Politics
Under Mindy Brashears’ Leadership, USDA Will Let Swine Slaughter Facilities Go Hog Wild
How Tea Partiers Fueled Texas’ Latest ‘Voter Fraud’ Freakout
Election-related crimes are rare, but activists like Aaron Harris have become both a legal and political weapon in Texas Republicans’ war on election fraud.
by Michael Barajas March 6, 2019 In August, a group of outraged conservative activists sent Governor Greg Abbott a letter that helped spark Texas’ latest vote...Read More
Airbnb is the Latest Target of Texas’ Anti-BDS Crusade
As a result of a 2017 law that blacklists Israel boycotters, Texas is making an example of the California-based short-term rental giant.
Texas has blacklisted an American company for, as the state sees it, opposing Israel. Using the power of its purse, Texas is sanctioning Airbnb for purportedly ...Read More
Third Time’s The Charm? Marijuana Decriminalization Gets Another Chance in Texas
The first marijuana reform bill heard in committee this session would downgrade possession of an ounce to a civil offense and a fine up to $250.
Police chiefs from Plano, North Richland Hills and Grand Prairie told a Texas House committee on Monday that marijuana is a dangerous gateway drug that leads to...Read More
Why Doesn’t Texas’ Most Liberal County Have a Public Defender?
Judges and an aggrieved defense bar are derailing talks to build a public defender’s office in Travis County.
Austin is the largest city in the country without a public defender’s office to help represent poor people accused of crimes. In Texas, the only other big cit...Read More
Government Transparency Suffers a Major Setback Thanks to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The all-Republican court has removed criminal penalties for violating a portion of the state Open Meetings Act.
The windows of Texas government have been tinted even darker thanks to a landmark ruling Wednesday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The nine-member panel...Read More
Senate Republicans Back Secretary of State Despite ‘Ham-Handed’ Voter Purge
David Whitley’s advancement shows that Republicans will stand by any new efforts to police the vote, no matter the cost.
On Wednesday, a federal judge called acting Secretary of State David Whitley’s voter purge of alleged noncitizens a flawed solution in search of a problem, ur...Read More
Many Texans Want a Border Wall Without a Federal Land Grab. That’s Impossible.
A new poll shows a substantial number of Texans pine for a wall that wouldn’t require the use of eminent domain — a logistical impossibility.
A poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University reveals that many Texans hold an entirely untenable view on Trump’s border wall. Respondents were evenly spli...Read More
Amid Measles Outbreak, Texas Lawmakers Want to Make it Even Easier to Opt Out of Vaccines
A new bill would ban the Texas health department from tracking vaccine exemptions — a move medical experts say would curb their ability to identify outbreaks.
Texas state Representative Bill Zedler doesn’t understand the fuss over the resurgence of infectious diseases. “When I grew up, I had a lot of these illness...Read More
Instead of Fighting ‘Tent City,’ Amarillo Decides to House Its Homeless
The city sued a landowner in 2018 for allowing about 30 homeless folks to set up tents. After a change of heart, city staff asked a camp advocate to help guide a "housing first" pilot program.
When Amarillo temperatures dip into the teens, like they did in early January, 36-year-old Dominic Baldivia simply turns up the heat in his two-bedroom duplex n...Read More