State Headlines
Three elections in four months and new map lead to confusion and voter fatigue
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmHOUSTON (AP) — Rep. Christian Menefee of Texas, the newest member of Congress, started the job Monday – and now has just four weeks to convince Houston voters he already deserves reelection. The candidate Menefee defeated on Saturday, Amanda Edwards, also is running again for the 18th District seat in next month's Democratic primary. So is Rep. Al Green, who for decades represented a district nearby but now finds himself living in a newly drawn 18th. The back-to-back elections are among the head-spinning electoral oddities that voters in heavily Democratic Houston have experienced in recent months. For nearly a year, the district’s residents had no representative in the U.S. House after their member died. And before voters could select a successor, the Texas Legislature redrew ... Read More
Texas dropped ABA law school accreditation after 4 decades
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmAUSTIN - Nelson Locke thinks he might have inspired some of this. The 75-year-old lawyer spent three years asking the Texas Board of Law Examiners to admit him to the state bar without requiring him to take the bar exam. The Marine Corps veteran had 20-plus-year careers in retail and mortgages before he graduated from Purdue Global Law School at 61. The board wouldn't waive his exam requirement because Purdue Global is a fully online law program that wasn't accredited by the American Bar Association — or any state bar at the time. “That’s what started this whole thing,” Locke told KERA News in an interview. “Because I realized that — if I can quote from Star Wars — the force was strong here, OK? ... Read More
Dallas Fed: Utility-scale solar shines in Texas
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmDALLAS — While Texas has now become the top state for utility-scale solar power generation capacity, developers face a changing operating environment due to recent shifts in federal policy and tariffs on imported components needed for construction, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Texas managed to add as much solar capacity in 2025 as it did the year before while other states, like the previous leader California, experienced a slowdown, according to the analysis from Dallas Fed researchers Cameron Barrett, Kunal Patel and Michael Plante. In addition to headwinds from higher tariffs, new projects coming online after 2027 will no longer qualify for certain tax credits, although there are some exceptions, the researchers point out. Still, Texas is anticipated ... Read More
Texas Education Agency moves to correct 4,200 errors in Bible-infused curriculum
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmTEXAS - The Texas Tribune reports that the Texas Education Agency has to correct roughly 4,200 errors in a Bible-infused elementary school curriculum that was approved by the state two years ago, the State Board of Education said Friday. Board members postponed voting on an education agency request to correct those errors during its final meeting of the week, saying they needed more time to review the corrections. That includes 547 requests to replace images with “licensing issues,” said Pam Little, the board’s Republican vice chair. It also includes formatting errors, typos and incorrect page numbers. Records obtained by The Texas Tribune through an open records request revealed additional complaints from educators about problems like missing pages, incorrect answer keys and books falling apart. “What ... Read More
Four arrested in sting operation
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmSAN AUGUSTINE - In a multi-departmental sting operation, four men were arrested on suspicion of sending a 13-year-old sexual messages. The operation involved the sheriff's offices of San Augustine County, Jasper County, Sabine County, and Shelby County in addition to the Center and San Augustine police departments, according to Lt. David Haley of the San Augustine County Sheriff's Office. Our news partners at KETK report that the agencies collaborated with a law enforcement training organization that assists officers in spotting adults who are requesting sexual activity from minors via the internet. The four suspects were allegedly caught messaging a 13-year-old in "a sexual manner" during the training. Scot Christnacht, 52, was the first person arrested and was taken to Shelby County Jail on January 21. ... Read More
Texas jails have more than 400 pregnant inmates monthly
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmHUNTSVILLE (AP) - In May 2018, Ruby McPeters was eight months pregnant when she was booked into Hood County jail on a probation violation. Just a month later, the 33-year-old North Texas woman was dead. According to her custodial death report, McPeters was sent back to jail after delivering her baby by C-section at a local hospital. But the jail had to again transport her to the hospital a few days later, after she developed an infection from the procedure. That led to sepsis, according to the report, which was sent to the Texas attorney general’s office nearly five years late because the sheriff thought the investigating agency had submitted it. In subsequent years, other stories would come out about babies dying after their mothers ... Read More
Texas launches $13M spay, neuter program to reduce pet overpopulation
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmAUSTIN (KETK) – The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched the $13 million Texas Spay and Neuter Pilot Program in an attempt to reduce pet overpopulation across the state. “This is a historic investment by Texas lawmakers in both animal welfare and public health,” Interim Executive Director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN) Jaime Olin said. “By dedicating significant funds to this pilot program, the state is giving communities the resources they need to reduce pet overpopulation and protect Texans and animals alike.” The program will directly fund local organizations that provide spay, neuter and vaccination services for dogs and cats owned by Texas residents and animals in the custody of rescues, shelters and government entities. The $13 million in funding for the ... Read More
James Talarico denies referring to ex-rival as ‘mediocre Black man’
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmAUSTIN - With now just a month to go until Election Day, the Democratic primary for US Senate in Texas has behttps://ktbb.com/post/?p=1477346&preview=truecome so fraught that a TikToker’s accusations have roiled the race and prompted a major endorsement in the backlash, according to CNN. The incident started Sunday night when Morgan Thompson posted a video recounting what she says was a comment Texas state Rep. James Talarico made to her in a private conversation in January: that he called his onetime opponent, former US Rep. Colin Allred, a “mediocre Black man.” Talarico’s campaign released a statement from the candidate on Monday calling Thompson’s claims “a mischaracterization of a private conversation,” going on to explain, “I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his ... Read More
