Abbott signed a proclamation declaring Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and directed Texas DPS to create strike teams targeting the gang.

County officials issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, saying the state’s mass arrests at the border have cost the county millions of dollars and overwhelmed its criminal justice system.

Guaranteed income programs let participants use funds however they see fit. Critics argue they're not a good use of taxpayer dollars.

Child care centers are struggling to make ends meet, and a new voter-approved tax credit is a first step toward boosting the flagging system, advocates say.

Across this border city, which sees some of the state’s lowest voter turnout, many residents either didn’t know there was an election in March or had reasons for avoiding the polls.

Low voter turnout was the story for Bexar County. But even with the low numbers, counting all the votes was slow.

Thousands of low-income, Latino residents in Texas still do not have safe drinking water. In one El Paso colonia, some residents are using solar distillation to generate water from the air.

An estimated 500,000 people live in thousands of colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. Largely built between the 1950s and 1980s, these communities have been promised water — but it has never come.

A survey was commissioned by the nonprofit organization Texas Water Trade and included responses from households in both rural border communities and in urban areas across Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.

A judge is set to consider whether authorities should be punished after the media obtained documents showing detailed allegations about the suspect in the Colorado gay nightclub shooting previously plotting to be “the next mass killer” in an old case that was sealed at the time.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said two desert cottontail rabbits and one black-tailed jackrabbit in El Paso County tested positive for the disease.

With Title 42 ending Wednesday, El Paso officials expect the number of migrants crossing the border could double. Declaring a state of emergency should open more options to provide migrants shelter from below-freezing temperatures.

A Nicaraguan fisherman planned to spend the night in a parking garage with other migrants, then a good Samaritan offered him a place to sleep. The city is struggling to handle a sudden influx of migrants that has overwhelmed local resources.

The Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter had charges dropped in a 2021 bomb threat case after family members who were terrorized in the incident refused to cooperate.

The suspect accused of entering a Colorado Springs gay nightclub and killing five people and wounding 17 others was formally charged with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder.

The first-term DA was under fire for the office’s mishandling of criminal cases and for potentially jeopardizing the prosecution of the man charged in the 2019 Walmart massacre.

El Paso County District Attorney Yvonne Rosales has been accused of bungling cases and is ensnared in controversy surrounding prosecution of the alleged gunman in the 2019 Walmart massacre.

A state district judge in El Paso said Tuesday that he’ll wait to see what federal prosecutors decide in their case before moving ahead with a state trial for the man accused of killing 23 shoppers in 2019.

Mistakes and backbiting have engulfed the El Paso County district attorney’s office. Some question whether she is competent to handle one of the most high-profile death penalty cases in recent Texas history.

Construction began in July to bring water to Cochran, one of several colonias along the border not served by public water systems. The project is expected to be completed by October.

Speaking out for the first time, an El Paso mom recounts the moments from a bank inside the Walmart where 23 people were fatally shot and dozens more were injured in 2019.

The ruling doesn’t expand the kinds of games tribes can offer on their lands but reaffirms their autonomy to regulate gambling activities that aren’t prohibited in Texas, regardless of the state’s rules.

During a Texas Tribune event, Democratic state Reps. Joe Moody and Claudia Ordaz Perez and state Sen. César Blanco said the Uvalde school shooting and the overturning of Roe v. Wade demand action in the Texas Legislature.

El Pasoans who have followed O’Rourke’s political career are excited about his run for governor. But his critics still remember his support of a development plan that could have displaced Mexican American residents from one of the city’s oldest barrios.

A Colorado day care owner convicted of keeping 26 children hidden in the basement of her business in 2019 has received a six-year prison sentence.

High vaccination rates, geography and a sense of community in the wake of 2019’s Walmart shootings help keep El Paso’s delta numbers low, experts and locals say.

“If people die again, blood will be on your hands,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, wrote in a tweet.

