Interfaith collaboration is vital to solving todayโs massive challenges, community leaders say
During a conversation hosted in Houston by The Texas Tribune, panelists talked about the importance of building bridges among different faiths despite politics often causing divisions within institutions.
Feds asked to overhaul school discipline at North Texas school district after students jailed
The complaint claims Bonham ISD and a city court discriminated against both Black students and disabled students by creating a hostile environment at school. The groups also filed a separate complaint against Corpus Christi ISD with the Texas Education Agency.
Child care costs in Texas pose a major challenge. These panelists discussed potential solutions.
At a Texas Tribune event held with the LBJ School of Public Affairsโ Urban Lab, experts discussed a unified approach to working with the Texas Legislature to secure funding that would benefit employers, working parents and the broader Texas economy.
Year after year, most Texas police departments report zero hate crimes. Hereโs why.
A Texas Tribune analysis of hate crime data found that 82% of Texas law enforcement agencies that report to the FBI tracked no hate crimes last year. However, one suburban North Texas police agency is creating a new model of collecting hate crime data.
More than 765,000 older Texans are struggling to cover housing costs
A new Harvard University study found an increase in the number of Texas households headed by people 65 or older spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Advocates say keeping older adults housed will require substantial public investment and reforms.
After controversy, Texas school board says transgender student can sing in school musical
After Max Hightower scored a role in the seminal American musical, administrators changed their policy on performersโ gender. After backlash, the school board directed the school to produce the original version โOklahoma!โ โ not a youth version that cut Hightowerโs solo.
As Texas bans diversity and equity offices at public colleges, Rice Universityโs inclusion efforts march on
DEI efforts have become a lightning rod for debate in American higher education. At the private Houston university, officials admit impact is hard to measure โ but they also see progress from their work.
Texasโ unemployment rate is among the nationโs worst โ but experts say it signals a growing economy
The state has yet to return to its pre-pandemic unemployment rate of about 3.5%, even as it leads the country in new jobs created. However, state economic experts say the unemployment rate is an indicator of Texasโs rapidly growing population and labor force.
A unique Texas legal rule lets the attorney generalโs office supersede some judgesโ orders
Lawyers criticize a provision they say erodes the separation of powers between Texasโ executive branch and its courts. Itโs been used repeatedly this year as Texans try to block new state laws from going into effect
โAn epidemicโ: Syphilis rages through Texas, causing newborn cases to climb amid treatment shortage
Syphilis rates in Texas continue to climb, alarming healthcare workers who see the highest increases among pregnant people and newborns. A shortage of treatment is complicating efforts to combat it.
This new law will help health care workers save lives in ambulances that cover wide-open West Texas
The emerging technology, paid for by a grant established during the 2023 legislative session, will help emergency health care workers talk with doctors in emergency rooms to better care for critical patients.
Family legacies and the stateโs Jim Crow past underlie a fight over mineral rights on a stretch of South Texas scrubland
Descendants of a prominent white family and a formerly enslaved couple are fighting over ownership โ and the oil and gas royalties that would come with it โ of an 147.5-acre tract that has bound and divided generations of their families.
U.S. census and other surveys likely undercount the number of LGBTQ+ people living in Texas
Some queer Texans may fear disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity to neighbors or the government. The lack of accurate numbers makes it more difficult to provide appropriate health care, especially in rural areas.
In federal trial, Galveston County challenged on efforts to undo Black and Latino voting power
The coastal county faces a drawn-out trial over claims of intentional discrimination in its 2021 redistricting of commissioners court precincts. The only district in which Black and Latino voters could meaningfully influence elections was dismantled.
LGBTQ+ advocates sue to block Texasโ new law that could criminalize some drag performances
State officials backing Senate Bill 12 have said they want to protect children from seeing sexually explicit performances. But new legal challenges say the law is so broad and vague that it criminalizes constitutionally protected expression.
