Texas Observer

Founded in 1954, the Texas Observer is a #progressive #nonprofit news outlet and print #magazine covering the Lone Star State.

Follow Interim Editor-in-Chief @gusbova
McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow @josephinelee

🤠 Learn more about us: https://linktr.ee/texasobserver
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#Texas #Politics #Culture

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Last Notes

2026-07-27 18:17:52 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…uj37 thanks for reading us! 🤠

2026-05-20 15:34:36 UTC

New from Jesús Jank Curbelo: Under #Trump, more than 50 American kids per day have an undocumented parent yanked into #ICE detention.
These children are citizens and the government has left them struggling to survive. Here are the stories of some from #Texas ... https://www.texasobserver.org/ruptured-families-american-citizen-children-deportations/
#children #immigration #HumanRights #politics #USpol #fascism #news

2026-03-24 22:00:12 UTC

“Fossil fuel folks in the White House [are] pushing an agenda where we will shut down alternatives like wind farms and solar buildout and start a war that will benefit American companies. A few do well. The rest of us around the world, not just Americans, are suffering because we are so dependent on this.” https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-oil-conference-protest-iran-war/
#FossilFuels #Iran #Trump #politics #USpol #news #energy #ClimateChange #war

2026-03-23 14:16:15 UTC

“The Trump administration and the media had demonized Antifa all through the first Trump term, and even more aggressively in the second. This concept of terrorism tends to become politicized, particularly when government officials intentionally politicize it.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/prairieland-antifa-verdict-threatens-anti-trump-resistance/
#antifa #law #Trump #fascism #politics #USpol #Texas #news #NorthTexas

2026-03-20 18:30:06 UTC

“It’s pretty facially an attempt to mollify the White House post Charlie Kirk’s assassination. … What I’m seeing is the unfettered use of these very powerful tools and these very powerful statutes, absent any sort of norms or guardrails that normally would be in place to guard against overreach.” https://www.texasobserver.org/prairieland-antifa-verdict-threatens-anti-trump-resistance/
#Law #Trump #NorthTexas #politics #USpol #news #FreeSpeech #activism #ICE #antifa

2025-12-15 21:45:25 UTC

“It gives them an opportunity to use that scandal as evidence in an ideological war.”
Steve Stockman joins a dubious though growing American political tradition of disgraced politicos who have attempted to recast themselves as martyrs after being tarnished or convicted of crimes https://www.texasobserver.org/steve-stockman-rides-again/
#Texas #politics #USpol #news #Republicans #law #Trump

2025-08-07 15:30:16 UTC

Our top story: In order to fully block redistricting, #Democrats will likely need to maintain an organized quorum break of more than 90 days—easily the longest in Texas history—through possibly three special sessions and under more punitive political conditions than ever. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-house-dems-quorum-break-gerrymandering/
#Texas #TXlege #news #politics #USpol #democracy #Trump #GregAbbott

2025-07-26 19:00:14 UTC

Featured story: The photos were dogged by controversy in the ’90s, and they still make some viewers uncomfortable today. But they have also become part of the mainstream canon of American #photography, admired by many as beacons of autobiographical art. https://www.texasobserver.org/fort-worth-sally-mann-dallas-express-photos-police/
#Texas #NorthTexas #politics #USpol #news #censorship #art #culture #children

2025-07-21 19:14:15 UTC

New today: Attorneys and family preservation and child welfare advocates told the Texas Observer they are increasingly alarmed that many #women in vulnerable situations are at risk of losing their #children to a privately run shadow foster and adoption system operating with little oversight or regulation. https://www.texasobserver.org/private-adoption-agencies-legal-custody-battles/
#Texas #HumanRights #news #politics #USpol #law #ReproductiveFreedom

2025-07-21 17:01:36 UTC

It’s no surprise that OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank decided to build the first Stargate data center and power plant in Abilene. They needed a semi-rural community where pushback would be limited. https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-texas-stargate-natural-gas-plant-harms/
#AI #tech #pollution #environment #NorthTexas #Texas #politics #USpol

2025-07-09 18:30:27 UTC

Earlier: Behind the curtain of the filters imposed by outsiders, the Valley boasts an abundance of creative, powerful, and joyful communities, one of them being the #LGBTQ+ community. https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-valley-lgbtq-pride/
#SouthTexas #border #LGBTQIA+ #culture

2025-07-08 19:15:00 UTC

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@nprofile…2mn4 just FYI this one is actually from our friends at @nprofile…gj5x ! But we also just published this original one that might interest you: https://www.texasobserver.org/hill-country-flood-family-home-fourth-of-july-2002/

