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Helen Thorpe

48 Articles

Energy|
January 20, 2013

Oil and Water

Offshore drillers are finding mammoth reservoirs in places that were once considered barren, which is why the Gulf of Mexico is booming again.

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Politics & Policy|
January 20, 2013

The Exterminator

Does Tom DeLay kill Democrats on contact? Not exactly, but as the president can tell you, the profoundly partisan Republican congressman attacks his enemies relentlessly.

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Feature|
April 30, 1999

Tex Mecca

What are tens of thousands of Muslims doing in Arlington? Adjusting to life in America, debating the merits of assimilation, and trying to convince the world that they’re not terrorists.

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Television|
January 1, 1999

News Makers

Coming January 1 to a small screen near you: A round-the-clock, Texas-specific, CNN-style cable channel. Its creators will be watching. Will you?

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Feature|
December 1, 1998

The Man Who Wasn’t There

Who gives a hoot about an owlish auteur with nary a directing credit in twenty years? All of Hollywood, that’s who—which is why Austinite Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line is the most anticipated film of the season.

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Art|
April 30, 1998

Metal of Honor

I wanted to see lightning strike the steel rods that artist Walter De Maria installed in a New Mexico field. I didn’t, but the trip was still illuminating.

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Business|
June 30, 1997

“Boom” Is a Four-letter Word

No one will admit we’re in the middle of one, even as the economy surges. How come? Because the last time we had it this good, bragging only hastened the arrival of another four-letter word: “bust.”

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Politics & Policy|
April 30, 1997

Naval Gazing

As the Navy’s top civilian leader, Texan John Dalton has navigated one scandal after another. He might also be charting a course back home—and to elected office.

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News & Politics|
April 30, 1997

The War for the Colorado

Battles over the river’s precious waters are pulling in everyone from pecan growers in Central Texas to shrimpers in Matagorda Bay, not to mention thirsty cities like San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Who will be left high and dry?

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Health|
January 1, 1997

Cancer Patience

To perfect a promising new gene therapy, doctors at Houston’s M. D. Anderson need time. Unfortunately, that’s one thing people with malignant brain tumors don’t have.

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Travel & Outdoors|
November 1, 1996

Social Climbers

This month, a ragtag group of wanderers will descend on Hueco Tanks state park in West Texas, where they’ll spend their nights hanging out and their days hanging on to the most challenging boulders around.

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Business|
July 31, 1996

Bad News, Baird’s

This spring, Texas’ leading white-bread maker was ordered to pay a fine of $10 million and settled a lawsuit for another $18 million. Why does the company have to cough up so much dough?

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News & Politics|
April 1, 1996

Wafer Madness

Inside a state-of-the-art semiconductor factory, a day’s work is never done, as technicians race to build smaller, faster, and more-powerful computer chips.

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Politics & Policy|
November 1, 1995

Hype or Hero?

He’s won the support o Mexican Americans in El Paso; now he wants to win a seat in Congress. Is Silvestre Reyes’ attack on illegal immigration heroism or hype?

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Energy|
October 1, 1995

Reversal of Fortune

Boone Pickens and his protégé, David Batchelder, built Mesa Petroleum into an energy giant. Now Pickens’ empire is crumbling and his former aide is leading the charge against him.

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Health|
August 31, 1995

A New Low

Across the state, kids are getting seriously messed up on a dirt-cheap downer from Mexico.

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News & Politics|
July 31, 1995

The Outer Limits

Combining the latest technology with an old-fashioned passion for her work, Austin astronomer Anita Cochran redefined the solar system. Now her star is on the rise.

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Science|
April 1, 1995

Drug War!

How a small Houston biotech company and a giant California-based rival are battling over who developed what may be a revolutionary cure for asthma and allergies.

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Music|
April 1, 1995

Darkness Audible

Shawn Colvin, the latest pop émigré to land in Austin, sets the record straight on her long and difficult road to stardom.

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Business|
January 1, 1995

Is MCC Obsolete?

Twelve years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, the vaunted Austin high-tech consortium is still struggling to find its purpose.

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