As race-neutral college admissions begin, Texas counselors work to convince students of color they still belong
Black and Latino students make up about two-thirds of Texasโ public schools. But they are vastly underrepresented at its top universities, and Thursdayโs Supreme Court ruling will shake up an already complicated application process.
Twenty years after a breakthrough Texas case launched a new era of gay rights, trans people are still in the fight
The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for major civil rights victories for queer Americans in the 2003 decision that decriminalized homosexuality. But progress for LGBTQ+ people has been uneven.
State troopers will resume patrolling Austin streets in July, with some changes in response to criticism
Texas Department of Public Safety officers were criticized for the disparate number of Latino and Black residents arrested during the first iteration of a partnership to help Austin with policing duties.
Where Texas redistricting lawsuits stand after U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Alabama case
The high court left intact a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act in a case many feared would go the other way. The decisionโs importance in ongoing litigation over Texasโ political maps will largely be felt in what didnโt happen.
Watch: 25 years after James Byrd Jr. was killed for being Black, his loved ones question how much has changed in Texas
The quiet East Texas town of Jasper came together immediately after the racist murder of James Byrd Jr. Now, Texas is leading the nation in incidents of white supremacist propaganda.
At sessionโs end, Houston language access advocates clung to one last hope that their voices had been heard
Their dream of passing a bill to improve access to state services for Texans who donโt speak English or Spanish was dashed. Woori Juntos activists fought until the end seeking at least a study of their ideas.
In first session after Dobbs ruling, Texas lawmakers provide more support for pregnant and parenting college students
Now that Texas has a near-total ban on abortion, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are trying to make sure colleges are serving students who are pregnant or have children.
Texas lawmakers find consensus on bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices in public universities
The full House and Senate still must approve the final bill language before sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott. If it becomes law, Texas will become the second state in the country to ban DEI offices at public universities.
Austin doctors who treated trans kids leaving Dell Childrenโs clinic after AG Paxton announces investigation
Attorney General Ken Paxton previously announced an investigation into โpotentially illegalโ activity. Parents are scrambling to find transition-related care for their kids as the Legislature appears poised to ban it altogether.
LGBTQ Texans rally at Capitol as House set to consider banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids
Senate Bill 14 spurred protests that led to altercations with state police last week. A majority of Texas House members support the legislation, and the Senate has already passed a version of the bill.
Protesters evicted from Texas Capitol as clash between LGBTQ residents and GOP leaders escalates
Texas state police detained and handcuffed people protesting legislation that would prohibit transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The House separately delayed a vote on Senate Bill 14 until later this week.
Texas House panel advances bills banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender kids
Under the legislation, minors currently receiving certain gender-affirming care would have to taper off their treatments. A majority of Texas lawmakers in each chamber has supported previous versions of the legislation.
The eyes of LGBTQ Texans are upon Dade Phelan and the House
Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrickโs priority LGBTQ bills โ and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texansโ lives and could determine Speaker Phelanโs future.
Texas Senate votes to defund libraries where drag queens read to kids as it tries to limit the performances kids can attend
The Senate expanded the bill targeting drag queen story hours to target all public funding for libraries. The upper chamber also approved a bill limiting other drag performances kids can see.
Chinese Americans fight for their place in Texas as lawmakers push restrictions on foreign land ownership, social media platforms
Among the fastest-growing segments of the Texas population, Chinese Americans fear their rights are becoming collateral damage as Texas officials seek to limit investment from China and ban a popular app that many rely on to keep in touch with family.
Texas Senate scales back proposed restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender kids
Senate Bill 14 would now allow trans children who are already receiving some transition-related treatments to continue getting that care. The Senate gave initial approval to the reworked legislation Wednesday.
LGBTQ groups criticize Texas billโs broad restrictions on school lessons and activities about sexuality and gender identity
Senate Bill 8 supporters say the legislation protects the rights of parents who donโt want their kids to learn about gender identity and sexual orientation. Critics say it could force schools to ignore the existence of LGBTQ people.