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Texas Expands Access to Medical Cannabis—But Advocates Say It’s Not Enough
Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country, leaving veterans like Viridiana Edwards struggling to manage chronic pain and PTSD.
This article was produced through the NPR NextGen/Texas Observer Print Scholars program, a new collaboration designed to offer mentorship and hands-on traini...Read More
Mentally Ill and Sentenced to Death
After 45 years, Texas’ longest-serving death row inmate was resentenced last week due to a long history of severe mental illness. But state lawmakers this session again declined to ban the death penalty for people like him.
This article was produced through the NPR NextGen/Texas Observer Print Scholars program, a new collaboration designed to offer mentorship and hands-on traini...Read More
As the Power Grid Waivers Again, Texans Are Still Recovering From the Winter Storm
Experts say the energy reform bill signed by Governor Greg Abbott doesn’t go far enough to protect Texans from future blackouts.
This article was produced through the NPR NextGen/Texas Observer Print Scholars program, a new collaboration designed to offer mentorship and hands-on training ...Read More
In the Drill Zone, Children’s Health Is Looking Bleak
More than a decade ago, the U.S. made a big bet on natural gas as a path to reduced emissions and energy independence. But has that bet gone bad for communities—and the climate?
This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. When Wanda Vincent looks out the windows of her day care center in Arlington, Tex...Read More
2021 Texas Lege in Review: Red Meat, Broken Promises, and More of the Same Old Shit
Texas Republicans proved too busy burnishing their far-right bona fides to attend to minor matters like lethal winter storms and mass incarceration.
On Tuesday at the state Capitol, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law two bills aimed at strengthening the electric grid and reforming the agencies that regulat...Read More
For the First Time, ‘Redeemed’ Texas Parents May Get a Second Chance
New legislation could open a legal pathway to reinstate once-terminated parental rights.
Maggie Luna tried to fit all of the love she had for her three children onto a tri-fold poster board a week before her court date. Each section of the plain whi...Read More
‘Forget the Alamo’ Unravels a Texas History Made of Myths, or Rather, Lies
Three Texan authors build on a long tradition of dissent from patriotic accounts of Texas history in a new book on the racism baked into our story of the Alamo.
As a former student of Texas public schools, much of what I remember from Texas history class boils down to this: General López de Santa Anna, of Mexico, was e...Read More
The Unlikely Demise of Texas’ Biggest Corporate Tax Break
After 20 years, the state’s most lucrative corporate welfare program comes to an end.
In 2001, state lawmakers and business leaders warned that the state’s high property tax rates were discouraging corporations from locating big projects in...Read More
When Your Birth Is a State Secret
Texan adoptees argue that they should have a right to see their own birth certificates.
Shawna Hodgson, a mother of four who lives in Tomball, learned about her deep Texas roots the hard way: As an adoptee, she couldn’t just pay $22 and get a cop...Read More
An Irreversible Sentence
Using dubious evidence, Texas condemned Clinton Young to death almost 20 years ago. I traveled 3,000 miles to Texas to help him.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the Texas Observer’s May/June 2021 print edition. Since its publication, prosecutor Ralph Petty has su...Read More