Texas lawmakers urge Trump to extend tomato trade agreement with Mexico
The 1996 agreement is set to expire Monday, which could raise the price of Mexican tomatoes and threaten thousands of Texas jobs. Full Story
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![Employees at Anavale Produce in Pharr sort tomatoes for shipment in 2012. The produce comes from the Comarca Lagunera region of Mexico.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
In West Texas, an independent publisher’s arrest sparks First Amendment questions
Publisher David Flash has been documenting the happenings in Jeff Davis County since 2020. Last year, he was banned from county buildings over allegations of harassment. Full Story
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![David Flash, independent publisher of the Big Bend Times, is forcibly removed from a Jeff Davis County commissioners' meeting, seen during a Facebook livestream, on June 27, 2025.]()
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SpaceX wins OK to build plant that creates liquid oxygen for rockets near South Texas beach
Cameron County commissioners approved the request this week over the objection of some residents and SpaceX critics. Full Story
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![A SpaceX platform behind a dune at Boca Chica beach on Aug. 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
“Disasters are a human choice”: Texas counties have little power to stop building in flood-prone areas
Experts suggested that more data and education are needed as Texas and the rest of the country build in known flood plains. Full Story
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![Damage from the flood around a bridge on Highway 39 in Hunt on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Here’s what’s in Trump’s GOP megabill and how it will affect Texans
The wide-ranging bill is the vehicle for much of Trump’s domestic policy agenda, containing key changes that will affect daily life for millions of Texans. Full Story
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![House Speaker Mike Johnson with Republican leaders signs the Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2025.]()
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Wealthy families are buying homes to get in-state tuition at Texas universities
A niche but growing industry specializes in helping students buy Texas homes to save tens of thousands of dollars in tuition at public universities. Full Story
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![Texas allows out-of-state families to buy property to get in-state tuition.]()
Credit: Michael Minasi/KUT News -
Texas coastal town in “David and Goliath” fight against planned ammonia plant
Ingleside residents are resisting a “charm offensive” as Europe’s largest gas user plans a new facility in their small community across the bay from Corpus Christi. Full Story
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![The Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center, the largest crude oil storage and export terminal by volume in the United States, in Ingleside, Texas.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for DeSmog -
Inside Elon Musk’s stellar year at the Texas Capitol
While Elon Musk took Washington, D.C., by storm, his company representatives and lobbyists were also notching up big political wins in Texas. Full Story
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![An illustration of Elon Musk standing in front of machines related to his businesses and the Texas Capitol in Austin.]()
Credit: Glenn Harvey for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
Texas lawmakers have gotten used to state budget surpluses. That era may be ending.
As federal pandemic aid ends and sales tax revenues cool, analysts say it could constrain the Texas Legislature in coming years. But they don’t see an immediate budget crisis on the horizon. Full Story
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![Dense fog blankets the dome of the Capitol in Austin on March 12, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Texas is getting older and its child population is growing
Texas remains younger than other states, but the number of older Texans has outpaced that of any other age group. Full Story
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![Marina Hernandez helps students clean up for center time in her Pre-K 2 classroom at Gingerbread Kids Academy on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Richmond.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes THC ban, calls for regulation instead
The move infuriated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful head of the Senate, who had called the ban among his top five bills over 17 years in the Legislature. Full Story
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![Various Delta 8 THC products on display at a convenience store in Spring Branch on Feb. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Meals On Wheels waiting lists grow as Texas braces for federal funding cuts
State chapters of the nonprofit group that provide meals to seniors are waiting to hear from Washington how much of a hit their battered budgets will take. Full Story
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![Henry Van de Putte, CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Austin preps to go meals for a Meals on Wheels food drop off in Austin on Wednesday June 18, 2025.]()
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Texas creating task forces to target Permian Basin oil field thefts
Texas lawmakers passed a suite of bills that officials said are crucial to combat losses in the state’s largest oil field. Full Story
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![A semi-truck waits to turn onto Texas State Highway 158 after disposing of its load at a salt-water disposal site Tuesday, June 25, 2024, south of Midland.]()
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American babies may get $1,000 each to invest because of Ted Cruz
Included in Congress’ major tax and spending bill is Cruz’s proposal to give every American baby $1,000 to invest. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the signing ceremony for the "Take it Down Act" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, May 19, 2025.]()
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To fight screwworm, the U.S. is opening a South Texas facility to disperse sterile flies
Screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets warm-blooded animals and has the potential to disrupt Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry. Full Story
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![Cattle are brought across the U.S.-Mexico border at the livestock import/export facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on January 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers laid the foundation for a housing boom. Here’s how.
The Legislature passed laws allowing smaller homes on smaller lots and making it harder for neighbors to block new housing. Full Story
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![Houses in a North Austin neighborhood on Oct. 9, 2020.]()
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Developers propose more than 100 new gas power plants in Texas
New research reveals the planned expansion of gas-fired electrical generation to power artificial intelligence and other heavy industries. Full Story
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![The Hays Energy Project, a 990 MW gas-fired power plant near San Marcos, pictured on May 27, 2025.]()
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Staff vacancies hit Texas weather offices as they brace for a busy hurricane season
Houston’s National Weather Service office has lost its head meteorologist amid a federal requirement to cut 10% of NOAA’s staff. Full Story
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![The National Weather Service issued a Hurricane Warning for the Coastal Bend on July 6, 2024.]()
Credit: Pete Garcia for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers passed bills this session to boost the state power grid but failed to limit renewables
With demand expected to soar, the Legislature passed bills aimed at boosting supply and making the grid more reliable. Bills to impose more regulations on renewables died. Full Story
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![A pump jack operates near a gas turbine power plant in the Permian Basin oil field outside of Odessa, Texas, U.S. February 18, 2025.]()
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Texas Republicans pioneered in-state tuition for undocumented students. Now they’re celebrating its end.
In 2001, Texas Republicans saw expanding college access for certain undocumented students as a way to build an educated workforce. Now, some GOP lawmakers feel only U.S. citizens should receive those benefits. Full Story
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![Governor Rick Perry delivers his State of the State speech to a joint session of the Texas Legislature on Feb. 12, 2003.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich