Politics
Inside the Coordinated Attack on a North Texas Wind Farm
To Bag or Not to Bag: Retailers at a Crossroads after Texas Supreme Court Strikes Bag Ban
Since a court ruling nullified plastic bag bans in 11 Texas cities, some retailers have continued to voluntarily observe the law, while others are handing out bags again.
Nine-year-old Mauricio Treviño is every retailer’s worst nightmare. On a field trip that included a walk along the Rio Grande recently, his grandmother, Lare...Read More
Lawmakers Killed a Plan to Shut Down 87 Driver’s Licenses Offices. That’s Good News for Voters.
The DPS proposed to close “inefficient” driver’s licenses office in mainly rural areas, even though it would have created an extra hurdle for voters to get state-required photo ID.
In a victory for Texas voters on Wednesday, a panel of state lawmakers unanimously killed a proposal to shutter up to 87 “inefficient” Department of Public ...Read More
Beto’s Drawing Big Crowds in Small Towns. But What’s His Plan for Rural Texas?
Focusing on rural access to health care, high-speed internet and immigrant farm labor, O’Rourke’s rural platform looks to be cogent and cohesive, if still a little skinny.
Beto’s Drawing Big Crowds in Small Towns. But What’s His Plan for Rural Texas? Focusing on rural access to health care, high-speed internet and immigrant fa...Read More
Beto Bets on the Border
Will showing up with a high-minded call for border solidarity translate to the historic levels of Latino turnout that O’Rourke needs?
Beto Bets on the Border Will showing up with a high-minded call for border solidarity translate to the historic levels of Latino turnout that O’Rourke needs? ...Read More
Why is Texas’ Leading GOP Think Tank Suddenly All-In on an Anti-Wind Crusade?
The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s latest PR blitz is the kind of thing you’d expect to see from a seedy advocacy group, not a would-be policy braintrust.
If you were a newcomer trying to figure out how Texas politics works, a good start would be to look at the state’s two leading think tanks. The center-left Ce...Read More
Texas Lawmaker Sponsors Far-Right Rally Against ‘Far-Left Violence’
“They’re right-wing extremists, but events like this attract white supremacists as well, because these ideologies line up.”
An East Texas lawmaker is sponsoring a “March Against Far-Left Violence” at the Texas Capitol Saturday — one of at least eight marches around the country ...Read More
‘Stalwart Battler for Justice’: Remembering Babe Schwartz (1926-2018)
In the Texas Senate, Schwartz was a constant delight, swift as a bolt of lightning, who could rhetorically eviscerate an opponent with his rapier wit.
Babe Schwartz, a former state senator from Galveston, died last week at 92. He was described by Houston Chronicle columnist Patti Kilday Hart as “one of the m...Read More
In Their Rush to Appear Pro-Israel, Texas Lawmakers May Have Stepped on Free Speech
A growing number of people have reported that a state law is forcing them to choose between their political beliefs and payment for their labor.
To make extra money while attending the University of Texas at Austin, Obi Dennar often worked as a judge for high school debate tournaments. In October, after ...Read More
How Anti-Abortion Activists are Training Their ‘Next Generation of Pro-Life Leaders’
College students descended on Houston to learn how to "convert" their peers to oppose abortion and how to "dismantle" Roe v. Wade.
This summer, nearly 30 college students gathered in Houston for a weeklong summit on how they could be the generation to end abortion in America. One day, after...Read More