Category: News

[ad_1] On the heels of an unprecedented 24-day labor strike late last year, around 20 journalists at the 117-year-old Fort Worth Star-Telegram have ratified the only union contract at a Texas newspaper. The union victory comes after more than two years of difficult negotiations and…

[ad_1] Elections have consequences. This political bromide is overused for a reason—it’s reliably true. And this year, the fallout for vulnerable Texans could be particularly destructive. After something approaching a blue wave swept across Texas in November 2018, a chastened Republican majority in the Legislature…

[ad_1] Two-hundred and eighteen votes is the magic number to elect a new Speaker of the House, and since opening day of the 118th U.S. Congress on January 3, it’d be the understatement of 2023 to say the Republican Congressional delegation is a house divided….

[ad_1] Texas has handed out the biggest contract yet for its border wall project to a construction firm run by Tommy Fisher, arguably the most notorious border wall builder during the era of former President Donald Trump. Fisher waged a political influence campaign that won…

[ad_1] Texas school libraries have been far from quiet in the past two years. The voices of parents and legislators condemning the contents of certain books—particularly those featuring LGBTQ+ and nonwhite characters—are thunderous in Texas. The Lone Star State has more school book bans in…

[ad_1] An Inconvenient Truth, the 2006 documentary featuring former Vice President Al Gore, ignited what was previously only a smoldering public awareness of climate change. Gore had given presentations on the topic since 1989, and the filmmakers brought his efforts to the big screen. The…

[ad_1] At the crux of the nation’s hyperpartisan political and culture wars stand Texas and Florida, the far-right Republican axis, whose right-wing trifectas not only survived the midterms but emerged stronger, bolder, and bigger. While the widely expected GOP “red wave” fizzled in much of…

[ad_1] When Alan Pean drove himself to Houston’s St. Joseph Medical Center in August 2015, he got into a minor car accident. He wasn’t thinking straight—he was trying to check himself in for mental health treatment. He had a history of bipolar disorder and, according…

[ad_1] There is a point in every Texas Observer magazine production cycle—usually after the first, sometimes second, round of proofing—when Adam Muro, our copy editor, has caught most of the typos; when the captions have all been fixed so none of them read “so-and-so poses…

[ad_1] If city budgets are a reflection of what a community holds precious, one thing is glaring in Texas: Policing and incarceration are cities’ crown jewels.  Texas’ five largest cities—Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth—spend far more on criminal justice than on community…