2025-06-26 16:57:34 UTC

When Reality Winner was released early in June 2021, she chose to return to Kingsville—the town that she’d once hoped to leave forever. Winner grew up there with interests in both shooting guns and practicing yoga. https://www.texasobserver.org/reality-winner-rebuilds-in-kingsville/
#Texas #politics #whistleblower #USpol #democracy #election #news

2025-06-18 20:19:25 UTC

Let Molly Ivins walk you through some of the oddest news from our beautiful home ... in Strangest State.
Browse more from the May/June 2025 issue of our magazine: https://www.texasobserver.org/issues/may-june-2025/
#news #comics #weird #Texas #culture #animals #drugs #science #ElonMusk #SpaceX
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-444643948490e1fed8199ed78bf1ee5f/media_attachments/files/114/706/204/825/395/432/original/0eac38a4cdad66c0.jpg

2025-06-16 20:11:44 UTC

Earlier: “If a young queer person fears that their parents might not be affirming, they need an outlet to process that. Having access to counselors at school can be a lifeline to young queer people who are trying to make sense of how they fit in the world and also trying to maintain a healthy relationship with their parents.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lege-2025-anti-lgbtq-bills-passed/
#politics #USpol #LGBTQIA+ #Texas #law #education #healthcare #news

2025-06-10 20:03:37 UTC

Featured story: SB 8 will require all #Texas sheriffs to apply for so-called 287(g) agreements, “or a similar federal program,” with #ICE. Beginning December 1, 2026, the state attorney general may sue sheriffs who fail to request or enter into ICE agreements. https://www.texasobserver.org/legislature-sheriffs-ice-cooperation-jails-streets/
#police #immigration #law #Texas #politics #USpol #news

2025-06-03 20:43:25 UTC

Immigrant rights organizations and others have voiced concerns that more local police and #ICE collaboration will lead to racial profiling, an erosion of trust between cops and immigrants, and immigrants staying home for fear of encountering police. https://www.texasobserver.org/legislature-sheriffs-ice-cooperation-jails-streets/
#police #HumanRights #Texas #TXlege #politics #USpol #news #immigration #Trump

2025-05-27 21:31:15 UTC

“When we began, there was a silence in #Texas about racism, poverty and corporate power. ... we ranked dead last among the major states and next-to-last in the South in education, health care and programs for the poor. … We were Texas, a backwater braggish and bigoted and brutal, slow and rich and poor.” https://www.texasobserver.org/ronnie-dugger-1930-2025/
#journalism #history #media #news

2025-05-07 20:02:58 UTC

From the archives, by Dylan Baddour: “Many of the pieces of the puzzle have already been destroyed. This is all we have. This is our only window that’s left into this part of our #history that’s not well understood. It’s our only chance to find out about ancestors.” https://www.texasobserver.org/forgotten-keepers-of-the-rio-grande-delta/
#Indigenous #politics #USpol #Texas #water #pollution #environment #ClimateChange #energy #OilAndGas

2025-04-19 14:53:29 UTC

Our top story: Since deciding to make school #vouchers his top priority for the 2023 legislative session, Abbott has pulled out all the stops to ram the proposal through the House.. On Wednesday, he finally won. https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-trump-house-vouchers-pass/
#TXlege #Texas #politics #USpol #schools #education #GregAbbott #Trump #Republicans

2025-03-21 15:41:12 UTC

In film: @nprofile…y50t writes that these librarians are risking their safety and livelihood to speak up for First Amendment rights, intellectual freedom, and, most of all, for the students who tell them “books have saved them.” https://www.texasobserver.org/librarians-movie-sxsw-book-bans/
#documentary #library #books #bookstodon #politics #USpol #censorship #film

2025-03-04 16:36:40 UTC

“None of this is helping. In fact, it’s going to make it worse because if you cut off all immigration, you don’t have the workers that you need to maintain the industries that help put bread and butter on the table for people.” https://www.texasobserver.org/sylvia-garcia-interview-immigration/
#immigration #politics #USpol #HumanRights #news #Congress

2025-03-01 19:39:34 UTC

“In exercising discretion to investigate or to prosecute, a prosecutor should not improperly favor or invidiously discriminate against any person. Because of Rodden’s explicit bigotry and #racism, he cannot be trusted to properly exercise his discretion.” https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/
#immigration #HumanRights #news #politics #USpol #ICE #Congress #WhiteSupremacy #fascism

2025-02-28 22:44:14 UTC

#ICYMI, an update on the #ICE lawyer with a fascist X account: Following the Observer’s reporting, three U.S. House members have demanded accountability, while James Rodden still appeared on an ICE court schedule this week.
https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/

2025-02-28 21:43:28 UTC

Featured post: “All in all, this concept is so bad that it has an excellent chance of passing the Legislature. Much as we would like to help the rest of the nation by demonstrating once more just how stupid ideas work out in practice, couldn’t we give this one a miss?” https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-ivins-school-vouchers-1997/
#politics #USpol #TXlege #Texas #news

