Politics & Policy
August 16, 2023
Dam It?
An oil executive wants to block the South Llano River for private recreational purposes. Hill Country residents are outraged.
News & Politics
Energy
August 15, 2023
We’re All Living in the World Enron Created
When the go-go Houston corporation collapsed in spectacular fashion, it became a punch line across the nation. But some of the bad guys had the last laugh.
Politics & Policy
August 15, 2023
Why the Democratic Establishment Has Rushed to Support Henry Cuellar
National party leaders are stoutly backing the centrist U.S. representative from Laredo, hoping to avoid a primary from a progressive.
Politics & Policy
August 14, 2023
Houston Is Young and Dynamic. Its Next Leader Won’t Be.
The leading candidates for Houston mayor are two septuagenarians: state senator John Whitmire and U.S. congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. What happened to the city of the future?
Business
August 14, 2023
Texas Is Number One in Business! (Or Are We?)
Elon Musk is just one of the big-deal CEOs moving to the Lone Star State. But some are reluctant to join him.
Politics & Policy
August 14, 2023
When It Comes to People Behind Bars, Texas Is Way Ahead
We keep putting convicts away. And lawmakers want those numbers to rise.
Health
August 14, 2023
Here’s the Story of One of the Millions of Texans Who Have No Medical Insurance
More than one in six Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the country. Behind the statistics are countless human beings experiencing unnecessary suffering.
Energy
August 14, 2023
We’re Number One in Renewable Energy and Nonrenewable Energy
Why Texas is the past, present, and future when it comes to fueling the world.
News & Politics
August 14, 2023
We’re Number One!
. . . When it comes to producing renewable energy, winning golf tournaments, banning books, and closing rural hospitals. Why is Texas so darn great . . . and so darn awful?
News & Politics
August 14, 2023
Sometimes Texas Isn’t Number One
Wounding as it may be to our deeply ingrained sense of Texas exceptionalism, there are a number of seemingly Texas-y categories in which we don’t take the top spot. Here are a few.
Meanwhile, in Texas
August 11, 2023
Meanwhile, in Texas: On I-10, Hot Sauce and a Traffic Jam Made for a Hazardous Combo
Plus, an aggressive hawk kept postal employees from their appointed rounds and a cross-dressing bank robber brought new meaning to word “stickup.”
Politics & Policy
August 10, 2023
Ain’t From Around Here: Is Texas A&M a “Military School in the Lone Star Hinterlands”?
The Guardian thinks so and, weirdly, so do many Aggies.
Energy
August 10, 2023
Has a San Antonio Inventor Solved a Problem of Small-scale Wind Power?
Tinkering in his backyard, Dan Marsh aims to devise an efficient source of electricity for suburban rooftops and beachside barbecues.
Politics & Policy
August 9, 2023
Where Do Texas Abortion Laws Stand Now?
A state district court judge narrowed Texas’s abortion ban, but the state’s appeal complicates access to the procedure.
News & Politics
August 9, 2023
A Dubious “Link to Jesus” Will Soon Make Its Dallas Debut
Declared a fake by many experts, the James Ossuary is coming to Texas for its first American exhibit.
News & Politics
August 9, 2023
She Got 99 Years in Prison for a Crime She Didn’t Commit. Nearly 20 Years Later, Rosa Jimenez Has Been Exonerated.
The new grandmother, in need of a new kidney, says all she wants is a normal life.
Politics & Policy
August 8, 2023
Is There Any Chance Ken Paxton Will Be Convicted?
Threats from the AG’s supporters loom over the Republican state senators who will serve as the jurors in the impeachment trial.
Health
August 8, 2023
The Monkeys Who Died to Fight COVID
Texas Biomedical Research Institute helped subdue the coronavirus and has big plans for combating future disease threats—with controversial help from its thousands of research primates.
News & Politics
August 7, 2023
Inside the Fight for a Hidden Hill Country Treasure
A Dallas billionaire says his new luxury resort in a near-pristine parcel west of Austin is a model of sustainability. The caretaker of the nature reserve next door isn’t buying it.
Politics & Policy
August 4, 2023
Dan Patrick Defended Himself Against Free Speech Critics. Does His Case Hold Up?
We analyzed the Texas lieutenant governor’s argument about why he was right to have A&M investigate a professor who’d allegedly made critical comments about him.
Politics & Policy
August 3, 2023
Ken Paxton Managed to Delay His Trial on Securities Fraud Charges for Eight Years. Now It’s Coming Home to Roost.
The state Senate’s vote on Paxton’s impeachment will proceed independently from his criminal case. But the outcomes are interlinked.
Politics & Policy
August 1, 2023
Think Seasonal Affective Disorder Is a Winter Thing? Try Living Through Texas Summer.
The disorder is commonly associated with the colder months, but studies show that excessive heat also impacts our mental health
Politics & Policy
July 31, 2023
Think You’re Hot? Try Being a Pitmaster During the Hottest Summer in Texas History.
A new era of climate change–fueled heat waves is pushing the high priests of Texas barbecue to their limit.
Politics & Policy
July 28, 2023
Texas Is Quietly Leading the Way on Limiting Child Protective Services Overreach
Policy changes aimed at reducing the number of children who end up in foster care—many championed by progressives in blue states—are being passed by Republicans in Texas.
Politics & Policy
July 28, 2023
Her Daughter Was Killed in Uvalde. Now She’s Running for Mayor.
Kimberly Mata-Rubio says after the tragedy, Uvalde remains a divided community—she wants to change that.
Politics & Policy
July 27, 2023
Fahrenheit 105: Why I No Longer Love the Texas Heat
I like to think I am Texas Tough when it comes to the heat. But lately, my fortitude has been tested.
