Jan Jarboe Russell

Making the Grade

Shoot-out at Shamrock

On a sleepy day last September, two women came barreling down Route 66 with five police cars in hot pursuit. A tiny Panhandle town will never be the same.

Missions Accomplished

Forget the Alamo. The real spirit and history of Texas come alive at San Antonio’s eighteenth-century churches.

Lady Bird Looks Back

Frank talk about LBJ’s life, JFK’s death, the promise of Hillary Clinton, the perils of Oliver North—and more.

Judith Sanders-Castro

Keeping up the good fight.

Russell Dilday

A Baptist under fire.

Sitting Pretty

After years of maintaining perfect public composure, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison now wears her ambition on her sleeve.

Down by the Riverside

More people visit San Antonio’s River Walk than the Alamo. Here’s why—our complete guide to the sights, restaurants, shops, and lore of Texas’ most popular urban park.

We Will Never Surrender or Retreat

These days everybody wants a piece of the Alamo. Can the Daughters of the Republic of Texas hang on to their sacred shrine?

Banned

Fit for a Queen

A look back at San Antonio Fiesta gowns reveals how the dresses have gone from elegant to excessive.

John the Knife

He’s a budget cutter in an era of consumption, a conservative Democrat in a party gone soft, a good ol’ boy with no polish or flash. So why is everyone buzzing about Texas comptroller John Sharp?

Morales’ Paralysis

How has Attorney General Dan Morales performed in his first term? Indecisively.

The Other Henry

Henry Bonilla is our first Hispanic Republican in congress. He won’t be our last.

Battle Royal

David Koresh and the Myth of the Alamo

He was no William Barrett Travis, but in many ways, the leader of the Brand Davidians was an archetypal Texan to the end.

Wanted! By the FBI

What’s behind the Bureau’s bashing of its director, former San Antonio judge William Sessions? Go ask Alice.

“Why Us?”

Since AIDS infected their lives, the proud, the deeply religious Allens have been left to ponder the eternal questions of faith and suffering.

About Face

He waffled about the Senate seat, then sought safe harbor in Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Why did Henry Cisneros choose HUD over headlines? Only he knows for sure.

Essay: Gone to Texas

Sharpstown used to be an affluent suburb. Today it’s where the world has come to live.

The Eternal Challenger

Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez has spent most of his 76 years swinging wildly at political heavyweights. Now he’s finally landed a punch—on the president of the United States.

Politics Red Square

Texas scientist Arnold Lockshin defected to Russia to find a new life. Has the collapse of communism shattered his dreams?

Ann’s Plans

Is Ann Richards planning a historic move from the statehouse to the White House?

Endless Winter

The fire of democracy has yet to warm Moscow’s soul.

Can Bob Strauss Save Russia?

Maybe not. But then again, the veteran Texas pol has never taken no for an answer.

Rescue Mission

The politics of trauma.

Flight for Your Life

When a few minutes matter, an EMS helicopter can make the difference between life and death.

Child’s Play

“Just how hard can it be to build a playground?” I asked. The answer: Harder than anything I’ve ever tried before.

The War for Thee University

Pray for Baylor. The Baptists are calling each other flat-earthers and liberal parasites, and the school they call Jerusalem on the Brazos is caught in the middle.

Let Me Hear Silence

Once part of a vast South Texas ranch, Lebh Shomea is a spiritual retreat where pilgrims listen to what absolute quiet has to say.

Secret Summer Places

Follow us for a great vacation, minus something all tourists can do without—crowds.

Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog

“Guys like me like Iraq,” says Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt. “That’s the way the real world works, baby.”

Sissy Spacek’s Long Walk Home

You can take the girl out of East Texas, but you can’t take East Texas out of the girl.

Growing Pains

My daughter’s first day of kindergarten was hard—on me.

The Lone Ambassador

Henry Catto’s friends knew that one day he would be appointed to the Court of St. James’s. What they didn’t guess is that when the time came, his wife, Jessica, wouldn’t join him.

Meet the Governor

Revealing profiles of Ann Richards and Clayton Williams raise the question: How about none of the above?

Meet the Governor: Clayton Williams

Onward to the past.

Howdy, Comrades! Let’s Do a Deal

A Texas businessman launches his one-man invasion of post-Communist Romania.

The Way Out

A modest Catholic boys’ school in El Paso could teach public schools a lesson or two about how to provide a solid education on a limited budget and send 98 percent of their students off to college.

Back to the Past

With Henry Cisneros out of office, opponents shoot down a tax increase, and San Antonio retreats to 1980.

The $76 Million Divorce

The eldest son of Trammell Crow used his money for drugs, guns, and high living. His wife spent a fortune on personal trainers and self-promotion. Now they’re squaring off in an L.A. divorce court.

Billie Sol Estes Has a Deal for You

The guy whose name is synonymous with swindling is finally a free man—but it may not last.

The Mommy War

Kids in T-shirts bearing political slogans, ideological confrontations in the supermarket, skirmishes at the PTA. Welcome to the battle between moms who work and moms who don’t.

The Battle of the Bubbles

One man’s obsession with kicking Perrier in the derriere.

Can You Take a Hint?

Heloise, America’s best-known homemaker, has a dirty little secret: she hates to clean house. If you hate it too, she’s convinced that you need her more than ever.

Full of Woe

You see them on TV, adorable youngsters asking to be adopted. But the dreadful odyssey of the Wednesday’s Child rarely has a made-for-television happy ending.

Killer Whale Hooks City!

San Antonio is shameless over Shamu and Sea World.

It Stinks

Times are rotten for refineries.

No Wonderland

Once an oil-field service boomtown, Alice doesn’t live well anymore.

The Wait for Deliverance

Despite all the mewling from the oil patch, there are still ways to make money at $15 a barrel. Here’s our guide to surviving the terrible teens.