Trump administration cuts number of sites for testing the 2030 census, focusing on the South
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmThe Trump administration is eliminating four out of the six locations that had been slated for a practice test to try out new methods for the 2030 census, raising concerns that the U.S. Census Bureau might not learn enough about communities that have been traditionally difficult to count. The test, which started Monday, will be conducted only in Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, according to a notice submitted by the Commerce Department that will be formally published on Tuesday. The Commerce Department oversees the Census Bureau. Four other sites — Colorado Springs, Colorado, tribal lands in Arizona, western North Carolina and western Texas — originally were included when the Census Bureau announced the locations in 2024. The bureau didn't respond to an emailed inquiry ... Read More
Missing East Texas man found dead in Arkansas
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmMILLER COUNTY, Ark. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Texas man who was reported missing was found dead inside his van after it had run off the road and into a ditch in Miller County, Ark. Caleb Bird, 24, reportedly left Timpson, Texas, on Jan. 23, just as the winter storm was rolling into the area. He was going back to Indiana for a new job. He last spoke with his mother around 8 p.m. that same day. Arkansas State Police are investigating after Bird’s van was found in a ditch off I-30. Investigators suspect icy roads led to Bird exiting the roadway, falling into a ditch, and becoming out of sight of traffic, where he was found. An investigation is ongoing. ... Read More
Cornyn continues to lead Texas Senate GOP field in fundraising, cash reserves
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmAUSTIN - The Texas Tribune reports Sen. John Cornyn outraised his Republican primary opponents again in the last quarter of 2025, posting the biggest three-month fundraising haul of his career as he attempts to fend off a challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton. Campaign finance disclosures due Saturday showed Cornyn raising over $7 million from October through December between his campaign account and two joint fundraising committees, which allow candidates to raise money alongside other candidates or organizations and split the profits. The National Republican Senatorial Committee — Senate Republicans’ campaign arm — recently pioneered a strategy to buy ad time at the discounted rate typically reserved for candidates through joint committees, like the one it set up with Cornyn. That means the money raised ... Read More
ICE plans ‘mega’ migrant detention center near Dallas
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmDALLAS - The Dallas Morning News reports the warehouse has stood vacant for months, a hulking shell of concrete, its doors closed and parking lot empty. Now, it’s on track to become the nation’s largest migrant detention center. Tucked just east of Interstate 45 in Hutchins, population about 8,000, the building could house as many as 9,500 people as part of President Donald Trump’s push to dramatically increase deportations of undocumented migrants. Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez said the city had little warning about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to use the warehouse as a holding center before deportation. Vasquez said he’s firmly opposed. “No benefit to it whatsoever,” he said. ICE officials say converting large warehouses into detention centers near major hubs will allow the ... Read More
Measles reported at Texas ICE detention center
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmDILLEY - The San Antonio Express-News reports that two cases of measles have been reported at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, raising concerns about the spread of infectious disease inside the ICE detention facility, which faced heightened scrutiny after a 5-year-old boy from Minnesota and his father were held there. Federal immigration officials informed U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, of the measles cases, according to a statement from the congressman’s office. Castro’s office said the notification came shortly after his staff informed ICE that Castro and nine other members of Congress planned to inspect the Dilley facility this week. The visit was subsequently canceled “Shortly after giving notice that Congressman Castro and nine other members of Congress would inspect Dilley on ... Read More
A&M to end women’s studies due to new policy
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmCOLLEGE STATION (AP) — Texas A&M University is ending its women’s and gender studies program, changing the syllabuses of hundreds of courses and canceling six classes as part of a new policy that limits how professors can discuss some race and gender topics, school officials announced Friday. The changes to and cancellation of courses comes months after a viral video of a student confronting an instructor over her lessons threw Texas A&M, one of the largest universities in the country, into upheaval. University officials tried to reassure the campus that the impacts of the new policy would be minimal, affecting only a small portion of the classes being offered and that class cancellations wouldn't create any obstacles preventing students from staying on course to graduate. ... Read More
After two Houston Congress members died in office, Al Green defends his seniority to voters
Posted/updated on: February 3, 2026 at 3:31 pmHOUSTON — The Texas Tribune reports that on Monday, Christian Menefee is expected to be sworn in as the next member of Congress from Texas’ 18th Congressional District. Two weeks later, a mostly different group of voters than the ones who just elected him will begin heading to the polls to decide if he should keep the job beyond the end of this year. The lengthy election process to fill out the remainder of Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term — the former Houston mayor died 11 months ago — means his successor will take office while immediately pivoting to a primary battle shaped by redistricting and a broader conversation about the thorny politics of age and seniority. It will be a rematch of sorts — Menefee’s ... Read More
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