https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/berenice-garcia/The latest news by Berenice Garcia.enWed, 18 Jun 2025 17:36:25 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-screwworm-facility-brooke-rollins/Screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets warm-blooded animals and has the potential to disrupt Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry.By Berenice GarciaWed, 18 Jun 2025 17:36:25 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-screwworm-facility-brooke-rollins/The U.S. is opening a facility in the Rio Grande Valley to help stop the spread of the screwworm, a parasitic fly that could threaten the state's cattle industry.Cattle are brought across the U.S.-Mexico border at the livestock import/export facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on January 22, 2021.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/16/texas-fema-beach-restoration/The Trump administration is proposing limits to the recreational facilities — including beaches — that are eligible for federal assistance.By Berenice GarciaMon, 16 Jun 2025 12:34:12 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/16/texas-fema-beach-restoration/The beach in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on South Padre Island.The beach in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on South Padre Island.Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/14/texas-protests-anti-trump-immigration-no-kings/Demonstrations in McAllen, Midland, Odessa, Austin and elsewhere in Texas were largely peaceful, as some protests went well into the night.By Berenice Garcia, Carlos Nogueras Ramos, Ayden Runnels and Jessica Shuran YuSat, 14 Jun 2025 15:40:48 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/14/texas-protests-anti-trump-immigration-no-kings/Beth Vaughan, center, chants as protesters march up Walker Street during a “No Kings” protest at Houston City Hall on June 14.Beth Vaughan, at center, chants as protestors march up Walker Street during a No Kings protest at City Hall, Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Houston.Antranik Tavitian for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/rural-texas-legislation/Lawmakers sought to close gaps in education and support funding for agriculture, disaster preparedness and health care this year.By Jayme Lozano Carver, Carlos Nogueras Ramos, Jess Huff and Berenice GarciaThu, 05 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/rural-texas-legislation/The Texas State Capitol on March 17, 2025.The Texas State Capitol on March 17, 2025.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/01/texas-legislature-starbase-elon-musk-spacex-beach/Local organizations strongly opposed the measure, hosting phone banking events to urge lawmakers to vote against the bill.By Berenice GarciaSun, 01 Jun 2025 16:43:28 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/01/texas-legislature-starbase-elon-musk-spacex-beach/A visitor stands on a dune at Boca Chica Beach near the SpaceX launch site on Aug. 8, 2024.A visitor stands on a dune at Boca Chica Beach near the SpaceX launch site on Aug. 8, 2024.Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/30/starbase-texas-spacex-loan/City leaders held their first public meetings this week since voters approved the South Texas city’s incorporation.By Berenice GarciaFri, 30 May 2025 15:35:01 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/30/starbase-texas-spacex-loan/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/24/starbase-spacex-boca-chica-beach-texas-legislature/The Texas Senate agreed Friday to make it easier for the new city, home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to shutter the beach during rocket launches.By Berenice GarciaSat, 24 May 2025 12:58:33 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/24/starbase-spacex-boca-chica-beach-texas-legislature/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-daylight-saving-time/Federal action would be needed to make the change legal. Lawmakers at both the state and federal levels have debated the question for decades.By Berenice GarciaThu, 22 May 2025 17:28:54 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-daylight-saving-time/Texas lawmakers want the state to end changing the clocks back and forth. But Congress must act first.Sunrise over the historic Alamo in San Antonio.Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-screwworm-cattle-industry-border/U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz hope to fund an operation to kill the parasitic fly before too much damage is done.By Berenice Garcia and Jess HuffWed, 21 May 2025 14:20:58 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-screwworm-cattle-industry-border/The U.S. has once again suspended live animal imports at the southern border as fear of screwworm grows.Cattle are brought across the U.S.-Mexico border at the livestock import/export facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on January 22, 2021.