“To fight screwworm, the U.S. is opening a South Texas facility to disperse sterile flies” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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McALLEN — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ramping up efforts to fight the spread of New World screwworm across the southern border by opening a sterile fly dispersal facility in South Texas.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a plan to combat the threat of the parasitic insect that includes investing $8.5 million to build a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg. It is expected to open in six months.

The screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets warm-blooded animals and has the potential to disrupt Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry.

The facility will help distribute the organisms used to combat the screwworm: sterile flies. Sterile male screwworm flies mate with fertile female screwworms that produce non-viable eggs until the population dies out.

Panama is home to the only facility in the world that produces sterile screwworm flies, producing about 117 million flies per week. Another facility in Mexico will be renovated to produce an additional 60-100 million sterile flies per week, a $21 million investment from the USDA. The larvae produced at those sites will be flown to Edinburg in the Rio Grande Valley, where they will finish growing. When they’re ready, they will be distributed to areas in Mexico to combat the screwworm.

“We have defeated the screwworm before and we will do it again,” Rollins said during a news conference in Edinburg on Wednesday. “We want to keep this production going as we apply full force to stopping the screwworm from spreading north and getting closer to our border.”

Screwworm has already spread through Central America, with recent detections as far north as Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, 700 miles away from the Texas-Mexico border.

To mitigate the spread into the U.S., the USDA temporarily closed the southern border to imports of live cattle, horses and bison in May. This has limited the supply of cattle, driving up their cost.

Screwworm was largely eradicated in the U.S. in the 1960s with the use of sterile flies to kill off the screwworm fly population. At that time, Moore Air Base served as a fly dispersal facility and will be revived as such under the USDA plan.

Rollins added the department is exploring opening a sterile fly production facility at the air base to complement the dispersal facility and provide an additional 300 million sterile flies per week. However, the construction of this new production facility would take two to three years.

Federal lawmakers have pushed for a new sterile fly rearing and dispersal facility.

U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico introduced legislation to fund such a facility, and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio is leading a similar bill in the House.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, introduced a bill directing the USDA to conduct a study and report strategies to enhance preparedness and response capabilities against potential outbreaks of the New World Screwworm.

As part of their current plan, USDA is partnering with Texas animal health officials to finalize emergency management plans and stockpile therapeutics. They are also investing in research to develop new treatments, preventive methods and new response strategies.

The Texas Department of Agriculture is also working with the USDA to inspect trucks entering the state for disease, pestilence and insects.

Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner, said the state is working on obtaining a permit to inject cattle feed with parasiticide. He also said the department set aside $250,000 for fly traps that will be set along the Rio Grande that can alert officials of the spread of screwworm into Texas before infections occur in the state.

Miller added he spoke with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who serves as the president of the Texas Senate, and Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows to add screwworm to their list of priorities for the next legislative session.

“We’re kind of the tip of the spear when it comes to the screwworm,” Miller said. “We want to be ready should this insect infect Texas.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-screwworm-facility-brooke-rollins/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

The post U.S. will fight screwworm from South Texas appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article from the Texas Tribune presents a factual and straightforward account of government actions to combat the spread of screwworms along the Texas-Mexico border. It features quotes and legislative initiatives from officials across the political spectrum, including Republicans Brooke Rollins, John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Monica De La Cruz, and Democrats like Ben Ray Luján. The reporting avoids charged language or ideological framing, instead focusing on agricultural policy, public health, and economic impact. The inclusion of bipartisan cooperation and policy detail supports a neutral tone, characteristic of centrist reporting.

SUMMARY: The Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors in a 6–3 decision, marking a major shift in transgender rights. Chief Justice John Roberts ruled the law doesn’t violate the Equal Protection Clause, using a low standard of judicial review. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying the court failed to protect transgender youth. The decision paves the way for similar laws in 26 states. Critics call it a devastating setback, while supporters, including Tennessee officials, praised it as a victory. The ruling comes amid broader efforts to restrict transgender rights in sports, health care, and public spaces nationwide.

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The post Supreme Court OKs Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for kids, a setback for transgender rights appeared first on www.kxan.com

“Analysis: The 2025 Texas Senate, from right to left” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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The Texas Senate’s roll-call votes during this year’s regular legislative session allow us to once again rank the 31 senators from the conservative to liberal ends of the Senate’s ideological spectrum — in relation to each other.

[Analysis: The 2025 Texas House, from right to left]

Republicans

The 20 Republican senators fall into five general groups on the ideological spectrum.

