Jonathan Stickland and the Case of the Special Session That Wasn’t
Stickland and his band of merry pranksters could have pushed the Legislature into a special session by killing a popular bill to increase mental health services for kids.
Articles by Christopher Hooks
Inside the Story of How Democrats Killed a Law That Could Have Saved Sandra Bland
In a fit of idiocy and confusion, Democrats in the Legislature not once, but twice derailed bipartisan legislation prohibiting police from making arrests for minor infractions.
The Loudest and Least Effective Legislator Has Actually Passed a Bill
But don’t think that means Representative Jonathan Stickland is all grown up. He’s still more or less the lib-baiting troll he’s always been.
Why the Sales Tax Swap Died a Painful Death
Here died Greg Abbott’s burden-shifting plan, orphaned and alone.
An Afternoon With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Texas Anti-Vaccine Movement
Kennedy’s presentation to vaccine activists at the Capitol was a master class in how to turn fears toward a dangerous cause.
The Paid Sick Leave Fight is All About Whose Interests Matter Most at the Legislature
In a dispute between cities and the state, employees and employers, you can probably guess who has the upper hand.
If You’re Looking for Dan Patrick This Legislative Session, You Might Find Him on Fox News
Once upon a time, the Texas Senate was Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s whole world. His turbulent 2014 campaign for the post was a radical change in Texas politics, the tea party revolution taking the throne. In his inauguration speech he proclaimed that his arrival marked “a new day…
Attacks on the Dallas DA Signal Trouble for the Criminal Justice Reform Movement
Big-city prosecutors are now driving the conversation around mass incarceration, and some lawmakers and law enforcement officials just can’t abide that.
Best & Worst Legislators in Real Time: Senator Bob Hall
If you’re going to traffick in conspiracy theories, at least be nice about it.
The Governor Wants to Replace Property Taxes With ‘Consumption’ Taxes. That’s a Terrible Idea.
Many Texans think their property taxes are too high. But the highly regressive sales tax would put even more of a burden on those who can least afford it.
Showdown at the J.W. Marriott: What the Bonnen-McNutt Tussle Signals about the Political Wars to Come
In the pantheon of lawmaker-involved squabbles, what happened at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Austin on Wednesday night probably doesn’t rank higher (lower?) than the time Borris Miles whipped out a gun at a party, or the time Bob Bullock pulled a gun on…
Border Brinkmanship and the Texas Economy
The Texas Senate has tacitly endorsed President Trump’s threat to shut down the border if necessary—a dangerous move for the economy and the president’s political future.
‘My Stretch of Texas Ground’ Is the Very Bad Movie We Didn’t Know We Needed
“Two men, both alpha males, from vastly different cultures, are about to collide. . . HARD.”
Texas Has Been Just a Prop for Trump From the Beginning
Our state is accustomed to deference from Republican administrations—deference it has earned. Why are our Republican leaders letting him create our narrative?
Why Aren’t Texas Politicians Standing Up for Texas Landowners?
That viral video of a Colorado senator berating Ted Cruz makes one wonder if there’s a double standard at work.
Can an International Hotline Help Stop the Cartels?
The U.S. Border Patrol and the governor of Tamaulipas are looking for a few good anonymous tips—and hoping it doesn't all backfire.
Sand Is Choking Lake LBJ, But a Battle Looms Over Its Removal
Developers are pitted against landowners over a solution that keeps the peace and preserves the lake.
George P. Bush’s Last Stand at the Alamo
A plan to fix the Alamo site could have propelled the political scion to glory. Instead it’s become his biggest battle.
Odessa Stinks! (Literally.)
In recent months the West Texas oil town has smelled, in one resident’s words, like ”a dog’s anal gland.” And no one is 100 percent sure why.
Odessa Stinks! (Literally.)
In recent months the West Texas oil town has smelled, in one resident’s words, like “a dog’s anal gland.” And no one is 100 percent sure why.
Inside a Lifelong Obsession With the Kennedy Assassination
The recent release of JFK files is probably the last significant injection of new information into the psychic landscape in which assassination theorists like Mark North have resided for the past 54 years.
The Search for a Saint in San Angelo
San Angelo makes its case for María de Jesús de Ágreda to the Vatican.
The Battle For El Paso’s South Side
With the south side of El Paso up for grabs, everyone seems to have an idea about what the city’s future should look like.
Changing the Conversation
San Antonio’s new mayor isn’t interested in the old battles between left and right.
Final Cut
When Texas’s film incentives program comes up for renewal, politicians and movie bizzers give performances that Matthew McConaughey would envy.
Scenes from a Divided State
On the weekend Donald Trump became the forty-fifth president of the United States, everyone called for unity—so long as the other side would just agree with them.
When the Alt-right Meets the Aggies
Richard Spencer, the Dallas man who coined the term “alt-right,” spoke at A&M. It was a scene.
Is the Best Offense a Good Defense Lawyer?
A look at the race for district attorney in Nueces County.
Trash Talk
The scion of one of Laredo’s first families wants to build a mammoth landfill on his ranch. But the opposition is fierce and vocal—and backed by none other than his uncle and his cousin.
The Other Border War
Why is the federal government claiming thousands of acres of riverfront property from a bunch of North Texas landowners?
Will the Real Smithville Bank Robber Please Stand Up?
An Austin artist's youthful experience as a bank robber was—kind of, sort of—the inspiration for a recent movie. But the real story of her life is even stranger than what made it onto the screen.
Lights! Camera! Ambiguity!
A Texas documentarian tries to see how far he can bend the truth.
Why the Mock Mass Shooting Matters
And what it tells us about the next generation of gun rights activists.
The Road Work Goes on Forever
The expansion of I-35 may be the worst thing that’s happened to Salado since the railroad left town.
Silica Alley
A funny thing happened on the way to the San Angelo fracking sand transloading facility.
Canning the Ban
How New Braunfels’s prohibition on disposable containers changed tubing—and then didn’t.
Smile and Say, “Bush!”
Photographer David Valdez is back on familiar turf: on the campaign trail, documenting the public and private moments of a candidate with the surname Bush.
One of the World’s Leading Water Experts Lives in Harlingen
Michael Mascha doesn’t care so much whether the glass of water is half full or half empty; he wants to know its mineral content, hardness, pH level, vintage and virginality.