February 2007
Table of Contents
Features
EEEEEEAAAAOOOOWWW!!!On November 5, 181,500 people crowded into a former cow pasture north of Fort Worth to watch 43 race cars drive really, really fast for five hundred miles. That day, the Texas Motor Speedway would be, measured by population, one of the largest cities in the state. Welcome to NASCAR, Texas. Check MatesFernando Spada and Fernando Mendez are the Karpov and Kasparov of Brownsville: chess champions whose lifelong competition has produced a rivalry every bit as fierce as those of Ali and Frazier, McEnroe and Borg, or Nicklaus and Palmer. Did I mention that they’re in the fourth grade? Where to Eat Now 2007Well, first and foremost, Dallas, since four of the year’s ten best new restaurants—including the top three—are there. But if you’re hip and hungry in Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, my list won’t disappoint. |
The Beating of Billy Ray JohnsonThe short, slight, mentally disabled black man was found on the side of a road in Linden, huddled in a fetal position. He was bloody and unconscious—the victim of a violent crime. But another tragedy was how residents of the East Texas town reacted. Plus:Crime and PunishmentSenior editor Pamela Colloff talks about racism in rural Texas and Billy Ray Johnson, who was brutally beaten in the East Texas town of Linden. North Toward DomeThe best way to visit the Capitol, the state’s grandest public building, is to take the 45-minute guided tour. But there is much more to see if you know what to look for, and I’m going to tell you precisely that. |
Columns
Gary CartwrightTex-Mex and The CityYou didn’t think the fight over Austin’s Las Manitas was about a restaurant, did you? |
Sarah BirdTour De FarceThe absurdity of the college visit (and why you should leave your kids at home). Abraham VergheseBedside MannersIn the high-tech, test-obsessed world of modern medicine, percussion is fast becoming a lost art, and that’s bad for both patients and doctors. |
Reporter
The Filter
Pat’s PickGrill at Leon Springs |
Miscellany
Roar of the CrowdShell ShockContributorsPamela Colloff, Abraham Verghese, and O. Rufus Lovet |
Editor’s LetterNobody but Craddick |
Web Exclusives
Vroom!Senior editor Michael Hall on driving a race car at the Texas Motor Speedway. Food ObsessedSenior editor Patricia Sharpe on ranking the state’s best new restaurants. |
Making the GradeMore letters from readers about our December 2006 article “The Best Public Schools.” |
