In search of COVID-19 vaccines, some rural Texans are driving hundreds of miles across the state
As the state continues struggling with an uneven vaccine rollout, some Texans in far-flung areas are traversing the state to get immunized. Full Story
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![Dallas County's COVID-19 vaccination site at Fair Park administered the Moderna vaccine to approved individuals. Jan. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Four Texas Democrats urge Joe Biden to rescind executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal lands, waters
Biden issued the order Wednesday as part of his efforts to fight climate change. Full Story
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![Pump jacks in the Permian Basin of West Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas National Guard teams will vaccinate residents for COVID-19 in five rural counties, Gov. Greg Abbott announces
National Guard teams will visit DeWitt, Marion, Real, Sherman and Starr counties as part of a newly created State Mobile Vaccine Pilot Program. Full Story
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![Soldiers with the Texas National Guard work at a drive-through COVID-19 testing center in Smithville on May 5, 2020.]()
Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via USA TODAY NETWORK
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Watch: How Texas lawmakers are conducting a session during a pandemic
The 2021 Texas legislative session will be unlike any other, as lawmakers work to get the people’s business done in the midst of a pandemic that shows few signs of slowing. Full Story
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Texans receiving federal food assistance could soon get more aid under Joe Biden's executive order
To combat food insecurity during the pandemic, the new president is increasing assistance for families receiving help to make up for free and reduced-cost school lunches. He also wants to increase food stamp benefits. Full Story
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![Third-grade lunch on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Despite insurrection, there may be more guns in the Texas Capitol this session
The violent storming of the U.S. Capitol prompted some states to reconsider allowing firearms in their statehouses. Not Texas. Full Story
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![Supporters of CSHB 583 speak at a hearing by the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism. The bill would make it a criminal offense to remove monuments and memorials to Texas heroes or historical events. April 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
In win for Planned Parenthood, U.S. Supreme Court wipes case law supporting Texas pandemic abortion ban from the books
The high court vacated two rulings from the lower U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with Texas GOP officials arguing that Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 2020 executive order prohibited abortion under all but a few narrow circumstances in an attempt to preserve medical resources for COVID-19 patients. Full Story
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![One of the six exam rooms at Haven Health Clinics in downtown Amarillo on Dec. 9, 2013. The clinic provides services for women and some men in the 26 county region of the Texas panhandle.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz, John Cornyn come out against Donald Trump's second impeachment trial
The two Texans in the U.S. Senate have called the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump "vindictive." Full Story
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![From left, Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn speak as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018.]()
Credit: Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS -
How to connect with your Texas lawmakers during the pandemic
While COVID-19 guidelines will vary between lawmakers’ offices, communication between legislators and the public will largely consist of phone and video calls or small, in-person meetings by appointment. Full Story
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![The state Capitol on Jan. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Internet and phone services in rural Texas threatened as state slashes subsidies for providers
A state fund that subsidizes rural network service is bleeding money. Now the state is drastically cutting the amount of money that it typically pays out to these service providers. Full Story
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![The a road in the town of Cactus.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Democratic colleagues file ethics complaint against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz after Capitol riot
The complaint says that Cruz lent “legitimacy” to unfounded claims of voter fraud prior to the violence on Jan. 6. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Secretary of Transportation nominee Pete Buttigieg in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS -
Republicans and Democrats both want to repeal part of a digital content law, but experts say that will be extremely tough
Experts say the GOP's rhetoric about Section 230 of a 1996 communications law suggests a deep misunderstanding of how it works. Full Story
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![Social media icons on an iPhone screen.]()
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Texas Republicans are angry at big tech’s reaction to U.S. Capitol siege. But few mention the GOP’s role in sowing election misinformation.
The state’s GOP leaders have launched a campaign against technology and social media companies after officials and followers faced repercussions for sowing the election doubts that fueled the Capitol insurrection. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the Gun Owners of America assembly in 2018.]()
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Texas Republicans greet Joe Biden's inauguration with vows to fight his agenda
Some Texas Republicans in Congress called for bipartisanship, but many others criticized Biden's early policy moves. Full Story
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![The Republican Party of Texas office in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Federal officials charge former Houston police officer for participating in U.S. Capitol riot
A federal affidavit filed by a special agent Tuesday identified the Houston Police officer who participated in the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol as 18-year veteran Tam Dinh Pham. Full Story
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![Houston police officer Tam Pham.]()
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Texas-based anti-vaccine group received federal bailout funds in May as pandemic raged
The Austin-based group founded by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree regularly posts information questioning the safety of the coronavirus vaccines. Doctors and scientists say both the Moderna and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Full Story
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![Anti-vaccination protestors at the Capitol in Austin on April 18, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“Lives are at stake”: Three Texas regions battered by coronavirus are out of intensive care beds
Hospitals in the Abilene, Bryan-College Station and Laredo areas have run out of intensive care unit beds. State health officials are “greatly concerned” about high numbers of hospitalized people throughout Texas. Full Story
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![A patient at the COVID-19 unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz plan to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration
Both Cruz and Cornyn confirmed that they will be at Biden’s inauguration next week, even as Cruz continues to spread false claims casting doubt on Biden’s victory. Full Story
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![U.S. Sens Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas at a Texas Senate GOP Caucus press conference on April 17, 2019.]()
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After a year of racial reckoning, Black lawmakers believe they can finally eliminate Confederate Heroes Day in Texas
On Tuesday, some Texans will take a paid day off for a state holiday honoring Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the Confederate army. Full Story
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![The 1903 Confederate monument at the south entrance to the state Capitol grounds in 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Houston police officer under investigation after participating in U.S. Capitol riot
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced Thursday that the 18-year veteran of the department had resigned. Full Story
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![Houston police officers and SWAT team members on the scene in a west Houston neighborhood where a gunman with an assault rifle shot one man and injured 6 before being killed by a SWAT officer on May 29, 2016.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune