East Texas sits on a goldmine of lithium, but questions loom over how the state will regulate mining and production
By Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune August 20, 2026 TEXARKANA — When Scott Norton became president of the TexAmericas Center, he hoped the industrial park would attract employers that would bring much-needed jobs to North East Texas. Little did he know the industrial center would sit atop one of the country’s largest and richest lithium…
Read MoreTexas Parks and Wildlife commissioners inundated with border wall concerns during annual meeting
By Big Bend Sentinel, The Texas Tribune August 19, 2026 The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission’s annual public hearing kicked off Wednesday with an unusually festive scene outside the agency’s Austin offices: a tailgate party where hundreds of people from around the state cooked out, shared cold drinks and talked about the reason they’d come…
Read MoreUT Tyler Receives Approval for PA Program
Launches First Physician Assistant Program in East Texas TYLER, Texas (August 20, 2026) – The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine received approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a Physician Assistant Studies program. The university is preparing to…
Read MoreCommissioner Buckingham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sign Construction Memorandum of Understanding to Advance Coastal Texas Project Efforts
AUSTIN, Texas— Today, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., announced today that the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have signed a Construction Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to coordinate activities that support early implementation of the Coastal Texas Project (CTX). This agreement reflects the State of Texas’ ongoing…
Read MoreU.S. Marine Veteran in Tyler Requests 100 Cards for His 100th Birthday
AUSTIN, Texas— Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is encouraging the Tyler community and the State of Texas to send at least 100 cards to Mr. Weldon Bowen, a resident of the Watkins-Logan Texas State Veterans Home (TSVH), for his 100th birthday on September 5, 2026. Weldon Kenneth Bowen was…
Read MoreTexas A&M Forest Service detects emerald ash borer in five additional counties
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M Forest Service has confirmed emerald ash borer in Delta, Erath, Hardin, Walker and Wood counties, continuing the spread of the invasive insect into new areas of Texas. Eight new counties have been confirmed with the invasive this year. The detections were made through Texas A&M Forest Service’s statewide emerald ash…
Read MoreViolence Against Healthcare Workers and Staffing Shortages Fuel Hospital Strikes
By Lynn Arditi Aug 20, 2026 Emergency room nurse Crystal Dhooghe speaks during a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on March 17, 2026. She is among hundreds of unionized employees at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital who have been on strike since Sept. 1, 2025. (Teamsters J.C. 43) Nurse Crystal Dhooghe is used…
Read MoreHow Much of a Cancer Drug Is Too Much? Patients, Researchers Challenge FDA-Approved Dosages
By Arthur Allen Aug 20, 2026 Chuck Manski, an economist at Northwestern University, at home in Chicago. After suffering severe side effects from a drug he took to treat melanoma, he studied the cancer literature and decided he could stop the treatment early. (Taylor Glascock for KFF Health News) Northwestern University economist Chuck Manski studies…
Read MoreFederal judge halts proposed HHS changes to teen pregnancy prevention program
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Stateline August 19, 2026 A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued an order Wednesday blocking U.S. Health and Human Services from implementing sweeping changes to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants that were canceled this summer will remain so for…
Read MoreCities turn to AI to speed housing permitting
By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline August 20, 2026 New housing projects can sometimes stall out as a developer applies to city or county planning boards and goes through cycles of inspections, reviews and approvals. Now, cities are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to address one of the most persistent sources of housing permitting delays: incomplete applications.…
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