The lawsuit alleges Minnesota-based Xcel Energy failed to maintain utility poles that started the 2024 Panhandle fire that killed three people and thousands of livestock.

Local leaders see data centers, which help power the world’s shift to artificial intelligence, as a way to keep their towns open. Residents worry their way of life — and water — is at stake.

Economic uncertainty, inflation, strict state limits on property tax collections and uncertainty around future federal funds have crimped local budgets.

The legislation was written after the state’s largest wildfire scorched more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle last year.

In the year following the largest wildfire to every burn in Texas history, Texans across the state have learned many lessons.

Residents of Montgomery and San Jacinto Counties, as wildfires continue to burn, it's crucial to be aware of the potential health impacts of wildfire smoke.

A proposal to create a statewide system connecting emergency personnel and agencies is among several bills that target problems exposed in 2024.

When wildfires spark up, it doesn’t take much to turn them from a small burn into a raging inferno.

As a storm system takes shape, dangerously high winds have caused a dust storm and reduced visibilities in the Texas Panhandle.

Houston goes into Fire Weather Watch Saturday afternoon

Among the proposals is a bill that would force more inspections of power lines, which a committee concluded ignited a blaze that burned more than 1 million acres last year.

The Panhandle town of Canadian is determined to move beyond the deadly fire. And yet, they are reminded almost daily another catastrophe is possible.

Thursday evening, Houston Fire Department wildland firefighters who are deployed in Southern California held a brief online call to discuss their experiences fighting the fires in the area. HFD Senior Capt. A.J. Castillo was joined by engineer operators Jonathan Williams, Chris Mixon and Travis Hobbs.

Several prominent Amarillo business people donated to support the so-called travel ban. Meanwhile, statewide progressive groups helped the opposition.

Tuesday’s vote was a rare chance for Texans to vote directly on abortion restrictions. The state already has a near-total abortion ban.

Watch this documentary about the final run of the Canadian Record, a small-town, family-owned newspaper that closed last year.

No state agency is taking responsibility for making sure the privately built lines that power many oil and gas sites are safe. Such lines have been blamed for sparking two recent Panhandle fires.

Texas Tribune journalist Jayme Lozano Carver has written about health care for years. Most recently, she reported on how little access there is for women and new moms in the Texas Panhandle.

Local leaders of the Nurse-Family Partnership hope they can secure money to expand the program to the region’s rural areas.

A hailstone found in the Texas Panhandle could potentially break the record for the largest hailstone ever found to have fallen in Texas.

Rising temperatures intensify drought and increase costs for the heavily subsidized crop insurance program.

Short of an immediate statewide response, Texans who lost homes and livestock are taking matters into their own hands to better prepare their property for a wildfire.

Dairy farmers and veterinarians in northern Texas furiously investigated a mysterious illness among cattle before the government got involved. Farm cat deaths were the tip off.

The council has been reluctant to approve the ban since it first debated the issue last fall.

Clarendon is one of the first cities in Texas to reject the ordinance, after several cities and counties passed similar measures

The Republican senator and congressman introduced a bill that would expand a federal aid program to pay ranchers when pregnant cattle are killed in disasters.

A lack of air support and ineffective coordination hurt efforts to contain this year's Panhandle fires, the committee said.

Local officials said the public was not put in any danger and the attempts were reported to federal authorities.

In testimony to state lawmakers, Dale Jenkins and his Panhandle peers shared the “hidden cost” of the wildfires.

Thursday’s hearing marked the end of the Legislature’s three-day marathon of public hearings.

The Texas A&M Forest Service concluded that a fallen decayed utility pole caused the Smokehouse Creek fire.

A special legislative committee is investigating what caused the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in state history.

Federal officials said the nation’s milk supply should be not at risk after a bird flu outbreak hits dairies in Texas, New Mexico and Kansas.

A series of deadly wildfires have burned for nearly three weeks, destroying farms and ranches in several counties.

As ranchers recover from the Smokehouse Creek fire, they face the agonizing choice of what to do with an unknown number of injured cattle.

The panel of three lawmakers and two residents will also look at disaster preparedness.

As crews fight to keep deadly blazes under control, weather conditions could increase risk of more fires.

Hemphill County Judge Lisa Johnson said the region has been overwhelmed with the response of support, but work remains.

Experts say utilities need to be ready for extreme weather, which could be a challenge in a state where discussing climate change is often taboo.

Gov. Greg Abbott is holding a news conference on Tuesday to provide an update on the efforts to contain the Smokehouse Creek Fire and other wildfires in Texas.

Rural Texans are more than twice as likely to go without homeowners insurance than their urban peers.

The full scope of damage still isn’t known, but some Panhandle residents have returned home. Firefighters continue battling the infernos.

Planes have dropped fire retardant over the northern Texas Panhandle as firefighters are continuing efforts to stamp out the largest wildfire in state history.

As several wildfires continue to burn in the Texas Panhandle, many people have the same question: Why aren’t firefighters using planes and helicopters?

