Your weekend is here, Texas, and it’s time to take a look back at some of the stories that were in our headlines this week.
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The Week in Review
1. Highlighting new Texas laws that went into effect on Jan. 1
This was a big year for Texas politics with one regular and two special legislative sessions at the state capitol.
Some of the new laws created in 2025 took effect on Jan. 1, and they range in topic from AI to tax relief and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
2. Officials confirm missing San Antonio woman died by suicide
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has officially identfied a body found in a field in San Antonio as 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos, who went missing on Christmas Eve.
The medical examiner ruled the manner of death a suicide and the cause of death a gunshot wound to the head.
3. Texas app store age verification law blocked by federal judge
Senate Bill 2420, also known as The App Store Accountability Act, has been blocked by a federal judge after a series of lawsuits.
The law, which would have gone into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, would have required app users to verify their age and, according to the bill, categorize the apps by age group, with the exception of apps related to emergency services. It also would have made users submit official government ID to verify age.
4. Texas sees a spike in flu cases
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the number of cases of the flu is increasing sharply across the country. It also shows Texas in the “high” category for flu activity. While it’s not one of the states at the “very high” level, doctors said the rate in Texas is still concerning.
5. Texas bin store, bargain hunters cash in on holiday gift returns
Holiday gift return season is still in full effect, with retailers receiving excess returns and selling them to discount stores. Bargain hunters and wholesalers are collecting some of those returns at bin shops like Big D Discount in North Dallas.
Around the Nation
1. Swiss investigators believe sparkling flares atop wine bottles ignited fatal bar fire
Forty people were killed and another 119 injured in the blaze as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana while revelers were celebrating New Year’s Eve, authorities said.
A Look Ahead
An uprooted tree holds debris after the flood, along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, July 5, 2025. (Spectrum News 1/Lauren Kendrick)
The six-month anniversary of the Fourth of July floods in Central Texas is Sunday.