By Jessica Priest and Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune January 7, 2026 Faculty at Texas A&M University were told this week that roughly 200 courses in the College of Arts and Sciences could be affected by a new system policy restricting classroom discussions of race and gender, the implementation of which has already led administrators…

Plant-based detection systems could be used to monitor chemical exposure in agricultural settings   ST. LOUIS, MO, January 6, 2026 — A collaborative team of researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the University of Florida, Gainesville and University of Iowa have developed groundbreaking tools that allow grasses—including major grain crops like corn—to act as…

PLANO, Texas–Two Plano men have been sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for their roles in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.   Brandon Michael Pitts, 30, pleaded guilty to being involved in a conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute more than 500…

Jan. 7, 2026 Texas superstar Post Malone lends his voice in milestone year AUSTIN – As football fans watched inside the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1986, Stevie Ray Vaughan appeared on the screen in the first ad of the most iconic anti-litter campaigns: Don’t mess with Texas. Now, four decades later, the Texas Department…

By Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune January 7, 2026 McALLEN — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is beefing up its border security efforts along the Rio Grande, expanding on a controversial Texas strategy by placing large, floating buoys along more than 500 miles of the river. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the…

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7, 2026 — What happens when humanity finally escapes Earth… and brings its oldest conflicts with it? In his visionary new book, Outbound: Meta Mars, award-winning author and molecular biologist Richard M. Anderson propels readers into a fully colonized Mars in the late 23rd century, where the future of civilization hinges on…

GILMER, Texas — UPDATE: As of 2:51 p.m., the boil water notice has been lifted.