Holzer, now 28, was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, for plotting to bomb the Colorado synagogue last year, by a judge who described the case as "dripping with Nazism and supremacy." They also said that Holzer no longer held the supremacist-like beliefs that led him to plan the bombing at Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo. AdThe Temple Emanuel plot was one of 61 anti-semitic harassment and vandalism cases that the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region tracked in 2019. AdHolzer was arrested Nov. 1, 2019, after receiving two phony pipe bombs and 14 sticks of dynamite from undercover FBI agents that he planned to use at the Temple Emanuel. Temple Emanuel is the second oldest synagogue in Colorado.

The pandemic, though, is a nightmare -- one that has now claimed 300,000 lives in the U.S. and counting. It just represents a moral failing.”The U.S. accounts for nearly 1 out of 5 confirmed virus deaths worldwide, far more than any other country despite its wealth and medical resources. While the pandemic’s toll continues to soar, much has changed since the U.S. surpassed 200,000 deaths in late September. If a second vaccine is authorized soon, as expected, 20 million people could be vaccinated by month’s end. “I’m sorry, it still gets me,” a distraught Williams said Friday, hours before the first vaccine won approval.

The pandemic, though, is a nightmare -- one that has now claimed 300,000 lives in the U.S. and counting. It just represents a moral failing.”The U.S. accounts for nearly 1 out of 5 confirmed virus deaths worldwide, far more than any other country despite its wealth and medical resources. While the pandemic’s toll continues to soar, much has changed since the U.S. surpassed 200,000 deaths in late September. If a second vaccine is authorized soon, as expected, 20 million people could be vaccinated by month’s end. “I’m sorry, it still gets me,” a distraught Williams said Friday, hours before the first vaccine won approval.

EL PASO, Texas – The top elected official for El Paso County, Texas, on Tuesday announced a new curfew to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, which is overrunning the border area’s hospitals and funeral homes. Samaniego said he worried many more people might die because of the worsening situation El Paso finds itself in. Earlier this month, an appeals court overturned an El Paso County order that would have closed nonessential businesses, including gyms and salons. El Paso County, which has more than 839,000 residents, on Tuesday reported 36,640 active COVID-19 cases, more than any other county in the state. Samaniego said El Paso County is currently operating 13 mobile morgues and they are holding the bodies of 236 individuals.

(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s governor says that once coronavirus vaccines become available, they will be optional in the state’s K-12 public schools. It’s just going nowhere,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, said Monday during a meeting with members of the Mississippi Senate. State health officials said fatality updates on Tuesday are typically higher because of lag in reporting from the weekends. That includes more than 1,000 on intensive care units and more than 570 on ventilators, according to state Health Department data. —-MADRID — Spain is reporting a new daily record of 537 coronavirus deaths since the resurgence of the pandemic.

The morgue in El Paso is so overwhelmed by the number of people dying from COVID-19, that inmates from the county’s detention facility are being brought in to assist with the overflow of bodies awaiting autopsy. While the work these inmates do in the community typically goes unpaid, Chris Acosta, a spokesperson for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said “trustees refused to work unless they were compensated.” They’re making $2 per hour. El Paso County recorded a total of 45 new deaths Thursday and Friday caused by the virus. Late Friday, a state appeals court again blocked El Paso County’s shutdown of nonessential businesses that was scheduled to last until Dec. 1. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego issued the shutdown order Oct. 29 in an effort to slow the latest outbreak of COVID-19 here, but a group of local restaurants and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly sued to block it.

EL PASO, Texas – The top elected official for El Paso County, Texas, said he is unhappy with a state appeals court ruling overturning his order closing nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but he won't appeal it. County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said in a news release late Friday that to say he was disappointed by the ruling "would be a huge understatement. State Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to overturn the order Samaniego issued in October, despite a surge that has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes in the border city of El Paso. Additionally, the state health department on Saturday reported totals of 1,014,160 virus cases and 19,740 deaths, increases of 8.989 cases and 150 additional deaths. There were 7,151 people hospitalized due to the virus, 68 more than Friday, according to the department.

