EAST TEXAS

The Texas A&M Forest Service reported some areas of the state are at risk of “significant wildfires” through the end of September and early October.

Sometimes a slower pace of life is a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Here are the 10 small towns in Texas offering nothing but peace and quiet, according to a new travel roundup.

Other anti-abortion groups and Republicans said they will continue to support state Sen. Robert Nichols after his comments at The Texas Tribune Festival.

Local governments in Texas have spent the summer preparing their budgets for next year, wrestling with inflation and a law that prohibits them from raising property tax revenues beyond 3.5% without voter approval.

Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival.

One of the longest-serving Republican state senators, Robert Nichols is among the first to say publicly he’d support revising the state’s abortion prohibition. He spoke Friday at The Texas Tribune Festival.

Texas ranks last among states in access to health care and has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country. Two longtime doctors in rural Henderson County created a homegrown safety net to fill the gap.

Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and conservative groups target LGBTQ and race issues.

Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and...

Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and conservative groups target LGBTQ and race issues.

In 2022 alone, the list of Texas wildfire names runs the proverbial gamut with pop culture references, popular food items and even a cocktail to boot.

More than three-fourths of Texas teachers say they have seriously considered quitting the profession largely because of a perceived lack of respect and support, according to a new survey by the Charle[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

A recent analysis of Oath Keepers’ membership rolls leaked last year found that Texas had more members of the far-right extremist group than any other state — and the most who worked as elected officials, law enforcement officers or members of the military.

The Dallas Cowboys have signed free agent left tackle Jason Peters to a one-year contract.

“If it’s gonna rise by that much, I don’t think we’re prepared,” one South Texas mayor said of temperature increases.

Charles Spraberry's escape from an east Texas jail comes about three months after Gonzalo Lopez's escape from the Texas correctional system, which ended after three weeks with the murders of five people at a Houston-area ranch.

Texas heat has killed prisoners and cost the state millions in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits. Prison rights advocates hope a budget surplus next year will finally push lawmakers to invest in air conditioning.

Four systems have expressed informal interest in an affiliation with the East Texas...

In this video, Texas Country Reporter interviews the curator of the wide-ranging collection in Jefferson, one that merely begins with 550 vintage clocks.

He’s a fourth-generation watermelon farmer, he married the Texas Watermelon Queen, and he puts his face on every melon he sells.

East Texas is hot, and not in the way you compliment your wife when she’s mad at you for performing an epic cannonball while she’s lounging by the pool with her laptop.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] Opinions San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

In 2016, the first beetles turned up in Harrison County and have since been found in 11 counties in East and North Central parts of Texas.

A Washington man who was targeting innocent, unsuspecting seniors across East Texas was sentenced Tuesday to serve time in federal prison for fraud violations, U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston announced.

A preacher showed up to Beto O'Rourke's town hall in East Texas wielding an assault-style rifle.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has received and distributed 14,780 doses of the monkey pox vaccine to local health departments and DSHS regional offices.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications. That's led to life-threatening delays, and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.

New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications. That's led to life-threatening delays, and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.

New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications. That's led to life-threatening delays, and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.

Across the state, Texans are experiencing record-high temperatures, but we might be recalling this summer fondly some day.

The Beaumont photographer zeroed in on the dignity of East Texas residents in his 1989 Texas Monthly photo essay.

A car driving on the wrong side of a two-lane highway in East Texas early Friday collided with an SUV, killing all five people in the vehicles, authorities said. The collision happened at about 5 a.m. on Texas 110, about 6 1/2 miles (10 1/2 kilometers) northwest of Tyler and 85 miles (135 kilometers) east of Dallas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. A Dodge Charger was on the wrong side of the unlit highway and erupted into flames after rounding a curve and slamming head-on into a Chevrolet Tahoe, DPS Sgt. Jason Bundy said.

Whether you’re a crime fiction addict or you’re looking for a romantic comedy, there’s a book for everyone.

Read these four ambitious crime novels released this year that examine the complicated lives of Texas women.

Our state struggles to serve Texans’ needs on the hottest and coldest days. So why are we welcoming the energy-hogging cryptocurrency industry?

Texas had 3,866 water boil notices in 2021, the most in the last decade. Aging water...

Texas had 3,866 water boil notices in 2021, the most in the last decade. Aging water systems threaten water supply and quality — and for many small towns across the state, they won’t be cheap to repair.

Three people were arrested last week by federal authorities in connection with a human smuggling incident that left 53 migrants dead.The migrants were discovered inside a tractor-trailer on San Antoni[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

Pooja has worked at Chalkbeat, CNN and NPR. Based in Lufkin, she will report from a vast and diverse region that borders on three states.

A Mexican immigration official says that in the chaotic minutes after dozens of migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer sweltering in the Texas heat, the driver tried to slip away by pretending to be one of the survivors.

Authorities say five people were shot and injured during an outdoor event in East Texas that featured a trail ride.

Following a fight near a concert stage, one or more trail ride groups started shooting into the crowd.

The East Texas representative denied making the request and called the special committee’s hearings on the insurrection "a blatant and disgusting attempt to mislead the public" afterwards.

Cormorants, which are commonly found in the area, have a nasty habit of regurgitating...

With temperatures hitting triple digits across the state, summer is an ideal time for snakes. Know what to do if you come across one.

Stephen Joseph of Riverport Bar-B-Cue in Jefferson serves Lebanese potato salad and spiced spareribs, and he hopes to incorporate more family recipes.

The work-from-home, learn-from-home experience during the COVID-19 crisis underscored the need to improve access to high-speed internet in Texas.

The iconic small-town chain closed its last Texas stores in 2009 and made its first reappearance in in the state this spring in Paris.

Authorities believe that Lopez killed 66-year-old Mark Collins, and his four grandsons.

