Slush Fun
At least one Texan has benefited from Rick Perry's Enterprise Fund.
For the past six years, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has lorded over a controversial stash of taxpayer money known as the Texas Enterprise Fund, dispensing huge sums—$345 million and counting—to large corporations, ostensibly to spur…
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Building Little Baghdad
An Iraqi refugee community sprouts up in Dallas-Fort Worth.
On a rainy January night, Amira Matsuda shuffles to the front door of her opulent home in Plano and invites me in for dinner. A wealthy and established woman in her mid-50s, Matsuda spends every…
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The Chosen One
Why Linda Chavez-Thompson wants to be lieutenant governor.
In a nondescript strip mall tucked between used-car lots and fast-food restaurants in southwest San Antonio, Linda Chavez-Thompson is plotting the course of her latest improbable journey: becoming Texas’ first Latina lieutenant governor.
A petite,…
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Republican of the People
Can Debra Medina's grassroots rebellion dethrone Texas' Republican royalty?
On a Saturday afternoon in Burleson, even the hottest politician in Texas has trouble scoring a table at Babe’s, a popular fried-chicken joint.
Her name is called after 15 minutes huddled around an industrial heater…
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Master Stroke
Why did Gov. Perry's insurance regulators sign their own lobbyist's paychecks?
In 2002 and 2003, a troubled auto-insurance company based in Dallas wrote checks worth more than a quarter of a million dollars to a powerful Republican lobbyist with close ties to Gov. Rick Perry. On…
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The Mayor & The Mogul
Bill White and Farouk Shami on why they're running for governor—and how they'd shake up Texas.
On Dec. 4, the day that three-term Houston mayor Bill White jumped into the race for governor, many Texas Democrats started dreaming big.
Their perfect scenario goes like this: Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay…
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Conversion Story
How Bryan's Planned Parenthood director became a pro-life celebrity.
Abby Johnson was the 29-year-old executive director of Planned Parenthood in Bryan when she resigned in October. A month later, she was on Mike Huckabee's FOX News show explaining why she had joined the Coalition…
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All Walled Up
How Brownsville's battle against the federal government's border fence ended in defeat and disillusionment.
In the early spring of 2008, the uniformed Border Patrol officers delivering condemnation notices door-to-door seemed surprised by the defiance they met from Brownsville landowners. The first time the officers came, it was with clipboards…
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Gone Baby Gone
The shocking case of Otty Sanchez exposes the holes in Texas' mental health care system.
The first police officers at the crime scene were so shocked they could barely speak. When they arrived at the white-paneled house on San Antonio's north side at 5 a.m. on July 26, officers found…
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Where Do You Draw The Line?
by
Olupero R. Aiyenimelo
At what point did you draw the line? Was it before or after you crossed over it? Was it on the way to Gerry Mander’s…
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eyeontexas
Freak Show
by
Brandon Thibodeaux
“Freak is a relative term. By definition it denotes something or someone that is unusual or markedly different. I guess I’m a freak in a…
Our Reporting
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La Linea Mexicans Turn to Social Media to Document Narco Violence by Melissa del Bosque @ 12:13PM on 03.09.10
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Dim lights Embed
Linda Chavez-Thompson announces her candidacy for Texas Lieutenant Governor in January, 2010. Texas Tribune
