The Latest Breaking News from Texas Tribune

Herschel Walker, running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, still gets tax break on $3 million Texas residence

Under Texas law, homeowners can claim a homestead exemption only on their primary residence. The GOP Senate candidate registered to vote in Georgia last year.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 23, 2022

Texas judge rules Alex Jones must pay Sandy Hook parents full $49 million in defamation case

The judge opted not to apply a $750,000 cap Texas imposes on punitive damages, questioning its constitutionality and saying Jones had “done something horrible” in claiming the shooting was faked.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 23, 2022

Amid fallout from the Uvalde shooting, Texas DPS wants $1.2 billion for academy and active-shooter training facility

DPS is asking lawmakers to approve a $467 million active-shooter facility as a “down payment” for the training academy. “You play like you practice,” Director Steve McCraw said.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 23, 2022

More Texans turn to home schooling after the pandemic showed them what learning outside of schools could be like

Some new home-schoolers disagree with how race and sex are taught at schools. Others cite safety concerns after the Uvalde shooting and poor academic outcomes.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 21, 2022

Texas Guard to send tank-like military vehicles to the border

A document obtained by The Texas Tribune and Army Times shows that the Vietnam-era M113 armored personnel carriers will be sent to 10 locations along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 18, 2022

Gov. Greg Abbott embraces “invasion” language about border, evoking memories of El Paso massacre

In the days since Abbott was reelected for a third term, he has embraced the word like never before, using it in a letter to President Joe Biden, echoing the intensifying language many Republicans have adopted in recent years.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 18, 2022

Texas oil and gas agency investigating 5.4 magnitude earthquake in West Texas, the largest in three decades

The quake was the third largest in Texas history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. An increase in seismic activity in Texas has been linked to injecting fracking wastewater underground.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 18, 2022

UT System approves commitment to free speech, even if most students find that speech “offensive” or “immoral”

The Board of Regents adopted the Chicago Statement, a free speech policy created by the University of Chicago in 2014. More than 90 institutions have adopted the statement.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 17, 2022

Pay raises alone won’t solve staffing shortages in “nightmare” Texas youth prisons, ex-workers say

Danger and trauma — not low salaries — are what drive most workers to leave the crisis-wracked Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 17, 2022

For months, almost no one knew Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner had cancer

Turner, 68, revealed earlier this month that he underwent treatment for bone cancer in June. He is “cancer-free” as of last week, the mayor told The Texas Tribune during his first interview about his health.

The Texas Tribune · Nov 16, 2022