The State of Texas: July 28, 2014
Finger-pointing in the West explosion, and Corpus Christi is named one of the happiest cities in the nation.
Jeff Winkler's work has appeared in the New Republic, Vice magazine, Playboy, The Daily Caller, The Awl, the Oxford American, and elsewhere. He has covered gun-toting carpetbaggers, attempted an alcohol enema, and ridden in the country's largest chuckwagon race. He is a college dropout living in Austin.
Finger-pointing in the West explosion, and Corpus Christi is named one of the happiest cities in the nation.
By Jeff Winkler
Nature Attack of the DayAccording to the Associated Press, a “street department worker [in Wichita Falls] has been stung about 1,000 times by aggressive bees that also attacked two co-workers who tried to help him.” Officials say the attack is a result of “Africanized honey bees,” which sounds
By Jeff Winkler
Quote of the Day“Drink milk and always eat what your mother tells you.”— Lindale resident Dorris Clements, who just celebrated her one-hundredth birthday, on the secret to longevity.Image of the Day The man below just became a father
By Jeff Winkler
The Wallace Hall investigation has cost $600,000, and a "super weed" is destroying Texas cotton crops.
By Jeff Winkler
Governor Rick Perry is sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border, and Ted Cruz made a cameo on True Blood.
By Jeff Winkler
The housing unit roof of a privately run prison in Diboll collapsed Saturday, and farming ain't what it used to be.
By Jeff Winkler
RIPLegendary, Texas-born blues guitarist Johnny Winter went to that big juke joint in the sky on Wednesday. One of the last great guitarists, Winters style was as unique as his appearance and the seventy-year-old, former heroin addict was on a world tour when he passed. In February,
By Jeff Winkler
Denton decided not to "ban further permitting of hydraulic fracturing, and a 55,000-square foot warehouse for processing immigrant children who have entered the U.S. illegally will open in McAllen.
By Jeff Winkler
UT's admissions policy upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and a frighteningly familiar tale of children being left in a hot car has a thankfully happy ending.
By Jeff Winkler
The Texas redistricting fight picks up in court again, and the state is one step closer to landing Elon Musk's spaceport.
By Jeff Winkler
The surviving victim in the Spring Massacre speaks, and CPS workers have removed 232 children from their homes in McClennan County, a record high for the area.
By Jeff Winkler
Photo of the DayESPN’s Body Issue is out, and one of the six versions features Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder. His naked image has caused a bit of an Internet firestorm. Not because he’s naked (all the featured atheletes are), but because he’s naked. Fielder, who is built like Clydesdale, doesn’t have
By Jeff Winkler
Some crazy stuff went down in the past thirty days. Here are a handful of headlines you may have missed.
By Jeff Winkler
Details are still emerging in the tragic massacre in Spring, and UT-Austin president Bill Powers announces that he will step down from the top job next June.
By Jeff Winkler
President Obama asks Congress for nearly $4 billion to aid in the border crisis, and Dallas loses the chance to host the Republican Convention to Cleveland.
By Jeff Winkler
UT's president rallies support from some big name, and some residents of the Tall City question the future of Midland's morals.
By Jeff Winkler
Shakeups at the University of Texas, and Jesse Ventura takes on Chris Kyle.
By Jeff Winkler
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl re-acclimates to life in America, and this ragweed season is predicted to be the worst ever.
By Jeff Winkler
Texas by the numbersShameful Record — Number of child abuse and neglect deaths in Texas last year: 156. Number in 2012: 212. Rank among other states: First. Abuse and death of foster children in 2013: ten. Number in 2012: two.Soccer, Y’all — Number of stateside soccer fans who
By Jeff Winkler
Texas Tech kicks a freshman off the football team after he allegedly hits a female basketball star, and no-kill shelters in Texas face a regulatory problem.
By Jeff Winkler
The Texas Democratic Convention, and a "pasture party" for the history books.
By Jeff Winkler
Recent rains help alleviate the drought, and Chipotle agrees to talk with Ag Commish Todd Staples about the restaurant's beef "protocols."
