https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ayden-runnels/The latest news by Ayden Runnels.enTue, 18 Feb 2025 19:30:14 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/The number of measles cases in Texas has ballooned to at least 58, as of Tuesday, including a baby who was too young to be vaccinated.By Eleanor Klibanoff, Pooja Salhotra and Ayden RunnelsTue, 18 Feb 2025 19:30:14 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/13/texas-execution-richard-tabler-2025/In his final statement, Richard Tabler asked for forgiveness from his victims’ family members, some of whom reportedly witnessed his death.By Ayden RunnelsThu, 13 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/13/texas-execution-richard-tabler-2025/Texas death row inmate Richard Tabler was executed Thursday evening in Huntsville. Tabler was the second man to be executed in Texas in 2025.The Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary houses the execution chamber of Texas and is located in Huntsville on Jan. 31, 2024.Maria Crane/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/12/texas-space-x-city-election-starbase/If a majority of the roughly 500 residents living around the South Texas site vote yes in May, Starbase will be the state’s newest city.By Ayden RunnelsWed, 12 Feb 2025 17:23:35 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/12/texas-space-x-city-election-starbase/Space X rockets at the launch pad at the company's South Texas site on Oct. 20, 2021. A May election will decide whether the site becomes the state's newest city.SpaceX rockets at the launch pad at the Brownsville facility on Oct. 20, 2021. On Oct. 22, Elon Musk said via Twitter the Starship rocket would be ready for an orbital launch by next month.Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-scope-act-minors-social-media-restrictions/The new injunction prohibits advertising and age verification restrictions in the SCOPE Act, which aims to make social media safer for teenagers.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 07 Feb 2025 19:24:03 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/07/texas-scope-act-minors-social-media-restrictions/Three additional temporary blocks on provisions in Texas' SCOPE Act come as parents are becoming increasingly concerned about social media’s effects on childrens’ mental health.Sophomore Alexis Phan does her Algebra 2 homework remotely from her home in Pflugerville on Nov. 16, 2020.Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/The chief’s comments came after Alice ISD sent a letter to parents Wednesday warning students may be detained and possibly deported if they can’t prove they’re in the country legally. The letter was later removed from the district’s website.By Uriel J. García and Ayden RunnelsWed, 05 Feb 2025 22:03:43 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/A school bus waits at an intersection while driving its morning pickup route before dawn on Sept. 12, 2023 in West Odessa.A school bus waits at an intersection while driving its morning pickup route before dawn on Sept. 12, 2023 in West Odessa.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-execution-steven-nelson-2025/Steven Lawayne Nelson maintained that he unknowingly participated in the violent church robbery but didn’t harm anyone. His execution was the state’s first for 2025.By Ayden RunnelsWed, 05 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-execution-steven-nelson-2025/Texas death row inmate Steve Lawayne Nelson, 37, was executed Wednesday in Huntsville.Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.Mark Felix for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/30/trump-texas-death-penalty-executive-order/Trump’s new directive that aims to increase death sentences clashes with some Texas lawmakers’ efforts to add guardrails to capital punishment.By Ayden RunnelsThu, 30 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/30/trump-texas-death-penalty-executive-order/Dr. Jeffery Singer testifies during a Criminal Jurisprudence hearing concerning death row inmate Robert Roberson on Oct. 16, 2024, in Austin. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office is seeking to increase executions in the United States.Dr. Jeffery Singer testifies during a Criminal Jurisprudence hearing on death row inmate Robert Roberson on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin, TX. Dr. Singer testified that "shaken baby syndrome" has been called into question for years and and that there are many in healthcare who don't think the diagnosis should be used to sentence someone to death. With his scheduled execution drawing closer, a hearing debating the certainty of Robreson's guilt and there is a bipartisan push to stay his execution. Sergio Flores for The Texas TribuneSergio Flores for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/transgender-care-data-leak-texas-childrens-hospital/Dr. Eithan Haim of Dallas had faced four counts for wrongfully disclosing the individually identifiable health information of underage patients at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 24 Jan 2025 19:13:22 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/transgender-care-data-leak-texas-childrens-hospital/Dr. Eithan Haim never contested that he leaked the records from Texas Children's Hospital, but maintained that no laws were broken because personally identifiable patient information was not disclosed.Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/gaza-ceasefire-texas-reaction/Israeli and Palestinian supporters in Texas welcome the tenuous halt to the war sparked by a 2023 attack with cautious optimism.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 24 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/gaza-ceasefire-texas-reaction/Austin-area families who attend the same mosque gather at Lakeline Park in Cedar Park on Jan. 18, the day before the Gaza ceasefire began.Ayman Alafifi joins friends at Lakeline Park in Cedar Park, Texas on January 18, 2024.Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/greg-abbott-border-security-11-billion-reimbursement/In a letter to U.S. congressional leaders, the governor blamed previous border security policy for leaving Texas “defenseless,” forcing state officials to spend billions.By Ayden RunnelsThu, 23 Jan 2025 16:39:27 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/greg-abbott-border-security-11-billion-reimbursement/Gov. Greg Abbott, seen with then-President Donald Trump in Edinburg in 2023, was praised by Trump recently for his border security efforts.Then-former President Donald Trump greets and shakes hands with Gov. Greg Abbott at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, on Nov. 19, 2023, after the governor announced his endorsement of President Trump. