Area News

PLANO, Texas – Two Chinese nationals have been indicted and charged with federal drug trafficking violations as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.   Lisa Xing, 36, and Zhanwen Song, 38, Chinese citizens, were charged in a six-count superseding indictment returned…

View as a webpage AUSTIN — A jackpot-winning ticket worth an estimated annuitized $7.5 million for the Lotto Texas® drawing held on Sept. 5 was purchased at Kroger 161, located at 14344 Memorial Drive, in Houston. The winning Quick Pick ticket matched all six of the numbers drawn (14-17-25-26-30-37). The cash value option was selected at…

By Joshua Fechter, The Texas Tribune September 8, 2026 Gas prices. Housing. Groceries. Healthcare. Texans are spending considerably more on the necessities than they used to, and incomes haven’t kept up. As candidates in the midterms pitch themselves as the one to rein in higher costs, we want to hear from Texans about how those…

By Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune September 8, 2026   In this week’s episode of the TribCast, hosts Matthew and Eleanor speak with Texas Tribune education reporter Jaden Edison and Ayaan Moledina, a 17-year-old student activist from Round Rock. They discuss Texas’ new social studies curriculum, which the State Board of Education approved last week.…

By Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune September 9, 2026 WASHINGTON — While Congress was on break this August, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, popped up at over 60 events in his district, many of them to announce funding for local projects he secured from his longtime perch on the House Appropriations Committee. Cuellar has used this…

By Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune September 9, 2026 Texas’ prison agency has asked the Legislature for $298 million over the next two years to add more than 15,700 air conditioned beds, saying the request will help deliver “significant and measurable progress” toward addressing dangerous summer heat in state lockups. Inmate advocates are less enthused,…

News from Southern Arkansas University MAGNOLIA, AR (09/08/2026) Southern Arkansas University enters the fall 2026 semester with encouraging momentum in several areas, even as the University, like colleges nationwide, absorbs the impact of a decline in international student enrollment. Beginning freshmen enrollment grew 2.9% this fall. Domestic undergraduate enrollment overall held largely steady, underscoring the…

Parker County – On September 7, 2026, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper in Parker County observed a white GMC Terrain traveling westbound on Interstate 20 in the Weatherford area at speeds exceeding 100 mph and committing several additional traffic violations. When the Trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the driver fled…

By Alejandra Martinez and Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune August 27, 2026 FORT WORTH — Two weeks after the Ross Fire broke out west of Fort Worth, responders are still battling one of the largest wildfires in North Texas’ recorded history. The weather isn’t helping. The Dallas-Fort Worth region’s summer weather is setting records with…

By Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune June 4, 2026 A federal appeals court denied an advocacy group’s request Tuesday for a new hearing in its effort to defend the Texas Dream Act, a longstanding state law that allowed some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. This summer, a three-judge panel…