December 2015 - The Texas Observer

Most Recent in Politics:

1Trump Nominee to FEC Tried to Shred Texas’ Already-Weak Ethics Laws

2Religious Right Takes Bathroom Fight Back to Schools after Defeat at Capitol

3Supreme Court Decision Means 2018 Elections Could Use ‘Discriminatory’ Maps

4Trump Nominates Lawyers from Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Group to be Texas Federal Judges

5Salvadoran Man Seeks ‘Sanctuary’ from Deportation in Austin Church

6Still No Deal Between State and Feds on Disaster Food Aid for Harvey Victims [Updated]

Most Recent in Environment:

1Reports of Livestock Deaths, Other Ag Losses Trickle in After Harvey

2Flood Expert Jim Blackburn: Houston Must Plan or Perish

3Experts: Much of Harvey-Related Air Pollution was Preventable

4‘Look & See’ Is a Love Letter to Family Farming, Rural America and Wendell Berry

5The Impossible City

6Thanks to their State Rep, Friendswood Family Rushes to File Insurance Claim for their Flooded Home

Most Recent in Border:

1Civil Rights Group’s Budget Nearly Halved by Foundation with Ties to Texas Supreme Court

2ICE Detained This Trafficking Victim on Her 18th Birthday. Why?

3‘Los Zetas Inc.’ Author on Why Mexico’s Drug War Isn’t About Drugs

5Salvadoran Man Seeks ‘Sanctuary’ from Deportation in Austin Church

6Judge Eviscerates Much of Senate Bill 4, but Leaves Intact “Show Me Your Papers” Provision

Most Recent in Criminal Justice:

1Civil Rights Group’s Budget Nearly Halved by Foundation with Ties to Texas Supreme Court

2ICE Detained This Trafficking Victim on Her 18th Birthday. Why?

3The Road to Huntsville

4In San Antonio, Cops Punch Down

5Deputies Go Unpunished for Invasive Cavity Search on Houston Roadside

6Meet the Expert Who Helps Texas Cops Justify Extreme Behavior

Most Recent in Education:

1Despite ‘Hardship’ Funding, Rural Texas Schools Face Difficult Financial Future

2Loon Star State: Texas Public Schools

3Dan Patrick Accuses Joe Straus of Ponzi Scheme Ahead of Special Session

4Critics Fear New Texas Law Giving SBOE Wide Discretion Over Textbooks

5After Freedom Caucus Kills Her Legislation, Lawmaker Announces Anti-‘Lunch Shaming’ Campaign

6Texas’ ‘Lunch Shaming’ Problem and the Fight to Fix It

Most Recent in Health Care:

1Judge Temporarily Halts New Texas Abortion Ban

2Despite Self-Congratulation, Lawmakers Did Virtually Nothing about Maternal Mortality Crisis

3Introducing the Texas Observer’s Rural Reporting Project

4Red is the New Orange: Handmaids Bring More than Just Silence to the Abortion Fight

5Compassionate (Ab)use: Family Battles Texas over Medical Marijuana

6What a Ban on Insurance for Abortions Means for Women with High-Risk Pregnancies

Most Recent in The Interview:

1The Interview: Joaquin Castro Says Texas Democrats are Poised for a Comeback

2The Interview: Beto O’Rourke on Trump, the Border and How to Revive the Democratic Party

3The Interview: Tom ‘Smitty’ Smith

4The Interview: Lupe Valdez

5The Interview: Paul Quinn College’s Michael Sorrell

6The Interview: Judge John Dietz on Texas’ School Finance Crisis

Most Recent in Books:

1Short Story Contest Finalist: ‘Malena’

2The King of Pulp

3‘Sip’ Seeks Dystopian Depth, and Fine Dining, in the Shadows

4The Rising Storm

5Stalking Horse

6Seven Texas Indie Booksellers on Their Favorite Books of the Year (So Far)

Most Recent in Postcards:

1The King of Pulp

2Ride Like a Girl

Most Recent in Essay:

1The Impossible City

2Dear Governor Abbott: The ‘Bathroom Bill’ Endangers Trans Texans Like My Son

3Stalking Horse

4Protecting Immigrant Families: A Call for an Economic Boycott of Texas

5Cut from the Same Cloth: Wearing Hijab in Houston, Post-Trump

6Going It Alone

Most Recent in Eye on Texas:

1Eye on Texas: Fantastical Taxidermy

2Eye on Texas: Runners Take on 170-Mile Race in Big Bend

3Eye on Texas: Liberty Hill Hosts Texas Firearms Festival

4Eye on Texas: TX Open Swim

5Eye on Texas: Blessing of the Hands in San Antonio

6Eye on Texas: Austin’s Chapels

Most Recent in Poetry:

1Parallel Planes

3Poem: ‘Resistance’

4Poem: ‘Screenplay for a Homemade Movie’

5Poem: ‘To Be One with the All’

6Poem: ‘Whitewashing’

The Magazine: December 2015

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March 2015, Texas Observer cover

COVER STORY

Homeland Insecurity

by Melissa del Bosque and Patrick Michels

Mon, Dec 7, 2015 |

What good are more boots on the ground if the men and women wearing them also work for the cartels? What benefit is an 18-foot wall when criminals can bribe their way through the gate?Read More

In this Issue

Political Intelligence

Dan Patrick Finds The One

by Christopher Hooks

WilCo Candidate Won’t Settle ‘Religious Test’ Lawsuit

Bonding Behind Bars

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta

News

State of Texas: What Obamacare Has Done for Texas

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta and Hannah McBride

Strangest State: Errant Emus, a Reading Dog and a Giant Chair

by Patrick Michels

CULTURE

Our Blue Period

Postcard from the Incredible Electric Oyster Reef

by Hannah McBride

Eye on Texas: Family Detention

by Ilana Panich-Linsman

Poem: Chris Yan’s ‘How I Love You In This House Today’

Dramas of Family and State Unfold in ‘All the Houses’

Columns

What California Can Teach Us About Texas

by Christopher Hooks

Greg Shames the Sheriff

by Andrea Grimes

State of Texas

State of Texas: What Obamacare Has Done for Texas

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta and Hannah McBride

Eye on Texas

Eye on Texas: Family Detention

by Ilana Panich-Linsman