2025-02-28 15:09:47 UTC

Welcome to the March/April 2025 issue of Texas Observer magazine! Editor-in-Chief
Gus Bova introduces our latest by examining the "biannual dread” invoked by the Texas legislature and what we can do about it. https://www.texasobserver.org/editors-letter-introducing-our-march-april-2025-issue/
#TXlege #politics #Media #journalism #news #USpol #Texas

2025-02-27 22:36:13 UTC

Governor Abbott and state lawmakers are pushing for these bills under the guise of public safety, but the reality is that these bills will make Texans less safe. A 2017 study in Harris County found that “those detained pretrial are more likely to commit future crime.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-bail-bills-pretrial-jail-courts/
#CriminalJustice #law #TXlege #GregAbbott #politics #USpol #Texas #HumanRights

2025-02-27 19:26:50 UTC

“These allegations raise serious questions about the integrity of ICE’s prosecutorial process and its commitment to impartial justice.”
Lawmakers respond after the Observer uncovered an #ICE attorney with a history of white supremacist social media posts. https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/
#Congress #politics #USpol #immigration #HumanRights #CriminalJustice #law #Texas #NorthTexas #SocialMedia #ElonMusk

2025-02-27 18:07:48 UTC

From our magazine: “The Laken Riley bill, that’s been talked about by the media and everybody as an immigration bill, but it’s a criminal justice bill. And they’ve punctured the due process in criminal cases.” https://www.texasobserver.org/sylvia-garcia-interview-immigration/
#immigration #HumanRights #border #politics #USpol #Texas #CriminalJustice #news

2025-02-26 21:50:12 UTC

“In exercising discretion to investigate or to prosecute, a prosecutor should not improperly favor or invidiously discriminate against any person. Because of Rodden’s explicit bigotry and racism, he cannot be trusted to properly exercise his discretion.” https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/
#politics #USpol #WhiteSupremacy #SocialMedia #racism #news #ICE

2025-02-26 19:45:57 UTC

New from @nprofile…m3v9: Three members of the U.S. House of Representatives are demanding accountability after the Texas Observer revealed a white supremacist X account run by a key attorney for #ice https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/
#immigration #SocialMedia #ElonMusk #politics #USpol #HumanRighrs #WhiteSupremacy #fascism #news #Congress

2025-02-25 23:28:18 UTC

"I don’t think the modern #history of asylum can be separated from the advent of restrictive #immigration laws. You don’t really need to carve out an exception for people to be able to seek asylum in a country unless you have rules—very strict rules—about who can and cannot enter."
https://www.texasobserver.org/asylum-history-america-trump/
#HumanRights #politics #USpol #news #Trump

2025-02-25 20:09:42 UTC

#ICYMI: A key lawyer for #ICE was tied to a white supremacist X account. James Rodden was revealed thanks to a Texas Observer investigation using biographical data and even courtroom observation to link him to the hateful account. https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/
#SocialMedia #ElonMusk #WhiteSupremacy #racism #politics #USpol #immigration #HumanRights #fascism #news

2025-02-25 15:15:48 UTC

New from @nprofile…y50t: Why didn't report cards match the actual classes students were taking? The charter school nonprofit started by Mike Miles is accused of neglecting requirements to teach every student physical education and social studies.
https://www.texasobserver.org/mike-miles-third-future-schools-midland-classes/
#education #schools #news #politics #USpol #Texas #WestTexas

2025-02-24 22:44:16 UTC

Featured story: For the past three years, ENTRE has collected photos, home movies, and oral histories of Boca Chica from Valley residents, who’ve visited the free-access beach for generations to fish, barbecue, and even camp overnight. https://www.texasobserver.org/remembering-boca-chica-beach-before-spacex/
#politics #USpol #environment #pollution #ElonMusk #SpaceX #SouthTexas #water #news

2025-02-24 21:43:30 UTC

It's that time of year again: Submissions for the 2025 MOLLY National Journalism Prize for Investigative Journalism are now open!
Submit your entry and/or help us spread the word! 🤠 Deadline for entries is Friday, April 11. https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-awards/the-molly-awards-submissions/
#journalism #media #politics #news #events

2025-02-24 20:59:42 UTC

Write about things that are out of order. Broken vending machines. Raging defense attorneys. This #border. This country.
https://www.texasobserver.org/poetry-prompts-for-detained-children/
#poetry #immigration #HumanRights #culture

2025-02-24 18:02:25 UTC

Featured story: “The good private schools we’d all like to send our kids to already have waiting lists a mile long. No public school kid is going to St. John’s in Houston or St. Mark’s in Dallas with a voucher clutched in his or her little hand.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-ivins-school-vouchers-1997/
#vouchers #education #history #politics #USpol #Texas #TXlege #schools

