AUSTIN (AP) — Fort Hood has one of the highest rates of murder, sexual assault and harassment in the Army, Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Thursday during a visit to the Texas base."We are getting an outside look to help us to get to those root causes and understand them so we can make those changes," McCarthy said during a news conference that was shown on Facebook Live. "We are going to put every resource and all of the energy we can in this entire institution behind fixing ..read more

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday extended the early voting period for the Nov. 3 election by nearly a week in an effort to spread out voting at polling places amid the coronavirus pandemic.Early voting for the general election will begin on Oct. 13, rather than Oct. 19, and run through Oct. 30.Abbott’s proclamation also allows those voting with a mail-in ..read more

CORPUS CHRISTI — Hurricane Hanna roared ashore onto the Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 1 storm on Saturday, bringing winds that lashed the shoreline with rain and storm surge, and even threatening to bring possible tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with a spike in coronavirus cases.The first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall twice on Saturday afternoon within the span of little over an hour. The first landfall happened ..read more

SUBHEAD: Experts warn unemployment could worsen next monthBy Meena VenkataramananThe Texas TribuneTexas’ June unemployment rate fell to 8.6% — a drop from the 13% May jobless rate, according to a Friday morning U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.While it's an improvement from April's record-high 13.5% unemployment rate, June's figure shows the devastating financial toll on Texans as the coronavirus pandemic upends the economy ..read more

Retired Air Force helicopter pilot MJ Hegar defeated state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, with 52% of the vote in the Democratic runoff to face U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in November."Thank you, Texas! I'm so proud to be your Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. I won’t let you down!" Hegar said in a 11:20 p.m. tweet. "This incredible grassroots team is powerful, and I am so grateful for every one of you. Together, we’re going to win this race. Join us."West ..read more

In an abrupt change of course, Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday issued a statewide mask order and gave local officials more authority over outdoor gatherings amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the state."I know that wearing a face covering is not the convenient thing to do, but I also know that wearing a face covering will ..read more

By Carla Astudillo, Jolie McCullough & Mandi CaiThe Texas TribuneAs Texas moves forward with a new phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan for reopening businesses, the daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations is on a steady, upward trend.Throughout the state, the number of new cases reported each day has grown from an average of about 1,081 during the week ending May 24 to about 1,527 in the past week. (Public health data varies day to ..read more

Javier Ambler was driving home from a friendly poker game in the early hours of March 28, 2019, when a Williamson County sheriff’s deputy noticed that he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic.Twenty-eight minutes later, the black father of two sons lay dying on a North Austin street after deputies held him down and used Tasers on him four times while a crew from A&E’s reality show “Live PD” filmed.Ambler, a 40-year-old ..read more

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi closed out the Friday night general session of Texas Democrats’ virtual state convention with a four-minute speech that focused on the dark days the nation is living through, and the importance of Texas in securing the party’s grip on Congress."We come together at a very difficult time for our country," Pelosi said in remarks recorded in front of a Capitol backdrop."Across America, peaceful protesters are grieving for the murder of ..read more

Gov. Greg Abbott Thursday called on Bexar County Republican Party Chair Cynthia Brehm to resign for spreading a conspiracy theory on her Facebook page Wednesday that the death of George Floyd was staged to damage President Donald Trump with black voters."These comments are disgusting and have no place in the Republican Party or in public discourse," said John Wittman, the governor’s communications director. "Cynthia Brehm should immediately resign her position as chair of ..read more