Politics & Policy
June 28, 2022
Ten Years of Magical Thinking
Gilberto Hinojosa has led the Texas Democratic Party through a decade of failure. Some Democrats think that’s long enough.
South Texas
Politics & Policy
June 14, 2022
After Years of Victory Laps, the GOP Has Actually Won a Big South Texas Race
Mayra Flores won a special election to serve as the first Republican in the U.S. House from the Rio Grande Valley since 1871.
Tacos
May 31, 2022
Enjoy a Breakfast Taco With Every Filling From This Homey Tex-Mex Diner
Sylvia's Mexican Restaurant has become such a staple over its 32 years in Stockdale that it's practically a second home for locals.
Politics & Policy
May 6, 2022
Will the Threat to Abortion Rights Shake Up Texas’s Tightest Primary Runoff?
U.S. House candidate Jessica Cisneros predicts it will, but most national Democratic leaders are standing behind the incumbent, Henry Cuellar.
Texas Country Reporter
April 20, 2022
Frank’s Cafe in Hebbronville Is a 100-Year-Old Texas Treasure
The Gutierrez family still runs the South Texas cafe, specializing in Mexican recipes passed down for generations.
Politics & Policy
April 6, 2022
A Democratic Congressman’s Gift to the GOP
By chasing an early retirement and triggering a special election, veteran Rep. Filemon Vela of Brownsville has opened up a big opportunity for Republican candidate Mayra Flores.
Politics & Policy
March 9, 2022
Latinas Are Pushing a Political Revolution in South Texas—to the Right
Monica De La Cruz, Mayra Flores, and Adrienne Peña-Garza, all from Hidalgo County, hope to flip congressional seats across the region.
Politics & Policy
March 8, 2022
Republicans and Democrats Are Both Claiming Victory Based on South Texas Primary Turnout. Who’s Right?
Trying to use March voter counts to predict results in November, as many politicos have done over the past week, is fraught.
Food & Drink
February 14, 2022
Caldo Will Cure Your Texas Winter Blues
A love letter to the everyman’s healing Mexican broth, which can be filled with anything you might have on hand.
Sponsored
November 15, 2021
Leading Through Tradition and Innovation
When McAllen attorney Shiree Salinas (J.D. ’90) first heard about the St. Mary’s University School of Law’s groundbreaking online J.D. program, she immediately wrote back to the law school sharing her excitement. This fall, St. Mary’s Law became the first law school in the nation to have a fully online J.D.
Tacos
September 28, 2021
McAllen’s Neighborhood Molino Pop-up Mixes South Texas Favorites With Pre-Hispanic Traditions
Just don’t say it’s “elevating” Mexican food.
Border & Immigration
September 18, 2021
The Biden Administration Says It’s Repairing Levees. Some South Texans Say It’s Building a Border Wall.
Barriers reminiscent of the Trump era are sprouting up in Hidalgo County.
Politics & Policy
September 13, 2021
Why Democrats Are Losing Texas Latinos
The party assumes people of color will turn the state blue. But most Tejanos consider themselves white. And more are voting Republican.
Food & Drink
September 2, 2021
An East Village Taqueria Bridges the Gap Between Texpats and Other New Yorkers
Yellow Rose offers veggie-forward dishes, authentic barbacoa, and lengua—in Texas-size portions.
Border & Immigration
December 7, 2020
These Texas Landowners Hoped Trump’s Loss Would Halt the Border Wall. Instead, They Say, Things Are Worse.
With Trump ramping up efforts to construct the border wall, South Texans say the effort has been stripped to its essence: “It’s basically just big government taking Texas land.”
Politics & Policy
November 11, 2020
Why Did Joe Biden Lose Ground With Latinos in South Texas?
Democrats have taken voters in the region for granted. This year, many were receptive to Donald Trump’s messaging on jobs, opportunity, and law enforcement.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Being Texan
January 22, 2020
A Snowball’s Chance in South Texas
The Wall Street Journal investigates what happened to the snowballs people froze after a historic 2004 snowfall.
By
Dan Solomon
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Border & Immigration
October 11, 2019
Crews Begin Clear-Cutting South Texas Land to Make Way For Trump’s Border Wall
Critics say it’s a political gimmick. It’s unclear when, or if, the administration can erect the steel barrier through the Rio Grande Valley.
Books
October 8, 2019
Cristela Alonzo’s ‘Mixtape Memoir’ Is an Ode to Her South Texas Roots
South Texas–born Comedian Cristela Alonzo tells the story of her life through songs.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Books
September 10, 2019
Resurrecting ‘Stories That Must Not Die,’ A Chilling, Seminal Collection of South Texas Folklore
The Tejano goth classic is an essential bilingual teaching aid and trove of the region’s most beloved tales, including “La Llorona.”
Food & Drink
July 10, 2019
Ode to the Raspa: My South Texas Childhood, Served in a Cup
The brightly colored syrups and the crazy flavors of these icy treats embody all that’s wonderful about the long summer days of youth.
Books
April 24, 2019
The Psychedelic State of South Texas
Fernando A. Flores’s debut novel, ‘Tears of the Trufflepig,’ is an exhilarating borderland dystopia.
Travel & Outdoors
September 30, 2016
For the Birds
Birding excursions and events around the state.
