Area News

In a small East Texas town, an ancient beverage is finding new life. Owned by husband and wife *Clyde and Sarah Hays*, Vinland Meads is introducing visitors to mead, the world’s oldest known alcoholic beverage, while building something even more important: a place where family, heritage, craftsmanship, and community come together. The story of Vinland…

By Renzo Downey, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 Calling in to Sean Hannity’s radio show Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz offered a blunt warning cry to his party: Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has a legitimate shot at flipping Texas this year. “Unfortunately, I do think he has a real chance,” Cruz told Gov.…

By Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 Aaron Reitz has been appointed the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas. Reitz previously worked as a top deputy to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and worked in the Trump Justice Department before running for attorney general earlier this year. Reitz finished fourth,…

By Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune June 4, 2026 A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort to defend the Texas Dream Act, leaving in place a ruling that ended a longstanding state law that allowed some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of…

By Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 MISSION — A historic chapel that served as the basis for the city’s name will no longer lie behind a border wall as community leaders and church officials initially feared. The future of La Lomita Chapel, which sits near the Rio Grande, came into question amid…

By Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune July 10, 2026 Stephen F. Austin State University will phase out its Early Childhood Laboratory over the next few years because the program has become too expensive to maintain. Stephen F. Austin University opened the Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, also known as the child care lab,…

By Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 The fatal shooting of a man in Houston by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday is the latest in a series of migrant deaths while in federal custody or interacting with agents in Texas since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025. Lorenzo Salgado…

By Uriel J. García and Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 The 52-year-old Houston man fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent earlier this week was not the target of the agency’s operation, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, who has called for release of any video footage capturing the…

PLANO, Texas – A Honduran national illegally living in Princeton has been charged with federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas related to the kidnapping of a child, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.   Osman Daniel Vasquez-Mejia, 18, was named in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in…

By Katlyn Ma, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2026 Four Houston Democratic members of Congress on Thursday demanded an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Tuesday in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood, saying ICE has not released video evidence to support claims that Salgado Araujo…