May 2016 - The Texas Observer

Most Recent in Politics:

1Confederate Monument Protests Draw Hundreds in Houston and Dallas

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

3Will Hurd’s Guide to Running as a Republican in 2018

4Santa Ana’s Last Stand?

5Houston City Employees are Fighting to Uphold Marriage Equality in Texas

6Special Session a ‘Battle Royal’ for Dominionists Who Seek Christian Rule

Most Recent in Environment:

1Fanning The Flames

2Santa Ana’s Last Stand?

3The Rising Storm

4Introducing the Texas Observer’s Rural Reporting Project

5Texas Warbler Suit Could Test Trump Administration’s Handling of Endangered Species

6Gulf Coast Environmental Group Sues Plastic Company After Slow Response from TCEQ

Most Recent in Border:

1Santa Ana’s Last Stand?

2Stalking Horse

3National Butterfly Center Founder: Trump’s Border Wall Prep ‘Trampling on Private Property Rights’

4‘El Peso Hero’ is the 21st-Century Borderland Superhero Texas Needs

515 Protesters Arrested After Demonstration Defending DACA at Texas Capitol

6Trump’s New Immigration Lockup Draws Local Opposition in Conroe

Most Recent in Criminal Justice:

1In San Antonio, Cops Punch Down

2Deputies Go Unpunished for Invasive Cavity Search on Houston Roadside

3Meet the Expert Who Helps Texas Cops Justify Extreme Behavior

4Why Dallas is One of the Few Places Killer Cops Could be Held Accountable

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

615 Protesters Arrested After Demonstration Defending DACA at Texas Capitol

Most Recent in Education:

1Loon Star State: Texas Public Schools

2Dan Patrick Accuses Joe Straus of Ponzi Scheme Ahead of Special Session

3Critics Fear New Texas Law Giving SBOE Wide Discretion Over Textbooks

4After Freedom Caucus Kills Her Legislation, Lawmaker Announces Anti-‘Lunch Shaming’ Campaign

5Texas’ ‘Lunch Shaming’ Problem and the Fight to Fix It

6CPS Caseworker: Lawmakers Are ‘Shifting the Blame’ by Privatizing Child Welfare System

Most Recent in Health Care:

1Despite Self-Congratulation, Lawmakers Did Virtually Nothing about Maternal Mortality Crisis

2Introducing the Texas Observer’s Rural Reporting Project

3Red is the New Orange: Handmaids Bring More than Just Silence to the Abortion Fight

4Compassionate (Ab)use: Family Battles Texas over Medical Marijuana

5What a Ban on Insurance for Abortions Means for Women with High-Risk Pregnancies

6Lawsuit Filed Against New Texas Abortion Law

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

2The Rising Storm

3Stalking Horse

4Seven Texas Indie Booksellers on Their Favorite Books of the Year (So Far)

5‘El Peso Hero’ is the 21st-Century Borderland Superhero Texas Needs

6‘The Hour of Land,’ Terry Tempest Williams’ Love Letter to National Parks

Most Recent in Postcards:

1Ride Like a Girl

6Feathering Their Nest

Most Recent in Essay:

1Dear Governor Abbott: The ‘Bathroom Bill’ Endangers Trans Texans Like My Son

2Stalking Horse

3Protecting Immigrant Families: A Call for an Economic Boycott of Texas

4Cut from the Same Cloth: Wearing Hijab in Houston, Post-Trump

5Going It Alone

6The Observer’s Founding Editor: ‘Bring the Fight Back’ to Texas Politics

Most Recent in Eye on Texas:

1Eye on Texas: Runners Take on 170-Mile Race in Big Bend

2Eye on Texas: Liberty Hill Hosts Texas Firearms Festival

3Eye on Texas: TX Open Swim

4Eye on Texas: Blessing of the Hands in San Antonio

5Eye on Texas: Austin’s Chapels

6Eye on Texas: Portico Tejas

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: May 2016

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March 2015, Texas Observer cover

COVER STORY

Above the Law

by Alex Hannaford

Mon, May 2, 2016 |

Pamela Elliott was the new sheriff in town. But instead of law and order, she brought chaos — voter intimidation and botched investigations — to West Texas.Read More

In this Issue

Political Intelligence

East Austin Clinic Minds the Gap in Racial Health Disparities

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta

Dozens Caught in Land Rights Fight Over Trans-Pecos Pipeline

by Naveena Sadasivam

Make the Road by Talking

by Patrick Michels

News

East Austin Clinic Minds the Gap in Racial Health Disparities

by Alexa Garcia-Ditta

Strangest State: Biblical Fossils, Ebola Meth and a Push-Up King

by Patrick Michels

by Alex Hannaford

CULTURE

Poem: ‘I Could Have a Thousand Husbands’

by Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick

Growing Up a Texas-Mexican Woman

by Laura M. Lopez

The 66 Percent: Erasing Mexican Americans in the United States

by Dagoberto Gilb

The Business of Burying Horses

by Sasha von Oldershausen

‘A History of Violence,’ a Plea for the Comprehension of Terror

by Nancy Nusser

Columns

Boycott Boycotts

by Andrea Grimes

Sid Miller, Shotgazi and the End of the Texas GOP

by Christopher Hooks