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Civil Rights Groups Call ‘Election Integrity’ Bill a ‘Dangerous New Assault on Voting Rights in Texas’
Texas Lawmakers Propose Funding Increase to Eliminate Waitlists at Rape Crisis Centers
One-quarter of the state’s crisis centers, which provide free services to survivors of sexual assault, have waitlists between two and five months.
Requests for services at rape crisis centers in Texas have increased by around 25 percent since 2016, driving waitlists for counseling up to eight months in som...Read More
In Texas, Three More Measles Cases and Four New Anti-Vaccine Bills
“I am shocked,” said a vaccine advocate of a slew of new “scare tactic” bills filed amid an ongoing measles outbreak.
Since early March, Texas has confirmed three new measles cases amid an ongoing outbreak, and added several new anti-vaccine measures to the roster of bills file...Read More
The Interview: Mass Resistance
Rebel priest Roy Snipes discusses his fight to save a historic chapel from Trump’s wall.
On a foggy February morning, just south of the border town of Mission, the parking lot behind the La Lomita chapel is full. It’s the eighth week of a novena ...Read More
‘The River and The Wall’ is a Visually Stunning Borderland Adventure
The film strives to step beyond the sensationalist rhetoric and show America what its southern boundary actually looks, sounds and feels like.
On a crisp December morning in 2017, Austin Alvarado paddles his canoe along a remote stretch of the Rio Grande’s Lower Canyons. The 25-year-old Guatemalan-Am...Read More
Loon Star: The Paxton Defense
Ben Sargent on the latest Paxton family incident.
Ben Sargent To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here....Read More
Texas Legislature Considers Bills to Break the Cycle of Debtor’s Prison
“It turns out that when you give someone reasonable financial demands, they actually try to meet the commitment instead of ignoring it as unpayable.”
The vicious cycle started in 2013, when a law enforcement officer in Bell County pulled over Anthony Lofton, now 62, for a faulty tail light. The officer found ...Read More
Why is Beto Running for President, Exactly?
In the national spotlight, O’Rourke’s ideological amorphousness could prove to be too great a liability. Or it could be his biggest strength.
Four months since Election Day 2018, Beto O’Rourke’s much-hyped announcement that he’s running for president begs the question of, “Why?” As we all kn...Read More
Swamp City Serenade
Bryan Washington’s remarkable debut book, "Lot," captures Houston in meticulous, tenderhearted detail.
The wonder of Houston can sometimes be difficult to explain to those not born and bred in the Bayou City. Yes, it is indeed sprawling, as so many have said pejo...Read More
Texas Lawmakers are Promoting ‘Anti-New York’ Bills to Limit Abortions
Governor Greg Abbott said there is “growing support for infanticide.” (There is not.)
Conservative Texas lawmakers are seizing on inflammatory and inaccurate national rhetoric around abortions later in pregnancy in an effort to drum up anti-abort...Read More