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Texas Observer
Strangest State: Fashionable Critters and Creepy Heirlooms
LUBBOCK // A hairless opossum in Lubbock became a viral sensation after the local animal shelter asked the public for fashion advice for the critter. KLBK reported that a concerned citizen brought the opossum, which suffers from alopecia, to the South Plains Rehab Center. Then officials asked the public to help them clothe the critter—a call that was echoed by the Today Show and the New York Post. “She needs an agent,” the rehab center’s director said.
Eye on Texas: Border Love
From the January/February 2021 issue. Rogelio Chavira and Dolores Chacon were sweethearts in high school, class of 1970. Although they split up before starting at the University of Texas at El Paso, Dolores and Rogelio have fond memories of their first romance. “He was just so polite, just the sweetest and most respectful man,” Dolores says. “He was reserved and very hardworking. I’ve really never understood how such a hard worker wouldn’t want to be a Republican.”
Despite trapping people in a cycle of debt, predatory lenders in the Lone Star State raked in millions meant to help people get their financial footing.
Last spring, Federal Cash Advance of Oklahoma, LLC raked in nearly $1 million in a single transaction. That money came from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which grants forgivable loans to small businesses to alleviate the financial turmoil wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which does business as CashMax, runs dozens of green and yellow storefronts across Texas. It promises a “quick,” “friendly,” and “hassle free” way to get cash, through payday and auto title loans, along with cash advances.
Forgotten for Over a Century, Border Hero Jovita Idár Is Rediscovered by Her Hometown of Laredo
From the January/February 2021 issue. In 1914, the Texas Rangers had a reputation for complicity in extralegal violence and property crimes against Hispanic Texans. So when they rode up to the office of El Progreso newspaper in Laredo one day with a score to settle, the wisest choice of action might have been to flee and let them have the printing press. Instead, 29-year-old Jovita Idár dared the Rangers to come and take it. Idár, a crusading journalist, guarded her paper’s press with her own body, forcing the Rangers to either assault an unarmed woman or come back at a more auspicious time. The Rangers stood down.
The Lege This Week: Texas Redistricting Will Be A Summer Showdown
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis. Now, under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers are faced with a number of urgent challenges. The Texas Observer is following along every step of the way.
What to do With a “Tidal Wave” of Texas Wind Turbine Blades
Towns the size of Sweetwater normally don’t need many graveyards. The rural community of about 11,000 people is located in the impossibly flat plains west of Abilene and is best known for the 2,000 wind turbines that surround the area. More wind energy is produced in Nolan County than almost anywhere else on the planet, but since this place has given birth to such a staggering number of turbines, it now accommodates more than its fair share of dead ones, too.
Will the Texas Legislature Stop Police from Arresting People for Fine-Only Offenses?
Update: On Monday, Marco Puente agreed to a $200,000 settlement in his lawsuit against two police officers with the City of Keller. On a broiling August day last year, Dillon Puente drove through the Fort Worth suburb of Keller to take his car to a mechanic. The high temperature that day was above 100 degrees and Puente’s air conditioning wasn’t working, so he kept the windows down to stay cool. After he made a right turn onto Main Street, he saw lights from a police car flashing behind him. He pulled over on a side street, near his grandparents’ house. When Blake Shimanek, a white officer, approached his Honda Civic, 22-year-old Puente was scared. He’d seen videos and news stories of cops killing people of color during traffic stops. Puente rolled his window three-quarters of the way up, hoping it would keep him safe.
Exploring the Rise, Fall, and Lingering Trauma of the Death Penalty in Texas
From the January/February 2021 issue. Dalton Coble didn’t know his grandfather particularly well, but stories of Billie Wayne Coble have cast a shadow over his family since before he was born. In August 1989, Billie murdered his estranged wife’s parents and brother. The slayings shocked Waco, and the Coble name continued to raise eyebrows as it surfaced in headlines about appeals in the case over the following three decades. Billie’s son from a previous marriage, Gordon Coble, was only a teenager when his father was sentenced to death. In an attempt to shake the stigma, Gordon moved his family to outside Austin when Dalton was a child. He grew up meeting his grandfather through birthday cards and the occasional trip to visit him across from a cage walled off with plexiglass.
The Lege This Week: Texas Lawmakers Tackle the Budget
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis. Now, under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers are faced with a number of urgent challenges. The Texas Observer is following along every step of the way. This is the first of our weekly dispatches from the state Capitol.
