It’s the time of year for people in the newspaper industry to come together for camaraderie, education, information and fun. It’s time to sign up for your favorite press association conferences.
By LISA CHAPPELL, 2025-26 TPA President
Primary turnout smashes recent midterm records
Texans urged to heed travel warnings about Mexico
This is an early bulldog edition of Capital Highlights to accommodate early holiday deadlines. It will be updated on Sunday if needed.
Paxton, Crockett leading in primary polls
If the Chinese New Year is a predictor, 2026 will be a year of remarkable change for the newspaper industry. Some even say it is written in the stars.
By Leonard Woolsey, past TPA president
“This is going to be an amazing year,” a friend and fellow publisher said. “2026 is the rare Chinese year of the Fire Horse.”
It is hard to believe that I’m in the second semester of my fifth year at Tarleton State.
It has been the pleasure of my life serving as director of the Texas Center Community Journalism. This is my dream job, and I look forward to doing it for years and decades to come.
By Austin Lewter, director, Texas Center for Community Journalism
Are you stressed out? Of course you are. We’re in the newspaper business, and stress comes with the territory.
By LISA CHAPPELL, 2025-26 TPA President
It’s become a lifestyle for many of us — operating on coffee and fumes, burning the candle at both ends. We wear burnout like a badge of honor, always working harder and barely coming up for air. But in reality we’re only hurting ourselves, our newspapers and our employees.
Note to editors: Due to the President's Day holiday on Monday, Feb. 16, the Capital Highlights Column for the week of Feb. 16 - 20 will be released early Friday afternoon, Feb. 13.
Early voting begins Feb. 17
Early voting in the March 3 primary begins Monday, Feb. 17 and concludes on Friday, Feb. 27. A full slate of contested races will be on the ballots in both Republican and Democratic primaries. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Feb. 20, according to votetexas.gov.
At least 11 dead in state after winter storm
At least 11 people have died in Texas, nearly half of them children, after Winter Storm Fern swept the state last week, the Texas Standard reported. Among those killed were three young brothers who fell through ice on a private pond near Bonham, about 60 miles northeast of Texas. In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, two teens died after a sledding accident. They were riding on a sled being pulled by a vehicle.
Power grid holds up during wintry blast
The electricity grid that covers most of Texas was holding up as of Sunday during the latest winter storm, although localized power outages were reported in Deep East Texas and far West Texas.