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas' prison system has temporarily stopped transporting inmates as it investigates how a convicted murderer escaped from a bus last month and later killed a man and his four grandsons[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

The Texas prison system says it's temporarily stopped transporting inmates as it investigates how a convicted murderer escaped from a transport bus last month, later killing a man and his four grandsons.

Texas has wild weather. We need a lexicon to match.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans argue that gunmen can be stopped by locking all but one door and posting guards at schools. School officials and safety experts say that’s not realistic.

"We need to stop the bad guys."—Ted Cruz

In this edition: Lessons from all of May's primaries, redistricting madness drags into Memorial Day weekend, and the director of Justice Democrats lays out their new strategy to replace centrists.

According to ongoing research at UT Arlington, the Texas spiny lizard and prairie lizard have slipped into a quiet, statewide turf war.

After the Uvalde mass shooting, GOP leaders are again pushing to boost school security. But similar legislation after a 2018 school shooting has fallen short of its goals, and experts said there’s no evidence such tactics work.

The photographer, author, and entrepreneur captures Texas pride

A spokesperson for Abbott said he had previously committed to the event but all campaign-related activities are postponed until further notice.

Bob Wills fans flock each spring to the tiny Panhandle town to “dance all night, dance a little longer.”

The 72-year-old Oscar winner and East Texas native takes her small-town ethos to the small screen—and across galaxies.

This 73-year-old physician is on a mission to make his clinic a refuge for women's health care on the border.

The estimated total for the balances owed to the historically black East Texas college by the graduating class of 2022 was about $300,000.

The college posted a video of the commencement ceremony with the students being told, "You are debt-free."

Officials at Wiley College in East Texas say students graduating from the historically Black college were told at their commencement ceremony that an anonymous donor had paid their balances.

Students graduating from a historically Black college in East Texas were told at their...

Take Texas by train on these sightseeing tours

Many Texas public universities have committed to accepting students who do not submit SAT...

Many Texas public universities have committed to accepting students who do not submit SAT or ACT standardized test scores, signaling that test-optional policies could be here to stay.

State and federal agencies have confirmed Texas’ first case of a “highly pathogenic” avian influenza, but commercial egg and poultry operations have so far avoided outbreaks and widespread losses seen in other regions.

Let’s pause to appreciate our leafy friends.

Green's sixth album, 'Baker Hotel,' takes inspiration from the long-abandoned hotel in Mineral Wells, which is now being renovated.

At the charming Hotel Ritual in small-town Jacksonville, you can tap into any frequency you wish.

We’re hiring reporters to cover the Panhandle/South Plains and East Texas, along with a regional editor. We hope to also place staff in the Rio Grande Valley and the Permian Basin.

The Board of Regents backed. Gordon last year despite a vote of no confidence from faculty. Six months later, the board reversed course. It Sunday that it was in everyone’s “best interest” to part ways and appointed an interim president.

The number of rejected mail ballots in Texas soared to nearly 13% across most counties in the nation's first election of 2022.

As conservative parents become more frustrated with how school boards handled the pandemic, once-ignored school board elections are becoming better funded.

Texas Republicans spent much of Monday demanding nearly unfettered drilling and pipeline usage across North America — policies Biden officials refused to endorse.

Students are forming banned-book clubs and distribution drives to contest restrictions that focus mostly on LGBTQ and racial themes. ​

Ever since Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children, LGBTQ-affirming family lawyers statewide have been deluged with calls.

Bush is the underdog in the race. He had fewer votes than Paxton in the primary, and Paxton carries the coveted endorsement from former President Donald Trump. But the incumbent is still battling his felony indictment and a newer FBI investigation.

Twenty-five states, including California and New York, preceded Texas in getting federally backed programs up and running to help homeowners suffering financial hardship because of COVID-19.

It’s cutting time. Expect to see some political names you know among Tuesday’s primary election losers.

Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman repeatedly criticized each other. U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert focused on the incumbent, who didn’t participate.

Here are things to know for Thursday, Feb. 3:

Authorities are accusing a 14-year-old East Texas boy of murder in the fatal shooting of his 8-year-old brother.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in letters to seven governors, is reaffirming the need for members of their states' Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status.

Public health officials have played a crucial role in vaccination efforts and tracking the spread of the virus. But different needs from their communities and insufficient aid have complicated the work.

Paxton’s attack ads suggest that he sees Gohmert as a bigger threat than the other two Republicans in the race — Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.

An East Texas county commissioner and his wife have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election fraud after reaching a plea deal that allows him to remain in office.

School district leaders are desperately trying to fill vacant roles to stay open and some say they have no choice but to close.

Federal investigators say a helicopter rotated out of control before crashing in East Texas, killing a passenger and injuring the pilot and two other passengers.

The East Texas city of Texarkana experienced a rare weather event to close out the year: It rained fish.

Texas’ housing crunch has spread outside of the state’s major metropolitan areas and into more rural parts of Texas. Smaller cities and towns saw steep increases in home prices as COVID-19 spread.

At the start of the pandemic, the need for the food Jaron Barganier’s nonprofit, Be a Champion, provides to kids throughout Texas exploded.

Current state party leader Gilberto Hinojosa has indicated he isn’t going anywhere. But that hasn’t stopped open discussion about leadership of the party with several months until convention delegates vote on the position.

An 11-year-old girl died Saturday after she was accidentally shot by her father while hunting in east Texas, authorities say.

A surge in COVID-19 cases from the West is impacting El Paso.

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert has joined the crowded field of Republicans mounting primary challenges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

O’Rourke joins the 2022 gubernatorial race as Texas’ best-known Democrat, but he carries considerably more baggage after a series of political failures, including his bids for U.S. Senate and president. This time, instead of riding a blue wave nationally, he’ll be fighting a red one.