David Martin Davies

More from the Democratic National Convention from TPR's Ryan Loyd. Is Texas on the verge of being a fertile ground for Democratic candidates? The Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg shares his thoughts on future elections in Texas. An update on the Texas juvenile justice system five years since the scandal broke at the Texas Youth Commission.

Democratic National Convention - Mayor Julián Castro

Tuesday night San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro stepped into the national spotlight by delivering the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The prime time spot at the convention has turned Castro into a national political figure and has spurred talk that he’ll soon seek a statewide elected office. However, Texas has not elected a democrat to a statewide office since 1997.

The Waco State Home was established as the State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children by the Thirty-sixth Legislature in 1919. It was in operation until 1979. Anglo children adjudged by district courts to be neglected were declared wards of the state of Texas, and they were admitted to the home for care, education, and training.

At San Antonio's Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, Marabel Vasquez is monkeying around—but that's her job. She is the chimpanzees' behavioral specialist at the private research facility. She visits with the chimps, provides environmental enrichment and assesses their social dynamics.

On this January morning, it's overcast and 38 degrees, but the chimps brave the cold. Many are outside in their enclosed play area and welcome Marabel with hoots.

It looked like the opening of the television show "M*A*S*H" —a helicopter flying over a mountainscape carrying a passenger in need of care.

Personnel run out to meet the chopper, grab the patient and get to work. 

But this is in West Texas at the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area, and the patients are desert bighorn sheep.  

“This is why I got into this business in the first place. It's landscape-level conservation is what it is,” said Mike Hill, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Fort Davis Regional Director. 

You might not be aware that Texas has an official state railroad, but it does. And for sometime, people have wondered how long that will be the case. The Texas State Railroad, which runs between Palestine and Rusk in East Texas, has been through some hard times and was almost shut down. Now it appears the Texas State Railroad is on the right track.

• Learn more about the railroad online at: www.texasstaterr.com

With illegal immigration, drug trafficking and a possible wall, the U.S./Mexico border is a hotbed of news. Americans need to make decisions about these problems and they are going to need reliable reporting from the border; however, that information is getting harder to come by because journalism on the border is becoming an ever-increasing dangerous occupation.