The Year in Observer Stories
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018
Six Stories About Rural Texas You Should Read Before 2018 Ends
From the shuttering of Dairy Queens, driver's license offices and rural hospitals across the state to an only-in-Texas alligator tale, you may have missed this great reporting.
I understand if the wild and weird news cycle of 2018 has got your head spinning. This rollercoaster ride of state and national politics has some reporters near...Read More
The Strange, Record-Setting Weather Extremes Texans Faced in 2018
Scientists predict temperatures, seasonal extremes and flooding will continue to intensify if carbon emissions aren’t immediately reduced.
In 2018, natural disasters touched nearly every part of the country. Hurricanes Michael and Florence hit the East Coast, killing at least 89 people and causing ...Read More
Year in Review: Loon Star State in 2018
The year in political cartoons from the strangest state in the union.
Trump’s sophomore year in the White House made for plenty of ammunition for political cartoonist Ben Sargent. In the pages of the Observer in 2018, the fo...Read More
Six Texas Political Players Who Lost Power in 2018
A diverse and bipartisan ensemble of politicians and groups were rudely awakened as they were wrested from or kept out of power in 2018.
Power is a funny thing. One minute you have it; the next it’s gone. Sometimes it’s taken forcefully; other times it’s given away. In Texas, the ruling Rep...Read More
Four Texas Abortion Court Cases to Watch in 2019
The lawsuits could eventually end up at the Supreme Court, where the future of Roe v. Wade is now in question.
The Texas Legislature’s zeal for passing anti-abortion legislation has created an endless cycle of court challenges that’s frustrated lawmakers and judg...Read More
Our 10 Favorite Texas Books of 2018
Politics, immigration, poetry, LSD, art and yes, vampires: There’s a little something for everyone on this list.
If there’s a bright side to the fact that, politically speaking, we spent 2018 still deep in what people on Twitter wearily call “the darkest timeline,” i...Read More