The Latest Breaking News from Texas Tribune

As newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and a City Council with an array of fresh faces review their first major crisis, the city’s top officials once again find themselves trying to figure out why the city botched its response to a significant weather event.

In a memo written Monday and obtained by The Texas Tribune, Abbott’s chief of staff Gardner Pate told agency leaders that using diversity, equity and inclusion policies in hiring violates federal and state employment laws, and hiring cannot be based on factors “other than merit.”

Tens of thousands of Austin households and businesses went days without electricity after a winter storm wreaked havoc across Texas.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, wants to prevent communication breakdowns like the ones that occurred in the botched response to the Uvalde school shooting.

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas was following a new state law targeting investment firms that seek to invest in companies that don’t worsen climate change.

Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican, was booked into the Travis County jail at 2:12 a.m.

Texas has had trouble getting a state of 30 million residents online for years — even before the pandemic put a spotlight on poor broadband development.

Millions of Texans — mostly children, young adults and new moms — stayed on Medicaid for the duration of the pandemic. The state will soon start reevaluating eligibility.

The Texas Sports Betting Alliance threw its weight behind new legislation Monday to let voters decided whether to legalize online sports betting.

A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said only a court order could force a redo of elections.

The nonbinding referendum is meant to gauge student opinion on the divisive alma mater but would not result in any changes to the song. Student leaders called for it in response to a 2021 university report on the song’s history that found it was “not overtly racist.”