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/16/spacex-faa-launch-approval-starbase-texas/The federal approval comes after vote from residents — mostly SpaceX employees — to form a new city at the Rio Grande Valley beach.By Berenice GarciaFri, 16 May 2025 15:07:09 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/16/spacex-faa-launch-approval-starbase-texas/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-water-rio-grande-valley-drought/Leaders hope to treat groundwater and capture more rain as the water from one of the nation’s most iconic rivers becomes less reliable.By Berenice GarciaThu, 15 May 2025 13:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-water-rio-grande-valley-drought/An aerial view of the Tres Lagos neighborhood in McAllen on May 12. Developed by Rhodes Enterprises, the community includes thousands of homes, restaurants and the McAllen campus of Texas A&M.An aerial view of the Tres Lagos neighborhood development in McAllen on May 12, 2025. Thousands of homes span the development which includes restaurants and a food truck park.Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/03/spacex-starbase-texas-vote-elon-musk/Critics of Elon Musk and SpaceX say that a new city will give more power to a company they believe is harming the environment.By Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune, and Lauren McGaughy, Texas NewsroomSat, 03 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/03/spacex-starbase-texas-vote-elon-musk/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/02/texas-spacex-starbase-election-candidates-elon-musk/All three — running unopposed — have longstanding connections with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company headquartered in South Texas.By Berenice GarciaFri, 02 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/02/texas-spacex-starbase-election-candidates-elon-musk/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/mexico-texas-water-deal-donald-trump/The latest development in a years-long push by South Texas farmers and officials to get Mexico to fulfill a 1944 treaty would still fall short of what is owed.By Berenice GarciaTue, 29 Apr 2025 15:03:43 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/mexico-texas-water-deal-donald-trump/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/24/starbase-texas-election-space-x/City leaders, who will be elected in May, will have just a short window to decide what services to provide, like police or fire, and how to tax residents.By Berenice GarciaThu, 24 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/24/starbase-texas-election-space-x/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/texas-pope-francis-death-catholic-church/Some churchgoers in the Rio Grande Valley remembered the leader of the Catholic Church as a forward-thinking figure who cared for everyone.By Berenice GarciaMon, 21 Apr 2025 19:30:06 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/texas-pope-francis-death-catholic-church/Jeanie Piña, 67, pays her respects in front of the image of Pope Francis at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in San Juan on Monday, April 21, 2025.Jeanie Piña, 67, pays her respects in front of the image of Pope Francis at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in San Juan, Texas on Monday April 21, 2025. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas TribuneGabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/15/texas-democrats-rio-grande-valley/In 2024, President Donald Trump won all four counties in the Rio Grande Valley, once considered a reliable Democratic stronghold.By Berenice GarciaTue, 15 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/15/texas-democrats-rio-grande-valley/Newly elected Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder addresses attendees at a town hall event in McAllen on April 12.Newly elected Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder addresses attendees at a town hall event in McAllen on April 12, 2025. The event organizers invited CD-15 Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz to the event, but she did not attend.Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/texas-deportation-hearing-venezuelans-trump-alien-enemies-act/The ruling extends a temporary restraining order for three Venezuelan migrants detained in South Texas who are facing deportation.By Berenice GarciaFri, 11 Apr 2025 15:36:25 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/texas-deportation-hearing-venezuelans-trump-alien-enemies-act/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/spacex-starbase-texas-legislature-beach/The lawmakers behind the bill promised there would not be an increase in the number of days the beach is closed.By Berenice GarciaThu, 03 Apr 2025 17:13:56 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/spacex-starbase-texas-legislature-beach/A new legislative proposal changes who has the authority to close Boca Chica Beach in the Rio Grande Valley for SpaceX launches.Members of the ENTRE Film Center, a local film center and regional archive, hosted the gathering at Boca Chica to celebrate the beach and motivate people to fight for its preservation, which they view as being in jeopardy since the arrival of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Aug. 8, 2024.Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/rio-grande-valley-south-texas-storms-floods-historic/The region is still cleaning up after last week's storms in which at least six people died.By Berenice GarciaThu, 03 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/rio-grande-valley-south-texas-storms-floods-historic/