Cows at two Texas dairy farms have bird flu, another blow to Cattle Country following wildfires
Federal officials said the nation’s milk supply should be not at risk after a bird flu outbreak hits dairies in Texas, New Mexico and Kansas. Full Story
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![Livestock at a dairy farm on Feb. 19, 2013.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Court challenge from Texas AG Ken Paxton could end Austin’s light-rail plans
The attorney general took issue with the financial strategy Austin used to navigate the limits state lawmakers have placed on how Texas cities can raise money. Full Story
![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton looks up at the gallery during the first day of his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News -
Why some Texas cities are getting rid of their minimum parking rules
Most cities require homes and businesses to have parking. Critics say they drive up housing costs, foster car dependency and raise carbon emissions. Full Story
![An apartment parking lot in East Austin on Saturday, March 16, 2024.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Texas firefighters completely contain Panhandle inferno that burned more than 1 million acres
A series of deadly wildfires have burned for nearly three weeks, destroying farms and ranches in several counties. Full Story
![A burned yucca stands in a field after the Smokehouse Creek fire Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Hemphill County, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott wants the Texas Legislature to rein in investors behind large-scale home purchases
So-called institutional homebuyers noticeably ramped up home purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. But housing experts point out investors have retreated amid high interest rates. Full Story
![A construction worker, who declined to give their name, rolls up hosing as they work on building a home at a new housing development Saturday, March 12, 2022 in Odessa, Texas.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
“It does not get easier”: Texas ranchers lose cattle and land in historic wildfires
As ranchers recover from the Smokehouse Creek fire, they face the agonizing choice of what to do with an unknown number of injured cattle. Full Story
![Cattle stand in the burn scar from the Smokehouse Creek fire Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Hemphill County, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Gulf Coast petrochemical growth draws billions in tax breaks despite pollution violations
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas. Full Story
![Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, a $10 billion plastics plant built by ExxonMobil and SABIC, started operations this year on 1,300 acres of previously undeveloped land in San Patricio County, across the bay from Corpus Christi.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
New EPA rule to slash cancer-causing emissions from sterilization facilities
Laredo residents who live near a sterilization plant say the new federal limits on the pollutant will improve air quality and reduce their city’s high cancer risk. Full Story
![The Midwest Sterilization Corporation in Laredo on May 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Performers, speakers pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship
More than 80 musicians and panelists say they will no longer appear at the nine-day festival, citing the U.S. Army’s support for Israel amid war with Hamas. Full Story
![From left: Fernando Antunes and Bruno Stefani, both of Sao Paolo, Brazil, video record themselves on the escalator at SXSW at the Austin Convention Center on March 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA TODAY Network via REUTERS -
Texas legislative committee to investigate cause of Panhandle wildfires
The panel of three lawmakers and two residents will also look at disaster preparedness. Full Story
![Charred ground left by the Smokehouse Creek fire after the fire burned through Currie Smith’s ranch Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Hemphill County, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
As their neighbors fled, these Texas volunteer firefighters raced toward the flames
The wildfires offers a reminder that most of rural Texas is protected by volunteers. And there aren’t many of them. Full Story
![Local firefighters work to contain a wildfire after it was whipped up by high winds in Pampa on March 2, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Leah Millis -
Panelists at Tribune event discuss how to keep downtowns vibrant post-pandemic
The Texas Tribune partnered with the LBJ School of Public Affairs Urban Lab for a panel conversation on the challenges and opportunities facing Texas downtowns. Full Story
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Facing staggering losses from wildfires, Panhandle ranchers and farmers seek aid to rebuild
Ranchers have likely lost thousands of cattle in the wildfires, according to some preliminary estimates. Full Story
![Christy Oats, left, talks to the farmers and ranchers attending a USDA informational meeting at the Hemphill County Exhibition center in Canadian on March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Many homes burned in the Texas wildfires weren’t insured, creating a steep path to recovery
Rural Texans are more than twice as likely to go without homeowners insurance than their urban peers. Full Story
![A burned truck sits on lot in Fritch where the fire went through while areas behind appear to be untouched Friday, March. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Panhandle wildfires: What you need to know about the blazes, damage and recovery
The full scope of damage still isn’t known, but some Panhandle residents have returned home. Firefighters continue battling the infernos. Full Story
![Trees stand burned from the Smokehouse Creek fire on Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Hemphill Co.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Panhandle residents begin rebuilding, even as fight to contain fires continues
The fire that engulfed their town was only 15% contained over the weekend, but Canadian residents were back to selling flowers and preparing for an election. Full Story
![Martin Ocasio loads pallets of cattle cubes onto a trailer to be delivered to a rancher, in the Hemphill County Extension building in Canadian on Sunday, March. 3, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Wildfires ravage cattle country, threatening Texas’ agriculture economy
Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought. Full Story
![Don Gourd watches hay be loaded onto his trailer to take to neighbors affected by the Smokehouse Fire Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Borger, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
As Biden and Trump visit the border, many Texas residents feel ignored
When the two presidents used the Texas-Mexico boundary as a backdrop for the national immigration fight, residents felt they were left out of the conversation. Full Story
![Pedestrians walk through downtown Brownsville early Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. President Joe Biden visited Brownsville on Thursday, receiving briefings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS, and ICE along the border before giving remarks at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
An East Texas town has put strict limits on mobile homes — again
The Huntington City Council has flip flopped twice on a mobile home ordinance since 2020. Full Story
![Rita Kromer, a longtime resident of Huntington, Texas, lives in a mobile home after losing her traditional brick house in a fire.]()
Credit: Joel Andrews for The Texas Tribune -
Years before Texas conservatives painted them as criminals, Colony Ridge residents sought help from state agencies
Texas has little to show for conservative leaders’ uproar — or previously unreported complaints about the community developer. Full Story
![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in New Caney, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune
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