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Week of Feb. 6 - 10

Ice storm wreaks havoc in much of state

Residents in Central and Northeast Texas are still cleaning up after a winter storm last week snapped power lines and tree limbs, causing widespread power outages, canceled flights and damage to homes and vehicles.

At its peak, nearly 400,000 Texas households were without power, according to poweroutage.us. As of Sunday, that number had dropped to 62,456.

Week of Jan. 30 - Feb. 3

Lawmakers push $15K teacher raises

 A group of House Democrats is proposing a $15,000 raise for the state’s teachers and a 25% raise for other state employees by using some of the state’s record budget surplus. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, announced the bill last week and was joined by Democratic legislators and teachers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Week of Jan. 23 - 27

Border security, tax relief and raises top list

Week of Jan. 16 - 20

Speaker open to resort-style casinos in state

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, told The Dallas Morning News and other media outlets that he is open to bringing resort-style casinos to Texas. But don’t expect to find slot machines in 7-Eleven stores if casino gambling is legalized. 

Week of Jan. 9 - 13, 2023

What to expect in legislative session

The 2023 Texas legislative session opened Jan. 10, with property taxes, gun control and the power grid expected to be among the top issues on the agenda.

The Texas Standard talked to political journalists Niki Griswold of the Austin American-Statesman and James Barragàn of the Texas Tribune to see what might be upcoming. 

Week of Jan. 2 - 6

Editor’s Note: This is an early holiday edition of Capital Highlights. It will be updated on Sunday as events dictate. Happy New Year, everyone!

Feds investigating meltdown at Southwest Airlines

Massive flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines during the Christmas holiday week are prompting the federal government to look into why thousands of travelers were left stranded across the country, along with huge piles of luggage in airports served by the beleaguered airline.

Capital Highlights Week of Dec. 26 - 30

Note: This is an early holiday edition of Capital Highlights. It will be updated on Sunday as events dictate. Merry Christmas to all!

Winter storm called ‘once in a generation’

An arctic storm that swept through the state bringing low temperatures and high winds also affected roughly two-thirds of the country’s population, according to the National Weather Service, bringing the coldest Christmas in decades to parts of the country.

Capital Highlights Week of Dec. 19 - 23

Most Texas pregnancy deaths preventable

A long-awaited state report concludes most pregnancy-related deaths in Texas in 2019 were preventable and disproportionately affected Black women. 

Week of Dec. 12 - 16, 2022

Retiring senator named Secretary of State

Week of Dec. 5 - 9

Patrick lays out legislative priorities

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick outlined his goals for the upcoming legislative session, calling them “general concepts,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.

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