People at the raided house say they rented it for a birthday party and deny any connection to the gang. One man says law enforcement accused him of being in Tren de Aragua because of his tattoo.

Lawmakers in 2017 took a major step to end most child marriages. However, emancipated teenagers 16 and older can get married.

Four GMC Denali trucks, valued at more than $220,000, have been recovered as part of an ongoing VIN cloning investigation led by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit.

Authorities did not say how the individuals arrested in Hays County may be tied to the Venezuelan gang. It was also unclear what criminal charges people may face, though drugs were seized.

A candidate running against the judge accused him of emailing his students at Texas State to vote for him. State law prohibits using public resources for political advertising.

The debate, scheduled for Sept. 16, 2024, will be the first of four for the general election. The San Marcos school would be the first Texas university to hold a presidential debate, Texas State officials said.

The neighboring regions are projected to collectively grow from 5.2 million to 8.3 million people by 2050. But the state still lacks an overarching plan to address critical housing and transportation issues, experts said.

Personal conflict between two newly elected Democrats briefly escalated into public view. An attempt to remove one from county office came in the background of university, state and federal impeachment attempts.

Swimming at one of the most popular swimming holes in Texas will remain banned “for the foreseeable future” due to low water levels and spring flow, according to Hays County Parks officials.

Abbott declared disaster in seven Texas counties hard hit by this week’s winter storm. Austin has been the epicenter of a power crisis as tens of thousands wait for electricity to be restored.

Four Texas counties were evaluated in a 359-page audit released by Secretary of State John Scott on Monday, two weeks before he steps down as chief election official.

For some local relief programs, a lack of staffing, political support and effective community outreach got in the way of spending federal funds to prevent evictions, a new report found. More than $30 million went unspent and had to be returned.

After seeing Democrats gain momentum in suburbs of Houston and Dallas, Republicans succeeded in reclaiming ground this election. But the GOP is still a long way from returning to pre-Trump support, even in ruby red counties.

Local elections officials say an unexpectedly large number of ballots for the March primary are being initially rejected for lacking newly required ID information.

HOUSTON – Investigators said a man with a violent history is in custody following a chase in Houston where he struck several vehicles on Tuesday. The constable’s office said Chambliss had removed an ankle monitor and was out on a PR bond for a murder charge in Hays County, which is southwest of Austin. After roughly two years behind bars, Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau said Chambliss requested his $250,000 bond be reduced. Court records show a judge granted a PR bond with GPS monitor in 2019 “under extreme protest” from the prosecutor. Investigators said Chambliss could face additional charges in Harris County for the chase, but those details have not been released yet.

On Saturday night, Trump tweeted a video of the Trump supporters following the Biden bus saying, “I LOVE TEXAS!”When reached for comment, the Texas GOP Chairman Allen West dismissed questions regarding the incident. According to the Biden campaign, multiple trucks pulled in front of the bus and appeared to try to slow it down. During that time, the person said, the group of Trump supporters fell back behind the police. “All involved parties are being referred to the San Marcos Police Department should they desire to file any type of report with law enforcement. Democratic officials say Trump supporters created a dangerous situation on Interstate 35 and continued following the bus into Austin.

The office is set up primarily to mail voters forms they need to fill out and send to their appropriate county election office. But, like other state agencies, the secretary of state’s office is hobbled by work restrictions because of the coronavirus. Many of the ballot application requests are being handled from employees' homes, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed. It’s just, it is negligent.”While the state’s deadline to request a mail-in ballot application is Oct. 23, the U.S. You can print out your own application, contact your local elections office to receive one or request one from the secretary of state’s office.

The leaders worked, sometimes vigorously, to persuade their local governments to buy COVID-19 tests from a company Hayungs was hoping to partner with. Villalobos, the Hays County chief of staff, said in a statement that Republicans were blocking access to COVID-19 tests. “Approved to Re-Vamp / Re-Brand Hays County Indigent Healthcare Program.”The county commissioners had not approved him to do anything. He did so without input from key Hays County medical leaders or approval from his fellow commissioners, as county rules require. Hayungs’ company falsely claimed in a letter that it was the FEMA-designated COVID-19 response team for Hays County.

To spur economic growth, the Trump administration wants to remove processes meant to protect the environment that some large-scale infrastructure projects go through. Trump and his allies in business and industry argue that the law has proved costly and cumbersome to developers. He wants to exempt some projects and activities from environmental review altogether while speeding up the time frame for reviews for other projects. In January, Trump faulted the laws lengthy review process as one of the main reasons the nations infrastructure had fallen into disrepair. Kym Hunter, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in email that it made no sense to scale back the law at a time when marginalized communities were demanding greater input into decisions affecting their public health.

Beto O'Rourke surged to a 15-point edge over Ted Cruz in Hays County during last week's election, even though the Central Texas county hadn't voted for a Democrat at the top of the ticket since 1992.