Texas is illegally keeping people with disabilities in nursing homes, federal judge rules
A federal judge determined the state illegally institutionalized severely disabled people for decades, often in poorly run facilities. Full Story
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![An employee of the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center walks with a resident on April 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas creating task forces to target Permian Basin oil field thefts
Texas lawmakers passed a suite of bills that officials said are crucial to combat losses in the state’s largest oil field. Full Story
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![A semi-truck waits to turn onto Texas State Highway 158 after disposing of its load at a salt-water disposal site Tuesday, June 25, 2024, south of Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers failed to pass a proof of citizenship law but made other changes to elections
Successful measures include a new early-voting schedule, revised mail-voting procedures and limits on curbside voting. Full Story
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![Ector County residents cast their vote at a polling location inside a Market Street grocery store in Odessa shortly before polls close on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Meals On Wheels waiting lists grow as Texas braces for federal funding cuts
State chapters of the nonprofit group that provide meals to seniors are waiting to hear from Washington how much of a hit their battered budgets will take. Full Story
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![Henry Van de Putte, CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Austin preps to go meals for a Meals on Wheels food drop off in Austin on Wednesday June 18, 2025.]()
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Former Texas state Sen. Kelly Hancock to become acting comptroller, run for permanent job
Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican, announced his candidacy shortly after being sworn in as chief clerk at the comptroller’s office. Full Story
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![Sen. KELLY HANCOCK, R-North Richland Hills, on the Senate floor on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
As Ted Cruz calls for a regime change in Iran, other Texas Republicans are more cautious
Cruz’s intense interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this week exposed a rift in President Donald Trump’s coalition. Full Story
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![Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees hearing in Washington, D.C., July 30, 2024.]()
Credit: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via REUTERS -
Amid Trump immigration crackdown, Texas reins in border spending and shifts focus to deportations
With border crossings at record lows, state authorities are being sent to arrest people accused of committing crimes in Texas after entering the country illegally. Full Story
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![Shelby Park, occupied by the Texas National Guard and other state agencies, is seen along the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Eagle Pass.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
American babies may get $1,000 each to invest because of Ted Cruz
Included in Congress’ major tax and spending bill is Cruz’s proposal to give every American baby $1,000 to invest. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the signing ceremony for the "Take it Down Act" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, May 19, 2025.]()
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Judge convicts Ecuadorian migrant of trespassing on newly formed National Defense Area near El Paso
The Ecuadorian man was acquitted by a jury on a separate charge after crossing into the new military zone in May. Full Story
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![A U.S. Army M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle, known as a Stryker, deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 10 in Sunland Park, New Mexico on March 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
To fight screwworm, the U.S. is opening a South Texas facility to disperse sterile flies
Screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets warm-blooded animals and has the potential to disrupt Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry. Full Story
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![Cattle are brought across the U.S.-Mexico border at the livestock import/export facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on January 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The 2025 Texas Senate, from right to left
Here’s a look at senators, ranked from most conservative to most liberal, based on votes cast during the 2025 regular session. Full Story
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![The Texas Senate debates bills on the Senate floor at the Texas Capitol, on Monday, May 26, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas again lowers restrictions on certain firearms, passes on regulations
Lawmakers passed a handful of bills aimed at easing access to guns as a new pediatric study links state legislation to increased firearm deaths. Full Story
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![San Antonio police officers collect firearms and ammunition during a gun buyback event that exchanges unused or unwanted firearms for H-E-B gift cards, at the Alamodome on Nov. 24, 2024.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says
Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos. Full Story
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![Guards stand over prisoners at CECOT, or Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Center for Terrorism Confinement), El Salvador's mega prison in Tecoluca on Feb. 4, 2025.]()
Credit: Pool/Latin America News Agency via REUTERS -
With only 8% built, Texas quietly defunds state border wall program
Texas officials suggested the federal government could pick up construction. However, during President Trump’s first term, his administration built about one-third of what the state was able to put up in the same amount of time. Full Story
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![A section of state-built border wall under construction near the banks of the Rio Grande south of Laredo in Zapata Co. on Sept. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Some Texans fear a looming THC ban could return them to opioids, illegal options
Texas hemp users stockpile products and consider moving out of state as ban looms, saying the medical marijuana program is currently an untenable alternative. Full Story
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![Wesley Barnes, 55, stands for a portrait at his home in Onalaska, Texas on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Barnes, a Gulf War veteran who has long struggled with pain, tried legal opiates and illegal THC over the years before finding affordable and effective relief in legal hemp flower beginning in 2018.]()
Credit: Ishika Samant for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The 2025 Texas House, from right to left
Here’s a look at House members, ranked from most conservative to most liberal, based on votes cast during the 2025 regular session. Full Story
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![The Texas House on May 23, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
South Padre Island officials worried about FEMA’s potential disaster spending cuts
The Trump administration is proposing limits to the recreational facilities — including beaches — that are eligible for federal assistance. Full Story
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![The beach in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on South Padre Island.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
After El Paso joined Abbott’s border crackdown, the number of dead migrants in the New Mexico desert surged
Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector. Full Story
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![Doña Ana County Sheriff Deputy N. Al-Abayad, left, and Detective Alan Barbosa transport a body bag containing the bones of a migrant, first found by volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue, on May 3, 2025. The discovery of migrant bodies in the desert has spiked since El Paso joined Texas’ Operation Lone Star.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers laid the foundation for a housing boom. Here’s how.
The Legislature passed laws allowing smaller homes on smaller lots and making it harder for neighbors to block new housing. Full Story
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![Houses in a North Austin neighborhood on Oct. 9, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
Here are some of the Texas Democrats eyeing statewide runs in 2026
Democrats will need to sort through a pileup of potential candidates who see an opportunity to harness backlash to the Trump administration in next year’s midterms. Full Story
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![Beto O’Rourke speaks at the Texas Democratic Convention Reception Kick-Off in El Paso, Texas on June 6, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune