The Texas Observer

Much has been written in the Observer about the border wall boondoggle winding its way along the Texas-Mexico border. At $2.4 billion and counting the 670 mile border wall ranges from California to Texas. Several landowners in Texas are still fighting for fair compensation for their land from the U.S. government.Brownsville landowner Eloisa Tamez, 74, has been one of the most outspoken landowners against the 18-foot wall being built through her backyard. In January, I wrote a story “All Walled Up” about the battle between Cameron County landowners such as Tamez and the Department of Homeland Security who has seized…

A little over a year ago, Amarillo’s swingers geared up for their New Year’s Eve party at Route 66 Party and Event Rental, a downtown business owned by a prominent couple, Mac and Monica Mead. Few in this conservative, church-heavy city knew about the weekend parties, and the swingers liked…

The State of Texas executed Charlie Brooks for the crime of murder on Dec. 7, 1982. The method used in Huntsville that day was the first ever of its kind: a lethal injection. Brooks' execution was also the first in Texas following the reinstatement of the death penalty by the…

On Friday, I wondered if any of the media panelists at the second GOP gubernatorial debate would ask Rick Perry about the case of Cameron Todd Wilingham. It seemed the perfect time because the Forensic Science Commission was meeting that very day for the first time since last fall's controversy. You couldn't ask for a better news hook. The answer—as you may know—is no. Willingham wasn't discussed. (If you haven't seen it, my colleague Bob Moser has a terrific analysis of the debate here.) Willingham, a likely innocent man, was executed in 2004 under Perry's watch. (Background on the case…

Tonight's second GOP gubernatorial debate in Dallas would seem the perfect opportunity to ask Gov. Rick Perry about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. (Obligatory background parenthetical: Willingham, a likely innocent man, was executed in 2004. Read about the case here.) The Willingham controversy has been nonexistent in the governor's race so far. It's clear the Kay Bailey Hutchison campaign decided long ago that the Willingham issue wasn't a winning one for them with GOP primary voters. And they won't get an argument from me on that one. But that doesn't mean the media should be avoiding this subject. The…

The North Central Texas Fusion Center, a regional counterterror system owned by Collin County's Homeland Security Department, appears intent on making intelligence stupid. In a secret "threat assessment" prepared for the Fort Worth Police Department's Intelligence Division in December 2008, the center urged law enforcement officers to monitor people of "Middle Eastern appearance" at a college football bowl game in Fort Worth that month. A portion of the threat assessment—stamped "Law Enforcement Sensitive" and part of a PowerPoint presentation—was inadvertently sent to the Observer as part of a broader open-records request. "Although the North Central Texas Fusion System analysis has…