‘Up Against a 500-Pound Gorilla’: Can Dems Make Inroads in Deep-Red West Texas?
With a candidate on the ballot in every state and federal race, the minority party is trying hard to gain some ground in the GOP’s electoral firewall.
Rural Texas
Texas Tech Professor with Close Ties to Big Ag Nominated by Trump to Regulate the Industry
Mindy Brashears could profit from the same industry she’s regulating if she doesn’t divest herself from potential income associated with her patents, a watchdog group says.
The Dark Horse of the Lubbock Farm Meeting Rides
An agriculture department meeting meant to elicit input from area produce growers was derailed by a government attorney with Nazis, sexism and sterilization on the brain.
Proposed Changes to SNAP in the Farm Bill Could Leave Rural Texans Hungry
The changes would waylay working-class families in small-town Texas, where a country-to-city exodus has caused some rural economies to flounder, advocates say.
In Washington, D.C., Republicans are Writing the Recipe for a Smoldering Panhandle
A plan to increase the number of acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program but cut staff to enforce program rules spells trouble for the fire-prone region.
Congress Never Funded Program to Prevent Farmer Suicides. Now It’s an Epidemic.
With farmers’ suicide rates higher than some veterans, rural advocates are pushing Congress to fund mental health care supports for agricultural producers.
Rural Texans Supported Trump, but They’ve Yet to Reap the Rewards
The president has taken a small step toward funding infrastructure projects in the nation’s small towns, but rural Texans aren’t beneficiaries.
Access Denied
How lawmakers, the Texas Supreme Court and Ken Paxton closed the door on open government.
Is the Texas Open Meetings Act the Next Target for Transparency-Killing Legislation?
A Fort Bend County commissioner wants state lawmakers to consider exemptions to the open government law during emergencies, part of a larger trend of officials slackening important regulations in the name of public safety.
In Rare Legal Move, the City of Amarillo Takes Landowner to Court Over Homeless Camp
Experts say the city’s lawsuit, filed this month against a man who allowed a homeless camp to be developed on his property, is virtually unprecedented.