With lingering skepticism about Texas Central’s ability to build a high-speed rail line, landowners along the route want the company to be more forthcoming about the project’s status.
William Melhado
William Melhado was an Austin-based general assignment reporter until 2024. He originally joined the Tribune in 2022 as a Poynter-Koch fellow. Before his time at the Tribune, William worked as a staff writer at the Santa Fe Reporter, an alt-weekly newspaper in New Mexico, and he also worked as an educator for five years at a public high school in the Bronx, New York and at international schools in Tanzania and Nepal. A native of Boulder, Colorado, William graduated from Middlebury College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and earned a master’s in secondary science education at CUNY Lehman College.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Border Patrol reports 2.4 million migrant arrests at southwest border this year, the most ever
The historic pace of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has fueled Republicans’ focus on the crisis, but despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, encounters in Texas have increased.
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State Government
Two Texas Family and Protective Services leaders exiting beleaguered agency
The department is terminating the contract of Executive Deputy Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein, who was supposed to work until next June, amid a staffing crisis. The chief of staff for the agency’s top leader has also left.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas struggles to get guns away from domestic violence suspects, leaving victims in danger
Although there are laws on the books preventing certain people from possessing guns, there are few places in the state where the criminal justice system has programs to hand over firearms to law enforcement — leaving survivors at a heightened risk for gun violence.
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Politics
U.S. will begin turning many Venezuelan migrants back to Mexico
The Biden administration is also creating a pathway to allow “qualified” Venezuelans into the country. Venezuelans have been fleeing their home country in record numbers, and the number crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has surged.
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Criminal Justice
Biden is calling for marijuana possession pardons. But that doesn’t mean it’ll happen in Texas.
Biden’s federal pardons will help at least 6,500 people, though most possession crimes are charged at the state level. Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t yet said whether he’ll follow suit. Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke was quick to support the measure.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes John Ramirez for the 2004 murder of a Corpus Christi man
Earlier this year, Ramirez won a legal fight to have his pastor beside him at his execution.
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Politics
Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke accused each other of misinforming Texans during their debate. Here are the facts.
O’Rourke and Abbott accused each other of bending the truth during the only planned gubernatorial debate on Friday. Many of their claims needed context and clarification.
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The 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival.
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Criminal Justice
Texas board rejects posthumous pardon for George Floyd — after recommending one to Greg Abbott
The state’s parole board did not explain why it was denying the request to pardon Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, for a minor 2004 drug conviction. Last year, the board recommended Abbott pardon Floyd, then rescinded that suggestion.
