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A Weird End for a Weird Year: Our Eight Favorite Strange Texas Stories of 2020
A wild horse chase, an alligator with a big appetite, and a cloned cat made this year a little stranger—in a good way.
Christopher Collins
Christopher Collins is a freelance writer and formerly an associate editor at the Texas Observer. The Wichita Falls native graduated from Midwestern State University in 2012 with a degree in Mass Communication. He previously has worked as a reporter at the Abilene Reporter-News and the Wichita Falls Times Record News.
Articles by Christopher Collins
Strangest State: Everybody Loves Whataburger
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
Rural Voters Stepped on the Gas for Trump Across the Texas Oil Patch
Even in Democratic strongholds, some voters in the state’s vast shale plays were afraid of Joe Biden’s energy platform.
A West Texas Nursing Home Sent Its COVID-Positive Residents Elsewhere. Now Two of Them Are Dead.
Texas allows nursing homes to voluntarily accept COVID-positive patients from hospitals and other nursing homes. But there are no additional safeguards for the people sent there, and some of the facilities have a history of breaking rules.
Strangest State: Mysterious Seeds and a Longhorn on the Moon
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
One of Texas’ Biggest Nursing Home Operators Beset By COVID-19 Cases and Deaths
New data released by the state health agency provides a glimpse into the infections, deaths, and recoveries at Texas nursing homes.
Texas Nursing Home Residents Were Already at Risk. Then COVID-19 Hit.
A management company with a poor record of infection control is linked to COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes across Texas.
How Texas Lawmakers and Industry Have Weakened Citizens’ Rights to Fight Pollution
At the behest of the industry, legislators have chipped away at the environmental permitting process in Texas, stacking the deck against concerned people protesting industrial projects.
Strangest State: Bear With Us
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
With Storage Space Evaporating, the Oil and Gas Industry Will Get to Put Its Products Back Underground
The Railroad Commission has rolled back rules that once prohibited producers from storing liquid hydrocarbons in geological formations across the state, despite risks to aquifers.