At the most conservative end are two senators, Bryan Hughes of Mineola and Mayes Middleton of Galveston. Hughes is significantly more conservative than all of his 19 Republican colleagues and Middleton is significantly more conservative than all but two of his Republican colleagues.

A second group of four Republican senators ranges from Kevin Sparks of Midland and Brandon Creighton of Conroe to Brent Hagenbuch of Denton and Bob Hall of Edgewood. Their scores render them essentially tied. All four of these senators are significantly more conservative than at least three-fifths of their fellow Republican senators.

Two Republican senators, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham and Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, occupy a position between the above-mentioned quartet and the group of 11 Republican senators closer to the GOP median discussed below. Kolkhorst and Hancock both are significantly more conservative than eight other GOP senators.

The largest group of Republicans (11 total) is centered on the delegation median, and ranges from Charles Schwertner of Georgetown on one end to Angela Paxton of McKinney on the other. The senators in this group are neither significantly more nor less conservative than each other. The principal (albeit still modest) exceptions are Schwertner, who is significantly more conservative than three senators in this group, and Paxton, who is significantly less conservative than three senators in this group. The two median Republican senators, Adam Hinojosa of Corpus Christi and Tan Parker of Flower Mound, belong to this group, with equal numbers of Republican senators more conservative, and less conservative, than this duo.

At the least conservative end of the GOP ideological spectrum is a single senator, Robert Nichols of Jacksonville. Nichols is significantly less conservative than all 19 of his Republican colleagues. Nichols’ is still however significantly more conservative than the most conservative Democratic senator.

Democrats

The 11 Democratic senators fall into four general groups in regard to their location on the ideological spectrum.

At the most liberal end of the Democratic ideological continuum are two senators, Molly Cook of Houston and Sarah Eckhardt of Austin. Both are significantly more liberal than all of the nine other Democrats.

The largest group of Democrats is centered on the Democratic delegation’s median. This group of five senators ranges from Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio to Nathan Johnson of Dallas. With one minor exception, none of these five senators are significantly more or less liberal than another member of this quintet. The one exception is Gutierrez is significantly more liberal than Johnson, and vice versa. The median Democratic senator, Carol Alvarado of Houston, belongs to this group, with half of the Democratic delegation less liberal, and half more liberal, than Alvarado.

Two senators, Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Royce West of Dallas, occupy a position to the right of the above-mentioned group of five, but to the left of the two most conservative Democratic senators discussed below. Zaffirini and West are significantly more conservative than seven of their fellow Democrats and significantly more liberal than two of their fellow Democrats.

At the least liberal end of the Democratic ideological continuum are two senators, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen and César Blanco of El Paso. They are significantly more conservative than all of their fellow Democrats, with Hinojosa being significantly more conservative than Blanco. Hinojosa is still however significantly more liberal than the least conservative Republican senator.

Methodology

Political scientists have for decades used roll-call votes cast by members of the U.S. Congress to map their places on the Liberal-Conservative scale along which most legislative politics now takes place. This ranking of the Texas Senate, which has been conducted biennially since 2011, does the same by drawing on the 2,070 non-lopsided (where at least two senators are on the losing side) roll-call votes taken during the 2025 regular session.

As with previous rankings conducted in 2023 (post-special session), 2023, 2021 (post-special session), 2019, 2017 (post-special session), 2015, 2013 and 2011, this 2025 regular session analysis uses a Bayesian estimation procedure belonging to political science’s gold standard for roll-call vote analysis.

The senators are ranked from most liberal to most conservative (compared to each other) based on their Liberal-Conservative Scores, with the 95% credible interval (CI) for this point estimate also provided. If two senators’ CIs overlap, their positions on the ideological spectrum might be statistically equivalent, even if their Lib-Con Scores are different.

In no case in 2025 did the CI of a Republican senator overlap with that of a Democratic senator, indicating that every Republican is significantly more conservative than every Democrat, and every Democrat is significantly more liberal than every Republican.

Mark P. Jones is the Political Science Fellow at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Disclosure: James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and Rice University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer.

Get tickets.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-senate-conservative-liberal-ranking-legislature/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

The post Analysis: The 2025 Texas Senate, from right to left appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article from The Texas Tribune provides a data-driven analysis of ideological rankings among Texas state senators, based on their roll-call voting records. It avoids emotionally charged language or partisan framing and presents the findings in a methodical, academic tone. The piece does not advocate for any political position but rather explains how senators align relative to each other ideologically. It relies on established political science methodology and includes transparent sourcing and disclosures. This adherence to factual reporting and neutrality in tone supports a centrist rating, focused on information rather than persuasion.