Fifty-three migrants died in what remains the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event. Eight children and one pregnant woman were among the victims discovered in the sweltering trailer parked next to an isolated road in 2022.
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.
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Demographics
A unique Texas legal rule lets the attorney general’s office supersede some judges’ orders
Lawyers criticize a provision they say erodes the separation of powers between Texas’ executive branch and its courts. It’s been used repeatedly this year as Texans try to block new state laws from going into effect.
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The 2023 Texas Tribune Festival
Sen. Joe Manchin leaves the door open to potential third-party presidential run in 2024
The West Virginia Democrat said running as an independent would help bring a divided nation together, not hand the election to former President Donald Trump.
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Politics
Federal judge sides with West Texas A&M University president who canceled campus drag show
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the student fundraiser featuring drag performers was not protected, raising the stakes for a battle over First Amendment rights and drag shows.
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Demographics
The percentage of uninsured Texans in 2022 dropped to the lowest in a decade
Texas is still the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, at nearly 17 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey released Thursday.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas’ political environment driving faculty to leave, survey finds
After legislators passed laws banning diversity initiatives and targeting tenure at state universities, more than a quarter of the 1,900 Texas professors surveyed by faculty associations said they plan to look for positions out of state.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Paxton loyalists, but few others, turn out for impeachment trial opening
Texans came to the Capitol to witness Tuesday’s proceedings in which the Senate rejected motions to dismiss suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment charges.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Federal judge issues temporary restraining order, says Texas law banning drag shows is “likely” unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge David Hittner heard from LGBTQ+ groups, businesses and a drag performer in a hearing this week, who argued Senate Bill 12 violated their First Amendment rights.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
Texas ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids will go into effect despite legal fight
The state attorney general’s office appealed a state district court injunction that said the new prohibitions deprive trans kids of “necessary, safe, and effective medical treatment.”
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Politics
Drag shows are protected by First Amendment, performers tell federal judge
LGBTQ+ groups and drag performers suing the state argued Monday that Senate Bill 12 violates constitutionally-protected rights. The new law is set to go into effect on Friday unless a federal judge blocks it.