A firefighter in the Texas Panhandle came home to find his house engulfed in flames by the same fire he’s fighting.

As firefighters work on their fifth straight day of trying to put out wildfires burning in the Texas Panhandle, the race is on to beat a weather forecast that favors wildfires burning uncontrollably.

Ranchers in the fire-scarred Texas Panhandle are facing a grim task of disposing possibly thousands of dead cattle killed by smoke and flames.

Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought.

Get the latest updates as firefighters continue battling massive fires that have burned more than 1 million acres.

Texas has a wildfire season in winter, but climate change is extending it, scientists say.

The largest wildfire ever to burn in the State of Texas continues its path of destruction across the Texas Panhandle.

RodeoHouston stands with the ranchers and livestock affected by the devastating Texas Panhandle wildfires. #SupportTexasPanhandle #RodeoHouston

The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake.

Flames continue to burn through the Texas Panhandle. The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned over a million acres, the largest recorded fire in Texas history.

"Please spare a prayer for their safety and safe return home to Houston"

Wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle have been growing at a staggering rate, resulting in widespread evacuations.

60 counties affected

The Amarillo Area Foundation is funding new day care facilities in Friona and Claude after the towns found that a shortage of child care is making it harder to fill job openings.

A handful of local governments have already put the legally dubious bans in place. The news that Amarillo will take the issue up again comes shortly after a Dallas woman left the state for an abortion after losing a legal battle to obtain one here.

The region that includes Amarillo, a Panhandle city of more than 200,000 people, and surrounding towns has long been a mental health care desert. Officials hope a new $159 million hospital can help reduce a massive spike in suicide attempts.

Police say one arrest has been made and others are expected after a man was killed and three others were injured when multiple people pulled guns and shots were fired during a fight in a small city in the Texas Panhandle.

The Amarillo Republican has led six committees and was among the rural GOP members to oppose school voucher proposals.

Communities from Houston to New Orleans are opening cooling centers to bring relief as steamy hot temperatures settle across a broad swath of the U.S. South.

More than 100 people were injured in the tornado that hit the Panhandle town. Gov. Greg Abbott sent emergency crews to assist with recovery efforts.

Three people have been killed after a tornado tore through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton, leaving dozens more injured widespread damage.

On the eve of a historic investment in connecting the Lone Star State, advocates worry maps that will help establish which communities get funding have bad information.

Investigators say the fire was an accident and started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck.

State investigators determined that a fire and explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle was an accident that started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck.

A man who filed a lawsuit in Texas against three women he said helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion is accused in a new court filing of using the lawsuit as an extension of the manipulative, controlling and emotionally abusive behavior he displayed toward her during their marriage.

The women are accused of helping their friend terminate her pregnancy, but they now claim her ex-husband, who brought the lawsuit, knew she had obtained the medication and did nothing to stop her.

The end of The Canadian Record’s print edition — even if temporary — is another indication of how perilous the news business is for local publishers and the communities they’re a part of.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out this spring. More than a dozen areas are under voluntary or mandatory water use restrictions, and more than 200 Texas counties have been designated as crop disaster areas.

She will cover the Panhandle and South Plains through Report for America. She previously reported for Texas Tech Public Media.

Ongoing La Niña conditions have brought warm, dry weather and deepened drought conditions across the state.

The nation’s second-largest canyon, Palo Duro remains almost completely hidden until you reach its rim, where the high plains of the Texas Panhandle drop away, revealing dramatic, caprock formations.

Sarah M. Vasquez for The Texas TribuneEnough people to pack the bleachers at Faith Christians football stadium in Grapevine. By the state's official count, the coronavirus pandemic has now killed 2,029 people in Texas, a toll experts agree is an undercount. Connecticut, a state with one-eighth of Texas population, is mourning twice as many known fatalities. Most Texans died where most Texans live, state data show. The state health department has collected only limited data about them, reporting demographic information for just 664 lost Texans.

The Devils Rope Museum and its plain-spoken founder, Delbert Trew, tell those stories and a whole lot more. Joseph Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, introduced barbed wire to the world in 1874 with a design that could be mass-produced in a factory. When barbed wire was introduced, it was very vicious and it caused lots of injuries to cattle, horses, and people. City people, he says, have little appreciation for how barbed wire civilized the Great Plains and the western United States. Somebody said, Hey, if barbed wire can do this for cattle, think of what else it could do.Ingenuity, technology, industry, and geography are all part of the barbed wire story, it turns out.

Your first time in Canyon, you’ll be forgiven for wondering where this Panhandle community of about 15,000 gets its name. He moved into Palo Duro Canyon Estates, a small residential development overlooking the canyon south of State Highway 217. Keep an eye on the clock, though, because you’ll want to return to Doves Rest and the canyon rim by sunset. Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle. At the state park, an $8 entrance fee gives access to gorgeous picnic areas and about 50 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.