Texas National Guard replaces commander overseeing Gov. Greg Abbott’s troubled border mission
The brigadier general steps down from commanding Operation Lone Star’s military efforts after five months. Full Story
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![Asylum seekers who have just crossed the border are led by a National Guard troop to be apprehended by Customs and Border Protection in Roma on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott eases state inspections at one commercial bridge, as trade remains snarled across the border
The move provides little relief as trade between Texas and Mexico is hampered along the border because of Abbott’s order. The Colombia bridge is just one of 13 commercial crossings between the two countries and the only one connected to Nuevo León. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference with Nuevo León Gov. Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda on April 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: The Tribune is expanding to cover more of Texas
We’re hiring reporters to cover the Panhandle/South Plains and East Texas, along with a regional editor. We hope to also place staff in the Rio Grande Valley and the Permian Basin. Full Story
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![Clockwise from top left: Spectators at the McAllen Holiday Parade, in South Texas; workers at a fracking rig on the Hasken Oil and Ranch site in Midland, in the Permian Basin; Kambry Cox and her daughter at a park in Tatum, in East Texas; fans at Texas Tech’s homecoming game against West Virginia in Lubbock, in the South Plains.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas, Jerod Foster, Eddie Gaspar and Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Biden administration, Mexican governors urge Abbott to end inspections that have bogged down border trade
Gov. Greg Abbott is slated to have a meeting and press event with Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda — the Mexican governor of Nuevo León, the state that includes a section of the border near Laredo — later Wednesday afternoon. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper inspects a commercial truck at an inspection station Brownsville on April 12, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
How reproductive rights groups sounded the alarm after a South Texas woman was charged with murder for an abortion
The Rio Grande Valley, often seen as a reliable vote against abortion, has a long history of advocacy to increase access to the procedure. Full Story
![Cathy Torres, Organizing Manager of Frontera Fund, (she/her) stands outside of the Starr County Jail at a protest on April 9, 2022. regarding the jailing of Lizelle Herrera, a woman being held at the jail on a count of murder for allegedly having a self-induced abortion.
"Once SB8 went into effect, we [Frontera Fund] got flooded from donations nationally," Torres said. "Every single person that calls our line travels out of state. When someone needs travel assistance to get an abortion, we help with that." When asked what people can do for Lizelle, Torres said, "Continue calling the jail and demanding her immediate release. We're going to keep track of what's happening and I say keep in tune with our social media."](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/t5kcGPREpzvEPcpr6gmxFwa1_DA=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/54d602bedc6f946879bfdc428abf75d8/Starr%20County%20Abortion%20MGO%20TT%2017.jpg)
![Cathy Torres, Organizing Manager of Frontera Fund, (she/her) stands outside of the Starr County Jail at a protest on April 9, 2022. regarding the jailing of Lizelle Herrera, a woman being held at the jail on a count of murder for allegedly having a self-induced abortion.
