The Troubling Disappearance of ‘El Gallito’
A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?
Investigations
New Leads in an Infamous Corpus Christi Cold Case
An open-source review unearths fresh details about a Texas oilman’s murder.
Texas Already Gives Public Ed Dollars to Private Operators. Here’s How That Worked Out.
The state created “Texas Partnership” charter schools to turn around struggling public campuses, but an Observer investigation has uncovered numerous academic and financial issues.
Texas’ War on Drug Users
A mass overdose event in Austin reveals the state’s backward approach to the ongoing crisis spurred by fentanyl and other super-potent substances.
Brownsville Elected Officials Are Doing PR for Embattled LNG Megaproject
The mayor, county judge, and others are parroting talking points provided by liquefied natural gas developer NextDecade, as the company faces another legal hurdle.
The Vet, the Cattle Prod, and the ‘Guttural Wail’
An equine surgeon and Texas A&M professor has been convicted of animal cruelty after repeatedly shocking a horse in front of students, among other misdeeds, exposing the shaky ethics training of some veterinarians.
Border 911: The Misinformation Network Profiting Off the ‘Invasion’ Narrative
Dark money and charity organizations led by former intelligence officers and ex-feds have been spreading propaganda and laying the groundwork for presidential election challenges.
The GOP Megadonor Behind the Bid to Break Dallas City Government
Conservative hotelier Monty Bennett and a California-based company that offers protesters-for-hire have seeded an “astroturf” right-wing influence network that has kicked into overdrive to push controversial “Dallas HERO” city charter amendments.
The Company You Keep
Ken and Angela Paxton have ties to a jet-setting lobbyist-turned-CEO caught in a tangled web of alleged fraud involving a powerful business clan and a commercial shipping giant.
After Hurricane Beryl, Cooling Centers Were Few and Slow to Arrive for Houstonians of Color—Some Died of Heat Exposure
During the power outage following the storm, a shocking lack of support in vulnerable communities reflected a larger breakdown in coordination between the state, CenterPoint Energy, and local governments.