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Let’s Praise the Bravery of the Sandy Hook Families
As the first of several defamation trials against Alex Jones comes to an end, we should never lose sight of the suffering of the plaintiffs, the Sandy Hook families. Jones, creator of the Infowars media empire, has made a career out of spreading lies and conspiracy theories. The mental torture, stalking, and death threats received by the survivors in Newtown, Connecticut, at the hands of Jones and his fans, are a reminder of the terrible power of disinformation.
We Could Save the Grid by Using Less Electricity
In 1999, Texas was the first state to adopt an energy efficiency standard for utilities, but we've fallen way behind since. Two months into a prolonged, record-breaking heat wave, Texans have once again become very familiar with conservation alerts from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The agency has repeatedly asked residents to turn up thermostats and save electricity during the hottest summer afternoons. And to everyone’s pleasant surprise, the grid has held up—thanks in large part to people heeding conservation alerts, and to renewable energy projects picking up slack as the state’s fossil fuel plants falter.
‘The Fishermen and the Dragon’ Uncovers Racist Conflict in Galveston Bay History
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. These days the Kemah Boardwalk is a glitzy, overbuilt amusement park where competing pop songs blare from speakers and the smells of fried fish, children’s sweat, and Houston’s overripe air waft over throngs of visitors. But I have never heard Bruce Springsteen’s “Galveston Bay” played there—a tune that unlocks a shocking secret about this popular tourist trap.
The Fascist Circus Comes to CPAC Texas
Republican politicians joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for speeches laced with antisemitism and overt Christian nationalism. Hundreds of die-hard right-wing activists descended on the Hilton Anatole in Dallas for the Conservative Political Action Conference this week. It’s the third CPAC event this year alone, following prior events in Orlando, Florida and Budapest, Hungary. It’s also the third CPAC event in a row which featured explicitly Christian nationalist and fascistic speakers.
Poem: Uvalde
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. a girl with a snakeskin briefcase. The name, a jewel in the mouth, like others—Guadalupe, Bandera— redolent of sky, space, heat, the sense of a journey, roads turning and turning. What I saw when I looked...
The Biden Administration Must Ban Racial Profiling
The public opposes immigration authorities' use of race in border apprehensions, but it continues to be legal in some circumstances. On July 28, the ACLU of Texas filed a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging that the Texas Department of Public Safety was “engaged in racial profiling” and “discriminating against Latinx drivers and passengers” in traffic stops as part of Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. A 2022 study found that DPS searched Latinx drivers more frequently than white drivers, suggesting that there is “a reasonable probability that racial profiling is a significant contributor to” these differences. The Department of Justice is investigating whether Operation Lone Star violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds.”
How Peter Stout Turned Around Houston’s Crime Lab
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. Peter Stout’s buoyant presence cuts a sharp contrast to his grisly work as head of the Houston Forensic Science Center. Defying the typical laboratory white, Stout is dressed in hues of blue with bright teal armadillo socks peeking out of brown Oxfords.
Time Traveling with ‘Paper Girls’ Star Camryn Jones
The series cast member talks about her career trajectory, preparing for the role, and the show's handling of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Camryn Jones owes her already impressive acting career to a pageant. When she was five years old, Jones was named the Tiny Miss Cy-Fair Houston at the 2012...
Michelle Vallejo Keeps the Progressive Flame Alive in the RGV
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. Michelle Vallejo, a 30-year-old congressional candidate and co-owner of a McAllen-area pulga, would like to be the rain on Republicans’ South Texas parade. Running to represent Congressional District 15—a top pickup target for a GOP hungry to gain ground along the Texas border—Vallejo emerged from a crowded March Democratic primary while running as the field’s most progressive candidate. In late May, she prevailed by a mere 30 votes in a runoff against a moderate opponent.
Next on the GOP’s List: Starving Queer Kids
Republican attorneys general, including Ken Paxton, have filed suit over a federal school lunch program that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ+ children. Nothing says “family values” like fighting for the right to starve LGBTQ+ kids. That’s the latest from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who last week joined more...
The Hills Have Allies
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story:. This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.”
Energy Advocates Urge Biden to Declare Climate Emergency
Originally published by Truthout. Texas energy and environmental analysts and advocates are urging President Joe Biden to formally declare a state of climate emergency in order to shore up the state’s precarious grid. While Biden announced modest steps to combat the climate crisis last week at a shuttered coal-fired...
Pandemic Inspires a New Crop of Farmers
This story was originally published by Global Press Journal. CUAUTITLÁN IZCALLI, MEXICO — Growing up in a concrete city of more than 5 million people, María de Lourdes Félix never thought she would harvest corn and worry about worms. But during the pandemic lockdown in March...
Texas’ Eviction Craze
Amid record heat and a new COVID wave, state residents are being threatened with homelessness in rising numbers. Miguel Valencia has a court date on July 29. He’s facing eviction from his home in Garland, just northeast of Dallas. He’s two months behind on the rent for his house, which has been in disrepair due to foundation problems since he moved there in 2019.
West Texas Town Comes Out for Drag Queens
On a recent Sunday morning, Destiny Adams arrived to work at Tumbleweed + Sage Coffeehouse at the crack of dawn. In a few hours, Adams would be hosting a Pride event featuring the first-ever drag queen story time in her small, conservative town of Wolfforth, a suburb of Lubbock with a population under 6,000.
Concrete Ideas
New technology and methods may help clean up the cement and concrete industries—two of Texas’ most conspicuous polluters. It’s a concrete world, and we’re just living in it—or so Texas cities feel to many residents. Some uses of that omnipresent building material seem questionable, like fueling the seemingly endless expansion of state highways. But others, like building more housing and businesses, help accommodate a growing population.
Migrant Deaths Are a Feature—Not a Bug—of U.S. Immigration Policy
Little more than a week after a horrific smuggling attempt left 53 people dead in San Antonio, Governor Greg Abbott promised a new border security strategy that doubles down on a century of policies that drive people to take dangerous routes into the United States. Abbott’s new approach, which directs...
Pot of Gold
A version of this story ran in the July / August 2022 issue. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story:. This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.”
There Is No Legitimate ‘Debate’ Over Gender-Affirming Healthcare
On June 15, the New York Times Magazine published “The Battle Over Gender Therapy,” an investigation into gender-affirming care for young people by staff writer Emily Bazelon. Since its publication, transgender-rights advocates, medical experts, and other journalists have condemned the article for inaccurately portraying such care as controversial, misrepresenting scientific research, and quoting anti-trans activists without proper context.
An Expert at Playing Dads
Dana Lee is one of the country’s most overlooked Asian American actors. He has been in over 100 films over the course of his 50-year career in Hollywood, but his childhood began in segregation-era Houston. Lee stars in a new feature film directed by Tom Huang called Dealing With...
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The Texas Observer is an Austin-based nonprofit news organization known for fearless investigative reporting, narrative storytelling and sophisticated cultural criticism about all things Texan.