María Méndez | The Texas Tribune
María Méndez reports for Texas Public Radio from the border city of Laredo where she covers business issues from an area that is now the nation’s top trade hub. She knows Texas well. Méndez has reported on the state’s diverse communities and tumultuous politics through internships at the Austin American-Statesman, The Texas Tribune and The Dallas Morning News. She also participated in NPR’s Next Generation Radio program while studying at the University of Texas at Austin. At UT, she wrote for The Daily Texan and helped launch diversity initiatives, including two collaborative series on undocumented and first-generation college students. One of her stories for these series won an award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She spent the last year reporting for The Dallas Morning News as a summer breaking news intern and then as a fellow in the paper’s capital bureau in Austin. She is a native of Guanajuato in Central Mexico.
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From election equipment to ballot counting and storage, Texas elections officials follow a long list of laws and procedures to ensure free and fair elections. -
Early voting runs from Monday, Oct. 24, to Friday, Nov. 4. The last day to apply to vote by mail is Friday, Oct. 28. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
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Medical professionals across the state have expressed confusion over what care they can provide amid Texas’ abortion ban, leading to some patients allegedly receiving delayed care or being turned away.
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Doctors and legal experts say Texas’ anti-abortion laws haven’t yet affected fertility treatments, and it appears an unlikely target for anti-abortion groups in the state.
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Officials have called for more armed officers on campuses in the wake of the Uvalde shooting. Experts and some parents, though, say more law enforcement on campus doesn’t necessarily make schools safer.
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Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Here are some ways people across the world can help the grieving community of Uvalde in the aftermath.
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Texas requires schools to have emergency plans and conduct safety drills. But a lot of decisions about safety are left to school districts and charter schools.
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Here’s a rundown of immigration and other news from the Texas border and beyond.
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'No Easy Answer': Biden Vows To Take In Migrant Children, But Says Most Families Will Be Turned AwayBiden announced plans to speed up the processing of migrant children traveling alone to the United States, but said his policy of returning most families to Mexico remains unchanged.
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The Biden administration officially plans to use military bases in San Antonio and El Paso to house a growing number of unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody. It has also considered using Bexar County buildings.
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Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Congressman Henry Cuellar visited a facility for child migrants in Carrizo Springs Friday before meeting with leaders in Laredo to discuss the increasing number of migrants arriving at the border.
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Abbott detailed the state’s increased law enforcement presence in the area and critiqued President Joe Biden's immigration policies. He also doubled down against federal aid for border communities taking in and testing a rising number of migrants.
