TDCJ Lawyers Violated Professional Ethics Pursuing Executions
Earlier this month human rights advocates, legal experts, and other conscientious citizens had their eyes squarely fixed on Texas as it was primed to execute Robert Fratta on January 15. In the process of exterminating Fratta, state lawyers discarded their ethical obligations in a rush…
From Austin with Zombies
When actor Gabriel Luna first picked up a Playstation controller and played The Last Of Us all the way back in 2013, he surprisingly felt a pang of pride. “The first thing I noticed was that the inciting incident for the game was in Austin,”…
San Antonio to End Use of Coal Within Five Years
In 2010, coal use in the United States was already dropping precipitously in favor of cheaper and more environmentally friendly options, including natural gas and renewables. That year, San Antonio’s electric utility made the anachronistic decision to add a new coal-fired generator to its J….
Former Star-Telegram Conservative Columnist Spews Hate in Chatroom
Last year, Carlos Turcios regularly wrote columns for the Fort Worth Star Telegram that criticized Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) while simultaneously working for a PAC that opposed so-called “critical race theory” and called for organizing protests against FWISD policies—facts that were rarely disclosed…
‘Colossal Waste of Money’: Texas Nears $1 Billion in Border Wall Contracts
As Governor Greg Abbott’s scheme to wall off Texas From Mexico quickly and quietly accelerates, the state has now doled out $830 million in contracts to raise over 30 miles of border barrier. Last week, the Texas Facilities Commission approved its fifth construction contract for…
Destiny Returns to Wolfforth
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned almost 50 years of legal precedent last June by stripping away the constitutional right to abortion, Destiny Adams was horrified. She foresaw devastating consequences for her community in Wolfforth, a tiny West Texas suburb of Lubbock with little access…
‘A Legacy of Rage’ in Waco
Thirty years ago this April 19, TV viewers looked on as Mount Carmel—the sprawling Branch Davidian compound on a bleak stretch of prairie outside Waco—was engulfed in flame and smoke. The destruction of the rickety settlement, familiar after two months of intense media coverage, marked…
Lost Children—A Texas Tragedy – The Texas Observer
We Were Once a Family opens with something alarming that a German tourist traveling the scenic Pacific Coast Highway spotted on the rocky shore on March 26, 2018: “a crumpled SUV flipped on its hood, with the vehicle’s undercarriage exposed.” The passengers were six Texas…
Petty Drama, Electric Trucks and Hungry Bears
Austin Drue Wagner / Texas Observer The unreliable Texas grid could not stop one man’s pursuit of reliable family planning. When his urology clinic suddenly lost power, Dr. Christopher Yang thought he would have to cancel a patient’s impending vasectomy. But a staffer reminded the…
Mexico’s Testosterone Shortage Puts Trans Men at Risk
This story was originally published by Global Press Journal. Global Press Journal is an award-winning international news publication with more than 40 independent news bureaus across Africa, Asia and Latin America. When Thomas Chiu Palomeque saw on social media that there was a shortage of hormone-replacement…