"Once SB8 went into effect, we [Frontera Fund] got flooded from donations nationally," Torres said. "Every single person that calls our line travels out of state. When someone needs travel assistance to get an abortion, we help with that." When asked what people can do for Lizelle, Torres said, "Continue calling the jail and demanding her immediate release. We're going to keep track of what's happening and I say keep in tune with our social media."]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas schools need support from politically distracted state leaders
Public education in Texas — like everywhere in the country — is hurting after more than two years of pandemic. But many in the political class are preoccupied with reforms that have more to do with social issues than with education. Full Story
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![Students take computer tests at Lincoln Park School, in Brownsville, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. The school for students that are pregnant or have had a baby currently has 69 students enrolled.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Delays, closures and chaos mount at Texas-Mexico border crossings from new state inspections
U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the state inspections ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott “unnecessary” and said commercial traffic at the Texas-Mexico border has dropped 60% since they began. Full Story
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![Commercial trucks are inspected by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper at an inspection station in Brownsville on April 12, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Food banks struggle to help Texans as grocery prices increase
The pressures pushing up costs for consumers are also hitting agencies trying to combat hunger, making it hard to keep up with rising demand for their aid. Full Story
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![Baron Reedy loads a box of food supplies provided by the Central Texas Food Bank into a vehicle during a drive-thru distribution event at the Onion Creek Soccer Complex in Austin on March 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge rules UNT can’t charge out-of-state students more tuition than undocumented students
The lawsuit against the University of North Texas argues out-of-state American citizens shouldn’t pay more than undocumented Texans. A federal judge agreed. Full Story
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![A family uses University of North Texas signage to photograph a graduate on the campus in Denton on May 08, 2020.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Beto O’Rourke knocks Biden for ending Title 42 without a plan to deal with influx of migrants
In a press conference, O’Rourke said the president should have given border communities a plan before ending a pandemic-era immigration rule that will lead to an increase in migrants. Full Story
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
International trade halted at Texas border crossings as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
Commercial traffic at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge stopped Monday and a similar protest affected traffic into and out of El Paso. The blockades could impact the flow of produce to restaurants and grocery stores. Full Story
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![A truck drives by the Pharr–Reynosa International Bridge in Pharr on April 11, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Education Agency’s new school library standards push for more scrutiny and parental input
School districts are not required to adopt the agency’s recommendations but can use them as guidance as they develop new procedures or alter their policies for selecting or removing library books. Full Story
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![Students sit for a lesson from the librarian at Blanco Vista Elementary in San Marcos on Nov. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Distraught over orders to investigate trans kids’ families, Texas child welfare workers are resigning
Other investigators don’t want to follow an order they believe harms families but worry about the impact of a mass employee exodus on the state’s most vulnerable children. Full Story
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![Randa Mulanax and Morgan Davis both decided to leave the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "Things are just not getting better," Mulanax said.
"I morally realized that I couldn't do it - that my being present was more of a hindrance than it was a help. And so it was almost validating that this was okay," Davis said.
"Now we're basically saying any parents that were supportive of these children is abusive, when a lot of those kids that are in care, that's all they wanted. That's all they needed," Mulanax said.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas candidates’ silence allows persistent foster care problems to fester
Candidates hardly ever talk about improving the safety net for kids — unless the holes in the safety net have become big enough to get the attention of voters. Full Story
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![Heart Galleries, portraits of adoptable children, on display at the Child Protective Services office at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
San Antonio settles lawsuits alleging police violated state’s “sanctuary city” law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Antonio officials over how police handled a 2017 smuggling incident, and the city agreed to pay $300,000 to settle the lawsuits. Full Story
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![State Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at his primary election results watch party in McKinney on March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Some landlords got a piece of Texas’ $2 billion in rent relief money — and evicted their struggling tenants anyway
It’s unclear whether landlords face any penalties from state agencies for improperly evicting tenants while receiving rent relief dollars intended to help those tenants stay housed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story
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![Cherice Scott McKinney with three of her four children at a park in Houston on March 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Abbott’s border initiative is expensive, ineffective and not as tough as it sounds
The results of the state’s $3 billion border security effort don’t match the up-front promises, and Gov. Greg Abbott is flipping the political script with loud opposition to a change in federal border policy. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw speaks at a presser with Gov. Greg Abbott in Weslaco on April 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas border officials worry that Greg Abbott’s order to increase vehicle inspections will hurt local economies
The governor is pushing for more border security measures, some of which he acknowledges will slow traffic across the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
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![A line of trucks wait to cross the World Trade Bridge over the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States in Laredo, on Sept. 16, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: Texas Tribune will host yearlong Scripps Howard Foundation fellows in data visuals and multimedia
Fabiana Chaparro will join the multimedia team, and Caroline Covington will join the data visuals team. Full Story
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![From left: 2022-2023 Scripps Howard Foundation fellows Fabiana Chaparro and Caroline Covington.]()
Credit: Courtesy Fabiana Chaparro and Dan Fassnacht -
Rural Texas was meant to get 10% of state bonds for water projects. It’s getting less than 1%.
Rural Texas communities often don’t have the resources, technical experience, or ability to take on large amounts of debt to pursue state funds for water supply and quality projects. So, many simply don’t apply. Full Story
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![Cactus, Texas on Jan. 29, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
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