Health

As the summer sun intensifies, so does the risk of skin cancer. Our student reporter Sean Ryan has advice from a dermatologist at Texas Tech Physicians about skin protection and early warning signs. Meanwhile, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing a rule that would shift how emissions grant funding is distributed. KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports on growing criticism that the change would do little to reduce air pollution.

The last day of Texas' 2025 legislative session is here. After 140 days at the Capitol in Austin, the Texas Legislature has passed more than 3,400 bills and resolutions. Here's a look at some of the most significant items that — barring a veto from Gov. Greg Abbott — could soon become law.

Lawmakers also continued funding for a farmer suicide prevention hotline.

Dallas and Tarrant counties have confirmed their first mosquito samples positive for West Nile virus this year. KERA’s Katherine Hobbs has tips for Texans to avoid the disease this summer. Experts say Texas could be down to the last minute for getting ahead of a statewide water crisis, and the response from Texas lawmakers has passed just as the legislative session draws to a close.

June is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, for aging patients as well as formal and unpaid caregivers across West Texas and the country, the struggle brings reminders every day.

This Memorial Day, our Samantha Larned has tips and recommendations from the USDA to make sure backyard barbeques stay safe. Texas has already seen temperatures hitting over 100 degrees this summer. And Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports that medical experts are warning about the dangers of extreme heat for pregnancies.

Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated.

State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) introduced the floor amendment that transformed Senate Bill 3 – which would have regulated and taxed THC-containing products while leaving many of them legal – back into the complete prohibition initially passed by the Senate.

Hodges Elementary School shut its doors for good this weekend, one of three Lubbock ISD schools being consolidated. Our Bishop Van Buren attended Hodges' farewell event on Saturday and reports on the school's legacy. The Texas Senate unanimously passed legislation offering free cancer screenings to firefighters. It now goes to the governor's desk for final approval.

Gilbert Handal witnessed the devastating toll of measles on children in a Chilean hospital before the vaccine. Now, he warns of the dangers of forgetting that past.