Texas House passes bill defining fantasy sports as legal game of skill
While critics say fantasy sports sites are hubs for illegal online gambling, others contend the games are based on skill and are therefore legitimate. Full Story
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![Fanstasy sports sites Fan Duel and Draft Kings financially supported the Texas Fanstasy Sports Alliance to advance fantasy sports legislation in Texas.]()
Credit: Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas speech pathologist celebrates temporary free-speech win, hopes it inspires
A former school contractor spoke Friday about a Texas law that prohibits state government agencies from doing business with contractors who boycott Israel. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law Thursday. Full Story
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![Bahia Amawi speaks to media at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) office on April 26, 2019. CAIR won a victory in a First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of Amawi, who lost her job as a speech language pathologist after refusing to sign a "no boycott of Israel" clause. Standing next to her is her husband, Mohammad al Bedaiwi.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina charged with orchestrating an illegal voting scheme
Molina has dismissed the investigation as politically motivated. Full Story
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![Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina surrendered to authorities on illegal voting charges on April 25, 2019.]()
Credit: City of Edinburg -
A creek flowing to the Colorado River turned black. Now the state has sued the alleged polluter.
Residents near Altair began complaining that Skull Creek reeked of chemicals. The Texas attorney general's office says a local company is to blame. Full Story
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![Contaminated black water flows through Skull Creek and crosses over a country road downstream from Inland Environmental & Remediation, Inc., near Columbus, Texas, on April 15, 2019.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Why has Texas suddenly decided to immediately sue industrial polluters?
In recent weeks, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has swiftly sued two companies over major fires at their Houston-area plants. It's a dramatic departure from the state's usual approach to environmental enforcement. Full Story
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![Smoke rises from a fire burning at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, east of Houston on March 18, 2019.]()
Credit: Jaimie Meldrum/Handout via REUTERS -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating San Antonio for banning Chick-fil-A from its airport
“The Constitution’s protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A’s chicken,” Paxton wrote in a Thursday letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the rest of the council. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas sues company behind Deer Park terminal fire
Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals late Friday seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Full Story
![Smoke rises from a fire burning at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, east of Houston on March 18, 2019.]()
Credit: Jaimie Meldrum/Handout via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn vote against Joaquin Castro’s resolution blocking Trump's emergency order
But multiple Republican senators joined Democrats in backing the resolution, which passed the Senate. President Donald Trump has said he'll veto the measure. Full Story
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![Ordered under the George W. Bush administration, a controversial incomplete border wall along the Rio Grande River in South Texas has had environmental and cultural impacts.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas from purging voters in citizenship review
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery called the review "ham-handed" and ordered counties not to remove voters from the rolls without his approval and "a conclusive showing that the person is ineligible to vote." Full Story
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![A long line of voters wait to cast their ballots at the Wonderland of the Americas Mall in San Antonio late Friday afternoon, Nov. 2, the last day of early voting.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Property taxes, school finance, data centers and a state senator's bid to redefine a crime
On this week’s TribCast, Ross talks to Emma, Aliyya and Edgar about Sen. Angela Paxton's controversial bill that could impact her husband, efforts to get property tax legislation passed, a status check on the promised school finance bill and bidding out the state's data storage to private companies. Full Story
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![Angela Paxton kisses her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, at her primary election night watch party in Allen on Tuesday, March 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Sen. Angela Paxton, wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, files bill that would expand his agency’s power
Billed as a consumer-protection effort, the proposal would allow approved individuals to serve as investment advisers without registering with the state board — a felony under Texas law that Ken Paxton was charged with in 2015. Full Story
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![Angela Paxton celebrates her victory over Phillip Huffines in the Republican primary for state Senate District 8 on March 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
The AG's office told lawmakers it isn’t investigating voters on Texas’ citizenship review list. It told a local official the opposite.
A Paxton deputy told a Guadalupe County official Feb. 1 that the attorney general's office "has pending criminal investigations related to these issues." Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton walked across the Supreme Court plaza to hold a press conference in 2016.]()
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Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office hasn't launched criminal investigations of voters flagged for citizenship review
Some lawmakers had fretted that sending the preliminary, faulty list to the state's top prosecutor would intimidate voters. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to gun owners at the Republican Party of Texas convention in San Antonio on June 15, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking more power this session to prosecute voter fraud and abortion-related crimes
Paxton's office has asked lawmakers for millions more in funding and expanded jurisdiction to go after certain crimes. Critics say the requests are aimed at political gains. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton at the inauguration ceremony of Judge Michelle Slaughter at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas election officials serve up a plate with lots of red meat, few veggies
The latest "voter fraud" news from the Texas secretary of state's office raised a lot of eyebrows — not because it was solid, but because it wasn't. Full Story
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![Texas Secretary of State David Whitley gavels in the 86th legislative session.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
As judge weighs the fate of a sweeping Texas abortion lawsuit, confusion remains
Amid a packed Austin courtroom Monday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel told attorneys he was confused by their arguments in a sweeping lawsuit challenging dozens of Texas abortion laws. Full Story
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![Abortion access advocates pose for a photograph outside of the U.S. District Court in Austin. The court is set to weigh in on whether abortion funds and health care providers can challenge restrictions to abortion access. Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / Texas Tribune.]()
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In fiery filing, Ken Paxton prosecutors ask Texas court to undo "patently absurd result" in pay case
The state's highest criminal court must reconsider a November decision to ensure its proceedings "appear fair to all who observe them," prosecutors argued. Full Story
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![Special prosecutors Brian Wice, left, and Kent Schaffer enter the Collin County Courthouse during a pre-trial motion hearing for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, in McKinney.]()
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Analysis: Mike Collier lost, but outdid Beto O'Rourke in most Texas counties
Beto O'Rourke, the Texas Democrat who got most of the attention in this year's general election, got more votes than any other Democrat on the statewide ticket. But one of them out-performed O'Rourke in 171 counties. Full Story
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![Mike Collier, then-Democratic nominee for Texas comptroller, at the state Democratic convention in Dallas on June 27, 2014. Collier is running for lieutenant governor in 2018.]()
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Federal judge rules Obamacare unconstitutional, handing Texas an early win
Fort Worth U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the individual mandate — a critical component of Obamacare — is unconstitutional, rendering the rest of the law invalid as well. Full Story
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![Dr. Javier Saenz, who has a medical practice in the Rio Grande Valley town of La Joya, prepared his clinic’s X-ray machine in 2012.]()
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Analysis: You can debunk this Confederate plaque in minutes. What’s taking Texas so long?
Everybody in the Texas Capitol has known about a factually impaired Confederate memorial plaque for more than a year. So why is it still on the wall? Full Story
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![The "Children of the Confederacy Creed" plaque has drawn controversy for its denial that preserving slavery was an underlying cause of the Civil War. Dec. 5, 2018.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / The Texas Tribune.