With six weeks remaining in the legislative session, advocates implored Texans to join the “resistance” against fast-moving efforts to curb health care, drag queens, education, trans athletes and more.
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
Politics
Llano County library supporters declare victory as officials decide not to close all branches
Llano County commissioners had considered closing the three libraries in response to a ruling from a federal judge who ordered banned books returned to the shelves.
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Criminal Justice
Gov. Greg Abbott backs call for pardon for Daniel Perry, who killed Austin protester in 2020
The governor says he asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite review, recommend clemency one day after Perry was convicted of murder.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Army sergeant found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of Austin protester Garrett Foster
Daniel Perry, who was driving for Uber, shot 28-year-old Foster during a protest against police brutality blocks away from the state Capitol in July 2020.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Republicans quickly blast Donald Trump indictment, calling it “catastrophic” and politically motivated
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, in his case over alleged hush money payments made to an adult film star. Many of his fellow Republicans in Texas lambasted the legal development.
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Immigration
Two dead, several injured after migrants were found “suffocating” inside locked train car
Uvalde officials said U.S. Border Patrol responded to a 911 call alerting them about a group of people who were trapped for hours inside of a shipping container.
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Politics
Former President Donald Trump’s first 2024 campaign rally will be in Waco
In his third consecutive bid for the White House, the former president hopes “Trump Country” supporters in Texas will turn out next Saturday.
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Criminal Justice
In rural counties, Texas law puts low-income defendants at a disadvantage
A two-tiered system gives less populated counties more time to provide court-appointed lawyers, requiring creative responses to a long-standing problem.
Posted in
Health care
Texas AG Ken Paxton pushes court to reconsider injunction halting investigations into affirming care
In the state’s final brief to appeal a September injunction that halted the investigation into Texas parents of transgender children, Paxton argued that individual families must provide evidence of harm from the actions of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s new priority bills focus on school safety, requiring districts to adopt active-shooter plans
More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.
