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The Wasteland Underwater
On the central Texas coast, Lavaca Bay is already poisoned by mercury. Climate change will only make matters worse there—and at 944 other hazardous-waste sites across the country.
Lise Olsen
Lise Olsen is a Houston-based senior reporter and editor at the Texas Observer. Lise has investigated many twisted Texas tales, including crooked judges, an unjust execution, massive environmental disasters, myriad cases of corporate and public corruption, and unsolved serial killings. Her reports in three states over 20 years contributed to the prosecutions of a former congressman and a federal judge, inspired laws and reforms, helped solve cold cases, restored names to unidentified murder victims, and freed dozens of wrongfully-held prisoners. Her work is featured in CNN's “The Wrong Man” (2015) about the innocence claims of executed offender Ruben Cantu and the six-part A&E series on the victims of a 1970s serial killer, The Eleven, (2017). She is the author of Code of Silence: Sexual Misconduct by Federal Judges, the Secret System that Protects Them and the Women who Blew the Whistle.
Articles by Lise Olsen
Conception Deception
An East Texas doctor who allegedly used his own sperm to impregnate patients remains in practice. Why has the Texas Medical Board let him keep his license?
Promising Results Reported for COVID-19 Patients Treated with Plasma Therapy in Texas
The speed with which physicians and patients across the United States have signed up to participate in the ongoing plasma therapy project is unprecedented.
Raise a Glass to the Class of COVID-19
Maybe they will help build a post-pandemic world (or so I hope).
Texas Health Officials Undercount COVID-19 Cases by Excluding Some Prisoners Who Tested Positive
The Observer identified at least nine Texas counties where current prison cases make up more than 10 percent of the total COVID-19 cases in the county.
The Disappeared
Genetic genealogy is helping to crack cold cases and identify victims left nameless for decades. The process is surprisingly effective—and controversial.
Demand for Plasma Therapy for the Sickest COVID-19 Patients Far Outpaces Donations
Texas blood banks and the Red Cross are actively recruiting donors but remain thwarted by a lack of antibody tests.
Dozens of COVID-19 Cases Have Been Reported in Rural Texas Counties With No Hospitals and No Licensed Physicians
So far, more than 100 cases have been reported in counties with only one—or no—licensed physician.
Houston Is Ground Zero for a Potentially Lifesaving COVID-19 Treatment
A plasma treatment trial is now rolling out nationwide, but a lack of tests remains a roadblock.
A Day in the Harris County Eviction Court
Harris County evictions increased dramatically from 2015 to 2016, and then remained higher from 2017 to 2019. No one knows why.