Biden's movable wall is criticized by environmentalists and those who want more border security
The Biden administrationโs plan to build new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas calls for a โmovableโ design that frustrates both environmentalists and advocates of stronger border enforcement.
State continues negotiating with landowners to construct more portions of Texas border wall
Securing the land rights to build Texasโ portion of a border wall is proving to be a tedious and daunting process according to officials with the Texas Facilities Commission. The comments came during a Jan. 4 TFC meeting when another border wall construction contract was awarded.
Border Crisis: Texas negotiates with landowners to build more segments of state-funded border wall
The Texas Facilities Commission continues negotiating with private landowners for the rights to build segments of a state-funded border wall. Without these agreements, the state canโt move forward with building more segments of the wall.
As they target South Texas, Republicans say one Democratic county isnโt maintaining campaign finance records
Starr County, one of the four counties that make up the Rio Grande Valley, has not been able to produce campaign finance reports that it is required to maintain, according to a GOP group targeting the area.
Feds seek to protect rare Texas plant in the path of border wall construction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule earlier this week to list the prostrate milkweed, which lives along the Texas-Mexico border, as an endangered species. The rare plant is threatened in part by border security activities, scientists say.
Texas National Guard teams will vaccinate residents for COVID-19 in five rural counties, Gov. Greg Abbott announces
Soldiers with the Texas National Guard work at a drive-through COVID-19 testing center in Smithville on May 5, 2020. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that National Guard troops will vaccinate residents in five rural counties as part of a new pilot program. Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via USA TODAY NETWORKStarting Thursday, state mobile vaccination teams staffed by Texas National Guard members will be deployed to five rural Texas counties to administer coronavirus vaccines to qualified residents. National Guard teams will visit DeWitt, Marion, Real, Sherman and Starr counties as part of a newly-created State Mobile Vaccine Pilot Program announced by Gov. On Wednesday, President Biden ordered full reimbursement to states that use the National Guard to increase the pace of vaccinations nationally.
The Trump administration awarded border wall contracts to build on land it doesn't own in Texas
In order to build the border wall, the ranchโs front gate and the fence will have to be moved back. The situation could become even more complicated if President-elect Joe Biden makes good on his promise to stop border wall construction. The agreements are to build 146 miles of border wall and install nearly three dozen gates. Under the Trump administration, Starr has become one of the agencyโs top priorities for the border wall. But Starr County, which lacks a levee system, had no wall before the Trump administration first proposed building there in 2017.
Local health authority resigns in Texas border county battered by coronavirus
Dr. Jos Vzquez has resigned from his position as Starr Co. county health authority. Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas TribuneNeed to stay updated on coronavirus news in Texas? The top doctor advising Starr County on local health policy resigned abruptly Monday, leaving temporarily vacant a key position in a rural border community already battered by the coronavirus. Starr County, population 65,000, is one of the poorest counties in the country. Starr County has had 68 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 2,213 cases as of Monday, according to state data.
Texas passes 4,000 deaths, but Houston sees rates steady
AUSTIN, Texas Texas surpassed 4,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic Monday but officials in Houston, one of the hardest-hit cities in the U.S., say they are cautiously optimistic about recent trends following weeks of alarming surges at hospitals. Texas reported more than 7,400 confirmed new cases and at least 62 new deaths. The virus continues taking a particularly hard toll along the Texas-Mexico border: Hidalgo County has reported more than 140 deaths over the past week, and the county judge on Monday signed a shelter-at-home order. This action will help us do the right thing to save and protect each other from this deadly disease by sheltering at home, said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez. But in Houston, officials say they are seeing signs of optimism.