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• Texas Republicans have tried to rein in property taxes for five years. Has it worked?

  By Joshua Fechter and Andrew Park April 26, 2024

  Texas has spent billions of dollars to drive down property taxes. Many homeowners saw a significant tax cut last year, per a Texas Tribune analysis. Full Story 

  

• Here’s how to vote in Texas’ May 28 runoff elections

  By María Méndez and Yuriko Schumacher April 26, 2024

  The last day to register to vote is April 29. Early voting runs from May 20-24. Full Story 

  

• Here’s how to vote in Texas’ May 4 local elections

  By María Méndez and Yuriko Schumacher April 17, 2024

  Early voting runs from April 22-30. The last day to apply to vote by mail is April 23. Full Story 

  

• Most 18-year-old Texans aren’t signed up to vote despite a law requiring voter registration in high schools

  By Pooja Salhotra April 10, 2024

  Voting is habit-forming and high schools are critical for starting that pattern. Full Story 

  

• Texas wind energy firms need more technicians. Can they drum up student interest without state support?

  By Sneha Dey April 4, 2024

  The wind industry promises attractive salaries. But a lack of training programs and waning political support make it difficult to find new recruits. Full Story 

  

• How Texas’ cash bail system and under-resourced jails can wreak havoc on women who are poor

  By Madaleine Rubin April 1, 2024

  In Texas, money can make a difference in how much time people who are legally presumed innocent sit behind bars awaiting the outcome of criminal cases. Full Story 

  

• Small nuclear reactors may be coming to Texas, boosted by interest from Gov. Abbott

  By Emily Foxhall March 27, 2024

  A nuclear power plant hasn’t been built in Texas in decades because of cost and public fears of a major accident. Now the governor wants to find out if smaller reactors could meet the state’s growing need for on-demand power. Full Story 

  

• In Texas, ex-oil and gas workers champion geothermal energy as a replacement for fossil-fueled power plants

  By Emily Foxhall March 26, 2024

  Texas has become an early hot spot for geothermal energy exploration as scores of former oil industry workers and executives are taking their knowledge to a new energy source. Full Story 

  

• Texas energy companies are betting hydrogen can become a cleaner fuel for transportation

  By Emily Foxhall March 25, 2024

  Supporters say developing hydrogen as a fuel is critical to slowing climate change. Critics are concerned that producing it with fossil fuels will prop up the oil and gas industry. Full Story 

  

• Texas counties lead the U.S. in population growth, Census says

  By Madaleine Rubin March 14, 2024

  Kaufman County, east of Dallas, grew faster than any other in the country from 2022 to 2023. Harris County added the most new residents. Full Story 

  

• Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system

  By Alejandra Martinez and Wendy Selene Pérez March 14, 2024

  Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe. Full Story 

  

• Republican voter turnout far outpaces Democrat turnout in 2024 primaries

  By Andrew Park and Pooja Salhotra Updated: March 6, 2024

  About 3.2 million Texans voted in the state’s primary election, down from 4.1 million during the 2020 presidential primary. Democratic turnout accounted for the entirety of the decline. Full Story 

  

• Amid high rents, eviction filings in major Texas cities soar above pre-pandemic levels

  By Joshua Fechter Feb. 16, 2024

  Legal aid groups and housing advocates say there simply aren’t enough lawyers to keep up with the sheer volume of eviction filings. Full Story 

  

• Texas companies reported releasing 1 million pounds of excess pollution during recent cold snap

  By Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune, and Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News Jan. 26, 2024

  Called “upset” events, companies are required to tell the state when they emit pollution above what their permits allow. Full Story 

  

• Here’s how to vote in Texas’ March 5 primary elections

  By María Méndez and Yuriko Schumacher Jan. 15, 2024

  The deadline to register to vote was Feb. 5. The last day to apply to vote by mail was Feb. 23. Early voting ended March 1. Full Story 

  

• Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer

  By Chris Essig Jan. 12, 2024

  The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of January 1. Full Story 

  

• Here’s your Texas 2024 March primary ballot

  By Carla Astudillo Jan. 8, 2024

  The Texas 2024 primary will take place March 5. See the full list of candidates statewide and see who’s on your ballot. Full Story 

  

• Here are the top stories from our data visuals team in 2023

  By Chris Essig Dec. 28, 2023

  The Texas Tribune’s data visuals team helped contextualize many of the state’s major stories this year. Here’s a look at some of our most memorable work. Full Story 

  

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and AG Ken Paxton promised retribution for votes they didn’t like. Here’s who they are targeting.

  By Carla Astudillo and Patrick Svitek Updated: Feb. 29, 2024

  Paxton has been seeking revenge on fellow Republicans who voted to impeach him earlier this year. Similarly, Abbott is looking to unseat GOP House members who voted against school vouchers. Full Story 

  

• Year after year, most Texas police departments report zero hate crimes. Here’s why.

  By Carla Astudillo and Pooja Salhotra Dec. 14, 2023

  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. Full Story