2025-02-24 15:07:06 UTC

On any given day, Texas county jails detain over 53,000 people who are simply awaiting adjudication. These Texans remain behind bars not because they pose a risk or have been found guilty of a crime, but simply because they cannot afford bail.
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-bail-bills-pretrial-jail-courts/
#politics #USpol #Texas #TXlege #CriminalJustice #news #HumanRights

2025-02-21 21:24:39 UTC

Featured story: “The closet is a very dangerous place for people who use drugs. It’s where stadiums full of people die every year.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-war-on-drug-users-austin-overdose-disaster/
#Texas #WarOnDrugs #HumanRights #law #health #Police #Austin #news #USpol #politics

2025-02-21 19:30:12 UTC

According to Yael Schacher, a director at Refugees International and a historian of U.S. #immigration policy, after World War II, "People understood that if they had allowed more immigrants into the United States, many of them wouldn't have been killed in Europe." https://www.texasobserver.org/asylum-history-america-trump/
#Trump #history #HumanRights #refugees #news #politics #USpol

2025-02-21 15:40:32 UTC

Senator Charles Perry is a man on a #water mission as he prepares to file a package of five bills that address the future of Texas water. Lise Olsen talks to Perry about his big plans for the lege:
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-legislature-water-supply/
#news #politics #USpol #environment #ClimateChange #TXlege #Texas

2025-02-20 21:20:01 UTC

In December, the Texas Observer and @nprofile…0atv identified the operators of four prominent white supremacist accounts on X, including documenting their interactions with Elon Musk. One worked for the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, Maryland. https://www.texasobserver.org/revealed-operators-neo-nazi-x-accounts/
#ElonMusk #WhiteSupremacy #extremism #Fascism #SocialMedia #racism #politics #USpol #news

2025-02-20 18:13:41 UTC

Yael Schacher is a director at Refugees International and a historian of U.S. #immigration policy. The Texas Observer spoke with her about asylum, border policing, and the parallels between the country’s past and present. https://www.texasobserver.org/asylum-history-america-trump/
#HumanRights #politics #USpol #Trump #news #refugees

2025-02-20 16:41:42 UTC

In #books: Rehab on the Range emphasizes the context of the nation’s long churn treating and penalizing drug use while simultaneously zooming in on the details and key players in Fort Worth’s narcotic farm experiment. https://www.texasobserver.org/inside-fort-worths-narcotic-farm-experiment/
#NorthTexas #history #bookstodon #politics #USpol #drugs #health

2025-02-19 21:11:57 UTC

From our magazine: “Seeing my teenage daughter, Ruby, stand up in her church and claim her space as a proud #trans woman was one of the most joyous days of my life. ... I saw my daughter, once a shy child who hid behind my legs, blossom that day.” https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-children-gods-gifts/
#transgender #politics #religion #LGBTQIA+ #HumanRights #USpol #Texas

2025-02-19 15:23:57 UTC

Out today: Yael Schacher, a director at Refugees International and a historian of U.S. immigration policy, speaks with Francesca D'Annunzio about the concept of 'Asylum' and how Trump's #border policies build on decades of repression. https://www.texasobserver.org/asylum-history-america-trump/
#Trump #politics #immigration #HumanRights #history #news #USpol

2025-02-18 20:10:58 UTC

A $7M grant to install solar panels through the EPA’s Solar for All program is in limbo. Also unclear: a $300,000 grant for resilient infrastructure from the Department of Energy and $600,000 for food distribution from the Department of Agriculture. https://www.texasobserver.org/climate-funding-freeze-tribes-community-groups/
#Indigenous #NativeAmerican #politics #USpol #Trump #HumanRights #USpol #news

2025-02-17 22:31:35 UTC

A Houstonian recalls #Lebanon's wartime counterculture: “I was just so blown away by the politicized nature of the population, how aware they were about the world and even U.S. history and how incredible the #music scene was.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-lebanon-seeking-truth-music/
#politics #culture #history #Houston #GulfCoast #Texas

2025-02-17 20:51:34 UTC

“Everyone has read so much now, and seen so much on television, I believe the right thing for me to do is to tell you what I saw in Dallas, this dreadful day. ...“
From the archives, a Presidents' Day look at the final voyage of John F. Kennedy: https://www.texasobserver.org/archives-last-voyage-mr-kennedy/
#politics #USpol #history #news #Dallas #NorthTexas #PresidentsDay #Texas

2025-02-15 22:51:24 UTC

Texas public #education has become a battleground for right-wing ideologues aiming to embed Christian nationalist values in the classroom and to defund public schools, which currently serve about 5.5M students. This legislative session is no different. https://www.texasobserver.org/public-education-bills-lege-2025/
#politics #USpol #vouchers #Texas #TXlege #news #schools

2025-02-15 18:58:23 UTC

Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows carried out a delicate balancing act, appeasing the #Democrats who supported him while following new rules banning Dems from holding committee chairs. https://www.texasobserver.org/speaker-burrows-new-gop-chairs-texas-house/
#politics #USpol #TXlege #Texas #Republicans #news

2025-02-15 16:06:28 UTC

Our top story: “Regardless of how you feel about #SpaceX, there is no doubt that Boca Chica is changing because of its development. If this entity is continuing to ask for an increase in rocket launches, we are not going to have this [beach] anymore as it is right now.” https://www.texasobserver.org/remembering-boca-chica-beach-before-spacex/
#ElonMusk #space #politics #USpol #environment #pollution #news #Texas #SouthTexas #water

2025-02-14 16:53:57 UTC

When the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe landed a $19.9 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency in January, members were elated. Now, that and many millions more in vital funding for improvements, such as solar panels, are in limbo. https://www.texasobserver.org/climate-funding-freeze-tribes-community-groups/
#Indigenous #environment #energy #politics #USpol #Trump #news

2025-02-14 15:12:08 UTC

From our magazine: Ted Cruz's eyebrows and the changing of the armadillos, as Molly Ivins takes us on a tour of more Lone Star oddities ...
https://www.texasobserver.org/strangest-state-makeovers-critters-friday-night-lights/
#comics #politics #USpol #Texas #culture #nature #news

2025-02-13 19:41:06 UTC

Featured story: “The loss of this worker’s life was preventable and the employer must be held responsible. Despite a partial trench collapse earlier in the day, D Guerra Construction LLC recklessly sent employees back into the excavation without protective measures to prevent another cave-in.” https://www.texasobserver.org/austin-rare-prosecution-worker-death-trench-collapse/
#politics #USpol #Austin #Texas #CriminalJustice #workers #labor #law #news #HumanRights

2025-02-13 18:17:06 UTC

“Private #schools might find themselves under no obligation to accept any of our kids; they could be rejected because of their religious affiliation, their disabilities, on the grounds that they’re not bright enough, because the school administrators don’t like their looks—any reason not specifically excluded by law.” https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-ivins-school-vouchers-1997/
#vouchers #education #TXlege #history #politics #USpol #news #GregAbbott

2025-02-13 16:40:18 UTC

Death penalty update: Richard Tabler, 45, is the second person scheduled to be executed in #Texas this year. His lethal injection is set to be carried out later today.
https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-richard-tabler-2025/
#politics #USpol #DeathPenalty #HumanRights #CriminalJustice #news

2025-02-12 23:32:00 UTC

Featured story: “For #Christianity I think that this policy means the end, at least for now, of any kind of separate sacred space, a kind of religious realm that’s off-limits to the government and enshrined by the First Amendment. The implications of that are troubling.” https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-churches-christianity-constitution-trump/
#ICE #religion #Immigration #border #extremism #fascism #politics #USpol #Trump #news #HumanRights

2025-02-12 20:02:57 UTC

Out of over 900 anti-LGBTQ+ hate incidents in 2024, tracked by the nonprofit GLAAD, almost half of them targeted #transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming individuals. Experts worry this situation is already worsening under Trump: https://www.texasobserver.org/anti-lgbtq-incidents-texas/
#transphobia #trans #politics #LGBTQIA+ #Trump #GregAbbott #Texas #homophobia #news #USpol

2025-02-12 17:44:07 UTC

Destruction isn’t always something physical, but also something done to memory. Without looking at photos, home movies, and listening to stories, it’s hard to remember what Boca Chica was before #SpaceX came to town about a decade ago and expanded, especially since 2018. https://www.texasobserver.org/remembering-boca-chica-beach-before-spacex/
#ElonMusk #Texas #pollution #politics #environment #USpol #SouthTexas #news #water

2025-02-12 16:38:27 UTC

Hotline calls to organizations like the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization aimed at preventing suicide in LGBTQ+ youth, increased by 700% after the election of President #Trump. Anti-trans laws led to a 72% increase in suicide attempts in trans and nonbinary youth. https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-texans-advocates-fight-2025-legislative-session/
#politics #USpol #LGBTQIA+ #transphobia #trans #news #TXlege #GregAbbott

2025-02-12 14:59:17 UTC

"Now maybe, just maybe, some upper-middle-class folks might be able to afford a fancy private school with a voucher to help, but working-class and middle-class kids are going to be stuck just where they always were. Why should we spend public money to help just that one thin slice of the population when it won’t improve the public #schools?"
https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-ivins-school-vouchers-1997/
#vouchers #politics #USpol #Texas #history #news #TXlege #education

