At Least 11 Dead in State After Winter Storm

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By GARY BORDERS Texas Press Association

At least 11 people have died in Texas, nearly half of them children, after Winter Storm Fern swept the state last week, the Texas Standard reported. Among those killed were three young brothers who fell through ice on a private pond near Bonham, about 60 miles northeast of Texas. In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, two teens died after a sledding accident. They were riding on a sled being pulled by a vehicle.

Several unhoused people died of exposure in Austin, Houston and Fort Worth, according to reports. Nationally, the storm has killed at least 50 people.

Nearly five years after Winter Storm Uri overwhelmed the state’s power grid and left millions without electricity, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas noted the grid held, though localized outages were reported, especially in East Texas, where at one point more than 91,000 customers were without power. Those outages were largely due to ice accumulation and downed lines.

The storm forced nearly 2,400 flight cancellations at airports in Dallas, Houston and Austin.

No New H-1B Visas for Universities, Agencies Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered universities and state agencies to stop asking for new H-1B visas until next year., the Houston Chronicle reported. The visas are used to hire foreign workers who possess skills in a specialized field. The visas typically last for three years.

Abbott said the H-1B program has “too often been used to fill jobs that otherwise could — and should — have been filled by Texans.” The order says no state agency of public university or college can petition for new H-1B workers with the written permission of the Texas Workforce Commission. It does not apply to public schools in Texas, which rely on the visas to fill teacher vacancies.

The order is in effect at least until the Texas Legislature meets next January, when it is expected to consider “guardrails” for the program.

Charles Foster, a Houston immigration attorney, said the visas are used to recruit top talent in competitive technical and medical fields. “You cut off the H-1B, you cut off the line by which the best and the brightest can immigrate,” he said. “We’re just hurting ourselves.”

State’s Population Grows at Slower Rate 

Census data released last week shows the state’s population growth slowed significantly, though Texas still led the country in adding new residents, The Texas Tribune reported. The state added 391,243 residents in 2025, a 1.2% growth rate – the slowest clip since 2021.

Much of the slowdown comes from a steep reduction in the number of immigrants moving to Texas, driven in part by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The number of newcomers from other countries dropped by 48% from the previous year, with 167,475 moving to Texas.

“I think the implication is our economic growth isn’t probably going to be as hearty as what we’ve seen historically,” said Lloyd Potter, the state demographer.