Editorial: Air Pollution Was Already Killing Us. Then Came the Coronavirus. Why Won’t the EPA Act? By refusing to strengthen particulate matter standards, the EPA is putting more people at risk. Texas Observer · May 6, 2020
Eye on Texas: How COVID-19 Emptied the Texas-Mexico Border Rush hour lines at the Texas-Mexico border are typically hours long. Since the border closed on March 21, those lines are all but gone. Texas Observer · May 5, 2020
7 Texas Arts and Culture Causes to Consider on Giving Tuesday Today is #GivingTuesdayNow. If you’re looking for causes to donate to, consider supporting the individuals and organizations that make Texas’ art, culture, and media great. Texas Observer · May 5, 2020
The Disappeared Genetic genealogy is helping to crack cold cases and identify victims left nameless for decades. The process is surprisingly effective—and controversial. Texas Observer · May 4, 2020
Living With Discomfort and Ambiguity in ‘Finding Home in Boomtown’ A documentary follows a couple’s winding path toward starting a tiny-home community for the homeless in West Texas. Texas Observer · May 1, 2020
Will Grocery Workers Still Be ‘Heroes’ When COVID-19 Subsides? In Texas, grocery employees labor for low wages and few benefits. Now they’re part of a nationwide struggle in which workers are fighting for their lives. Texas Observer · May 1, 2020
In Rural Counties, COVID-19 Cases are Likely Undercounted. Greg Abbott Wants to Reopen them Anyway. More than 100 Texas counties—many with limited medical resources—will be able to reopen businesses to 50 percent capacity on Friday. Texas Observer · May 1, 2020
Loon Star: Leading By Example The latest from editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent compares how presidents throughout U.S. history have responded to crises. Trump doesn't exactly stack up. Texas Observer · Apr 30, 2020
Is it Time to Rethink Texas Suburbia? If you want a glimpse of America’s future, the suburbs are a pretty good place to look. Texas Observer · Apr 30, 2020
Demand for Plasma Therapy for the Sickest COVID-19 Patients Far Outpaces Donations Texas blood banks and the Red Cross are actively recruiting donors but remain thwarted by a lack of antibody tests. Texas Observer · Apr 29, 2020
Field Hospital Begins Construction in Matamoros Migrant Camp in Response to COVID-19 As cases in Mexico begin to surge and U.S. immigration offices remain closed, medical aid volunteers at a Matamoros migrant camp prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. Texas Observer · Apr 29, 2020
‘The Quarry’ Tells a Dark Morality Tale in a Modern Small Texas Town A new film from Scott Teems, king of the Southern drama, follows a violent drifter who assumes the identity of a small-town preacher. Texas Observer · Apr 28, 2020
Strangest State: Dispatch From the Great Candy War Weird news from far-flung Texas. Texas Observer · Apr 28, 2020
Workers at Tyson Poultry Plant in East Texas Say the Company Put Them at Risk of COVID-19 Tyson employees interviewed by the Observer say that as the coronavirus spread through the facility in April, the company failed to notify them of the danger in a timely manner so they could protect themselves. Texas Observer · Apr 27, 2020
Texas Observer · Apr 27, 2020 Underwater Hit hard by flood after flood, people living in Rio Grande Valley colonias struggle to rebuild.
Texas Observer · Apr 27, 2020 Bajo el Agua Las colonias, asentamientos irregulares en la frontera entre México y Texas, se ven sumamente afectadas por las tormentas, inclusive las más pequeñas. Para una asociación local sin fines de lucro, la solución está en generar vivienda accesible y sustentable, pero ¿cómo reconstruir en un área que se inunda constantemente?
Texas Observer · Apr 24, 2020 What’s a Bookstore for? Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, booksellers were facing razor-thin margins, an uncertain future, and the threat of Amazon.
Texas Observer · Apr 24, 2020 Tiger King Could’ve Told a Tough Story of the Legal Mistreatment of Animals, But It Didn’t Netflix’s runaway hit is a salacious interpersonal drama that buried what could have been a hard-hitting exposé of the patchwork regulations that are failing to protect animal welfare and public safety.
Texas Observer · Apr 23, 2020 Dozens of COVID-19 Cases Have Been Reported in Rural Texas Counties With No Hospitals and No Licensed Physicians So far, more than 100 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in counties with only one—or no—licensed physician.
Texas Observer · Apr 23, 2020 Mapping the Number of COVID-19 Cases in Texas per Doctor Many counties with limited medical resources—including no primary care physicians—now have COVID-19 cases.
Texas Observer · Apr 23, 2020 For Austin Police, Claims of Racism Are Only the Tip of the Iceberg An investigation into allegations of racism against a former top cop points to deeper problems of bias and retaliation at the Austin Police Department.
Texas Observer · Apr 22, 2020 City Nature Challenge Can Help Us Find Resilience and Mindfulness at Home This year, researchers are asking residents to become citizen scientists in their own backyards in hopes of collecting vital data in otherwise overlooked areas.
Texas Observer · Apr 22, 2020 State Employees Criticize Texas’ Uneven Approach to Worker Safety Amid COVID-19 A slow, patchwork response to COVID-19 has jeopardized worker safety for some of Texas’ lowest-paid public employees.
Texas Observer · Apr 22, 2020 Loon Star: Make America Sick Again Ben Sargent's latest editorial cartoon takes on the "stay home" protesters who demonstrated outside of the Texas Capitol in April 2020.
Texas Observer · Apr 22, 2020 COVID-19 Cases Now Tied to Meat Plants in Rural Texas Counties Wracked with Coronavirus The outbreaks, which are being investigated by the state health agency, represent the first reported cases of the virus inside Texas meatpacking plants, and are in rural areas where medical resources are already stretched thin.