Search and rescue teams were still combing the mangled banks of the Guadalupe River Tuesday at…
Category: Politics
In the Hill Country and Beyond, Rural Texas Counties Lack Resources for Flood Detection
Avantika Gori is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Houston’s Rice University who…
‘Disasters Are a Human Choice’: Texas Counties Have Little Power to Stop Building in Flood-Prone Areas
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan…
I Remember the 2002 Fourth of July Hill Country Floods. This Year, the Water Returned.
On July 4, 2002, my childhood home just south of Kerr County flooded after a heavy…
Climate Change Helped Fuel Heavy Rains that Led to Devastating Hill Country Flood
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy,…
Can a Great Museum City Survive the Censorious Right?
When police removed four photographs by Sally Mann from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth…
Loon Star State: What the Lege Won’t Be Doing…
To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political reporting here.…
Trump’s DOGE Cuts Are Texas-Sized Disaster
President Donald Trump’s commitment to “energy dominance” would seem to be good news for the Texas…
How Republicans Are Willfully Endangering Immigrant Kids
Trudy Taylor Smith is senior administrator of policy and advocacy with Children’s Defense Fund-Texas. I want you…
‘With What Water?’
Alonso Montañez killed the outboard, and the boat swung against the scum and trash that had…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our July/August 2025 Issue
Partial remarks given at the 2025 MOLLY Prize Gala on May 28: Suddenly, it’s become a…
Moonlighting Midland Prosecutor Means Freedom for Samuel Sanchez
Samuel Junior Sanchez had served around 15 years of a 75-year sentence for a violent road-rage…
The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy
We were just about done setting up for our workshop at the San Benito Cultural Heritage…
Reality Winner Rebuilds in Kingsville
On April 5 at 4 p.m., Reality Winner was hustling: She’d just learned she was needed…
Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley?
As a rainstorm rolled in last Friday evening, hundreds of people eagerly filed through metal detectors…
Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley?
As a rainstorm rolled in last Friday evening, hundreds of people eagerly filed through metal detectors…
Dancing on Horseback
Gathered in a half circle, eight young equestrians atop multicolored horses bowed their heads for a…
APOCALYPSES: SCENARIO #267-590
air so cold breath rattles down my throat like a penny tumbling in the…
Strangest State: Snakes, Mammoths, and Explosions
The post Strangest State: Snakes, Mammoths, and Explosions appeared first on The Texas Observer.
A Caucus, if You Can Keep It
In the leadup to Texas’ 89th legislative session, the Republican leadership apparatus was under siege and…
How Trump Is Changing Higher Education: The View from UT-San Antonio
Editor’s Note: This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused…
Wrestling with the American Dream
Elham Jalak and Mustafa Pashtoon met for the first time on a flight from Kabul in…
Why I Still Believe Texas Can Be Better
When I was in college, I had to drive 35 miles from San Marcos to Austin…
‘The House Got Rolled’: Gene Wu on the Trials of the 89th Texas Legislature
The job of leading the minority party in the Texas House has long consisted, at best,…
Reefer Madness Returns to Texas with Dan Patrick’s THC Ban
Marijuana prohibition is a Texas tradition. Unless Governor Greg Abbott vetoes Senate Bill 3, the state’s…
Art Is Immortality
Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted with permission from Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration…
This Session’s Worst Anti-Abortion Bill Died, but Pro-Choice Advocates Aren’t Celebrating
For four years, maternal health experts, reproductive rights advocates, and patients who suffered under Texas’ abortion…
Texas Quietly Downsizes Border Security Spending
Without any announcement or open debate, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed a biennial state budget that…
I Was an Undocumented Texas College Student. I’m Not Going Anywhere—and Neither Is Our Movement.
As a proud first-generation, undocumented graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a lifelong…
Amid New McCarthyism, the Alliance for Texas History Embraces Diverse Scholarship
Historian Nancy Baker Jones was a child when her father, who was serving in the U.S.…
Here are the New Anti-LGBTQ Bills Texas Passed into Law
Johnathan Gooch did a lot of wishful thinking throughout this legislative session. Most recently, he’s been…
The Massive U.S. Pipeline Buildout Is Mostly for Gas Going Overseas
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy,…
Will Texas Workers Ever Get a Break from the Summer Heat?
On April 15, Annie Fierro of the Workers Defense Action Fund arrived at a state House…
Legislature Mandates Sheriff-ICE Cooperation in Jails or Streets
Over the weekend, the state House and Senate ironed out lingering differences in Senate Bill 8,…
Texas House Passes Raft of Dan Patrick Priorities Imposing Conservative Mandates on Public Ed
Instead of attending family barbecues or local parades, Texas state representatives spent Memorial Day on the…
Abbott’s Bail Crackdown Meets Mixed Fate in Texas House
For years, bail reform legislation has died long before it reached the governor’s desk in Texas.…
The Love and Loss of the Quintanillas
Tejano music superstar Selena Quintanilla has been gone for 30 years, but the late singer’s family…
Ronnie Dugger, 1930-2025
Ronnie Dugger, founding editor and longtime publisher of the Texas Observer and for many years the…
New Leads in an Infamous Corpus Christi Cold Case
Editor’s Note: Bellingcat Investigator Peter Barth, who grew up in Texas, researched and reported this story…
Loon Star State: Religion in Schools
(Ben Sargent) To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political…
Texas Set to Create State Bitcoin Reserve that Would Accept Private Donations
The State of Texas is set to get into the cryptocurrency investment game as the Texas…
Three Years Later, an Uncle in Uvalde Searches for Solutions on School Board
Three long years ago, in a southwest Texas town now almost synonymous with the tragedy, something…
Texas School Districts Slam the Senate’s School Finance Plan
Midway ISD, a school district with around 9,000 students just outside Waco, is staring down a…
‘You Don’t Have to Kill Us. You Don’t Have to Throw Us Away.’
Clinton Young stepped out of the Midland County Jail, the way station between his previous address…
Texas Set to Execute Fourth Person of the Year on Tuesday
Matthew Johnson’s guilt was never in question. On the stand during his 2013 trial, he admitted…
Shipped to El Salvador: An Austin Immigration Lawyer on Her Teen Client’s Forced ‘Disappearance’
Simply being in the United States without a legal immigration status is a civil matter—not a…
A Thirsty Tesla Refinery Could Exacerbate Corpus Christi’s Water Crisis
Corpus Christi is a town built around water. But while the Gulf of Mexico has made…
A Texas Writer Tackles a Subject ‘Beckoning in the Shadows His Entire Life’
These days, the thrum of traffic and the roar of a bulldozer intrude on conversations at…
Texas Already Gives Public Ed Dollars to Private Operators. Here’s How That Worked Out.
At an April 2017 committee hearing in a meeting room tucked away in the Capitol’s underground…
A Day in a Democracy
It’s the sort of day where you can tell that the state Capitol is bustling with…
The Perils of Offshoring Justice
President Donald Trump’s recent Oval Office photo-op with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the “world’s coolest…
‘It’s Not a War Zone’: Val Verde County’s Conservative Democratic Sheriff on Misinformation, Immigration
The U.S.-Mexico border is perhaps the most widely discussed and poorly understood region in the country.…
The High Cost of Texas’ Property Tax Cut-and-Run Politics
Once again, the Texas Legislature is entering the final stretch of its session and, once again,…
Will Dan Patrick’s Senate Stymie Fentanyl Test Strip Legalization (Again)?
On April 11, 2023, the Texas House voted 143-2 for a bill that would have legalized…
The Crypto Racket
Editor’s Note: This story is copublished with The Nation. Read their version here. The five members…
At UT, A Day of Drag and Defiance
On an average school day, harried students at the University of Texas at Austin rush across…
Texas Police Are Slowly Joining What Could Be a ‘Giant ICE Army’
Three months into his second presidential term, Donald Trump appears well off pace to hit his…
The Lege’s ‘Big Government Intrusion’ into University Academics
Even at Texas Woman’s University, whose very name shows its legacy, gender studies programs face potential…
What connects us
is invisible. A natural gas pipeline. Cables above the eyeline, carried from pylon to pylon, past the…
Texas Shouldn’t Legislate Censorship
At the Texas Capitol recently, I was among a group of librarians, parents, and others who…
In Booming Central Texas, Wastewater Is Polluting Rivers and Streams
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy,…
On Latinidad and Solidarity
The post On Latinidad and Solidarity appeared first on The Texas Observer.
Abbott’s Bail Agenda Could Swell Texas Jails, Test U.S. Constitution
Edric Wilson spent 18 years awaiting a murder trial that would never come. From September 2006…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our May/June 2025 Issue
Texas Observer readers, Three months into a second Trump administration, nearly a decade into the Trump era,…
Son of a Gun: What to Do with a Legacy of (Unwanted) Firearms
Americans own nearly 400 million guns. Five of them were recently lying on my parents’ living…
Ending 30 Years of Resistance, Trump and Abbott Break the ‘People’s House’
The morning of the Texas House vote on school vouchers Wednesday included, among other last-minute maneuvering,…
Who’s Paying for Public School Vouchers? (1998)
Editor’s Note: The Observer published this feature in its March 27, 1998, edition. The prior year’s private school voucher proposal…
AI Is Dead
I’ve got a post-graduate certificate in artificial intelligence (AI). I’m also an author, and I believe…
The Winds of Willacy: Inside Texas’ Largest Wind Farm
The wind blows from two directions to the Los Vientos Wind Farm, Texas’ largest and the…
El Paso’s Still-Untold Story
Editor’s Note: Author Richard Parker died early last month, after this review was published in print…
Forgotten Crossings at the Edge of Texas
Editor’s Note: Author Richard Parker died early last month, days after publication of his book The…
Texas House Weighs How to Get Harsh on Hemp
A police chief compared the shops across Texas that sell hemp-derived products to “candy stores or…
The Sordid, Unscientific Story Behind Lethal Injection
Texas was the first U.S. state to execute someone by lethal injection, but the idea for…
Texas’ First Black Woman Poet Laureate Spreads Poems of Praise
Amanda Johnston learned she would become the 2024 Texas poet laureate via an afternoon cell phone…
House Committee Passes ‘Texas Two Step’ of Vouchers and Public Ed Funding
After hours of intense debate on Thursday, the Texas House Public Education Committee passed altered versions…
House Committee Passes ‘Texas Two Step’ of Vouchers and Public Ed Funding
After hours of intense debate on Thursday, the Texas House Public Education Committee passed altered versions…
‘It’s About Censorship, Erasure, and Control’: the GOP’s Push for Parental Rights
Adults in the committee hearing room spent hours discussing ways to affirm parental rights in Texas’…
The Lawless Border Wall
In February, bulldozers carved long straight lines, uprooting trees and scraping the earth bare, near the…
The Scientist and the Serial Killer: Cracking the Case of Houston’s ‘Lost Boys’
Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from The Scientist and the Serial Killer: The Search for…
Carlton Carl, 1945-2025
Carlton Carl passed away on March 25, 2025, in Austin. Born on September 20, 1945, in…
Texas’ AI-Powered Surveillance Arsenal Has Ballooned. Proposed Laws Provide Few Guardrails.
Editor’s Note: This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network. Over…
Strangest State: Coke, Chops, Cheats, and Corporate Resurrections
(Drue Wagner) The post Strangest State: Coke, Chops, Cheats, and Corporate Resurrections appeared first on The…
Congressman Denounces ICE Response About Prosecutor Operating Racist X Account
Last month, Congressman Marc Veasey, a North Texas Democrat, sent a letter to Immigration and Customs…
Republican Abortion Laws Are ‘Torturing Women.’ Can the GOP Fix Its Own Crisis?
Dr. Damla Karsan lives in fear for her patients—and for all pregnant Texans. The Houston OB-GYN…
‘This Town Has Nothing’: Rural Texas’ Mental Healthcare Crisis
Sunday was supposed to be movie night at Candi Garrett’s house in Sweetwater. Garrett’s oldest daughter,…
The Massive Energy Requirements of Treating Texas’ Oilfield Wastewater
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate,…
‘We’re Not Just Some Bureaucrats’: DOE Employees on How Their Work Helps Texas Students
On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to…
These Librarians Won’t Let America’s Fever Hit Fahrenheit 451
In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, protagonist Guy Montag revolts against his profession of incinerating…
Texas’ First Abortion Arrests Stem from Monthlong Attorney General Investigation
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared March 17 and was updated March 18 in The Texas…
Loon Star State: Trump’s Grocery Run
(Ben Sargent) To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political…
The Texas Border Is the New Frontier of Film
In the movie The In Between, set in Eagle Pass, a group of five athletic high…
An Inside Look at Taser Use in Texas Prison
Editor’s Note: The Texas Observer sought TDCJ responses to this essay, which were incorporated into the…
Marathon Hearing on School Vouchers Features Intense Bipartisan Opposition
Representative Brad Buckley, Republican House Public Education Committee chair and author of the chamber’s voucher proposal,…
Earth Orbit Is Filling Up with Junk. Greenhouse Gases Worsen the Problem.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. At any given moment,…
How Voucher Vendors Could Make Millions from ‘School Choice’ in Texas
In August 2024, the business magazine Inc. released its annual list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing…
What Ever Happened to Ethics Reform?
In the early 1970s, Texas experienced one of the most explosive political scandals in its history.…
Loon Star State: Remember When…
To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political reporting here.…
ICE Raids on Beloved Bakery Reverberate Through Rio Grande Valley
In recent years, Los Fresnos has changed, much like the rest of the Rio Grande Valley.…
David Wood, Set for Execution, Says He Was Never the ‘Desert Killer’
Young women had been disappearing from the streets of El Paso for months before the first…
What a Drag: Nate Schatzline
Editor’s Note: This article is part of an occasional series profiling the Texas lawmakers who make…
Abbott’s Border Splurge
Forty-five days into President Joe Biden’s first and only term, Governor Greg Abbott announced plans to…
From Bullion to Bitcoin: Crypto Reserve Is Latest Fiscal Folly in Texas
Republicans want to stamp the State of Texas’ seal on Bitcoin by creating a “strategic reserve”…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our March/April 2025 Issue
Texas Observer readers, A half-century ago, Molly Ivins penned one of her many famous lines about…
Local and State Police Are Joining Trump’s ‘Deportation Force’
Since he began touting it on the campaign trail, the idea that President Donald Trump could…
Congressmen Demand Investigation of ICE Prosecutor Running Racist X Account
Last week, the Texas Observer reported that James “Jim” Joseph Rodden—an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
Congressmen Demand Investigation of ICE Prosecutor Running Racist X Account
Last week, the Texas Observer reported that James “Jim” Joseph Rodden—an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
‘Till They Have to Roll Me Off the Floor’
Throughout her political ascent, Sylvia Garcia has been followed by the word “first.” In 1987, she…
Did Mike Miles’ Former Charter School Network Fail to Provide Required Classes?
Dawn Miller was a true believer in Mike Miles when she started working, in March 2023,…
Costly New Bail Bills Would Needlessly Jail More People
David Gaspar is chief executive officer of The Bail Project, a nonprofit that provides bail assistance.…
Poetry Prompts for Detained Children
Write about the untouchable. Something out of arm’s reach, like freedom, the stars, or you. Write…
Will Texas Secure Its Water Future?
Senator Charles Perry is a man on a water mission as he prepares to file a…
ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account
Fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids began to spread the day after President Donald…
‘Asylum as We Know It’: An Immigration Historian on Trump, Refuge, and Exclusion
President Donald Trump seeks to fundamentally alter how the United States approaches immigration. Less than a…
Inside Fort Worth’s Narcotic Farm Experiment
Texas’ history of addiction treatment can be seen as a dance in place: public opinion swings,…
Speaker Burrows Remodels Texas House With All-Republican Chairs
Nearly a month after his contentious election as the new Speaker of the Texas House, Dustin…
Strangest State: Makeovers, Critters, and Friday Night Lights
The post Strangest State: Makeovers, Critters, and Friday Night Lights appeared first on The Texas Observer.…
‘It’s Demoralizing’: Trump’s Climate Funding Freeze Has Left Tribes and Community Groups in Limbo
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. When the…
Molly Ivins on School Vouchers (1997)
Editor’s Note: The Observer published this column in its April 11, 1997, edition under the headline:…
Trans Texans are Under Attack (Again), But Advocates Aren’t Giving In
When Emmett Schelling first moved to Texas, it wasn’t to become an advocate. It was for…
Remembering Boca Chica Beach—Before Elon Musk Came to Town
One Saturday late last summer, Boca Chica Beach was cloudy and oppressively humid. An incoming thunderstorm…