An East Texas city goes secular for the holidays, rejecting a menorah in downtown holiday display
Smith County’s top elected official said the downtown square’s holiday decorations policy seeks to avoid a “hodgepodge.” Full Story
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![The menorah at the Texas Capitol, on Dec. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ statewide poverty rate declines, but several rural counties see increase in poor residents
An influx of highly educated people from other states helped shift the state’s economic fortune. But in many parts of Texas, residents are struggling as jobs dry up. Full Story
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![Yuchih Choy loads boxes of food into a pickup. West Texas Food Bank employees and volunteers load donated food into customer's cars during their weekly pick up outside of the food bank in Odessa, TX. Oct. 5, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Year after year, most Texas police departments report zero hate crimes. Here’s why.
A Texas Tribune analysis of hate crime data found that 82% of Texas law enforcement agencies that report to the FBI tracked no hate crimes last year. However, one suburban North Texas police agency is creating a new model of collecting hate crime data. Full Story
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![Bertha Germany at her home in Texarkana, Texas on Friday November 26, 2023.]()
Credit: Lawrence Jenkins for The Texas Tribune -
More than 765,000 older Texans are struggling to cover housing costs
A new Harvard University study found an increase in the number of Texas households headed by people 65 or older spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Advocates say keeping older adults housed will require substantial public investment and reforms. Full Story
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![Seniors gather to eat and dance at the Ledbetter Eagle Ford Community Organization’s senior program held at the Jaycee-Zaragoza Recreation Center located in West Dallas on Nov. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Despite strong economy, Texas cities grapple with excess office space
As remote and hybrid working become the new normal, major Texas cities are facing a decline in office tenants. It’s too soon to tell what that means for the vitality of downtowns. Full Story
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![Traffic on Interstate 30 passes near an area land that would have been used as pedestrian bridges leading to a bullet train terminus near downtown Dallas, on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. The entities in charge of a bullet train connection between Houston and DFW have faded despite Texas courts approving eminent domain to accomplish the massive project.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Kamala Harris to visit Houston for Hispanic outreach event
The Monday event will be a “community conversation” hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Full Story
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![Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event where the president signed an Executive Order regarding Artificial Intelligence at the White House in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
New study: Texas’ undocumented immigrant population remained relatively stable in 2021
The Pew Research Center analyzed unauthorized immigrant data from 2021 finding that there’s been a significant shift in migrants’ country of origin and where they choose to live in the U.S. Full Story
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![Asylum seekers in MPP cross the Paso del Norte International Bridge from Ciudad Juárez to El Paso on Feb. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
More than two-thirds of Texas’ 30.3 million residents live in four largest metro areas
According to new Texas Demographic Center figures, the Austin region continues to grow at the fastest rate, but Fort Worth was the city that attracted the most new residents between 2020 and 2023. Full Story
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![Downtown Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Texas school board launches investigation into how a trans student was stripped of his role in musical
The Sherman school board also temporarily ended the superintendent oversight of its fine arts programs pending the results of the investigation. Full Story
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![Amy and Phillip Hightower sit with their son Max Hightower in a hotel in Denton on Nov. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
After controversy, Texas school board says transgender student can sing in school musical
After Max Hightower scored a role in the seminal American musical, administrators changed their policy on performers’ gender. After backlash, the school board directed the school to produce the original version “Oklahoma!” — not a youth version that cut Hightower’s solo. Full Story
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![Max Hightower, 17, poses for a portrait in a hotel in Denton on Nov. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Joaquin Castro warns of GOP’s adversarial rhetoric around Latino immigrants
Castro, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, has made improving discussion of Latinos and Latino issues in politics a focus of his time in office. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, poses for a portrait in his Rayburn House Office Building office, on Oct. 12, 2023, in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Julia Nikhinson for The Texas Tribune -
These women want careers as truck drivers. They say they can’t get a job because of their gender.
The Dallas-based trucking company, Stevens Transport, said they do not discriminate against women and the complaint is based on a “misunderstanding.” Full Story
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![Ashli Streeter poses for a portrait on U.S. Route 190 in Killeen on Sept. 20, 2023.]()
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Texas judge’s refusal to marry gay couples goes before state supreme court
Texas Supreme Court justices heard arguments Wednesday in the case of a Waco judge who refused to marry same-sex couples. It is unclear when the high court will issue a ruling. Full Story
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![Judge Dianne Hensley.]()
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As Texas bans diversity and equity offices at public colleges, Rice University’s inclusion efforts march on
DEI efforts have become a lightning rod for debate in American higher education. At the private Houston university, officials admit impact is hard to measure — but they also see progress from their work. Full Story
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![Alexander Byrd, the vice provost for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Rice University, poses for a portrait on campus in Houston, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion offices in Texas public colleges and universities starting in 2024.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
School voucher supporters and opponents debate public school funding, private school accountability
Voucher opponents took issue with taxpayer dollars going to less regulated private schools, while proponents said parents can best choose which schools meet their needs and values at a Texas Tribune event. Full Story
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Amid anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, a North Texas college town hosts its third annual trans pride event
Home to the University of North Texas, organizers say Denton acts as a liberal enclave in the sprawling conservative suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Full Story
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![Lead singer of Nip Slip Bowie Brae, right, dances while rehearsing a song Oct. 4, 2023 in Denton. The band Nip Slip will headline Denton’s third annual Trans Pride festival.]()
Credit: Matt Iaia for The Texas Tribune -
Residents in one of Texas’ most populous cities are working to decriminalize marijuana
Home to more than 260,000 people, the West Texas town of Lubbock is no stranger to passing local laws by petition. In 2021, residents overwhelmingly approved a local ban on abortion. Full Story
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![Giselle Ramirez stands with her clipboard of signatures to support the petition to legalize marijuana in Lubbock at the South Plains Fair Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, in Lubbock, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ unemployment rate is among the nation’s worst — but experts say it signals a growing economy
The state has yet to return to its pre-pandemic unemployment rate of about 3.5%, even as it leads the country in new jobs created. However, state economic experts say the unemployment rate is an indicator of Texas’s rapidly growing population and labor force. Full Story
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![A "now hiring" sign is seen in the window of Toro Ramen and Poke Barn April 10, 2020 in San Marcos.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Can John Sharp protect his maroon empire?
The savvy ex-lawmaker has expanded the Texas A&M University System and mollified state leaders. Some faculty, alumni and students say that accommodation has come at a cost. Full Story
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![Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp poses for a portrait in his office on Monday, March 27, 2023 in College Station, TX.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
First defendant in San Antonio tractor-trailer tragedy pleads guilty to smuggling charges
Fifty-three migrants died in what remains the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event. Eight children and one pregnant woman were among the victims discovered in the sweltering trailer parked next to an isolated road in 2022. Full Story
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![Law enforcement officers work at the scene where people were found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio on June 27, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Beal