The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit

As Texas enters its third straight school year of coordinated book banning activity, a growing number of districts are targeting library books. Caught in the dragnet: books featuring a “naked” crayon and one with a cartoon butt. Full Story 

Commissioner of Education Mike Morath has repeatedly waived expansion requirements for charter school networks, allowing them to serve thousands more students, even when they don’t meet academic performance standards. Full Story 

The Texas attorney general said he’s “back to work” after his recent acquittal, but his office has repeatedly declined to fulfill one of its key duties: representing state agencies who are being sued. Full Story 

Legislation that would require purchasing the kits is facing key opposition after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found no evidence that they’d ever been used to find a missing child. The probe previously spurred Texas to strip millions in funding. Full Story 

While launching a statewide program to distribute packets to dissolve opioids, Attorney General Ken Paxton worked to connect Kenny Hansmire with the state’s comptroller, who oversees the distribution of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money. Full Story 

Lawmakers were slated to spend millions of taxpayer dollars for the kits but changed course after a series of revelations in a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation. Full Story 

Patrick said he had always intended to sign the measure but pulled it aside in response to the House playing “games” at the end of the regular session. Full Story 

The bill would close a long-standing loophole in state law that allows officials to withhold law enforcement records if no one was convicted in a case. The measure was the only bill sent to the Senate that did not get signed and sent to the governor. Full Story 

State lawmakers passed a bill requiring courts to report involuntary mental health hospitalizations of juveniles for inclusion in the federal gun background check system. The law closes a gap revealed by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune in 2022. Full Story 

West Texas voters rejected three conservative Christian candidates who sought to infuse religious values into local politics. The campaign support the candidates received from local churches has prompted calls for state and federal probes. Full Story 

Texas law allows officials to withhold police records if no one was convicted in a case. At least one city has used this rule to deny the release of suicide records. A new bill aims to close this loophole. Full Story 

Politicians across the country have allocated millions to the National Child Identification Program. The company stands out as a success amid a decadeslong string of businesses plagued by legal and financial problems. Full Story 

Texas is among at least 11 states that have agreed to distribute fingerprinting kits sold by Kenny Hansmire’s Waco-based National Child Identification Program. Some are spending millions even though similar kits are available for free. Full Story 

A candidate for the Abilene City Council said that three churches made an honest mistake by donating to his campaign and that he is returning the money. The race has been beset by allegations of electioneering by churches. Full Story 

The EPA has proposed tougher air pollution rules for chemical plants and other industrial facilities after ProPublica found an estimated 74 million Americans near those sites faced an elevated risk of cancer. Full Story 

A federal watchdog called for ending the practice nearly 50 years ago, but the military pushed back. Now, soldiers leave the Army with a negative discharge, avoiding possible federal conviction and with little record of the allegations against them. Full Story 

Saying that manufacturers failed to make generators safer, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is moving forward with proposed regulations to bolster protections. The proposal comes after reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News. Full Story 

Joining the Texas Department of Public Safety’s fight against the release of records, the district attorney claims the support of every family who lost a child in the 2022 mass shooting. Attorneys representing many of the families refute that claim. Full Story 

After a ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation found courts failed to report juvenile mental health hospitalizations to the federal firearm background check system, lawmakers from both parties are backing bills to ensure compliance with the law. Full Story 

Most of the state’s 19 mass shootings over the past six decades were carried out by men who legally possessed firearms, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Full Story