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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2aaf37581aea2f77de2e929a64064482/0303 Panhandle Canadian JR 03.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2aaf37581aea2f77de2e929a64064482/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%2003.jpg)
-
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f10e140c867444b3dc93f30591e13dc8/Permian Basin Oil Boom EH TT 03.jpg)
![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 -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ca2186c06dadaf5ec44bc67891bbdc17/Plastics ICN DB TT 01.jpg)
![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 -
“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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8cf0122f1581ce3642140f0d290b5f14/0303 Panhandle Canadian JR TT 25.jpg)
![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 -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8ba4db4c4ce57fdf302e37c700da8d5a/Drone Midwest Laredo MG TT 02.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1d89005cd52c3094ce63255e6673fecb/SXSW 2024 REUTERS AAS TT 01.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6cdb1ce27ce93cf70fff1c5dd1c5a1e1/0303 Panhandle Canadian JR 35.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b330810d05ab5548b228afb9c3957d37/Panhandle Wildfire Reuters TT 01.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8e66bc822a6af65714d0d8d8923e6f2d/04-18_Downtowns-Lead-Title-01-v1.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a2c77795a335156bc6f049b195ea6bc1/0305 USDA Wildfire Info MR TT 07.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/54984ecfa5862b83d8a5f7789cd65e7a/0301 Wildfires McBroom JR 21.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d15daed6c1e9d8bab020d087d04acfad/0303 Panhandle Canadian JR TT 09.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/99488e3fe52e7a210639fe4e2269d361/0303 Panhandle Canadian JR TT 22.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2a55b4fb9c48d79990f2fb88b0e177e4/0301 Panhandle Fire JR 06.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bb092b24bb9969641381b1f740584a6c/022924_BrownsvilleBidenVisit_10.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/445eedbe751adf1591aa50963a2d2324/0225 Huntington Mobile JA 09.jpg)
![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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0b010583359a06fff9f864c19769d0ff/1009 Colony Ridge MF 07.jpg)
![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in New Caney, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas launches new property tax incentive program to lure new businesses
The Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation program cuts property taxes for new manufacturing, research and development facilities. It replaces a shuttered program criticized for its impact on school finance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9da292d99d6303a87f76144d4f26a69b/ATX Construction AG TT 01.jpg)
![Construction workers work on an office building on the corner or Metric and Parmer in Austin on June 18, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
In El Paso, panelists stress area’s collaboration, slam false portrayals
During a Texas Tribune symposium, speakers discussed how the region’s mind-set of working together to solve problems can benefit other parts of the state. Panelists also said inaccurate narratives around immigration and border security only hurt progress. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e5c1d2dd4838183b7948a7b695b690ca/nu04-11_ElPaso-Lead-Title-01-v1.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Amid high rents, eviction filings in major Texas cities soar above pre-pandemic levels
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e9d408b450f2b813ef65ea9b737d7374/0411 Evictions Court AM 32.jpg)
![A writ of possession is taped to the door of an apartment at the Life at Jackson Square apartments on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Houston, TX.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f10e140c867444b3dc93f30591e13dc8/Permian%20Basin%20Oil%20Boom%20EH%20TT%2003.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ca2186c06dadaf5ec44bc67891bbdc17/Plastics%20ICN%20DB%20TT%2001.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8cf0122f1581ce3642140f0d290b5f14/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%20TT%2025.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8ba4db4c4ce57fdf302e37c700da8d5a/Drone%20Midwest%20Laredo%20MG%20TT%2002.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1d89005cd52c3094ce63255e6673fecb/SXSW%202024%20REUTERS%20AAS%20TT%2001.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6cdb1ce27ce93cf70fff1c5dd1c5a1e1/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%2035.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b330810d05ab5548b228afb9c3957d37/Panhandle%20Wildfire%20Reuters%20TT%2001.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a2c77795a335156bc6f049b195ea6bc1/0305%20USDA%20Wildfire%20Info%20MR%20TT%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/54984ecfa5862b83d8a5f7789cd65e7a/0301%20Wildfires%20McBroom%20JR%2021.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d15daed6c1e9d8bab020d087d04acfad/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%20TT%2009.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/99488e3fe52e7a210639fe4e2269d361/0303%20Panhandle%20Canadian%20JR%20TT%2022.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2a55b4fb9c48d79990f2fb88b0e177e4/0301%20Panhandle%20Fire%20JR%2006.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/445eedbe751adf1591aa50963a2d2324/0225%20Huntington%20Mobile%20JA%2009.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0b010583359a06fff9f864c19769d0ff/1009%20Colony%20Ridge%20MF%2007.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9da292d99d6303a87f76144d4f26a69b/ATX%20Construction%20AG%20TT%2001.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e9d408b450f2b813ef65ea9b737d7374/0411%20Evictions%20Court%20AM%2032.jpg)