March 2016 - The Texas Observer

Most Recent in Politics:

1Jeff Sessions Bashed ‘Sanctuary Cities’ in Austin While Protesters Trampled a KKK Robe

2The Problem with Facts

3Despite GOP Claims, an Estate Tax Repeal Won’t Help 99 Percent of Farmers

4Charlie Sykes’ New Book Shows ‘How the Right Lost Its Mind’

6Texas GOP’s Favorite Meme-Maker is Now Helping the Far-Right in Germany

Most Recent in Environment:

1After Failing to Prop Up Coal in Texas, Rick Perry is Trying Again Nationwide

2In New Rule, Trump EPA Allows Texas Coal Plants to Pollute Even More Than They Already Do

3Costs for Rural Towns Surge after Hurricane Harvey Hits Water Systems

4Destruction of Lizard’s West Texas Habitat 10 Times Worse Than Previously Thought

5Reports of Livestock Deaths, Other Ag Losses Trickle in After Harvey

6Flood Expert Jim Blackburn: Houston Must Plan or Perish

Most Recent in Border:

1Immigrant Workers in Texas Could Fill Farm Vacancies, but They’re Trapped in the Valley

2ICE Detained a Pregnant Rape Survivor for Six Months, Records Show

3National Butterfly Center to Sue Over Construction of Trump’s Border Wall

5Court Revives Possibility that Texas Sheriffs Could be Jailed for Refusing ICE Detainers

6Civil Rights Group’s Budget Nearly Halved by Foundation with Ties to Texas Supreme Court

Most Recent in Criminal Justice:

1Texas Cities Embrace a Softer Approach to Pot Possession as State Reforms Stall

2Federal Prisons Don’t Even Try to Rehabilitate the Undocumented

3Excited. Delirious. Dead.

4It’s Time to End Austin’s Failed Experiment in Police Oversight, Activists Say

5ICE Detained a Pregnant Rape Survivor for Six Months, Records Show

6The Case to End Assembly Line Justice for Poor People in Harris County

Most Recent in Education:

1Amid Anti-Confederate Push, San Antonio School District Changes Lee High School … to LEE High School

2Despite ‘Hardship’ Funding, Rural Texas Schools Face Difficult Financial Future

3Loon Star State: Texas Public Schools

4Dan Patrick Accuses Joe Straus of Ponzi Scheme Ahead of Special Session

5Critics Fear New Texas Law Giving SBOE Wide Discretion Over Textbooks

6After Freedom Caucus Kills Her Legislation, Lawmaker Announces Anti-‘Lunch Shaming’ Campaign

Most Recent in Health Care:

1Federal Court Denies Undocumented Teen’s Request for an Abortion

2Thousands of Poor Texans Could Lose Health Care With Congress Distracted by ACA Repeal

3Where do Texas Democrats Stand on Single-Payer Health Care?

4State Plans to Restore Services after Advocates in Wheelchairs Surprise Officials

5Judge Temporarily Halts New Texas Abortion Ban

6Despite Self-Congratulation, Lawmakers Did Virtually Nothing about Maternal Mortality Crisis

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:

1‘American Wolf’ Explores How People and Predators Should Coexist

2‘Thursday Night Lights’ Pays Tribute to Black Football History in Texas

3Charlie Sykes’ New Book Shows ‘How the Right Lost Its Mind’

4Short Story Contest Winner: ‘Muriel’

5In ‘Texas Blood,’ a Ramble Through Borderland History

6Short Story Contest Finalist: ‘Stakes’

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: March 2016

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March 2015, Texas Observer cover

COVER STORY

Free Lunch

by Patrick Michels

Mon, Mar 14, 2016 |

Texas' largest corporate welfare program lets school districts give away unlimited tax breaks — more than $7 billion so far — with only loose state oversight. What could go wrong?Read More

In this Issue

Political Intelligence

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta

Winds of Change

by Naveena Sadasivam

News

Strangest State: A Ghostly Cat, Recumbent Rudeness and a Turtle on the Lam

by Patrick Michels

Winds of Change

by Naveena Sadasivam

CULTURE

Turning Hard Right

by Christopher Hooks

Poem: ‘Poets And Antidepressants’

by Sally McGreevey Hannay

Photos of Dystopia

by Michael Agresta

The New Migrants

by Sarah Smarsh

Columns

by Andrea Grimes

State of Texas

State of Texas: The Hills Have Allies

by Naveena Sadasivam

Loon Star State

Loon Star State: D.C. Forbids Travelers From Texas