Texas warns firms they could lose state contracts for divesting from fossil fuels
A new law prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that divest from oil, natural gas and coal companies. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin on Aug. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Rangers confirm investigation into nude photos of children at Bastrop shelter but find “no evidence” of sex abuse
An attorney representing foster care children in a suit against Texas said Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw’s conclusion that there was no evidence of sexual abuse despite the investigation into the photos was “both surprising and extremely troubling.” Full Story
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![A chapel and buildings located at Refuge Ranch in Bastrop. The Texas-contracted facility is meant to provide residential treatment for child sex trafficking survivors, but was discovered to be trafficking the same children, according to a federal judge.]()
Credit: Via Refuge Ranch website -
Analysis: A power test for Texas voters
After last winter’s near-statewide electric blackouts, Texas lawmakers went after regulators they deemed responsible but tiptoed around the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas. Now voters have a chance, if they want it, to send the state a message. Full Story
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![A gas meter with icicles on it in South Austin on Feb. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ traditionally sleepy school board races are suddenly attracting attention — and money
As conservative parents become more frustrated with how school boards handled the pandemic, once-ignored school board elections are becoming better funded. Full Story
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![Parents demonstrate in front of the Frisco Independent School District building demanding a mask mandate for the district and improved sanitary and air conditions for students in Frisco on Sept. 10, 2021. The demonstration was organized by Unified Parents of Frisco, formed in response to the pandemic and its consequences on their children's lives and education.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
National Guard troops were dispatched to famous Texas ranches with private security as part of border mission
The dispatching of troops to the sprawling private ranches, far from the border, raises questions about the use of National Guard troops, who have widely decried the mission as aimless, political and oversized, as the cost of the effort has already ballooned to $2 billion a year. Full Story
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![Texas National Guard stationed outside a King Ranch Norias Division entrance on Jan. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Trump appointees are helping Texas derail Biden’s immigration agenda
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has sued the Biden administration 20 times in Texas federal courts over everything from mask mandates to immigration policies. Trump-appointed judges have ruled in seven of them, all in favor of Texas. Full Story
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![Migrants arrive in Nuevo Laredo after being returned by Customs and Border Protection. The group requested asylum in the United States and under the Migrant Protection Protocols, are returned to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings. July 22, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton, lawyers for parents of trans kids disagree on whether child abuse investigations can continue
Paxton tweeted Friday that investigations into parents of transgender children would continue as a result of his appeal. But the state’s child welfare agency won’t confirm the status of the investigations. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a press conference outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott replaces Texas military leader who has overseen heavily criticized border mission
Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer will take over as the military department’s new leader. He replaces Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, who was criticized for her handling of Operation Lone Star, as adjutant general of the Texas Military Department. Full Story
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![From left: Gov. Greg Abbott, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Brig. Gen. Tracy Norris, the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard, discuss sending an additional 1,000 troops to assist at the border at a press conference in Austin on June 21, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas environment agency’s plan to remedy language discrimination allegations leaves advocates frustrated
A civil rights complaint prompted the state’s environmental agency to guarantee interpretation and translation services at public meetings for people who don’t speak English. But the rollout has been plagued by confusing procedures and little clarity on how interpreters will be selected. Full Story
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![A house stands in the Manchester neighborhood while refineries are visible in the background in Houston on Sept. 8, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Loren Elliott -
Analysis: Whatever the campaigns say, the Texas electric grid isn’t fixed yet
After 2021’s winter storm electric blackouts, Texas lawmakers worked to shore up the state’s electric grid. But they’re not finished, despite what you might hear from campaigning politicians. Full Story
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![Food pantry manager Farrah Rivera maps out routes to resident rooms at the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center in Austin on Feb. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
O’Rourke calls Abbott a “thug” and an “authoritarian” who’s “got his own oligarch here in the state of Texas”
The Democratic nominee for governor slammed the Republican incumbent in harsh terms, presaging a bitter lead-up to an election nearly eight months away. Full Story
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![Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, interviewed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke on Saturday at South by Southwest.]()
Credit: Sewell Chan/The Texas Tribune -
Political pressure led to shutdown of Texas’ largest gender-affirming care program
Hospital administrators and doctors at GENECIS struggled to reconcile halting care with the knowledge that doing so could severely jeopardize patients’ mental health, recordings of internal meetings show. Full Story
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Texas’ child welfare agency ordered to investigate trans kids’ families has been in crisis for years
The Department of Family and Protective Services has been under federal court monitoring for over a decade for violating the civil rights of kids in foster care. Now, the short-staffed agency has to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offices in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Judge temporarily blocks Texas investigations into families of trans kids
District Judge Amy Clark Meachum said the governor’s directive for the state child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children was “beyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional.” The statewide injunction will remain in effect until the case is heard in July. Full Story
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![Empty seats reserved for transgender children and their parents sit empty as most were too afraid to publicly testify at a DFPS Committee meeting in Austin on Friday, March 11, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court deals final blow to federal abortion law challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court left abortion providers only the narrowest avenue to challenge the ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Friday’s Texas Supreme Court ruling has effectively ended that federal legal challenge. Full Story
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![The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas officials bully transgender kids for political points
Lucky for them, Texas officials probably can’t be prosecuted for bullying under the state’s education laws. The gist of those laws, however, is crystal clear, and so is the effect of their actions and rhetoric about gender-affirming health care. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton hosted 12 attorneys general from around the U.S. for a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz rides shotgun in “People’s Convoy” of truckers rallying for removal of COVID-19 mandates
The truckers arrived in Washington, D.C., recently after starting their journey in California last month. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a press conference with Brian Brase, organizer of the People’s Convoy, near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2022.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Democrat Lee Merritt suspends campaign for attorney general nine days after election day, clearing path for runoff
Merritt endorsed the top vote-getter, Rochelle Garza, who will face Joe Jaworski in the Democratic runoff for attorney general on May 24. Full Story
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![ACLU lawyer Rochelle Garza and Joe Jaworski, Democratic candidates for Attorney General.]()
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Texas sues to prevent losing federal funds over its investigations of trans children’s families
Texas is worried it could lose over a billion dollars in federal funding over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive requiring medical professionals to report gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters -
Fighting care for transgender kids shifts from a fringe issue to a litmus test for Texas Republicans
The issue is no longer contained to just the party’s fringes — and it is unlikely to go away any time soon as the national fervor grows, Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive faces legal challenges and it factors prominently into a slew of GOP primary runoffs. Full Story
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![People held up a transgender flag at an event held by Equality Texas at the Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, April 14, 2021]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune
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