Dustin Burrows says he has votes to be Texas House speaker after David Cook wins GOP caucus vote
Burrows claims the support of a coalition of Republicans and Democrats, while Cook has the endorsement of the GOP caucus. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, holds a press conference in the Speaker's Committee Room, on Dec. 7, 2024, saying he has the votes to become Speaker of the House in the upcoming legislative session.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ maternal mortality committee faces backlash for not reviewing deaths from first two years post-Dobbs
Committee members said it was necessary to skip the two years after Texas passed its restrictive abortion laws to offer more timely recommendations. Full Story
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![The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee meets in Austin on Sept. 27, 2024.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
What does the Texas House speaker do and why are Republicans fighting?
Texas Republicans are poised to pick the statehouse lower chamber’s next leader this weekend. Full Story
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![Speaker of the House Dade Phelan presides over the opening day of the special session at the Texas Capitol on July 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
A 2006 study found undocumented immigrants contribute more than they cost Texas. The state hasn’t updated it since.
A comptroller’s report found that deporting the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 would have cost the state about $17.7 billion in gross domestic product. Full Story
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![Leticia Quintanilla is undocumented and resides in Houston. Quintanilla states that she's been more cautious about traveling since the recent threat of immigration raids in Houston. June 23, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas weighs social media bans for minors as schools and police face challenges
A Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill prohibiting minors from using social media accounts as school districts become a “hunting ground” for online dangers. Full Story
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![In this photo illustration, the Social Media icons and Facebook, Messenger and Instagram logos seen displayed on a smartphone.]()
Credit: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images via REUTERS -
At this Fort Worth charter school, Texas adults are getting a second chance at a diploma
The Texas Legislature has prioritized getting high school dropouts the skills they need to enter the workforce. Full Story
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![Tiphainne Wright makes an expression while reading “The Handmaid's Tale” in class on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. Wright is one of 5 students in Schnique Dory’s period four English class at New Heights High School.]()
Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate to pursue ban on THC products next year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says
Patrick contends retailers have exploited a law passed in 2019 to sell unregulated and potentially harmful consumable tetrahydrocannabinol products. Full Story
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![Lt. Governor Dan Patrick speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas conservatives plan to further restrict trans lives this legislative session
Emboldened by the recent election, some Texas lawmakers are already filing bills that would dictate bathroom use, limit gender identity markers on documents and restrict funding for surgeries. Full Story
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![People hold signs in front of the Texas Capitol during a protest for transgender kids' rights on Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
After Texas banned puberty blockers and hormones for trans kids, adults lost care, too
As limitations on trans teens increase, doctors have left the state, weakening an already threadbare system for trans adults. Full Story
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![Colin Zicko on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas on November 20, 2024.]()
Credit: Jack Myer for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ push to meet soaring power demand with nuclear energy could spark uranium mining revival
State leaders want nuclear reactors to provide consistent, low-carbon power to large industrial facilities. But in South Texas, locals worry what a uranium mining boom could mean for their groundwater. Full Story
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![Misty Ortega lives adjacent to Uranium Energy Corporation's site for deep injection disposal of radioactive waste and has campaigned against the project in Goliad County.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Grid operator says Texas is better prepared for extreme cold this winter
ERCOT says conditions this winter could spark extreme cold, but additional power supply and continued weatherization efforts will lower the risk of power outages. Full Story
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![The ERCOT Board of Directors convene for a meeting at the organization's headquarters in Austin on Dec. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Noah Devereaux for the Texas Tribune -
Maternity care in rural Texas needs a rescue, groups say
Almost half of Texas counties have nowhere to get prenatal care, let alone deliver a baby. This plan offers legislative proposals to shore up what’s left. Full Story
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![CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Jasper Memorial hospital in Jasper on Jan. 3, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas has billions pledged to expand broadband. Spending it is taking a while.
Despite the efforts of local governments and others, the move to provide internet access to millions of Texans has been slow and faces new challenges. Full Story
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![A sign welcoming visitors to Big Lake. Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.]()
Credit: Mitch Borden for The Texas Tribune -
Texas farmers say fertilizer made from sewage poisoned land
The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land. Full Story
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![Tony and Karen Coleman stand over a plot of land where they buried a deceased calf and bull on their property in Grandview, Texas on Aug. 5, 2024.]()
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Feds can’t destroy razor wire Texas installed near Eagle Pass, appeals court rules
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued the Biden administration after Border Patrol agents had cut the razor wire. Full Story
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![A row of shipping containers and razor wire placed on the banks of the Rio Grande River by Gov. Greg Abbott to form a makeshift border wall in Eagle Pass on Nov. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Houstonian Mark Swidan to be released from Chinese imprisonment
The Texan has been imprisoned in China for 12 years on charges of drug trafficking. Full Story
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![Mark Swidan.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Swidan Family Free Mark Campaign -
A third woman has died under Texas’ abortion ban as doctors reach for riskier miscarriage treatments
Porsha Ngumezi bled to death as she was miscarrying after her doctor opted against an emergency procedure used to end pregnancies. Full Story
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![Hope and Porsha Ngumezi pose together in a family photo.]()
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Texas offers Trump administration more land and support for mass deportations
Two events in the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday made clear Texas officials will work with the Trump administration on immigration. Full Story
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![Incoming Trump administration appointee Border Czar Tom Homan speaks to DPS Troopers and National Guard troops at a Thanksgiving dinner event in Edinburg on Nov. 26, 2024.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Crypto miners must register with state and reveal power usage under new Texas rule
The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopted the rule amid surging demand for power across the state and a growing crypto mining industry in Texas. Full Story
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![Pods full of computers that are submerged in fluid at the crypto mining facility, Helios, near Afton, on Sept. 15, 2022. The fluid keeps the computers well under manufacturer-designed temps to avoid overheating.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill would reclassify abortion drugs as controlled substances
The bill is modeled after a Louisiana law that doctors say has created chaos for other gynecological issues best treated by these drugs. Full Story
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![Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at a clinic in New Mexico on Jan. 13, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein