Texas firefighters would have to spend at least four hours a year actually pulling hose, throwing ladders and working in an air pack — not clicking through modules on a station computer — under a rule change the state’s firefighter advisory committee took up Sept. 24.
The Texas Attorney General's Cold Case Unit announced that DNA analysis has conclusively identified recently recovered human remains as those of Jason Landry, a Texas State University student missing since December 2020, according to a Sept. 23 news release from Attorney General Ken Paxton's office.
Seven people were granted state licenses to do forensic work in Texas on qualifying exams they had not actually passed, an audit by the agency that issues those licenses found — and three of them held the kind of license the state requires to analyze evidence used in criminal cases.
The Austin City Council will meet Sept. 24 with four contract amendments on its consent agenda that would add $854,872 to the city's payments to two nonprofits that provide immigration legal services, including what the city's own contract history calls "deportation defense." The vote comes four days after a federal immigration agent shot a 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver in North Austin, an incident that has produced two sharply different accounts of what happened, a federal investigation, calls from the mayor and most of the council for an independent inquiry, and a habeas corpus petition in federal court.
The Texas Department of Transportation is inviting parents and caregivers to schedule free car seat safety checks across the state, pointing to national data showing that 46% of child car seats are misused or are the wrong seat for a child's size.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Hydra Fire in Bosque County, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a Sept. 16 news release.
The state pension fund for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders holds a special meeting Sept. 17 with a single item of business: authorizing and paying for a 2027 actuarial report.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Sept. 14 that the U.S. Small Business Administration approved his request to include South-Central Texas communities in the federal disaster declaration covering severe weather that struck the region in August.
The state's most influential conservative think tank told a Senate panel Sept. 14 that parental controls are not enough and Texas should prohibit social media for anyone under 18 — a mandate, from an organization that usually argues against them.
The Texas Department of Public Safety will launch a new online licensing platform for the state’s License to Carry program on Oct. 1, 2026, the agency announced in a Sept. 11 news release.