Mayors say Texas, U.S. politics increasingly undermine city needs
A major source of division among cities and state officials is differing opinions on what local control means — and to whom it provides the power to govern. Full Story
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![Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was among a group of Texas mayors at a Feb. 17, 2017, news conference discussing their unified agenda in working with the 85th Texas Legislature.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Paxton prosecutors want to delay May 1 trial until they can get paid
The special prosecutors handling the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are asking to put off his trial until they can get paid. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas counties rally against statewide court records portal
Texas counties are trying to kill an effort to allow public access to court records from all 254 counties through an online portal, and they've found friendly ears in the Legislature. Full Story
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Credit: The Sunlight Foundation -
Homeland Security notes sharp drop in illegal crossings in February
The Trump administration on Wednesday celebrated what the Department of Homeland Security said was an unprecedented drop in illegal crossing on the country’s Southwest border since the president took office Jan. 20. Full Story
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![Customs and Border Protection agents constantly patrol wide gravel roads along the border fence. The traffic — which has increased as border enforcement budgets have soared — is another threat to border wildlife, according to scientists and conservationists.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Senate passes bill on inappropriate teacher-student relationships
Senate Bill 7 would punish school principals and superintendents who fail to report teachers with a history of inappropriate romantic or sexual relationships with students. Full Story
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![Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Bill to bar death penalty for mentally ill faces uphill battle
State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, has filed long-shot House Bill 3080, which would prevent offenders proven to have had a severe mental illness at the time of their crime from being sentenced to death in a capital murder case. Full Story
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![State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, announces a bill on March 7, 2017, that would make it illegal to sentence to death someone who is severely mentally ill.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes triggerman in San Antonio murder-for-hire case
Texas executed hitman Ronaldo Ruiz late Tuesday night, 25 years after he killed a San Antonio woman for $2,000. Full Story
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![Death row inmate Rolando Ruiz was executed on March 7, 2017. He was convicted of murdering Theresa Rodriguez, 29, of San Antonio. He was hired by her husband, Michael Rodriguez, and his brother, Mark.]()
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Hundreds of Texans testify to senate committee on "bathroom bill"
The Senate State Affairs Committee took up the so-called bathroom bill on Tuesday and voted to send it to the full Texas Senate after hearing more than 13 hours of testimony. Full Story
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![An all-gender restroom at The University of Texas at Austin.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang / The Texas Tribune -
Democrats may call on business community in anti-"sanctuary" bill fight
Outnumbered and with time running out, Texas Democrats hoping to kill anti-"sanctuary" legislation are open to shining a spotlight on so-called "sanctuary industries" that often turn a blind eye toward hiring unauthorized labor. Full Story
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![Rep. Rafael Anchia speaks at the Capitol on April 7, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas Senate to vote only on law enforcement-related bills Monday
Only bills related to law enforcement will be considered in the Senate on Monday, the first day of the legislative session when the House and Senate are allowed to pass non-emergency legislation. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in Austin on Jan 9, 2017.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Civil asset forfeiture debate pits property rights advocates against Texas law enforcement
Critics say the procedure deprives citizens of property without due process. Law enforcement officials say they are stopping crime. Full Story
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Sandra Bland Act would change processes for law enforcement, jails
The bill's proposals include limiting police searches during stops, adding reporting requirements for racial profiling and creating an independent ombudsman to monitor inmates' rights and services. Full Story
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![State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, announces the Sandra Bland Act at a press conference at the Capitol on March 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Businesses line up against Dan Patrick's high-priority insurance bill
Legislation that would make it harder for people to recover damages after an insurance claim has hit a wall of opposition from business interests. Full Story
![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in Austin on Jan 9, 2017.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Treat same-sex couples the same as others, Texas Supreme Court told
Same-sex couples are entitled to the same treatment as opposite-sex couples, a lawyer for the city of Houston argued before the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case challenging the city's benefits policy for married same-sex couples. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Still no timeline for withdrawal of state troopers on border, Texas DPS chief says
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety told lawmakers on Tuesday the agency can't predict when it will be able to scale back its border security operations in the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story
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![Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw during a September 20, 2016 House County Affairs committee hearing]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas Supreme Court to take up same-sex marriage case
Same-sex marriage has been legal for almost two years, but opponents are looking to fight a U.S. Supreme Court ruling through a lawsuit challenging Houston's benefits for same-sex couples. Full Story
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White House confirms plans to drop key claim against Texas Voter ID
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Monday it plans to ditch its longstanding position that Texas lawmakers purposefully discriminated against minority voters by passing the nation’s strictest voter identification law in 2011. Full Story
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![During the first week of early voting for the 2016 presidential elections, civil rights lawyers took issue with this sign outside of a polling place in Cuero. It did not mention options for casting a ballot without photo ID.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Appeals court dismisses case on immigrant harboring law
A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans dismissed a case brought against the state over a provision of Texas law that prohibits "concealing, harboring, or shielding" undocumented immigrants. Full Story
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![The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals building in New Orleans.]()
Credit: Alexa Ura -
Sid Miller suggests distance between him and Trump on border wall
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on Thursday left the tough talk on immigration in Austin while he held a historic press conference on one of the country's busiest international bridges to Mexico. Full Story
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![Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, governor of the neighboring Mexican state of Tamaulipas, at the intersection of the Texas-Mexico border on the international bridge spanning the Rio Grande at Laredo on Feb. 23, 2017.]()
Credit: Julián Aguilar -
Texas House's chief budget writer: State shouldn't cut border security funding
The Texas’ House’s chief budget writer said that President Trump’s emergence in Washington shouldn’t give state lawmakers license to slice hefty appropriations for border security — at least not yet. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, answers questions regarding a lean Texas budget with an appearance at a Texas Tribune event on Feb. 23, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune