The 22-Hour Drive Between Houston and Los Angeles Inspired This Hypnotic Art Show Eerie and evocative, Will Boone’s "Highway Hex" considers the sprawling concrete jungles of Houston and Los Angeles. Texas Observer · Dec 11, 2019
Bald Eagle Numbers at Lake Buchanan Are Declining. No One’s Exactly Sure Why. From 2015 to 2019, an average of four birds per year came to Lake Buchanan—less than half of the 10.4 average for the five years before that. Could the noise from hunters be to blame? Texas Observer · Dec 9, 2019
How Katharine Hayhoe Stays Hopeful as the Planet Warms The Texas Tech professor and lead author on the last three National Climate Assessments wants you to talk about how to live in a warming world. Texas Observer · Dec 9, 2019
A Top Cop Accused of Racism Forces Austin to Confront Bias in Law Enforcement Austin isn’t the only Texas city where trust between police and communities of color has frayed this year. Texas Observer · Dec 6, 2019
The Fight to Make Austin Affordable On a brisk Saturday morning in November, a group of two dozen cyclists pauses in front of a four-story apartment complex in East Austin. The Terrace at Oak Springs, run by the nonprofit Integral Care, opened in September to provide … Texas Observer · Dec 6, 2019
A World Without Immigrant Prisons Law professor and author César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández wants you to believe it’s possible. Texas Observer · Dec 3, 2019
As Port Neches Plant Smolders, Trump Rolls Back Safety Rules for Chemical Plants After a deadly explosion in the town of West in 2013, Obama implemented stricter safety rules for chemical plants. Trump’s EPA has just undone them. Texas Observer · Dec 3, 2019
The Last Nurse in Memphis, Texas Carole Ward, a former nurse practitioner, ran the only health clinic in a small town in the Panhandle until she retired in 2017. Texas Observer · Dec 2, 2019
Why I Started a Book Club in the Harris County Jail Education programs make jails safer and reduce rates of recidivism when people reenter society. Texas Observer · Dec 2, 2019
Joe Barton Resurfaces with a Blueprint for How to Bail Out the Oil Industry and Worsen Climate Change As the former Texas congressman prepares to get into the lobbying game, the climate-change denier reflects on how he worked with industry to unleash a runaway drilling boom in the Permian Basin. Texas Observer · Nov 27, 2019
Texas’ Method for Funding Courts is a Colossal Waste of Time and Money Criminal fines and fees, in addition to trapping poor people in a cycle of debt and incarceration, are an incredible costly source of revenue for local governments, according to a new report. Texas Observer · Nov 27, 2019
Two New Books Explore the Limits of the #MeToo Movement in Texas and Beyond Two years after women started speaking out and revealing powerful predators, are too many Texas secrets still locked away in a “whisper network”? Texas Observer · Nov 26, 2019
Strangest State: 18-Hole Hog, Spike the Poodle’s Big Adventure, and Fowl News Weird news from far-flung Texas. Texas Observer · Nov 26, 2019
Artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer on the Importance of Telling Complex, Nuanced Border Stories A massive public art project lit up the sky over El Paso and Juárez this month, prompting conversations both funny and serious, political and personal. Texas Observer · Nov 25, 2019
Texas Observer · Nov 25, 2019 East Texas Rivers Could Become a Boiling Pot for Mussels The humble bivalves may not look like much, but they act as crucial natural filters across the state's waterways—and they're severely threatened by climate change.
Texas Observer · Nov 25, 2019 A Chain Reaction Luby’s is closing restaurants and generally struggling. What do we lose if we lose one of the nation’s first cafeteria chains?
Texas Observer · Nov 22, 2019 ‘Almost Akin to a Political Coup’: Houston Teachers Fight Back Against State Takeover of HISD In a last-ditch effort to stop a state takeover of HISD, the Houston teachers union is suing the state for disenfranchising voters of color.
Texas Observer · Nov 21, 2019 ‘We Build the Wall’ Lands in South Texas, Vilifies Priest and Butterfly Refuge Accusing a priest of supporting human trafficking and a nature center of butterfly-smuggling is one way to make friends when you’re the new kid in town.
Texas Observer · Nov 20, 2019 I’ve Lived in East Austin for 60 Years, and I Don’t Recognize it Anymore As gentrification reshapes my neighborhood, I fear we’re losing something of real value to our city.
Texas Observer · Nov 20, 2019 The Rural Health Care Crisis, Mapped Texas is facing a rural health care crisis. How many doctors are in your county?
Texas Observer · Nov 19, 2019 On Rodney Reed Case, Greg Abbott Gets a Political Reprieve A last-minute court intervention relieved political pressure on the Texas governor, who was ultimately able to keep his capital punishment bona fides intact.
Texas Observer · Nov 19, 2019 John Cornyn’s Weaselly Immigration Record How to say one thing and do another.
Texas Observer · Nov 19, 2019 Texas Congressional Candidate Shannon Hutcheson Defended Corporations Against the Vulnerable. EMILY’s List Endorsed Her Anyway. Shannon Hutcheson has billed herself as a fierce reproductive rights advocate. But the corporate lawyer has papered over a troubling record, including her defense of a prison guard who sexually abused migrant women.
Texas Observer · Nov 18, 2019 Activists Rally for the Closure of Hutto Detention Center as Private Contract Rumors Swirl Former detainees were among those criticizing ICE's attempt to secure a 10-year private contract for the facility and two others in Texas.
Texas Observer · Nov 18, 2019 Driving My Life Away Two decades ago, 14 of the state’s 254 counties had no doctor. Today, that number has jumped to 33. More than 20 other counties have just one.