State / Local

WATER SECURITYWill Texas Actually Run Out of Water?
By Alejandra Martinez and Jayme Lozano Carver
You asked our AI chatbot about Texas’ water supply. We answered some of the questions that it couldn’t.
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FAKE EMERGENCIESWhat Really Happened in Portland Before Trump Deployed the National Guard
By Rob Davis and Steve Suo
President Donald Trump said there was a need to deploy National Guard troops to “War ravaged” Portland to protect “under-siege” ICE agents. The president’s claims were divorced from the reality on the ground. In the two months before Trump’s decision, criminal charges were announced against only three people. On nights when physical conflict did erupt, it often came from police firing on, shoving, pepper-spraying, and tackling protesters.
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IMMIGRATIONArizona Looks to Legal Immigration with Trump's Border Security
By Andrew Rice, The Center Square
In Arizona, state and local leaders have called on the federal government to enforce illegal immigration more strictly for years. But Arizona legislators have also been pushing Congress to develop an additional legal immigration pathway in the state.
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DROUGHTSDrought Is Quietly Pushing American Cities Toward a Fiscal Cliff
By Tik Root
Municipal bond defaults of any kind are extraordinarily rare, let alone those linked to a changing climate. But drought is set to pose a greater risk to the $4 trillion municipal bond market than floods, hurricanes, and wildfires combined.
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POWER GRIDThe West’s Power Grid Could Be Stitched Together — If Red and Blue States Buy In
By Alex Brown
A regional electricity market could provide benefits, but state leaders say the details matter.
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WATER SECURITYTexas’ Congressional Delegation Wants Trump to Punish Mexico for Missing Key Water Deadline
By Berenice Garcia
The state’s citrus industry is at risk, farmers say, after Mexico failed to deliver water it owes Texas as part of a 1944 treaty.
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DISASTER INSURANCECalifornia’s “Last Resort” Property Insurer Seeks Rate Hike, Ringing National Alarm Bells
By Alex Brown
In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Californians have purchased home insurance from a state-managed “last resort” insurance pool that has grown rapidly as private insurance companies have fled the market. Now, this last-resort insurance plan is seeking an average 36% rate hike.
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CRITICAL MINERALSA New Generation of Industries Emerges in Texas as Feds Push to Mine More Rare Minerals
By Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News
The U.S. doesn’t produce the minerals and metals needed for renewable energy, microchips or military technology. Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they’re after lithium for batteries and other rare elements.
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WATER SECURITYTexas Voters Have Final Say on $20 Billion Package to Secure State’s Water Supply
By Alejandra Martinez
No new taxes would be collected for the package that would give the state’s water department $1 billion to spend on projects like cleaning salty water, flood control and reservoirs.
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TERRORISMFederal Judge Extends Order on NYC Anti-Terrorism Funds
By Chris Wade, The Center Square
The Trump administration has been given another week to make its case to withhold more than $33 million in counter-terrorism funds for New York City’s transit system. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan has extended a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from clawing back the grant funding approved by Congress for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority until at least Oct. 22.
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SURVEILLANCEDespite Widespread Interest, Only 3 States Passed License Plate Reader Laws This Year
By Madyson Fitzgerald
Lawmakers in at least 16 states this year introduced bills to regulate the use of automated license plate readers responsible for collecting large amounts of data on drivers across the country. But just three states —Arkansas, Idaho and Virginia —enacted laws. Critics say automated license plate readers raise data and privacy concerns.
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POLITICIZATIONTexas AG Ken Paxton Announces Undercover Investigations of “Leftist Terror Cells”
By Caroline Love, KERA News
Paxton cited the recent attack on a Dallas immigration field office, though the shooter’s political affiliation was unclear and there was no evidence he was linked to organized “cells.”
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ELECTION ADMINISTRATAIONTexas Counties Struggle to Process Voter Registrations Using State’s New System
By Natalia Contreras
State officials push back on complaints about software problems. Meanwhile, unprocessed applications are piling up.
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PUBLIC HEALTHMore States Protect Access to the COVID Shot as Feds Restrict Eligibility
By Shalina Chatlani
At least 17 states have taken steps to ensure broader access to the COVID-19 vaccine since last month, when the federal government significantly restricted eligibility for the shot. The moves represent an extraordinary state rebellion against the public health authority of the federal government.
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FLOODSElon Musk Pushed Back on Our Reporting on His Houston Tunnels Plan. Experts Say His Comments Are Misleading.
By Yilun Cheng, Houston Chronicle
Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investition by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel project he’s pitching to address Houston’s chronic flooding woes. But experts said his response, which he did not explain to the newsrooms, isn’t supported by facts or data.
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