KUT Staff

Today, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee will hear testimony on two bills that would restrict bathroom access based on the gender given to someone at birth.

The Texas Legislature has gaveled in for a 30-day session focusing on 20 items, but the battle to pass as little of that legislation as possible has already begun.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that he's running for a second term, four years to the day after he announced his initial run for governor.

President Trump is in Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. He was invited to take part in Bastille Day celebrations and to mark the 100th anniversary of American troops coming to aid France during World War I. 

Voters in the Austin Independent School District will decide this November on a $1 billion-plus bond package to partially fund a comprehensive building maintenance and upgrade plan. 

A federal judge in San Antonio is hearing arguments today in a lawsuit filed by several cities, including Austin, seeking to block enforcement of the state's new anti-sanctuary cities law, Senate Bill 4. 

It’s not over yet.

Despite a long and contentious regular session, Gov. Greg Abbott says lawmakers aren’t quite done in 2017. In a far-reaching decree, the governor called lawmakers back to Austin for a special session starting on July 18.

Abbott’s priority is for the House and Senate to address “sunset” provisions to keep the lights on at certain state agencies, like the Texas Medical Board. Aside from that, the rest of the governor’s special session agenda covers everything from tree removal to texting while driving to bathroom regulation.

The city celebrated the end of slavery in Texas with its annual Juneteenth parade in East Austin on Saturday.

A dog in Travis County has tested positive for canine flu. The case here is one of five cases statewide being monitored by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. The other cases are in Harris County and Hood County.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election.

President Trump held a press conference Friday with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The remarks were Trump's first live, on-camera statements since the damning testimony James Comey gave Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

Former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier today. Comey's testimony addressed his firing at the hands of President Trump and shed light on their relationship in his last days as the chief of the FBI.

Comey accused the White House of "lies, plain and simple" and expressed concern about Trump's attempts to sway the FBI's investigations into the administration's potential Russian ties. 

Now, Trump's personal attorney is responding to the testimony. Watch a livestream of his comments above. 

Former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee this morning. Comey was fired on May 9, after leading the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties between Russian intelligence and associates of President Donald Trump. 

Gov. Greg Abbott has called for a special session of the Texas Legislature to begin July 18.

"Considering all the successes of the 85th legislative session, we should not be where we are today," he said. "A special session was entirely avoidable, and there was plenty of time for the Legislature to forge compromises to avoid the time and taxpayer expense of a special session."

The City of Austin was selected to receive two grants totaling $300,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help clean up brownfields, unused land that may be contaminated with hazardous chemicals.

Hundreds of protesters in red T-shirts gathered at the Capitol on Monday to protest passage of Senate Bill 4, the "sanctuary cities" law. As they were chanting their opposition to the law, a state representative said he called federal immigration agents, leading to a scuffle between lawmakers.

Austin singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave died Sunday, just days after joining many stars of the city's folk music community to celebrate his life. He was 61.

LaFave was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer last year. A note posted on Facebook by his label, Music Roads Records, said he died at his home surrounded by loved ones.

According to the posting:

President Trump is scheduled to address leaders from dozens of Arab and Muslim-majority nations at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh.  This is his first foreign trip since being inaugurated in January. 

Prosecutors will begin giving out letters to some undocumented witnesses and victims that could potentially shield them from deportation, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said Thursday.

President Donald Trump reportedly leaked "highly classified" intelligence to Russian officials during a meeting in the Oval Office last week.

The American Civil Liberties Union has issued an advisory for people planning to travel to Texas in response to the "sanctuary cities" bill Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Sunday.

The advisory cautions people traveling to Texas to "anticipate the possible violation of their constitutional rights when stopped by law enforcement."