Cars registered in Texas after 2025 will no longer need to pass a safety inspection, but owners will still pay the fee
Cars in some of Texas’ larger counties will still be required to have their emission output checked. Full Story
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![Inspection stickers will begin disappearing from Texas vehicles when the state rolls out a new single-sticker program for inspection and registration on March 1, 2015.]()
Credit: Ryan McCrimmon for The Texas Tribune -
Why health care is still hard to access in rural towns near Texas’ bigger cities
Bigger cities like Lubbock can unintentionally suck health care resources and professionals from smaller towns, creating what one local expert calls the “doughnut effect.” Full Story
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![Main Street in downtown Ralls on Sept. 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
After a two-year pause, feds give Texas the go-ahead to resume a major Houston highway expansion
Across the state, major projects have drawn fierce opposition in recent years amid a reckoning over how freeway construction in the mid-20th century created and exacerbated racial and economic segregation. Full Story
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![An aerial view of four houses next to I-45 near downtown Houston on Sept. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
DPS sent at least 3,000 driver’s licenses to organized crime group targeting Asian Texans
A Chinese crime operation bypassed the password clues of Texas.gov by using stolen identity information to fraudulently obtain replacement driver’s licenses. Full Story
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![Steve McCraw, Department of Public Safety Director, speaks at a press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott and nine other governors regarding the southern border at Anzalduas Park in Mission on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas cities debate costly infrastructure investments in age of extreme weather
Experts say local governments should prioritize extreme weather preparedness. Cost can be a deterring factor. Full Story
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![Holly Phillips, an employee at 7-Eleven, finally waits for a bus to get home after she was stuck in the store for two nights as the roads iced over and other employees were not able to come in to take over her shift as winter weather moved through Dallas on Feb. 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texans urged to avoid travel in icy weather; power grid is expected to meet demand
School closures and hazardous road conditions are expected throughout a large portion of Texas, according to forecasts. State officials caution Texans about local power outages but expect the grid to stay up. Full Story
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![Icy trees in Austin on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
In a Texas federal courtroom, families of those killed in Boeing 737 MAX crashes finally have their voices heard
The airplane manufacturer was accused of fraud for misleading federal regulators about the safety of its jets, but stayed out of court by making a deal with prosecutors. Victims’ families say they were cut out of the process. Full Story
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![An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at Boeing facilities at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, September 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Lindsey Wasson/REUTERS -
Southwest Airlines’ holiday meltdown brings on federal investigation
The Dallas-based airline has canceled more flights than any other airline during the holidays, prompting federal investigators to ask why. Full Story
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![A Southwest Airlines jet on the tarmac at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport the day before Thanksgiving on Nov. 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
Texans are dying on state highways every day — especially in rural “dead zones”
Fatal crashes in rural areas accounted for 51% of Texas’ 4,489 traffic fatalities in 2021, even though only about 10% of the state’s population lives in a rural area, according to data from the state’s department of transportation. Full Story
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![EMT Ronnie Robison calls the Woodland Heights Medical Center to tell them to prepare for an opioid overdose patient at the Lufkin facility Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Robison has to call on a certain street of highway before a “dead zone” of no cell service or they will not be able to warn the trauma team to prepare for their patients.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
A national bus driver shortage is upending Texas’ beloved Friday night high school football games
School leaders are offering more money and paid training for potential bus drivers. Some routes still go unserved. Full Story
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Dallas-Houston bullet train developer vows project is on track, but state officials lack confidence
With lingering skepticism about Texas Central’s ability to build a high-speed rail line, landowners along the route want the company to be more forthcoming about the project’s status. Full Story
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![Railroad tracks near a proposed bullet train terminus on the outskirts of downtown Dallas, on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. The entities in charge of a bullet train connection between Houston and DFW have faded despite Texas courts approving eminent domain to accomplish the massive project.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will build more than 50 new electric car charging locations along major highways
The $408 million approved Tuesday by the Federal Highway Administration will help build a network of charging facilities every 50-70 miles along certain major Texas highways. Full Story
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![A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug in hybrid vehicle is charged at a public charging station in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Pete Buttigieg blasts Texas Republicans on handling of migrants, LGBTQ rights
At the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, Buttigieg said the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in sending migrants to Democrat-led cities are “hurting people in order to get attention.” Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks at the opening keynote with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 22, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Key Texas industries could face bottlenecks over railroad labor dispute
If railroad companies and workers can’t resolve their dispute by Thursday night, the country could see its first railroad strike in 30 years. Full Story
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![The Union Pacific Englewood railyard in Houston on Sept. 9, 2022.]()
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Tesla among surge of companies rushing to take advantage of Texas’ expiring tax incentive program
The Chapter 313 program was designed to draw business to the state, but critics say it lacks accountability and unduly burdens taxpayers. Tesla and other companies hope to take advantage of the tax incentive ahead of the program’s expiration at the end of the year. Full Story
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![Tesla's gallery and service center on Westheimer Road in Houston on Oct. 14, 2021.]()
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After a decade of hype, Dallas-Houston bullet train developer faces a leadership exodus as land acquisition slows
Texas Central has made little visible progress financing the high-speed rail project and acquiring property for the route in recent years. The company maintains that the bullet train is still being developed but declined to provide details about the path forward. Full Story
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![A undeveloped portion of land near a site for bullet train tracks and pedestrian bridges for the proposed bullet train terminus near downtown Dallas, on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. The entities in charge of a bullet train connection between Houston and DFW have faded despite Texas courts approving eminent domain to accomplish the massive project.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas accused of skirting federal environmental law to push for Austin’s Interstate 35 expansion
A group of activists is suing the Texas Department of Transportation, saying the agency split the Interstate 35 project in Austin into segments to obscure its full impacts and “circumvent” federal requirements. Full Story
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![Traffic on Interstate 35 on May 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
A “cloned” 18-wheeler made it easy for smugglers to pass through the border, say state officials vowing to crack down
A federal agency estimates that about 75 trucks are reported nationally each year with copied or stolen state and federal ID numbers, which industry experts say is likely a significant undercount. Full Story
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![A tractor-trailer found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio contained the bodies of 46 dead people, along with 16 others who have been taken to hospitals on June 27, 2022, local officials in San Antonio said.]()
Credit: Nick Wagner for The Texas Tribune -
Texas plans to place charging stations for electric cars every 50 miles on most interstates
With $408 million in federal funds, the state wants to build enough charging stations to support 1 million electric vehicles. Full Story
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![Electric vehicle charging stations in San Diego, California on June 8, 2022.]()
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Decades after Texas took part of its historic farm, a family fights again to save its land from a highway expansion
Daniel Alexander was enslaved when he founded a farm before the Civil War. 175 years later, his family is fighting to keep it intact as Texas plans to expand U.S. Highway 183. Full Story
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![Bringing flowers to her family cemetery, Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik visits her parents, Marcellus Winston and Juanita Smith, in a shared grave.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune