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Texas Transportation Advocacy Revs Up at the Lege
Their advancements come in striking contrast to how much of the session has played out. This session, conservative lawmakers have harped on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts at universities as a product of “politically correct” culture. Yet the Texas Streets Coalition is optimistic about a bill changing the state’s language from car accidents to car crashes – a call among road safety advocates who say car crashes are not accidental. And in a session that has sought to blur lines around how the state engages with the public on border enforcement, the coalition convinced TxDOT to shed a layer of opacity by requiring TxDOT contractors to identify their connection to the state agency when engaging with the public.
‘He Failed to Signal’: When DPS Traffic Stops Turn Deadly
Shandra Hodge speaks out about her son’s death at the hands of state troopers in 2019. As Texas state troopers patrol Austin streets in their dark, imposing SUVs, old patterns follow in tow. Data shows that within the first month of the agency’s partnership with the City of Austin, Latino, and Black residents have been arrested for misdemeanors in disproportionate numbers. One traffic stop has already turned deadly: Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers shot and killed a man just north of Austin this past weekend.
How (Not) to Mourn a Mass Shooting
Two local churches in Allen offered contrasting visions of how the community can heal in the wake of mass murder. On May 6, a man wearing tactical gear left his vehicle in the parking lot of a mall in Allen and began shooting innocent bystanders. His vest bore a shield-shaped patch with the letters RWDS—an acronym for “Right Wing Death Squad,” a common signifier among far-right ideologues. The gunman used multiple weapons, including an AR-15, to kill eight people and wound at least seven others. Although the motive for the killings is still unknown, authorities confirmed he was a neo-Nazi.
He Died Helping Build Tesla’s Gigafactory. Tesla Didn’t Tell Local Officials.
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Investigative Reporting Is Under Attack in the Americas. We Need More Action.
U.S. journalists are publicly asking the Biden administration to actively support freedom of the press. I was stranded in the Miami airport in November 2022 when I met two incredible journalists en route to the annual Congress of Latin American Investigative Reporters (called COLPIN, for its initials in Spanish). We huddled at a counter, eating empanadas and sipping espresso, swapping stories in a limbo created by long delays to an American Airlines flight that had unexplained mechanical problems as one of Florida’s tropical storms approached.
Bigotry Is Bigger in Texas
In 2023, the Texas State Legislature led the country in transphobic legislation; 52 bills so far to be exact. From prohibiting lifesaving gender-affirming care for trans youth to banning transgender athletes from competing as part of teams that align with their gender identity—everything might be bigger in Texas, but it seems that also applies to hate and bigotry.
Ag Commissioner Sid Miller Doubles Down on Transphobic Dress Code
Legal experts told the Observer that the policy could open the Texas Department of Agriculture to discrimination lawsuits. Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) Commissioner Sid Miller has received an avalanche of media attention about a new memorandum that requires agency employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” First reported by the Texas Observer on Monday, the policy forces transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming employees into the closet by preventing them from expressing their gender identity.
Past the Pursuit of Pretty
"Caterpillar," Liza Mandelup’s recent documentary, unearths the humanity in cosmetic surgery. It would be easy to assume that a documentary on medical tourism and beauty standards might take a direction closer to the former example. One might expect an exposé on the damaging influence of social media, the ridiculous cost of healthcare in the United States, or a scandalous story in which the real demons are revealed to be avaricious CEOs and immoral marketing campaigns.
Travis County DA Garza to Defend Daniel Perry Conviction at Parole Board
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to pardon former U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, who was unanimously convicted by a Travis County jury this month for the 2020 murder of racial justice protester Garrett Foster, may already be backfiring, according to internal emails Truthout obtained from the Travis County District Attorney’s office.
Loon Star State: Republican Education
A version of this story ran in the March / April 2023 issue. To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here. The New Children’s Crusade: Recruiting for America’s Culture War: McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow Josephine Lee investigates the...
Diane Wilson on Fighting Plastic Pollution, Losing Everything, and Gaining Her Soul
The longtime Gulf Coast activist just won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. For three decades, Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper from Seadrift, has been trying to hold Formosa Plastics accountable for its pollution in Texas. Polyvinyl chloride powder from the plant dusted everything in town when she was young, and by the 1980s, more and more sick and mutated fish were showing up in locals’ catches. In 1989, Wilson learned Calhoun County had the most toxic pollution of any county nationally, according to EPA rankings.
Ag Commissioner Sid Miller’s New Transphobic Dress Code
An April 13 memorandum from the Department of Agriculture welcomes “Western wear” but requires employees to dress according to “biological gender.”. The opening sentences of the memorandum, titled “Texas Department of Agriculture Dress Code and Grooming Policy,” include the following language: “Employees are expected to comply with this dress code in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” Running afoul of the new rule could carry serious consequences. The memo also reads, “Violation of this agency policy includes remedies up to and including termination.” While provided without context, it is clear that the new policy is intended to single out queer and trans employees for censure.
Prison Journalist Shows Why We Need a Free Press—Even Behind Bars
Jason Walker has been reporting from inside his cell at great risk to his personal safety. In 2018, Walker’s reporting from inside the Telford Unit in far northeast Texas turned him into a pseudo-celebrity within TDCJ. That year, K2, a synthetic cannabinoid whose effects can include hallucinations, permeated the units. Walker reported that inside, it accumulated nicknames: tune, toochie, and—most ominously—drop-dead. A TDCJ spokesperson said three prisoner deaths in 2020 and one in 2021 were confirmed to be caused by “synthetic cannabinoid toxicity.” This wasn’t a problem isolated to Texas prisons, though: K2 was a major health concern in prisons across the country, contributing to 13 deaths in Arkansas prisons in 2017 and being called the cause of accidental deaths in Florida prisons by the Miami Herald.
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