2025-02-11 19:45:18 UTC

Think tankers, oil and gas magnates, and Republican politicians desperate to kiss the ring — beyond Elon Musk, visit the circus of #Texas oligarchs with the ear of the president. https://www.texasobserver.org/trumps-texas-tycoons/
#ElonMusk #Trump #Republicans #politics #USpol #GregAbbott #KenPaxton #news #democracy

2025-02-11 18:07:50 UTC

Texas public education has become a battleground for right-wing ideologues aiming to embed Christian nationalist values in the classroom and to defund or privatize the state’s public schools, which currently serve about 5.5 million students. This 89th Legislative Session is no different. https://www.texasobserver.org/public-education-bills-lege-2025/
#politics #USpol #Texas #education #schools #vouchers #TXlege #Republicans #news

2025-02-11 15:00:28 UTC

Our top story: Children played as the adults—organizers, journalists, and artists—traded stories. Against the dunes, chef and anthropologist Luna Vela, alongside chefs Nadia Casaperalta and Mia Eustaquio, served food including flounder ceviche with heirloom corn tostadas and wave-patterned quesadillas with nopales, both odes to the foodways of the people who lived here long before the place had a European name.
https://www.texasobserver.org/remembering-boca-chica-beach-before-spacex/
#ElonMusk #environment #SpaceX #news #pollution

2025-02-10 22:23:21 UTC

Step 1: Defund public #schools.
Step 2: Demonize struggling teachers.
Step 3: Privatize with the help of special interest groups. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-defund-demonize-privatize-public-schools/
#vouchers #education #politics #USpol #Texas #news #GregAbbott #Republicans

2025-02-10 18:45:21 UTC

Recap: The deadly cost of banning fenantyl test strips. Propaganda maker at the border. Trump's favorite Texas oligrachs. One of Cecile Richards' final interviews. And more in our January/February 2024 issue. https://www.texasobserver.org/issues/january-february-2025/
#politics #USpol #Texas #Trump #GregAbbott #border #Immigration #WarOnDrugs #news
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2025-02-08 20:52:49 UTC

“When I meet with lawmakers to try to convince them not to support policies that take away my daughter’s medical care, I introduce myself as a Christian parent, and I ask them to pray with me. My hope is to show that lawmakers who weaponize my own faith against my family don’t speak for me, and they don’t speak for affirming Christians all across the state.” https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-children-gods-gifts/
#trans #children #religion #Christianity #politics #USpol #news #LGBTQIA+ #TXlege #Texas

2025-02-08 17:18:41 UTC

Death penalty experts refer to people who forego part of their appeals in order to expedite their executions as “volunteers.” 39 people executed in Texas since the 1980s have sought to fast-track their executions. At times, Richard Tabler wants to be one of them. https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-richard-tabler-2025/
#DeathPenalty #politics #USpol #news #prison #HumanRights #Texas #news

2024-12-11 17:53:44 UTC

Smriti Mundhra, director of “I Am Ready, Warden,” told the Texas Observer she wanted to make a documentary that “tested our capacity for forgiveness and a person’s capacity for redemption.” https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-john-ramirez-documentary/
#DeathPenalty #CriminalJustice #documentary #film #movies #politics #USpol #Texas #prison #HumanRights #news #culture

2024-09-20 17:24:07 UTC

For 70 years, we've been a truth-teller and a thorn in the side of the powerful. We couldn't do it without our readers.
It's the final stretch of our mini-fundraiser ... We're raising $5k in 5 days, can you help us across the finish line? https://texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/give/?campaign=701UQ00000Ej3RWYAZ
#fundraising #journalism #media #nonprofit

2024-08-30 15:15:04 UTC

New today: Data shows that firearms were purchased in 212 #Texas counties before being trafficked to Mexico and recovered as crime guns from 2015-2022, for a total of nearly 22,000 firearms. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-mexico-guns-border-crime/
#GunViolence #news #border #politics #USpol #Mexico #CriminalJustice

2024-08-26 14:14:19 UTC

SCOOP from Reporting Fellow Francesca D'Annunzio: Texas Department of Public Safety is committing to a five year, $5.3 million contract for Tangles, an AI #surveillance tool that can track cell phones without a court order. (🧵 1/2) https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-tangle-cobwebs/
#Texas #politics #USpol #news #police #tech #privacy #HumanRights #activism #AI

2024-04-24 18:09:46 UTC

From yesterday: Environmental advocates called it “a land grab of Boca Chica State Park land for a private space corporation that is clearly not in the public interest.” So why is the state parks agency seemingly so eager to work with #SpaceX? https://www.texasobserver.org/spacex-tpwd-park-land-musk/
#politics #ElonMusk #news #USpol #Texas #corruption #environment #pollution #SouthTexas