Politics & Policy
August 11, 2016
Remember the Christian Alamo
Evangelist Lester Roloff drew a line in the dirt to keep the State of Texas from regulating his Rebekah Home for Girls. Years later, then-govenor George W. Bush handed Roloff's disciples a long-sought victory. But this Alamo had no heroes—only victims.
Texas History
January 27, 2016
The House That King Built
Texas Monthly gets an exclusive look inside the iconic Main House of the King Ranch.
Texas History
January 27, 2016
The King’s Palace
The descendants of Richard and Henrietta King do hereby invite you into the King Ranch with these exclusive photographs of the one-hundred-year-old Main House.
Food & Drink
July 23, 2015
The Other Oil Boom
Texas is poised to become a major player in the olive industry.
News & Politics
July 23, 2015
While We’re Young
Twenty-two Texans on why they will (or won’t) go to the ballot box.
Critters
May 6, 2015
Up to 4 Percent of Africa’s Rhinos Might Relocate to South Texas
With an endangered population that continues to be poached for its horns, every preventative measure—even odd ones—should be considered.
By
Dan Solomon
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Film & TV
January 6, 2015
“Taken” Isn’t a Documentary, Liam Neeson Tells South Texas Parents
Who knew part of the curriculum in South Texas schools would involve teaching parents the difference between fact and fiction?
By
Dan Solomon
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Sports
May 9, 2014
Bloodless Sport
Every year, some of Mexico’s very best matadors travel to a remote South Texas bullring—one of the few in this country—for no-kill fights. Their pageantry draws spectators by the busload.
By
Katy Vine
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Texas Trip Guides
May 2, 2014
Trip Guide: Baffin Bay
Plan a summertime weekend catching trophy trout using this guide with tips on what to do, where to eat, and where to stay.
Border & Immigration
April 15, 2014
What You Should Know About Lupe Treviño
The top law enforcement official in Hidalgo County pled guilty to money laundering charges—here's what that means for the Valley.
By
Dan Solomon
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Food & Drink
November 12, 2013
The Things They Buried
The Sunday barbacoa luncheon was one of my family’s few traditions. Had I known what was in those tacos, it might not have been.
Energy
October 21, 2013
“Y’all Smell That? That’s the Smell of Money.”
A son of the oil patch chases the new boom in South Texas.
Energy
January 21, 2013
Below the Surface
In 1996 a powerful South Texas ranching clan accused ExxonMobil of sabotaging wells on the family’s property. Thirteen years, millions of dollars in legal fees, and one state Supreme Court opinion later, the biggest oil field feud of its time is still raging.
By
Mimi Swartz
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Border & Immigration
January 20, 2013
Wall of Confusion
So much for the border fence.
Books
January 20, 2013
Pretty Ugly
Why a lavish two-volume attack on the border fence, with photos by Maurice Sherif, misses the mark.
Food & Drink
January 20, 2013
Summertime Chillin’
The line can be long at your local raspa stand, but that amazing first bite, when the snowy ice is crisp and sweet, makes it so worthwhile.
Business
January 20, 2013
The Next Frontier
How has the state’s most storied ranch managed to survive and thrive in the twenty-first century? By operating in a way that its founder, Captain Richard King, would scarcely recognize.
Energy
April 3, 2012
Life in the Eagle Ford Boom
A dispatch on how the petrodollars from the Eagle Ford Shale boom are reshaping life in South Texas.
News & Politics
October 31, 2010
Back to the Future
A trip through South Texas in search of the ghosts of borders past—and a vision for what comes next.
Street Smarts
March 31, 2009
Alameda Street, Corpus Christi
Alameda Street, Corpus Christi.
The Culture
July 31, 2007
How to Brand the Herd
The RationaleWhy make a lasting impression on your cattle? To fend off cattle rustlers, whose pilfering of literal cash cows is hardly a defunct business (ranchers in the Southwest lost $6.2 million in livestock in 2005). “Think of branding as a license plate on your car, a means of identification,”
Texas History
March 31, 2007
Law of the Land
Nearly two centuries after their forebears protected colonists from Indian raids, the Texas Rangers are alive and well and wrestling with the realities of the twenty-first century. In their own words, the iconic crime fighters explain how their world has changed—and what it takes to battle the latest generation of
Feature
December 1, 2005
Christmas in Brownsville
My father, who had grown up on a farm, used to talk about his family’s killing a pig for the tamales, but this was back in the twenties.
Feature
May 31, 1998
The Fall of the Last Patrón.
Even by South Texas standards, the undoing of Starr County sheriff Eugenio Falcón, Jr., was one for the books.
Politics & Policy
May 31, 1984
The Man in the Black Hat: Part One
Clinton Manges built his empire on brushland and oil wells, political contributions and lawsuits. His influence extends to the state capitol and oil company boardrooms. To get where he is, he studied under three masters of South Texas.
Being Texan
April 1, 1984
The Hub Cafe
It wasn’t the classiest place in Pharr to grow up, but it had tough truckers, sassy waitresses, and some of the best fry cooks in the Valley.
Being Texan
January 1, 1982
The Saint of Falfurrias
Supplicants in the Valley worship at the shrine of faith healer Don Pedrito Jaramillo, more powerful in death than he was in life.