‘Fugitive Dreams’ Tells a Timeless Tale for Right Now
John, a nervous chatterbox with a child’s innocence, retches under a tree on the side of the road. “Dust in the lungs,” he says. His companion, the downhearted Mary, forces him to stand and leads him out of sight. “Cops’ll beat you dry for that shit,” she says in a low voice. “Get up.” Dried-up cornstalks stretch out for miles as the two characters in shoddy coats walk through the flat land in harsh black and white. The threatening landscape seems to trail them.
Deaths in ICE Custody Skyrocketed During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Fernando Sabonger Garcia ended up in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 7 after being arrested at the Texas border. A Honduran national fleeing dangers at home, he was hoping for safe harbor in the United States. Instead, the 50-year-old ended up at Joe Corley Detention Facility, a privately run immigration detention center in Conroe, Texas.
After a Year of Racial Reckoning, Black Lawmakers Believe They Can Finally Eliminate Confederate Heroes Day in Texas
This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans—and engages with them—about public policy, politics, government and statewide issue. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday honoring a leader of the American civil rights...
Texas Republicans Fanned the Flames of Insurrection Long Before January 6
In the week since pro-Trump mobs violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, Senator Ted Cruz has served as a rather convenient lightning rod for his fellow Texas Republicans. As the attempted insurrection began to mount outside, Ted Cruz was on the Senate floor, leading the charge to block the certification of the presidential election. In a blatant political ploy, the conservative firebrand—who wants to run for president again in 2024—tried to stake his claim to Trump’s base. Within 10 minutes of his speech, hordes of violent extremists stormed past police barricades. Ten minutes after that, rioters entered the Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Cruz has faced broad condemnation and widespread calls to resign.
‘Chicano Squad’ Provides New Perspectives on Police Brutality and Unsolved Murders
In 1977, a handsome young veteran named Jose Campos Torres was arrested at a Houston cantina after getting into a fight. Police hauled him, still drunk and angry, to a remote parking lot along Buffalo Bayou where officers beat him up. His injuries were so visible that a jailer refused to book Campos Torres and suggested taking him to a hospital. Instead, rogue cops returned to the bayou, continued the beating, and then threw him in the murky water to drown him and to cover up their crime.
Texas Legislative Session Begins With Heavy Security Presence Following U.S. Capitol Riot
Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune Jan 13, 2021, 8:00 am CST. This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans—and engages with them—about public policy, politics, government and statewide issue. The Texas Legislature gaveled in Tuesday for its...
In San Antonio, a Fight over Public Housing Heats Up
On a Thursday in early November, nearly 70 San Antonians showed up via Zoom to address the board of the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA), a quasi-governmental agency that oversees the city’s public housing and Section 8 vouchers. Due to the unusual volume of people, the board chair cut individuals’ speaking time from 3 minutes to a minute and a half. In 90-second bursts, often interrupted by technical difficulties, a stream of community activists, academics, and public housing tenants commented on SAHA’s plans to demolish and redevelop the Alazán-Apache Courts, San Antonio’s oldest and largest public housing development, with most opposing the plan.
Lege in the Time of Coronavirus
An uncontrolled pandemic. An economic crisis. A bruising loss for Democrats. The Texas Legislature is back in session. By the time Texas lawmakers meet for the first time since the pandemic started, more than 29,000 of their constituents will have died of COVID-19. Nearly 2 million will have been infected. Roughly 4 million will have filed unemployment claims, at times nearly crashing the state’s outdated and unprepared system. Hundreds of thousands will have lost their health insurance. Thousands of businesses will have shuttered.
Loon Star: Mr. Cruz goes to Washington
Ted Cruz was one of two Senate ringleaders to challenge the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden on Wednesday. Then pro-Trump extremists violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. Cruz—who has long stoked fear around Democratic control, saying in 2018 that “the hard left is filled with anger and rage”—has since denounced the riots, but is now facing criticism and calls for his resignation from fellow lawmakers.
Editorial: Look Down Ballot for Democratic Wins in Texas
After the 2020 election, it’s time for Texas Democrats to stop setting unrealistic expectations about top-ticket races and instead start focusing on the down-ballot seats they’ve already won. Over the past decade, Democrats have flipped district courts, appellate benches, sheriff’s departments, and county governments across the state. These positions languish at the bottom of the ballot but assert more direct control over life in Texas than any individual legislator could dream of.
Why Didn’t San Antonio Police Immediately Apply First Aid To Darrell Zemault Sr. After Shooting Him?
This story originally appeared on Texas Public Radio. San Antonio police officers waited more than 1 minute to apply first aid to Darrel Zemault Sr. after they shot him in front of his house. The officers were attempting to arrest him for outstanding warrants when, they claim, he grabbed one...
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