The Texas Tribune

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday handed a victory to farmers, ranchers and other longstanding water rights holders by declining to take up a Brazos River case with widespread implications for future water battles in drought-prone Texas.

CIUDAD JUÁREZ - In the days leading up to Pope Francis’s scheduled arrival to this gritty industrial city once known as one of the world’s deadliest, the energy – and agendas – can’t go unnoticed.

For Jose González, it’s a chance to spotlight the need for immigration reform. For Jeff Katt, it’s an opportunity to tell people church and rosary beads aren’t necessarily the way to salvation.

Early voting starts Tuesday in Texas, and the races for the presidential nominations are not — in spite of all that noise they’re making — the only contests on the ballot. Here are the most competitive contests for state and federal seats on the state ballot. *

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment.

Texas A&M University is conducting an investigation after a group of students visiting campus from an inner-city Dallas high school were harassed Tuesday with racial slurs and a demand to "go back where you came from."

A record number of people wrongly convicted of crimes were exonerated in 2015, with 42 wrongful convictions in Harris County drug cases boosting the nationwide tally to 149, according to the National Registry of Exonerations' annual report.

The report shows that most exonerations, 105, were in homicide and drug cases. Texas led in overall exonerations with 54, followed in distant second by New York with 17. Last year's record barely exceeds the 139 exonerations documented in 2014.

Citing an increasingly diversified Texas economy, former Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday defended the “Texas Miracle” — the decade of rapid growth during his 14-year tenure — and said there’s no reason for undue concern about the plummeting price of oil.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment.

Republican John Lujan defeated Democrat Tomas Uresti in a special election runoff Tuesday in Texas House District 118 in San Antonio.

With 100% of precincts counted, Lujan had 52.38 percent to Uresti’s 47.62 percent. The margin of victory was 171 votes out of 3,601 cast, with a voter turnout of just 4.12 percent. As of late Tuesday night, Lujan’s campaign said Uresti had not yet called to concede the race.

State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, has submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Greg Abbott, effective Jan. 31, the governor's office confirmed Tuesday.