-binding opinion issued Monday afternoon.
Posted in
Public Education
At Year’s End, Lots in Flux For Public Education
From the appointment of a new Texas education commissioner to Congress passing a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, these are the top public education stories of 2015.
Posted in
Public Education
Dallas Trustee is Next Education Commissioner
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed Dallas Independent School District Trustee Mike Morath as the state’s next education commissioner, describing the investor as “a proven education reformer.”
Posted in
Energy
In Paris, Negotiators Strike Historic Climate Accord
Negotiators from nearly 200 nations, including the United States, struck an unprecedented climate agreement on Saturday that could have big implications for Texas — and also face big pushback from state leaders.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Public Schools Are Poorer, More Diverse
The makeup of the Texas public school system has become less white and poorer in recent decades, according to the most recent data reflected in The Texas Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Explorer.
Posted in
Public Education
Rewrite of No Child Left Behind Poised to Pass
The end of the widely reviled No Child Left Behind Act — and Texas’ standoff with the federal government over that 2002 law — is in sight, to the elation of the state education commissioner, superintendents and teachers.
Posted in
Public Education
Senators Tackle Improper Student-Teacher Relationships
Posed with a troubling, social media-driven trend — a steady rise in improper student-teacher relationships — Texas senators began work Monday to figure out what, if anything, they can do about it.
Posted in
Energy
LCRA Fights Release of Data on New Reservoir
The Lower Colorado River Authority has concluded that its new southeast Texas reservoir won’t hurt aquatic life downstream in Matagorda Bay, but the organization is refusing to release the data behind that contention.
Posted in
Energy
Vista Ridge Pipeline Parent Company Enters Pre-Bankruptcy
The financially troubled Spanish company whose subsidiary is supposed to build a massive water pipeline to serve San Antonio entered into the initial phases of bankruptcy proceedings Wednesday.