2024-04-17 19:22:35 UTC

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@npub1j99…xtd7 yes, we can see why it seems like bad decisions have become a habit down here ... 😬

2024-04-16 21:28:59 UTC

Previously: As #drought rages across #Texas, a high-tech chemical company has purchased the last available #water in the Nueces River to make hydrogen and ammonia for export. https://www.texasobserver.org/water-energy-environment-corpus/
#ClimateChange #environment #news #politics #SouthTexas #USpol #pollution

2024-01-28 16:19:17 UTC

In an op-ed for us, Representative Jasmine Crockett wrote, "I’m watching #Texas women suffer because of Republican anti-freedom authoritarianism. Today, I possess fewer rights than my mother possessed during her reproductive years. Why and how did we get here?"
https://www.texasobserver.org/abortion-ban-roe-v-wade-election-2024?utm_campaign=mastodon
#abortion #women #HumanRights #healthcare #Republicans #Trump #election2024 #democracy #RoeVWade

2024-01-18 18:28:00 UTC

”Organized crime has now extended its tentacles throughout #Mexico. Going down the list of the 32 states, at least half of them are wracked by #crime and violence at the highest levels we have seen in a century.”
Our neighbor to the south will elect a new president this year. Will a new leader bring a safer nation? We spoke to an expert about the coming year: https://www.texasobserver.org/mexico-election-2024-obrador-border?utm_campaign=mastodon
#election2024 #voting #democracy #immigration #border #corruption #news #politics

2023-11-28 23:17:03 UTC

#GivingTuesday is here! Donate to the Texas Observer as part of this global day of giving back, and help ensure the TXO is around for another 70 years.
https://donate.texasobserver.org/b/5kA9EteqHerB5kkbII
#fundraising #nonprofit #journalism

2023-10-18 21:17:41 UTC

As the federal government resumed construction of its wall, Governor Greg Abbott is seizing the moment to demand even MORE money for his endlessly expensive #border boondoggle.
According to @npub1pn3…khxu's new report, the House just earmarked $1.5 billion in additional funding for the so-called #Texas Border Infrastructure Program:
https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-lobbies-for-more-money-as-border-wall-burns-through-budget/
#GregAbbott #Republicans #TXlege #Mexico #immigration #Biden #news #politics #USpol

2023-09-19 21:09:15 UTC

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@npub1hyg…mem5 it's hard to say how effective it really is, but if you're looking for other options have you considered a Feliway dispenser? It seems to keep our cats calmer.

2023-09-19 19:00:12 UTC

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@npub1hyg…mem5 yea it seems common in kittens to not get it, but I have had one adult cat who similarly seemed hard-headed about kittyweed. Too bad. —Kit

2023-09-19 18:46:55 UTC

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@npub1hyg…mem5 Is she an actual kitten? or full grown?

2023-09-15 14:15:00 UTC

The latest from Ben Sargent in Texas Observer magazine.
Read all our coverage of the #impeachment of Ken Paxton: https://www.texasobserver.org/tag/ken-paxton-impeachment/
#comics #culture #politics #USpol #Texas #TXlege #KenPaxton #corruption
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2023-09-08 16:59:01 UTC

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“I’ve thought increasingly about my great-grandfather and his ignoble legacy as I’ve settled into life in #Texas, where the Confederate cause is memorialized on statues, flags, and street signs. ...”
In our magazine, Editor-in-Chief @npub132y…akgs confronts the #racism in his family tree, and reflects on how it filters his view of our state's monuments to a white supremacist past: https://www.texasobserver.org/chinese-immigrants-confederate-monuments-racism-history/
#history #politics #WhiteSupremacy #Fascism #extremism #GOP #USpol #CivilWar #Newstodon
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2023-09-08 16:55:04 UTC

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@npub1cy0…ggw4 @npub16nx…rj8k @npub1xdl…tp2q @npub1ved…c8mj @npub1vs7…a6g3 @npub16sl…e3s3 @npub1h9p…ypfm @npub1we6…3uct @npub1c4y…hpqd @npub1vxh…zpcz @npub1eld…64qe @npub1vpl…gc00 @npub13rs…hpkp @npub1vuk…q8yv Happy Friday, friends. Looking forward to the weekend?

