Texas first state to mandate Bible reading in school

Rural counties face hurdles in regulating data centers 

Rural counties trying to slow or even block data center construction are finding they have limited legal authority, the Texas Standard reported. Hill County, for example, rescinded a one-year moratorium on data center construction after being sued for $100 million by a company planning a large-scale data center project near Hillsboro. 

Gains seen in all subjects on STAAR tests

Texas high school students showed improvement in every subject in this spring’s end-of-course STAAR exams, the Texas Education Agency reported.

The results include assessments in Algebra I, English I, English II, biology and U.S. history. The biggest improvement was in biology, with 71% of students meeting expectations, up 9%.

It is so hard to believe we are here at TPA Conference month, which also means the end of my tenure as your TPA president.

Time goes by so fast, too fast. I really had no idea what to expect for this year. 

As I sit here and reflect, my first thought is that it really was truly an honor, privilege and a joy to serve all of you, as well as TPA as an institution. 

By LISA CHAPPELL, TPA President, 2025-26

Screwworm detection prompts disaster declaration

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide disaster declaration late last week after the New World screwworm was found in two calves in South Texas, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Paxton hopes to unify Republicans after runoff

EDITORS —  This is an early bulldog edition of Capital Highlights to accommodate early holiday deadlines. It will be updated on Sunday if needed.

State’s wind projects at a standstill

Dozens of Texas wind projects have been halted because the Department of Defense has not approved the federal permits required for them to move forward, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Early voting in runoffs ends Friday

Early voting in both the Democratic and Republican runoff races ends Friday, May 22, with the election on Tuesday, May 26.

On the GOP side, the statewide runoffs are:

• U.S. Senate: John Cornyn and Ken Paxton
• Texas attorney general: Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy
• Texas Railroad Commission: Jim Wright and Bo French
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3: Alison Fox and Thomas Smith

The statewide Democratic runoffs are:

A legendary Texas newspaper publisher once told me, “Community newspapers will continue to exist as long as there are those willing to staff them.” 

This was a dozen years ago, and he saw the writing on the wall then. It was getting harder to hire young talent into the industry. 

Today, the problem persists. That is why I’ve dedicated my work to bridging the generational gap among journalists. 

By Austin Lewter, director Texas Center for Community Journalism

In the last few weeks I felt inspired and full of hope about the future of journalism and newspapers in general. It came from a most unexpected place.

I recently attended both the NETPA conference and the STPA / TGCPA conference. The speakers were all quite good, the discussions were helpful and enjoyable. It was all wonderful, but what blew me away were the young people who attended. 

By LISA CHAPPELL, TPA President 2025-2026