Border & Immigration
July 27, 2023
Residents of Eagle Pass Grow Wary of Greg Abbott’s Militarized Border
Confronted with human suffering and death, as well as disruption of their small town, some former supporters of Operation Lone Star have started to sour on the program.
Politics & Policy
July 27, 2023
Greg Abbott’s Border Policy Is at Once Cruel and Ineffective. Many State Leaders Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way.
The Texas GOP, which once advocated for a more humane immigration policy, is wedded to Operation Lone Star despite its exorbitant costs and failures.
Politics & Policy
July 26, 2023
Texas A&M’s Journalism Fiasco Has Roots in the School’s Conformist Culture
Now that right-wingers have forced out a top-notch journalist at my alma mater, I worry that future students won't enjoy the same opportunities I did.
Politics & Policy
July 26, 2023
Why Is Will Hurd Running for President?
The former U.S. congressman from Texas on his bid to beat Trump, artificial intelligence, his zodiac sign, and more.
News & Politics
July 25, 2023
A New Report About Human Waste and Texas Beaches Is More Than Just Gross
Human waste on Texas coastlines is a beach.
Politics & Policy
July 24, 2023
The Texas GOP Once Revered Ron DeSantis, but He Remains a Clear Second Fiddle to Trump
The Florida governor is still popular with many grassroots Republicans here, but most of the likely primary voters seem unready to abandon the former president.
News & Politics
July 24, 2023
Two Teens Terrorized a Black Classmate on Video. Now One Has Pleaded to a Hate Crime Enhancement.
The second teen has pleaded to criminal mischief charges. Both face two years of probation.
Politics & Policy
July 24, 2023
“I Don’t Want to Live in This State of Terror Anymore”: Some Families With Trans Children Are Leaving Texas
After Governor Greg Abbott signed a law blocking gender-affirming care for minors, some have fled the state. Others have no choice but to stay.
Politics & Policy
July 20, 2023
“I Think He’s a Muslim at Heart”: Texas State Historical Association Leader Endorsed Obama Conspiracy Theory
J.P. Bryan, the embattled executive director of the TSHA, faces criticism for his approach to history—including recent history. He says he hasn’t seen evidence that the former president is a Christian.
Business
July 20, 2023
A Crowdfunding Approach to Growing Texas Farms
Fort Worth–based Harvest Returns offers new investment avenues into agricultural projects.
Politics & Policy
July 18, 2023
Texas Is Now a Majority-Minority State. Why Haven’t Our Politics Changed?
Since 2004, non-Hispanic white residents have been outnumbered in Texas. And to the apparent surprise of many, that hasn’t worked out all that well for the Democratic Party.
Politics & Policy
July 17, 2023
The Texas Billionaire’s Guide to Befriending Clarence Thomas
Harlan Crow and Jerry Jones have bought access to the Supreme Court justice through carefully curated gifts. What do Michael Dell, Tilman Fertitta, Elon Musk, and others have to offer?
Politics & Policy
July 17, 2023
Ted Cruz’s Team Is Confident About 2024. Should It Be?
No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, but Colin Allred and Roland Gutierrez have something working in their favor that Beto O’Rourke didn’t.
Health
July 13, 2023
This Texas Heat Is Killing Us
Extreme temperatures are hazardous to our health, so projects in San Antonio and Dallas are seeking new ways to cool down our cities.
Business
July 12, 2023
The Queen of Highland Park
For forty years, Allie Beth Allman has ruled the glittering world of luxury real estate in Dallas. Then came a flood of coastal money, a technological revolution, a rift with a longtime partner, and the inexorable toll of time.
Energy
July 11, 2023
In the Aging Oil Business, These Young CEOs Stand Out
Many millennial and Gen Z workers have turned away from careers in fossil fuels—making Midland-based Permian Resources an anomaly.
Politics & Policy
July 11, 2023
Could Texas Really Eliminate Property Taxes?
The Legislature took a big step Monday, but further efforts could come with great costs: a sky-high sales tax, decimated public schools, and defunding the police.
Border & Immigration
July 10, 2023
How Cartel Violence Has Reshaped Tejano Identity in South Texas
Many border residents no longer visit their home country, which may help explain the region’s rightward political shift.
Politics & Policy
July 10, 2023
Before Uvalde, Roland Gutierrez Was Just Another State Senator. Now He’s Challenging Ted Cruz.
The state senator was little known until last year, when the massacre in Uvalde, in his district, thrust him into the spotlight.
Politics & Policy
July 6, 2023
How to Lose Friends and Alienate the Legislature
The governor has long suffered from the reputation that he’s a policy lightweight. He’s turning it around this year in five easy steps.
Politics & Policy
July 5, 2023
This Democrat Is Back in the Texas Lege After 40 Years. He Can’t Believe How Bad Things Are.
On property taxes, school funding, and more, “Democrats are not even in the conversation,” Dallas representative John Bryant says.
Books
June 29, 2023
As a Heat Dome Envelops Texas, a Bracing Look at Our Hotter Future
In his new book, ‘The Heat Will Kill You First,’ Austin-based journalist Jeff Goodell examines climate change in its most essential form: temperature rise.
Energy
June 29, 2023
Without Solar Power, This Texas Heat Wave Would Burn Much Worse
Thank goodness the state GOP's war on renewables has, so far, failed.
Business
June 29, 2023
Mapping the Mysteries—And the Dangers—of the Ocean Depths
Founded by a pair of former Navy SEALs, Austin-based Terradepth has ambitious plans to deploy a fully autonomous fleet of submersibles to continually monitor the seafloor.