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Child Abuse
One by Willie
July 28, 2023
The Story Behind Sinéad O’Connor’s Duet with Willie Nelson
It was October 1992 and the Irish singer, who died earlier this week, was being excoriated in the press following her appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live.’
Politics & Policy
May 16, 2023
The Killing of These Texas Children Was National News. But We Didn’t Know the Half of It.
Dallas journalist Roxanna Asgarian’s new book, ‘We Were Once a Family,’ examines a murder-suicide that made national news—and finds that the story behind the story is even worse than we thought.
Politics & Policy
March 10, 2023
Don’t Be Fooled by the Legislature’s Tough Talk About Ken Paxton
Texas lawmakers say they won’t let the attorney general settle a lawsuit using taxpayer money, but they’re letting him avoid oversight.
Politics & Policy
March 28, 2022
A Fundamentalist East Texas Church Bought a Sawmill. Injuries and Child Labor Violations Began to Pile Up.
Almost 25 percent of severe injuries at mills in the state since 2017 have occurred at a single facility, owned by members of the Church of Wells.
News & Politics
March 6, 2019
As Texas Privatizes Child Protective Services, Will the Horror Stories Go Unheard?
Critics of the forthcoming transformation of the state’s child welfare system worry about the new model’s lack of transparency. Legislators are running out of time to introduce greater safeguards.
True Crime
October 21, 2015
The Outcast
A dark incident almost twenty years ago put Greg Torti on the sex offender registry for life. But the real story, he insists, is much more complicated.
News & Politics
November 10, 2013
Foster Mother Whose Children Testified in the “Mineola Swingers Club” Case Now Accused of Abuse
Eight years ago Margie Cantrell pushed law enforcement to investigate allegations of abuse by a group of adults in Mineola. Seven people were convicted of child sexual abuse, and the scandal rocked East Texas. Now, two of those same children are alleging Cantrell physically abused them.
True Crime
December 1, 2000
Child of a Lesser God
It was a modern-day horror story: a little girl hidden away in rat-infested squalor for most of her life. When the authorities took her away from her mother and grandmother, the nine-year-old had never been to school or played outside.
Politics & Policy
April 1, 1999
“No One Knows What Could Be Happening to Those Kids”
When you’re underpaid, inexperienced, and overloaded with files detailing allegations of child abuse, there is a limit to how well you can do your job. Eight months in the life of an investigative team in the Travis County office of Child Protective Services.
True Crime
January 1, 1998
A Few Bad Boys
The slashing of a cadet’s throat at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen is only the latest incident of violence at a venerable institution under not-so-friendly fire.
True Crime
April 30, 1996
Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
When the double life of pioneering record producer Huey Meaux was exposed, it was time to face the music: How well did I really know the legend I once called my friend?
News & Politics
February 1, 1992
Are Men Necessary?
To hear some women tell it, nature created two genders, one nearly perfect and the other badly flawed. I wonder whether they’re right.
News & Politics
July 31, 1988
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.