2023-09-08 14:37:11 UTC

From yesterday: “The intense heat and drop in annual rainfall have dried up the soil, causing a shift in #water lines. When the pipes shift, the pipe joints can break, causing water leaks.”
1000s and 1000s of leaks...
https://www.texasobserver.org/water-repairs-leaks-heatwave-infrastructure/
#HeatWave #summer #ClimateChange #infrastructure #news #politics #USpol #Texas #environment

2023-09-05 14:21:03 UTC

Good morning, happy Monday! It's predicted to reach 100 degrees today in Austin, #Texas.
The #impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton begins today. Read all our coverage, so far, here: https://www.texasobserver.org/tag/ken-paxton-impeachment/
#news #politics #USpol #KenPaxton #TXlege

2023-09-04 17:17:29 UTC

Most Texans now believe that racist monuments should come down. But that's only the beginning of grappling with the evils in our past, writes Editor in Chief @npub132y…akgs:
"I’ve thought increasingly about my great-grandfather and his ignoble legacy as I’ve settled into life in #Texas, where the Confederate cause is memorialized on statues, flags, and street signs."
https://www.texasobserver.org/chinese-immigrants-confederate-monuments-racism-history/
From the Sept/Oct 2023 issue of our magazine.
#history #racism #WhiteSupremacy #immigration #Mexico
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2023-09-01 20:31:06 UTC

Here's a sneak preview of the September/October issue of Texas Observer magazine, featuring stories by Eva Ruth Moravec, Kit @npub1m8a…khgv, Reynaldo Leaños Jr. and @npub132y…akgs.
The new issue will be arriving in mailboxes, inboxes, and at select newsstands soon.
#TexasNeedsAnObserver! Help us keep reporting by becoming a member today, and you'll get the next issue too: https://texasobserver.org/join/
#news #journalism #nonprofit #USpol #politics #AirBNB #DragQueens #Military #Racism
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2023-08-31 18:42:03 UTC

“We are up against a bunch of rich people who don’t want to see #homeless people anywhere near their stuff.”
Volunteers with #Houston Food Not Bombs are going to court to fight an anti-food sharing ordinance which they say violates their First Amendment rights, reports Staff Writer Michelle Pitcher in our latest article: https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-food-not-bombs-trial/
#news #politics #USpol #food #poverty #inequality #HumanRights #library #law #CriminalJustice #police #Texas #FirstAmendment

2023-08-31 14:22:41 UTC

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@npub1csq…9rak @npub1dtj…4htu death star is a nickname given by opponents in this case

2023-08-31 00:50:13 UTC

“HB 2127 was a power grab by the Legislature and an unwarranted and unconstitutional intrusion into local power granted to Houston and other home-rule cities by the #Texas Constitution.”
An important "death star" update from McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow @npub1dtj…4htu:
https://www.texasobserver.org/judge-strikes-down-leges-power-grab-against-cities-hb-2127/

2023-08-30 21:50:31 UTC

“Leticia suffered from extreme anxiety and depression during the prolonged separation. She feared for her own safety in #Guatemala and worried about her son’s well-being in foster care in the United States.”
Via our friends at Truthout, the U.S. government is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over the anguish caused by family separation: https://www.texasobserver.org/leticia-family-separation-lawsuit/
#news #politics #USpol #immigration #Border #FosterCare #CriminalJustice

2023-08-26 19:44:14 UTC

Our weekly newsletter: “All about the Paxton #impeachment” http://eepurl.com/iyvjVU
Subscribe to get our free #newsletter in your inbox every week: https://trypico.com/texasobserver/login/enter-email?id=LoginWizard_texasobserver&short_code=e7qa82x4
#KenPaxton #TXlege #news #politics #USpol #Texas #LGBTQIA+ #schools #drag

2023-08-24 15:48:12 UTC

Texas regulators on Tuesday approved a 12,000-acre coal mine expansion despite objections from local governments and a river authority concerned about their #water supplies, reports Dylan Baddour of @npub16sl…e3s3:
https://www.texasobserver.org/ignoring-water-worries-texas-permits-lignite-mine-expansion/
#ClimateChange #news #environment #pollution #energy #Texas #politics #USpol

2023-08-21 19:23:34 UTC

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@npub18n9…l624 @npub18l5…2jgj Thankfully, we believe many Christians would take issue with the Christian nationalists' interpretation of the Bible

2023-08-21 18:51:48 UTC

Earlier: “The central premise is that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy.” And that Christian nationalists should rule the world, of course.
From Special Investigative Correspondent @npub18l5…2jgj https://texasobserver.org/these-christians-think-god-needs-you-rich-and-to-rule-the-world/
#Extremism #religion #news #politics #USpol #Fascism #Christianity

2023-08-16 19:39:47 UTC

We've received a handful of applications for our Environmental Reporting Fellow, and the position is still open.The fellowship begins Sept 1 & runs through December.
We encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet every qualification. This position is for anyone looking.to take the next step in their reporting career with an intensive 10 week fellowship.
More info: https://www.texasobserver.org/jobs/
#environment #journalism #JournoLife #JournoJobs #Fedihired #fedijobs #hiring #ClimateChange #Texas