By Jeff Winkler
Dallas still in the running to host the RNC, and a little bit of red tape around oil exports was snipped.
By Jeff Winkler
Phil Collins donates his entire Alamo collection to the GLO, and Houston's water tastes "like algae."
By Jeff Winkler
Politicians invade the border, and criminal charges against inmates and correctional officers remain steady.
By Jeff Winkler
Slideshow of the dayThe estate sale of Michael Brown is the weird treasure chest of gifts that just keeps on giving. The latest installment includes full suits of armor and an antelope antler candelabra among the numerous items.Infographic MondayCurious as to how megachurch pastor Joel Osteen built his
By Jeff Winkler
State officials approve a $1.3-million-a-day border surge, and a "superweed" is attacking Texas crops.
By Jeff Winkler
Texas prison conditions spark new lawsuits, and The Hammer is back.
By Jeff Winkler
Stanley Marsh 3 died, and George Strait's final show brings in almost $20 million.
By Jeff Winkler
Some legislators call for a special session, and two great white sharks are headed toward Texas.
By Jeff Winkler
Spurs win, and Vince Young says he's retiring.
By Jeff Winkler
Video of the DayGeorge H.W. Bush turned ninety yesterday, and as per his yearly tradition, he went skydiving, paying no mind to the wheelchair that waited for him on the ground. Below is 41 coming in for the landing, taken by his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager:Stand-in FridayTexas has
By Jeff Winkler
RIPFort Worth-born actress Martha Hyer went to that big scene in the sky on May 31. Hyer was an Oscar nominated actress who worked with the like of Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart, and once she “reportedly once turned down a date request from a young Sen. John
By Jeff Winkler
An abortion clinic in Corpus Christi closes, and LULAC sues the state.
By Jeff Winkler
Some crazy stuff went down in the past thirty days. Here are a handful of headlines you may have missed.
By Jeff Winkler
El Paso homeless shelters asked to help house undocumented immigrants, and Texas astronomers have found an 12-billion-year-old explosion in the sky.
By Jeff Winkler
The state GOP convention's straw poll votes Ted Cruz for president, and King George rides away.
By Jeff Winkler
#GoSpursGo, and production expenses for farmers have increased by billions.
By Jeff Winkler
Testimony concluded for the Fort Hood sergeant accused of running a prostitution ring, and the Texas Forest Service has put out 300 fires this year.
By Jeff Winkler
Video of the DayThe season finale of PBS’s The Daytripper—”destinations in Texas for Texans”—has host Chet Garner skimming around the town of Orange.Texas by The numbersEl Paso Horno — Temperature in El Paso on Monday: 104 degrees. Previous high, in 2011: 102 degrees. Temperature on Tuesday: 109 degrees.
By Jeff Winkler
Hundreds of unaccompanied children are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley, and Texas companies comprise more than one-tenth of the Forbes 500 list.
By Jeff Winkler
An open-carry rally at Home Depot, and UT and A&M see their endowments increase by 70 percent due to the oil boom.
By Jeff Winkler
Athens avoids an explosion, and the attorney general's office has declared that the state can keep the source of its execution drug a secret.
By Jeff Winkler
Houston passed an ordinance extending equal rights protections to gay and transgender residents, and two debates in the governor's race have been scheduled.
By Jeff Winkler
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is ousted, and investigators in El Paso found out who vandalized two billboards with narco-like messaging.
By Jeff Winkler
By a 125-pound mother of four from Nebraska, who ate two of the steak dinners—shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, a salad, a roll (with butter) and a 72-ounce steak—in less than fifteen minutes.
By Jeff Winkler
Today is the last day of runoff elections, and UT baseball goes head-to-head with A&M.
By Jeff Winkler
Texas adds more green jobs than nearly every other state, and the border fence could carve up the land of indigenous Texans.
By Jeff Winkler
Governor Rick Perry comes out in support of UT Regent Wallace Hall, and San Marcos and Frisco are two of the fastest-growing suburbs in America.
By Jeff Winkler
Paris ISD's superintendent rails against STAAR testing, and a 92-year-old woman can't get a voter ID because of the new law.
By Jeff Winkler