Texas teachers say GOP’s new social studies law will hinder how an entire generation understands race, history and current events
Educators who spoke to The Texas Tribune overwhelmingly denounced the new social studies law going into effect Sept. 1. These are the provisions they say could cause problems for them — and Texas students.
University of Texas president defends decision to join SEC as lawmakers criticize timing and impact on other schools
Jay Hartzell said the switch to the Southeastern Conference was the best thing for UT-Austin’s student athletes and the university. Texas senators expressed disdain for the move and questioned how it came about.
San Antonio built a pipeline to rural Central Texas to increase its water supply. Now local landowners say their wells are running dry.
A pipeline helped secure water for San Antonio for decades to come — at a potentially high cost to some rural residents who are losing groundwater to the big city. Is it a preview for the rest of the state as climate change brings more water scarcity and cities keep sprawling?
With time running out, Texas Legislature still at impasse on GOP elections bill
Republicans believe they have already compromised enough on the legislation, while Democrats are distrustful of both the policy driving the bill and their GOP colleagues after seeing how they have managed the process around the proposal so far.
With school openings near, parents and teachers say state leaders have stripped them of weapons against COVID-19
Public health experts and medical professionals are sounding the alarm over the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19. The governor has stood firm on his ban against masking mandates in schools.
Justice Department sues Texas over Gov. Greg Abbott’s order for law enforcement to pull over vehicles with migrants
On Wednesday, Abbott issued the order, allowing Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute civilian vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles, if police suspect the driver is transporting migrants who have COVID-19.
As federal eviction moratorium expires, tenants and rent advocates scramble to obtain state and local rental relief funds
In the first phase of funding from the federal government for emergency rental assistance, Texas received about $2 billion. Now the state has to get those funds in the hands of Texans.
The Karolyi Ranch, former training site for female Olympic gymnasts, has now been sold
The Karolyi Ranch, a sprawling 1,687-acre property north of Houston that was once the summer training site for female Olympic gymnasts, has a new owner with potentially different interests than gold medals.
How Republican Jake Ellzey's bipartisan appeal, positive campaign helped him upset Trump's pick for Congress
Wright’s coveted endorsement from Trump — which appeared so powerful in propelling her to the top in the initial election — may have contributed to her undoing in the runoff where state Rep. Jake Ellzey benefited from a more bipartisan appeal, coupled with a more positive, energetic campaign.
UT System board votes to accept invitation for UT-Austin to join the SEC
The decision comes just a week after news surfaced that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma planned to leave the Big 12, sending shockwaves through college sports and many Texas lawmakers who feel the expansion will have drastic consequences on the remaining Texas schools in the Big 12.
Gov. Greg Abbott draws criticism for ordering state troopers to pull over vehicles with migrants, saying it will stem COVID-19 risk
The executive order allows DPS troopers to reroute vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry. Immigration rights advocates say the governor's action is an invitation for racial profiling.
A tale of two capital cities: Texas Democrats continue fight for voting rights in Washington as Republicans push them to return
Both Republicans in Austin and Democrats in D.C. have engaged in the political drama over the past two weeks, with the two camps battling it out on cable news interviews and social media over the quorum bust and who is to blame for it.
Invoking the spirit of Selma, Texas activists begin 27-mile march demanding federal action on voting rights
The marchers will travel south from Georgetown to Austin over four days, hoping to build pressure on Congress to act on federal legislation to boost or safeguard access to voting. They will end with a Saturday morning rally at the Capitol.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s son says Texas Republicans are misrepresenting his father’s words in effort to whitewash history
Republican Texas lawmakers have justified their efforts to limit how racism and current events are taught in school by saying that critical race theory judges people by the color of their skin. Martin Luther King III and experts disagree.
GOP senator says Gov. Greg Abbott should lose line-item veto after cutting Legislature’s funding, jeopardizing staffers’ jobs
The bill is largely symbolic, as the Legislature is currently at a standstill, unable to move any legislation because House Democrats broke quorum two weeks ago when they fled to Washington, D.C., to block GOP voting bills.