Texas cities, counties pinch pennies amid slowing economy
Economic uncertainty, inflation, strict state limits on property tax collections and uncertainty around future federal funds have crimped local budgets. Full Story
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Berenice Garcia is a regional reporter covering the Rio Grande Valley. She works at the Tribune as a corps members with Report for America. She previously covered local government, crime, healthcare and general assignments for The Monitor in McAllen where she was born. Though she's spent the majority of her life in the Valley, she traveled east to attend New York University where she studied journalism and politics. While there, she interned at the New York Daily News, the Daily Beast and NBC News. When she’s not working, she enjoys fighting for her life at the gym. Berenice is based in McAllen.
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![The Dallas skyline from the Top o' Texas Tower ride at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, TX on October 14, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Judge dismisses environmental lawsuit against FAA over failed SpaceX launch
The suit, filed in 2023 after the launch of SpaceX's Starship in Boca Chica ended in an explosion, accused the agency of not properly assessing environmental impacts. Full Story
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![The SpaceX Starship on the launchpad ahead of the tenth flight test, in Starbase, Texas, on August 24, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Running Out: Texas’ water crisis — and the path forward
A growing population, leaking pipes and changing climate threaten the state’s water supply. Texas lawmakers hope a $20 billion investment will help. Full Story
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![Jay Ornelas, El Paso County Water Improvement District Manager (left) and Ramon Tirres (right) in Clint, Texas on march 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
As Republicans make gains in the Rio Grande Valley, Democrats are fighting among themselves
A faction of Hidalgo County Democrats has raised concerns over how the party is spending money and blocking the group from doing business for several months. Full Story
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![Madeleine Croll expresses her disagreement as she was one of the people who Stacy Solís did not agree should be precinct chairs that she approved during the Hidalgo County Democrats’ Third Quarter meeting in San Juan, Texas on July 26, 2025. They were hoping to introduce the new precinct chairs during the meeting as well as listening from their newly formed committees. Croll had been precinct chair for a few years before until she missed to fill out a form to continue serving. She has been trying to be precinct chair ever since but she has been unable to as some members, she says, have been keeping her from doing so because she believes that in part it is due to her being a transgender woman.
Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
From Fort Worth to McAllen, Texans could lose clout in Washington if GOP changes political lines
The GOP push to redraw the state’s congressional maps isn’t just a partisan move but one that deeply affects how Texans are represented in Congress. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, testifies during a redistricting committee hearing held at the University of Texas at Arlington on July 28, 2025.]()
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U.S. will build sterile fly factory in Texas to stop screwworm from devastating livestock industry
Mounted patrol officers, known as tick riders, who typically patrol the southern border to protect cattle from fever tick, will also now serve as the first line of defense against screwworm. Full Story
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![Forty to fifty head of cattle down from 5,000 due to restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico at the Vaquero Trading stockyard in Sunland Park, New Mexico on January 8, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
After being wrongfully deported, a South Texas man and his family navigate realities of shifting immigration policies
Jaime Galvan Sanchez has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years. He was deported in less than 24 hours without due process and allowed to return. But his family is still suffering from the aftermath. Full Story
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![Jaime Galván, 48, lights a candle that would be followed with his prayer at the Saint Jude Grotto in Pharr, Texas on April 23, 2025. The Galván family is very devoted to Saint Jude and now they pray for a miracle to happen so that Mr. Galván can get legal status so that he is not deported.
Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Gabriel V. Cardenas for The Texas Tribune -
Rio Grande Valley’s biggest free health clinic event of the year is canceled due to federal cuts
It’s the first time Operation Border Health has canceled in 26 years. More than 6,600 people received check-ups, dental services, diabetes screenings and more last year. Full Story
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![Pedestrians walk in downtown McAllen on Oct. 31, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmaker proposes beefing up temporary worker program to ease farm labor shortages
The South Texas Republican’s “Bracero 2.0” legislation — named after a 1940s temporary labor program — comes as the Trump administration has increasingly cracked down on undocumented farmworkers. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, speaks at a press conference in Washington on Feb. 5, 2025.]()
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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