- ON THE COVER »
- Left Behind
- Special Issue: The 81st Legislature's unfinished business.
- Features
- FEATURE »
- The People’s Friends and Foes
- As a rule, we tend to steer clear of “best of” and “top 10” lists at the Observer. Sure, they’re fine harmless fun; we just can’t help feeling that their natural milieu is high school yearbooks and The Late Show with David Letterman. But even haughty journalist types can’t always resist the temptation. We herewith offer our highly selective tallies of lawmakers who notably opposed—or bravely championed—the best interests of the good folk of Texas at the 81st Legislature.
- FEATURE »
- Bad(dest) Bills
- During the 81st session of the Texas Legislature, the Observer’s intrepid legislative interns, Reeve Hamilton and Susan Peterson, sussed out and exposed dozens of rotten pieces of legislation. Here we’ve selected the worst of the worst from the nearly 7,500 bills filed during the session—no easy task.
- FEATURE »
- Un-Covered
- Bill Minutaglio reports on the shrinking Capitol press corps and the stories left unreported.
- FEATURE »
- Out of the Box
- Sen. Dan Patrick on why Texas needs a full-time Legislature.
- FEATURE »
- Snuffed
- How Big Tobacco fended off a statewide smoking ban.
- FEATURE »
- Reconstruction
- Can legislative action repair the troubled Department of Public Safety?
- FEATURE »
- The Republican from La Mancha
- Another frustrating session for the Don Quixote of the Texas Senate.
- FEATURE »
- State Schooled
- Lawmakers finally approved long-overdue reforms of institutions for the mentally disabled—because they had to.
- FEATURE »
- Five Days of Chub
- Your Legislature at work. Highlights from five days of “chubbing.”
- FEATURE »
- No Green Sweep
- How high hopes for environmental progress were dashed.
- FEATURE »
- Status Woe
- Two state agencies needed big reforms; lawmakers did nothing.
- Departments
- DIALOGUE »
- Letters to the Editors
- EDITORIAL »
- The Lost Lege of 2009
- Books & the Culture
- BACK OF THE BOOK »
- Jerky Boy
- Brad Tyer on the mythology of Texas BBQ and why jerky deserves top meat billing.
- DATELINE »
- Dodging the Ditches at GM
- Michael Hoinski on the uncertain future of GM’s plant in Arlington.
