KTTZ

Elevated to critical fire weather is expected to persist across the South Plains and broader West Texas region as record-breaking March heat, strong winds and ongoing drought conditions continue to dry out vegetation. Officials warn that despite a brief cooldown from a passing cold front, wildfire risk will remain moderate into early next week, with recent fires in the Panhandle and South Plains underscoring the growing danger.

Local officials report that 108 of the cases originated in a contracted detention facility in Hudspeth County.

A study is starting soon from Texas Tech University researchers within the Department of Natural Resource Management, utilizing new technology to study rangeland recovery two years after the devastating Smokehouse Creek Fire.

School boards had until March 1 to decide whether to establish a daily period for students and staff to pray or read religious texts.

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.

Texas has the largest number of rural hospitals in the country. In the past decade, 14 of the state's rural hospitals have closed and another 82 are at risk of closure, according to a recent report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Despite funding challenges, some rural hospitals are continuing and even expanding services through community support.

The City of Lubbock continues to remind citizens not to touch wild birds, as officials report having collected more than 2,000 dead birds by the end of January. Here are avian flu facts to be aware of and ways to keep yourself and your pets healthy.

Texas Democrat labor leader Taylor Rehmet turned tables in a special election runoff for the Texas Senate seat in District 9, defeating GOP pick Leigh Wambsganss in a 40-year Republican stronghold. Now, fellow Democratic candidates in West Texas are hoping similar work-focused strategies can overcome tough odds in their own deep red districts.

A judge ruled Senate Bill 13, passed in 2021, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The law prevented state investments in firms it deemed as boycotting oil and gas companies.

Lubbock community members and Texas Tech students rallied last Saturday to protest ICE as part of a national movement following fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis, calling for solidarity, accountability, and limits on immigration enforcement in the region.