Arrests of U.S. citizens hundreds of miles from the border. Claiming drug busts from across the state. Changing statistics. The data that Texas leaders use to boast about Operation Lone Star raise more questions than answers.
Perla Trevizo
Perla Trevizo is a Mexican-American reporter born in Ciudad Juárez and raised across the border in El Paso, Texas, where she began her journalism career. Trevizo spent more than 10 years covering immigration and border issues in Tennessee and Arizona before joining the Houston Chronicle as an environmental reporter. She has written from nearly a dozen countries, from African refugee camps to remote Guatemalan villages, with the goal of broadening readers’ understanding of the global issues that impact the local communities where she has worked. Her work has earned her national and state awards including the Dori J. Maynard Award for Diversity in Journalism, French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism Award, and a national Edward R. Murrow for a story done in collaboration with Arizona Public Media. She was also honored as the 2019 Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Newspaper Association. She is based in El Paso.
Carbon monoxide killed a Texas mother and daughter. A firefighter was reprimanded after a delayed 911 response.
After half of a Houston family was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News revealed that a fire crew had failed to enter the house to check on them. A firefighter has now been disciplined.
U.S. plans new safety rules to crack down on carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators
The announcement comes two months after an investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News detailed the deadly cost of the government’s failure to regulate portable generators.
Generators can cause deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. But the industry resists rules to make them safer.
Portable generators are among the deadliest consumer products. Two decades after the government identified the danger, and as climate change leads to more power outages, people are left vulnerable by a system that lets the industry regulate itself.
State Rep. Scott Sanford, a McKinney Republican, announces he’ll retire at the end of his term
Sanford’s announcement came a day before the Texas Legislature reconvenes for a third special session of 2021.
Texas must do more to effectively prevent carbon monoxide disasters, experts say
Months after the deadly gas killed at least 17 Texans during a massive winter storm, lawmakers have failed to take significant action to protect most of the state’s residents.
Inside an agonizing three-hour wait for 911 response to carbon monoxide poisoning in Texas
Following a 911 call about a family that had fainted, first responders arrived at the house and knocked on the door. No one answered, so they left. Inside, an entire family was being poisoned by carbon monoxide.
Texas enabled the worst carbon monoxide poisoning catastrophe in recent U.S. history
They used their car to stay warm when a winter storm brought down the Texas power grid. In a state that doesn’t require carbon monoxide alarms in homes, they had no warning they were poisoning themselves.
How to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in your home
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas that can cause serious injury or even death if inhaled in high quantities. Here’s how you can keep your home and family safe.
Coronavirus vaccine deliveries to Texas pick up after winter storm
Texas will get nearly 600,000 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for next week, allowing the state to distribute the vaccine to the largest number of counties so far. The deliveries will help catch up storm-delayed first and second shots for eligible Texans.

