About CenTex Press
Different voices. One community.
CenTex Press was created from a simple belief: local news should belong to the community it serves.
Central Texas is growing and changing quickly. Decisions made in city halls, commissioners courts, school board rooms and public agencies affect our taxes, water bills, neighborhoods, businesses and families. Yet too often, residents hear about those decisions after they have already been made, or they are left trying to make sense of government documents written in language few people have time to decipher.
I wanted to build something different.
Why I Created CenTex Press
My name is Marimer Cruz-Nieves, but most people know me as Mari.
Long before CenTex Press, I was a student of history. I earned a bachelor's degree in History and later a Master of Divinity from Baylor University. Those may seem like very different paths, but both taught me something that has stayed with me: ask questions, examine the evidence, understand the context, and never forget the people behind the story.
My involvement in local issues began much more simply.
I started paying attention.
I read agendas. Then budgets. Then audits, ordinances, contracts, tax documents and public records. I attended meetings. I asked questions. And the more I learned, the more questions I had.
I also discovered something important: many of my neighbors had the same questions.
They wanted to understand where their tax dollars were going. They wanted to know what their elected officials were voting on. They wanted government decisions explained without needing to become experts in municipal finance or spend hours digging through meeting packets.
That work eventually became Coryell County Scoop, where I began sharing documents, meeting information and local issues with the community.
CenTex Press is the next chapter.
Why Another Local Newsroom?
Because Central Texas deserves more local reporting, not less.
And because journalism does not have to begin with someone telling you what to think.
It can begin with a question:
What happened?
Then another:
How do we know?
And perhaps the most important:
Can I see the evidence for myself?
That philosophy is why CenTex Press includes The Receipts, where we put source documents close to the reporting they support.
Budgets. Agendas. Ordinances. Contracts. Audits. Public records.
When possible, you should not have to take our word for it.
You should be able to read the documents yourself.
Different Voices Really Means Different Voices
I did not create CenTex Press to build an echo chamber.
Central Texas includes Republicans, Democrats, independents and people who want nothing to do with politics. We come from different cultures, generations, professions, churches, neighborhoods and life experiences.
We are not going to agree on everything.
We shouldn't have to.
CenTex Press welcomes community contributors with different perspectives, while maintaining a simple editorial standard:
Different viewpoints are welcome. Facts are not optional.
News reporting and opinion are clearly separated. Commentary belongs to its author. Reporting should follow the evidence wherever it leads.
The goal is not to tell Central Texans what to think.
The goal is to give them better information with which to think for themselves.
Local Means Local
CenTex Press is being built for the communities of Central Texas, including Copperas Cove, Gatesville, Killeen, Kempner, Lampasas, Belton, Temple, Bell County, Coryell County and the surrounding region.
We will cover government and taxes, but that is only part of our community.
CenTex Press is also about our schools, businesses, veterans, families, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, local history, events and the people doing remarkable things that may never make a television newscast.
Some stories require investigation.
Some require explanation.
And some simply deserve to be told.
We Show Our Work
Trust should not be demanded simply because the word Press appears in our name.
It should be earned.
That means correcting mistakes when we make them. Linking to original documents when possible. Identifying opinion as opinion. Distinguishing confirmed facts from developing information. And giving readers enough information to examine the evidence themselves.
CenTex Press will not always get everything perfect.
But we can always be transparent about how we got there.
This Is Your Newsroom, Too
Some of the most important local stories begin with a resident saying:
“You need to look at this.”
Tell us about the meeting.
Introduce us to the neighbor doing something extraordinary.
Challenge something we've reported if you believe we got it wrong.
Or bring your own voice to CenTex Press as a community contributor.
Because CenTex Press isn't supposed to be one person's voice.
That's the entire point.
Different voices. One community.
Welcome to CenTex Press.
Marimer Cruz-Nieves
Founder, CenTex Press