People wait outside an El Paso restaurant to pick up their food orders after the county judge ordered a shutdown of nonessential businesses. Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas TribuneEL PASO — A state appeals court late Friday again halted El Paso County’s shutdown of nonessential businesses that was scheduled to last until Dec. 1. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego issued the shutdown order Oct. 29 in an effort to slow the latest outbreak of COVID-19 here, where total cases since the pandemic began surpassed 70,000 Friday. “If activities are prohibited by the Governor’s order, the County cannot allow them.”The decision Friday comes as El Paso County recorded 1,488 new coronavirus cases. Samaniego’s shutdown caused a rift between him and El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, who said Thursday he hasn’t been consulted about countywide restrictions for weeks.

EL PASO – A state appeals court on Thursday put on hold El Paso County’s shutdown of nonessential businesses that was scheduled to last until December 1. Greg Abbott’s own executive order that outlines what limits can be placed on private businesses across the state. A state district judge last week permitted the El Paso shutdown to stand pending a final resolution of the case, but the 8th Court of Appeals paused Samaniego’s effort until a final decision is made. “I commend the 8th Court of Appeals for stopping El Paso Co. Judge Samaniego’s shutdown order — pending the final decision on the merits,” Paxton tweeted Thursday. “They’re trying to put food on the table , they’re trying to pay rent, they’re trying to pay for their medicine.”Need to stay updated on coronavirus news in Texas?

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas became America's first state Wednesday with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, as sporting events were canceled and the border city of El Paso added mobile morgues in anticipation of virus deaths overwhelming hospitals for weeks. Only Illinois has averaged more new cases than Texas over the past two weeks. Texas recently surpassed California, the most populous state, in recording the highest number of positive coronavirus tests. El Paso County officials this week announced plans to add four additional morgue trailers, bringing the total number there to 10. In Lubbock County, home of Texas Tech University, health officials reported a surge of nearly 3,400 new cases last week.

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas recorded 10,865 coronavirus cases Tuesday, setting a new daily record that surpassed by 74 cases an old mark set July 15, state officials said. Of those, an estimated 132,146 cases are active, the most since Aug. 17, and 6,170 COVID-19 cases are hospitalized, the most since Aug. 18. Ninety-four new deaths Tuesday brought the pandemic death toll in Texas to 18,863, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. One new death was reported Tuesday, bringing the city's COVID-19 death toll to 367. Nine new deaths brought the county's COVID-19 death toll to 682.

(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska on Saturday reported hitting a daily record in new coronavirus cases. ———MILAN – Italy registered a record 39,811 daily confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday. — Nebraska reported a record 2,681 coronavirus cases and a record 748 people in the hospital. The world reached 400,000 daily confirmed cases on Oct. 15; 500,000 on Oct. 26, and 600,000 on Friday. The global death toll hit a daily record of 11,024 confirmed deaths on Wednesday.

AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas district judge on Friday upheld an order from El Paso County's top elected official shutting down businesses while the region fights an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases. The county's top elected official, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, ordered a two-week shutdown of nonessential activities late last week. The Air Force teams consist of 20 military medical providers each and provide support for three El Paso hospitals, Abbott said. “Our ongoing partnership with the federal government is crucial to our efforts in reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations in El Paso,” Abbot said in a statement. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, the county’s top elected official, ordered a two-week shutdown of nonessential activities late last week.

EL PASO, Texas – Five trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Administration have been brought to El Paso to help accommodate the surge of COVID-19 fatalities in the border city, officials said Thursday. Three of the trailers were staged at the El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office while two were being held in reserve, said Jorge Rodriguez, the city's emergency management coordinator. Twenty-two more COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday in El Paso County, bringing the county's death toll for the eight-month pandemic to 639. They will not end the pandemic of this virus, but they will curtail the spread,” Margo said. Of those, an estimated 116,225 cases were active, the most since Aug. 23, with 5,954 COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization, the most since Aug. 19.

