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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Texas expected to pay $700 million in penalties to the feds for SNAP errors next year
April 08, 2026
The federal government is penalizing states for having a high error rate in their payments to food stamp recipients.
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White Texans, students previously in private school or home-school make up bulk of voucher applicants
April 01, 2026
The demographic breakdown of applicants shows Texas’ voucher program will likely not reflect the diversity of Texas public school students.
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Texas Education Agency orders public schools to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez from lessons
March 23, 2026
Schools were also directed to cancel or change celebrations of the late civil rights leader amid allegations of sexual abuse.
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Nate Sheets promises to fire everyone linked to Sid Miller at Texas agriculture department after primary win
March 04, 2026
Sheets, in an interview with The Texas Tribune, also promised to lower costs for farmers and work with federal officials to beat a parasitic fly heading toward Texas.
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Polls close today in the Texas primaries. Here are 5 things to watch.
March 03, 2026
This Tuesday, Tribune reporters are watching two blockbuster senate primaries, an open attorney general seat, and more high-stakes, competitive races up and down the Texas ballot.
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School districts can set aside prayer time under a new Texas law. Few have done so.
March 02, 2026
School boards had until March 1 to decide whether to establish a daily period for students and staff to pray or read religious texts.
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Camp Mystic parents sue state, accusing Texas officials of failing to enforce evacuation plan requirement
February 23, 2026
A group of parents whose children died in the July 4 floods claim in a federal lawsuit that Camp Mystic’s emergency instructions directed kids to stay in cabins even though state law requires evacuation plans for camps.
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Texans are demanding their local governments push pause on data centers. Can they?
February 13, 2026
Texans from Waco to Harlingen are raising concerns over how much energy and water data centers are poised to use. Local officials, some enticed by a tax boon, say they have little power to stop the rush.
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This newspaper publisher is challenging her fellow Republicans to do better for rural Texas
January 29, 2026
Suzanne Bellsnyder used to work for Republicans in Austin. Now she’s challenging them to do better for rural Texas, where she lives and operates two newspapers and a growing Substack newsletter.
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U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz wants legal status for migrant workers in struggling construction industry
January 05, 2026
South Texas builders said a growing number of ICE arrests at construction sites have made it difficult for work to continue.
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Texas’ newest state park gives visitors a sneak peek ahead of planned 2026 opening
January 02, 2026
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park will be the first to open in North Texas in about 25 years.
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Texas to receive $281 million in federal funds for rural health care
December 29, 2025
Texas will get the biggest portion of the first rollout of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which was created in tandem with legislation slashing Medicaid funding.
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Texas Democratic candidates unite in the Rio Grande Valley to court Latino voters
December 18, 2025
State Rep. James Talarico faces an uphill battle in his U.S. Senate bid while 15th Congressional hopeful Bobby Pulido aims to flip the district, but he must first win his primary.
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North Texas community votes against forming a city to regulate a noisy Bitcoin mine
November 05, 2025
Some Hood County residents wanted the same power that cities have to set noise limits, but did not secure enough votes.
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SNAP cutoff could hurt Texas grocers and the rest of the economy, experts say
October 28, 2025
The economic pain will not be felt evenly throughout the state. Poorer urban areas, small towns in South Texas, southeast Texas and West Texas have high rates of residents enrolled in SNAP.
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