Environment

Ector County has issued a disaster declaration in response to pollution from a recent chemical fire at an industrial facility outside of Odessa. KERA’s Katherine Hobbs reports that the Texas Civil War Museum will close its doors in October. And Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer will be holding Coffee with the Mayor, beginning with District 1 on Wednesday at 7 a.m.

Our reporter Brad Burt has more on how a joint arrest effort involving federal and local law enforcement has officials highlighting the issue of stolen guns and a need for responsible gun ownership. And the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has received complaints about smoke from underground smoldering at the site of buried debris from Lubbock’s 1970 tornado.

Dove-hunting season is underway and experts say hunting the bird is vital for wildlife conservation, KERA's Toluwani Osibamowo reports. And a group of Democratic state senators has asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate allegations of voting rights violations in Texas. Texas Public Radio's Marrian Navarro explains.

Texas Public Radio’s Jack Morgan explains how the San Antonio Zoo is partnering with zoo in Miami to raise and release a beloved Texas reptile back into the wild.

Yesterday’s budget work session with the city council saw a new recommendation from city management to approach the issue with private sewer line repairs in the public right-of-way. And multiple Odessa residents are seeking millions of dollars in damages after they say an industrial facility chemical fire last month forced them from their homes and polluted their drinking water.

UPS workers and union leaders are calling on the company to better protect workers from extreme heat. KERA’s Penelope Rivera reports the union held a rally outside last week to demand AC in delivery cars. And with heat-related illnesses and deaths on the rise, a handful of Texas cities are looking for ways to address urban heat islands.

Despite an August of brutal heat, Texans have not been asked to conserve electricity like they were last year.

The Lubbock Police Department provided an update on Sunday's officer-involved shooting, the third the city has seen this year. And researchers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas are studying wastewater injection from oil and gas drilling to better predict earthquakes.

On a Crane County ranch, about 90 wells have been excavated over the last few years. The group digging them up says many were improperly plugged and are now decaying and releasing fluids and gases.