Correction, Nov. 5, 2020: El Paso officials on Thursday said the city’s case count they reported Wednesday was inaccurate. El Paso Public Health Department Director Angela Mora said the correct figure for Wednesday is 1,537, not 3,100. El Paso in recent weeks has struggled to stem the tide of the novel coronavirus. Hospitals are near or at capacity, and El Paso County has set up four temporary morgues. The rising case count came as a state district judge heard arguments Wednesday over a shutdown order issued last month by El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego.

EL PASO, Texas – El Paso County officials ordered a two-week shutdown of non-essential activities Thursday after the area’s medical resources were overwhelmed by the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Grocery and drug stores, funeral homes, health care services and government activities were among the activities deemed essential. Yet each day for the past week, more than 1,000 new cases were confirmed in the westernmost Texas county. America’s largest state prison system reported more 332 active COVID-19 cases and 8 units in precautionary lockdown across Texas, including one in El Paso as of Wednesday. The 119 newly reported COVID-19 fatalities raised the Texas death toll to 17,819 since the pandemic first struck at the start of March.

As coronavirus cases continue surging in El Paso County, officials have ordered nonessential businesses to close. EL PASO — El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego on Thursday ordered a two-week shutdown of nonessential businesses in this border area to help curb the record-breaking rise of COVID-19 cases that have overwhelmed hospitals. Greg Abbott’s statewide executive order allowing some nonessential businesses to reopen to 75% capacity. For several days, El Paso has seen daily case counts that exceed 1,000 new infections, forcing the judge to install a curfew for residents from 10 pm to 5 am. “The hard truth is that the people that are dying are in El Paso.

EL PASO, Texas – The surge in Texas coronavirus cases has raised COVID-19 hospitalizations by almost 2,500 cases since Oct. 1. The 5,650 hospitalizations reported Wednesday were also the most since Aug. 19. About 16% of the hospitalizations were in El Paso County, the state’s worst COVID-19 hotspot. Of the 5,175 new cases state health officials reported Wednesday of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, 16.5% came from El Paso County. There have been more than 879,994 Texas cases reported since the pandemic’s start, including more than 41,000 cases added in the past seven days.

On Monday, the county reported a new record high in daily coronavirus cases, with 1,443 cases of the virus recorded. Abbott ordered the alternate care site to expand hospital capacity in the El Paso area in response to the coronavirus surge, he said. The state has already provided over 900 medical personnel to El Paso, some of whom will be staffing the convention center site. “The alternate care site and auxiliary medical units will reduce the strain on hospitals in El Paso as we contain the spread of COVID-19 in the region,” Abbott said. As of Monday, Texas has reported a total of 867,075 virus cases statewide since the pandemic began, an increase of 4,700 from Sunday.

What you need to know Monday:No consensus on whether El Paso is ready to reopenGov. Greg Abbott had given El Paso County and the Amarillo area two of the state's biggest recent COVID-19 hot spots a temporary reprieve from implementing Texas' next phase of reopening. While Abbott said the Amarillo area had "turned a corner," the picture in the El Paso area wasn't as clear. El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, on the other hand, said the situation in El Paso is more manageable now. Texas reported 1,949 more cases of the new coronavirus Sunday the highest increase since the state began reporting coronavirus case counts.

PASO Shuttered store fronts in downtown El Paso during the the coronavirus pandemic. On May 1, when some state restrictions were lifted, El Paso County had 961 positive coronavirus cases. Abbott granted the county a one-week delay, and sent several state response teams comprised of National Guard members to increase testing in El Paso. Margo said the situation in El Paso is more manageable now and he's encouraged that the county's positivity rate has dropped to 8 percent. "The people of El Paso and the workers on the front lines should be incredibly proud of these results.Dr. Hector Ocaranza, El Paso's City/County Local Health Authority, urged caution as El Paso expands business operations.