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America,” the governor proclaimed.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/texas-death-penalty-executions-decline/Texas continues to lead other states on capital punishment. But the decline in new death sentences and executions reached a record low.By Ayden RunnelsWed, 22 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/texas-death-penalty-executions-decline/Protesters unload signs and speakers outside of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Huntsville unit shortly before Robert Roberson's scheduled execution on October 17, 2024. Hours later, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily stopped Roberson's execution.Protesters unload signs and speakers outside of the Huntsville Unit shortly before a scheduled execution in Huntsville on October 17, 2024.Mark Felix for the Texas Tribunnehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ken-paxton-tiktok-minors-explicit-content/The attorney general argues that the social media company violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by listing itself as appropriate for children.By Ayden RunnelsThu, 09 Jan 2025 19:05:43 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ken-paxton-tiktok-minors-explicit-content/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/greg-abbott-anti-terrorism-new-orleans/The governor is calling for an expansion of in-state anti-terrorism programs and an increase in federal partnerships.By Ayden RunnelsTue, 07 Jan 2025 19:10:37 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/greg-abbott-anti-terrorism-new-orleans/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/03/joint-base-san-antonio-military-security/After separate attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, officials ordered the suspension of the Trusted Traveler policy.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 03 Jan 2025 18:43:14 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/03/joint-base-san-antonio-military-security/https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/20/texas-border-wall-auction-biden-trump/Some Texas lawmakers including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick slammed the Biden administration over the auction of wall materials. But the sale was directed by Congress — and Texas has already bought some of it.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 20 Dec 2024 13:53:25 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/20/texas-border-wall-auction-biden-trump/Building supplies and construction equipment sit along a section of state border wall outside of Del Rio in August 2024.Building supplies and construction equipment sit along a section of state border wall Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, outside of Del Rio.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/texas-school-districts-special-education-medicaid-shars/The request comes after an audit found Texas improperly billed the federal government for reimbursements related to Medicaid-eligible students.By Ayden RunnelsTue, 17 Dec 2024 16:50:22 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/texas-school-districts-special-education-medicaid-shars/Federal officials are asking 573 Texas school districts to return $16 million they received since 2011. Federal officials say Texas improperly billed them for reimbursements they provide to schools for services rendered to Medicaid-eligible students.Students backpacks hang off the back of their chairs in an empty classroom at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Monday August, 23, 2021.Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/28/texas-new-laws-dei-ban-colleges-universities/Other new laws make changes to the tax code, criminal justice and health care systems.By Ayden RunnelsThu, 28 Dec 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/28/texas-new-laws-dei-ban-colleges-universities/Students head to class on the second day of the semester at San Jacinto College's North Campus in Houston in this 2014 file photo.Students head to class on the second day of the semester at San Jacinto College's North Campus in Houston on Aug. 26, 2014. Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/22/texas-midwives/The state agency that oversees midwives is trying to make it easier for women to join the profession, including lowering fees.By Ayden RunnelsFri, 22 Dec 2023 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/22/texas-midwives/https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/05/frederick-frazier-plea-deal-impersonating-public-servant-texas/Frazier was indicted in June 2022 on two charges of impersonating a public servant, a felony offense. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges as part of a plea agreement.By Patrick Svitek and Ayden RunnelsTue, 05 Dec 2023 10:11:10 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/05/frederick-frazier-plea-deal-impersonating-public-servant-texas/State Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, on the House floor during Sine Die of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, at the Capitol in Austin, on May 29, 2023.State Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, on the House floor during Sine Die of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, at the Capitol in Austin, on May 29, 2023.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/20/texas-2023-population-growth-demographics/According to new Texas Demographic Center figures, the Austin region continues to grow at the fastest rate, but Fort Worth was the city that attracted the most new residents between 2020 and 2023.By Karen Brooks Harper and Ayden RunnelsMon, 20 Nov 2023 17:44:47 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/20/texas-2023-population-growth-demographics/Fort Worth saw more new residents than any other Texas city between 2020 and 2023. But the Austin region is still the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Texas.Downtown Fort Worth.Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune