Texas Public Radio

Measles and mumps have shown up in Texas, and both are preventable if children get the MMR vaccine. But some doctors are concerned that people may be not be aware of the third illness included in the MMR vaccine acronym. The R stands for rubella, also known as German measles.

The Texas Senate unanimously passed legislation expanding the Texas Compassionate Use Program on Wednesday. The legislation is expected to become law, enabling more patients to purchase marijuana-derived CBD oil in Texas.

The Texas Senate bill bans any governmental entity from punishing a private business for its past donations to religious organizations. Critics condemned it as a new version of the 2017 bathroom bill or as a reaffirmation that the state is hostile to LGBTQ people.

The VA Mission Act hopes to improve upon the Choice program, which ran over budget and didn't do much to reduce wait times for many veterans.

As often as she can, Judi Robinson raises an American flag outside her rambler-style house in Long Beach, Cal. She doesn't keep it up overnight, and she's careful about storage and handling of the national emblem.

Across the country, one in four cities reported being attacked by cybercriminals every hour.  That’s according to a 2016 survey, but attacks against cities have since risen. 

When Texans head to the polls on Super Tuesday in 2020, the act of voting could be very different. Texas lawmakers are looking at bills to cut property taxes and boost school spending, and they're also looking at ways to secure elections in the state, particularly with Senate Bill 9. 

The National Transportation Safety Board reported on Tuesday that a twin-engine plane that crashed near Kerrville Municipal Airport, killing six people, was flying lower and slower than it should have been on its final approach.

Texas begins redistricting in two years. The process will slice up Texas into political districts. When the districts are redrawn to benefit a particular party, it's called gerrymandering.  Some say it's time to finally end this particular political game.

Sex traffickers are drawn to vulnerable kids. Young victims are often homeless or runaways, have previously been abused or neglected, or who have at some point been flagged by social service providers. 

The non-psychoactive component of marijuana is the latest craze in alternative medicine. Even Walgreens and CVS plan to sell CBD products. But there's one group that has yet to cash in on the CBD fever: Texas farmers.

The Texas Senate tentatively approved a bill Tuesday that would add more transparency and accountability to sexual assault reporting systems in colleges and universities throughout the state.  

The next time Texans vote in a stateside election will be Super Tuesday, on March 3, 2020. Ten states are expected to hold their primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, including three big ones: Texas, California and Virginia. There will be a lot on the line for the national and local primary races in Texas, and voting could look very different on that day ... if Senate Bill 9 is passed.

Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, according experts who track marijuana laws. But some lawmakers from both parties are ready to change that.

San Antonio Federal Judge Fred Biery heard arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens against the state over a voter purge list.

During the years after the Civil War, communities of African Americans worked together throughout southeastern Texas to form what historians call freedom colonies. Research underway at Texas A&M University in Bryan-College Station aims to identify and preserve these historic black settlements.

The names of 95,000 registered voters were flagged Friday by the Texas secretary of state's office for what it said were possible issues of valid citizenship, prompting pushback and even litigation from civil rights groups. A few days later, the state office quietly called counties to let them know many of those voters names actually should not have made the list.

Updated at 7 p.m.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who was sworn into office Tuesday to begin his second term, made school finance reform and improving educational outcomes his top priorities during his inaugural address at the state Capitol.

The number of Texas school districts with policies allowing teachers and other staff to carry guns has increased almost 50 percent since a gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in May.

As the U.S. continues with a partial government shut down over the funding of a border wall, President Trump took his case straight to the American people. But some believe Trump’s argument for the wall is at odds with the realities of the southern border.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than a quarter of all Hispanic children are obese, and a San Antonio researcher has received a $3 million grant to figure out why.

Oil and gas prices are down, just in time for holiday travel. But that also means less revenue for the state. How might this impact the upcoming legislative session?

The state commission tasked with recommending ways to overhaul k-12 education funding is close to issuing a final report to Texas lawmakers.

The commission met Tuesday to discuss a preliminary draft of the report.

The connection Texas House Speaker Joe Straus shares with the 41st president goes back decades. He worked for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and then again when Bush entered the Oval Office.

Joseph Garcia sits on Texas' death row after he was convicted of the murder of Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.

On this episode of "Texas Matters," we talk to Garcia at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Livingston, just outside of Huntsville, where he is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 4. We also talk to Jeff Spivey, chief of the Irving Police Department, in remembrance of Hawkins.

Leaders of the Texas Republican Party are considering a historic vote this weekend. Their decision would ultimately provide the state party chair a salary.

On the third weekend of every month is the Austin Highway Gun Show, where there are rows of tables with vendors with guns laid out for inspection and purchase. Would-be buyers slowly stroll through the venue, gazing at the pistols, rifles, semiautomatics and shotguns.

Texas and turkeys have a strong connection.

Participation during early voting for the midterm elections is high, and the turnout might rival numbers usually seen in a presidential election year.

But what will its impact mean on election night?

Why do voters in some of Texas’ largest counties believe voting machines are switching their ballot choices? The company that made the machines and the state’s secretary of state both point to “user error.”