‘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
Under Mindy Brashears’ Leadership, USDA Will Let Swine Slaughter Facilities Go Hog Wild
An inspector at a special deregulated hog plant told the Observer that the USDA’s new pork slaughter proposal that eliminates maximum line speeds is a “recipe for disaster.”
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.
Texas State Park Could Close as Vistra Energy Seeks to Sell Land Near Shuttered Power Plant
For decades, the energy company has leased to the state the property on which Fairfield Lake State Park sits. But there’s no guarantee the new buyer will do the same.
Could Kinder Morgan’s ‘Permian Highway’ Scar the Hill Country?
On its 430-mile path to the Gulf, the natural gas pipeline would gash the iconic Hill Country, a region relatively free from oil and gas development.
No News is Bad News
As more and more rural Texas communities become “news deserts," the civic life of small towns is suffering too.
The Poor in Texas Have Been Vastly Undercounted, New Report Finds
The federal poverty level fails to take into account 2.6 million struggling Texas households.
Report: Power Plants are Leaking Cancer-Causing Toxins into Groundwater Across Texas
An environmental group found that all of Texas’ coal-fired power plants have polluted groundwater with multiple chemicals, including arsenic, which was detected at 13 of the 15 sites.
One Casualty of the Government Shutdown: Low-Income Texans Who Need Housing Assistance
Texas is a super-user of federal housing programs, but the shutdown has brought loans, tax credits and rental assistance to a screeching halt, hurting poor Texans the most.
These Rural Panhandle Towns Should be Shrinking. But Thanks to Immigrants, They’re Booming.
In the farming town of Dalhart, where voters resoundingly put Trump in office, immigrants have staved off population loss and boosted the local economy.