Gus Bova
From Jail to the Streets: One Texan’s Story During COVID-19
The homeless are 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than the rest of the population.
With the novel coronavirus upending society, Rachel Schuyler felt like a sitting duck. At the Bexar County lockup in downtown San Antonio, she lacked supplies like hand sanitizer and cringed each time a dormmate coughed. On April 3, she was … Read More
Mi Barrio No Se Vende
San Antonio is planning to demolish its oldest and largest public housing project, threatening the future of a deeply historic neighborhood—one that anchors the city’s identity as the nation’s Mexican American capital.
Mi Barrio No Se Vende San Antonio is planning to demolish its oldest and largest public housing project, threatening the future of a deeply historic neighborhood—one that anchors the city’s identity as the nation’s Mexican American capital. By Gus Bova … Read More
Construction Workers Labor on, Vulnerable and ‘Essential’
While white collar professionals work remotely, and laid-off service workers seek unemployment, construction laborers are still reporting to job sites.
On Wednesday morning, as America’s COVID-19 death count neared 5,000 and workers flooded state agencies with a record-shattering deluge of unemployment claims, business carried on as usual at the site of a future soccer stadium in North Austin. Dozens of … Read More
COVID-19 Reveals the Urgent Need to House the Homeless
As state and local governments scramble to provide the homeless access to rooms in order to save them (and us) from the coronavirus pandemic, it’s worth keeping one eye on the future.
For weeks, advocates and news outlets have been sounding the alarm: The homeless are profoundly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease is a new and urgent problem that demands emergency solutions, but the crisis should also etch into our … Read More
The COVID-19 Crisis Points the Way Toward a Better Texas
Once the virus passes, there's no reason to let the powerful return peacefully to business as usual.
The time has come for progressives to exploit a crisis for political gain. As the novel coronavirus sweeps across America, it isn’t tanking an otherwise healthy country; it’s exposing our society for the wobbly tower of inequity and brutishness it … Read More
With Paid Leave Policies, Texas Cities Tried to Prepare for Coronavirus
Too many Texas workers can’t stay home when they’re sick. Two years ago, a movement tried to change that.
As the coronavirus spread across the nation late last week, U.S. Senator John Cornyn had some simple advice: “If you’re sick, stay home.” Easy, right? Texas’ other Republican senator, Ted Cruz, has already heeded that counsel: He is now tweeting … Read More
Trump’s Wall May Have to Avoid Multiple Historic Cemeteries
In a bid to protect a high-profile South Texas graveyard, Congress appears to have shielded other notable cemeteries too.
The Texas-Mexico border is not a blank slate for the projection of campaign promises. It’s a real place where some 2.5 million Texans live, love, and bury their dead. In December, Congress passed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion … Read More
A Democratic Socialist Damn Near Won the Texas Primary
It took a small army of politicians and pundits to stave Bernie Sanders off.
Let’s take a step back. Despite all the talk and portents of a Democratic Spring, Texas remains a red state. Just ask anyone who’s run statewide since Forrest Gump was a hot new film. The common wisdom—as every two-bit pundit … Read More
State Senator Eddie Lucio Is Headed to a Runoff
The Texas Senate’s most conservative Democrat may not be invincible.
In Brownsville, a Goliath has stumbled. After 29 years in the Texas Senate, Eddie Lucio—the upper chamber’s most conservative Democrat—has been pushed into a runoff. Facing two opponents in his first serious challenge since 1992, the 74-year-old Lucio fell just … Read More