Texas can require porn websites to verify users’ ages, Supreme Court rules
The case involves a 2023 state law requiring adult websites to verify users’ ages, but the ruling is expected to have broader implications for free speech law. Full Story
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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.
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media outside the Supreme Court building in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas.”]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Debt, loss and faith: How three families are faring a year after Hurricane Harvey
The deadly storm was indiscriminate during its week of destruction. Texans living in the massive disaster area were thrust into a historic housing recovery effort rife with bureaucratic roadblocks, agonizing financial decisions and still-lingering anxieties. Full Story
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![The Eichberger family RV housed Kareen, Jon and two of their sons for nearly a year after their house was flooded by the rains of Tropical Storm Harvey. The RV is parked in the driveway of their damaged home, allowing Kareen and Jon to oversee ongoing repairs.]()
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Flash flooding in Houston sparks memories of Harvey
Residents watched cautiously as parts of the city received up to 8 inches of rain. Full Story
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![Streets flood in central Houston during heavy rain on July 4, 2018.]()
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Federal government approves Texas plan for long-term Harvey recovery funds
The $5 billion housing recovery plan will be administered in two parts: $2.3 billion directly allocated for Houston and Harris County and $2.7 billion for all other disaster areas. Full Story
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![Randa Langerud's Wharton home being demolished due to damage sustained from Hurricane Harvey. Langerud's home was the first of 10 to be torn down in her neighborhood.]()
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Texas shelter operator says it knows the locations of the parents of separated children in its care
A company official told Texas lawmakers Thursday that parents and children have the opportunity to be in contact. But it's still not clear how that may lead to family reunification. Full Story
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![Southwest Key headquarters in Austin on June 19, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Three Central Americans separated from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border are suing the federal government
The lawsuit argues that the constitutional rights of the families were violated by the Trump administration's policy and asks that the parents be reunited with their children, one as young as 2 years old. Full Story
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![The South Texas Family Residential Center is an immigrant detention center in Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.]()
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After Santa Fe shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott wants to put more counselors in schools. Educators say that’s not enough.
In a state that doesn't require counselors in schools, Abbott is recommending school districts find money to hire more counselors and allow them to focus on student mental health rather than administrative tasks like scheduling and college admissions. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott announces new school safety measures in response to the Santa Fe High School shooting at the Dallas Independent School District headquarters on May 31, 2018.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Seawater desalination plant proposed for Corpus Christi area
The proposed plant would be constructed in the city of Gregory and would be one of the first in Texas to use only seawater. Full Story
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![The inside of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on April 16, 2012.]()
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As drought returns, experts say Texas cities aren't conserving enough water
Three years after one of the worst droughts in Wichita Falls history, life is returning to normal. But as Texas creeps back into a drought, water experts say residents in the city and around the state can do more to conserve water and prepare for the next shortage, which is always on the horizon. Full Story
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![A truck is washed at All American Super Car Wash in Wichita Falls. Business owner Larry Ayers almost had to shut down in 2015 due to a devastating drought and tightened water restrictions.]()
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Clock runs out for hundreds of Texans in hotel rooms eight months after Hurricane Harvey
Housing advocates criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for ending hotel vouchers for more than 1,300 Texans because renters were more likely to be affected. Homeowners, meanwhile, can have their hotel stays extended through May. Full Story
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![Housing advocates say a FEMA decision to end hotel stays for Texas renters displaced for Harvey doesn't account for difficulties in finding affordable units in the neighborhoods they left.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune