The Observer is best known for longform investigations on serious subjects. Our reporters and editors spend months immersed in heavy topics like rural suicide and racial violence. That work takes an emotional toll, which is why we can always use a healthy dose of humor.
There are a few telltale signs that someone has just shared an especially funny link: laughter from the writers’ room, followed by furiously clacking keyboards. Many of those stories end up in Strangest State, the Observer’s bimonthly roundup of weird Texas news. It’s a real grab bag, but we can always rely on animals on the loose—alligators and rattlesnakes, in particular—and bumbling criminals. Below, enjoy the strangest of the strange stories from 2019.
