Gus Bova
Erika Andiola Says Dreamers Know How to Push Biden
“All we can do is pick our opponent,” says Andiola, the chief advocacy officer for the San Antonio-based immigrant rights group RAICES Action.
Erika Andiola puts her faith in the movement, not politicians. The 33-year-old, originally from the Mexican state of Durango, has seen elected officials leave her community behind too many times before. Andiola, who lives in Phoenix, has been a leading … Read More
Austin and America’s Thirty-Year War on the Homeless
Cities have spent three decades criminalizing homelessness. Last year, Austin bucked the trend—and sparked a firestorm that still hasn’t gone out.
No Place to Be Cities have spent three decades criminalizing homelessness. Last year, Austin bucked the trend—and sparked a firestorm that still hasn’t gone out. By Gus Bova September 21, 2020 The years living on the street showed in … Read More
Why Does John Cornyn Tweet?
An analysis.
About midday on March 14, Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn sat down at a black laminate table, laced his fingers around the neck of a cold bottle of Corona Extra, poured half the beer into a lowball glass and thought: … Read More
Inside the Dallas Morning News Union Fight
North Texas journalists want to make labor history in the Lone Star State. The A. H. Belo Corporation would prefer they didn’t.
On the morning of July 20, journalists at the Dallas Morning News announced they were forming a union, a historic move in a state that hasn’t had a union newspaper in nearly 30 years. If successful, the Morning News employees … Read More
Back to the Wall
A border wall is headed for Laredo—unless opponents can run out the clock.
Back to the Wall A border wall is headed for Laredo—and the only thing likely to stop it is time. By Gus Bova July 20, 2020 It starts at sunrise. Two lines of teenagers in military garb form on … Read More
‘Heroes’ No More: Grocers Are Already Clawing Back COVID-19 Worker Benefits
Kroger revoked its “Hero Pay” in May, while public health experts warn of COVID-19 surges as Texas reopens.
Appreciation Pay, Proud Pay, Service Pay. The kaleidoscope of PR names all amount to one thing: a small raise for the poorly paid food retail workers who risk their lives so the rest of us can eat during the COVID-19 … Read More
‘The Pushback’ is an Expansive Look at the Texas Left’s Fight for Power
A new documentary on progressive politics in Texas is an ode to the growing pains of a changing state.
During my four years at the Texas Observer, I’ve scrambled after stories about the progressive movement all over the sprawling Lone Star State. So while watching The Pushback—a new documentary that chronicles the Texas left—I sometimes felt the distinct sensation … Read More
Will Grocery Workers Still Be ‘Heroes’ When COVID-19 Subsides?
In Texas, grocery employees labor for low wages and few benefits. Now they’re part of a nationwide struggle in which workers are fighting for their lives.
For Joshua Cano, every cough “sounded like a gunshot.” Twenty-four years old, Cano works as a vitamin clerk at a Sprouts grocery store in the Texas border city of McAllen. For all of March, Cano says, he was working without … Read More
State Employees Criticize Texas’ Uneven Approach to Worker Safety Amid COVID-19
A slow, patchwork response to COVID-19 has jeopardized worker safety for some of Texas’ lowest-paid public employees.
Last week, an El Paso TV station broke the news: A longtime worker at the city’s state-run psychiatric center had died after being diagnosed with COVID-19. It was, according to the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU), the first confirmed death … Read More