Most Texas THC products remain legal after GOP leaders fail to break legislative impasse
Legislators couldn’t reach a last-minute deal to tighten regulations on consumable hemp products. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9f3fa692cff5a0b3752dfffacf11edb8/0523%20THC%20Farmers%20AR%2004.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/IMG_4112_1.jpg)
Paul Cobler is the Tribune's economy and industry reporter, covering the socioeconomic and political forces that impact Texans’ pocketbooks and upward mobility. Before joining the Tribune, he was a politics reporter for the Houston Landing and covered Baton Rouge City Hall for The Advocate in Louisiana. Paul grew up in Victoria, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. His reporting has appeared in news publications across the state, including the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. He is based in Houston.
Latest Contributions
-
![Hemp plants are seen at Caprock Family Farms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ $7.2 billion loan program for gas power plants has approved two projects in two years
Experts say the Texas Energy Fund is facing an energy market that makes new power plants more expensive and less profitable. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b42a99387c8f36a070e596ac84388ce3/Vistra%20Midlothian%20Power%20ST%20TT%2013.jpg)
![Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant opened its doors to media on October 15, 2021 to show the plant’s weatherization process. Energy providers like Vistra are preparing their plants for extreme weather conditions following the February winter storm Uri, which disrupted the Texas electric grid and led to the deaths of more than 200 people.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas economy, job growth slowing amid trade war and immigration crackdown, Dallas fed report says
Increasing tariffs on foreign goods and the impact of deportations on the work force cited as job growth slows in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/NAFTA_15.jpg)
![A truck travels on U.S. Highway 281 in Pharr. 281 stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Along Guadalupe River, more than a dozen summer camps have structures in flood zones
Most of the camps were built decades ago, before modern modeling and flood maps. Counties have little power to regulate construction flood plains. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/84f348a4a9f60085bde5d7d6fd237d05/0705%20Hill%20Country%20Floods%20BB%20TT%2035.jpg)
![Damage from the flood around a bridge on HWY 39 in Hunt on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
After local agencies release Uvalde shooting records, calls continue for Texas DPS to follow suit
Local records released this week — after a yearslong lawsuit —affirm previous reporting about law enforcement’s flawed response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a79027cc2afb8e3f17581cfc406a49f5/Robb%20Memorial%202%20EL%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Hundreds of flowers, toys, and candles surround the crosses in memorial of the 21 victims of the school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on June 9, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
August increase in Mexico tariffs could strain Texas economy
A vast majority of trade between Mexico and the U.S. has been exempt from tariffs for months. That could change on Monday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/216858bf50a3da238bf3ecdfef53bc55/Juarez%20Trucks%20Tariffs%20REUTERS.JPG)
![Trucks queue at the Zaragoza-Ysleta border bridge to cross the border between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on April 2, 2025.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez -
Plans for flood warning system floundered before Hill Country floods, witnesses tell legislative flood committee
Lawmakers serving on special committees investigating deadly floods blasted a river authority for failing to build a flood warning system on the Guadalupe River. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1a46ce01ea5cf4395435c9c93e9db32d/0723%20Kerr%20Floods%20Committee%20RB%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Members of the Texas Senate and House hold a joint Disaster Preparedness and Flooding committee meeting Wednesday, July 23, 2025 in Austin. The joint committee was formed in the aftermath of recent devastating flooding in the Hill Country.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Search for flood victims slowed by mountains of debris as thousands descend on Kerr County to assist
Crews are using construction equipment to clear vehicles, trees and homes in a race to locate more than 170 people still missing since Friday’s devastating flood. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3395540520e6409122d898659a50891f/0707%20Kerr%20County%20Flooding%20BB%2015.jpg)
![Search and recovery teams in Kerrville, Texas on Monday, July 7, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán 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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4640c75004c992d7308ce07945f73a57/0705%20Hill%20Country%20Flood%20BB%20TT%2035.jpg)
![Damage from the flood around a bridge on Highway 39 in Hunt on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas region prone to catastrophic floods, questions grow about lack of warning
Water rose fast along the Guadalupe River, causing dozens of deaths. Local officials said they couldn’t have seen it coming. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0391a56be4753263782d1110e75e9895/0705%20Flood%20REUTERS%2001.jpg)
![Uprooted trees after deadly flooding in Kerrville on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Sergio Flores