January/February 2021

The Texas Observer

Observing Texas since 1954

The Texas Observer1 min read
The Texas Observer
EDITOR Tristan Ahtone EXECUTIVE EDITOR Megan Kimble ASSOCIATE EDITORS Christopher Collins, Sophie Novack DIGITAL EDITOR Sunny Sone SENIOR REPORTER Lise Olsen STAFF WRITERS Amal Ahmed, Michael Barajas, Gus Bova, Pauly Denetclaw, Justin Miller PUBLISHE
The Texas Observer2 min readEnvironmental Science
Dialogue
I contracted COVID (“How We Got Here,” November|December 2020) in a town that remained convinced it was a Democratic hoax and chose not follow prevention protocols or enforce them, encouraged under the irresponsible leadership (Abbott and Patrick) th
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Trivia Texas
The year 2021 is upon us and many of you have made New Year’s resolutions. It’s a tradition started by the Babylonians 4,000 years ago to curry favor with their gods. Which of the following facts about New Year’s resolutions is not true? a. Twenty-tw
The Texas Observer13 min readAmerican Government
Political Intelligence
WITH STUNNING PRECISION, SARA SAIDMAN, AN OIL FIELD engineer, can still recall the moment that “set the tone for the rest of my employment at Schlumberger,” a Texas-based oil field services company. Saidman took a job at Schlumberger in 2016 because
The Texas Observer1 min readCrime & Violence
Texas Tally
In November, Texas became the first state to pass 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Hospitalizations surged through the fall and winter, particularly in hot spots like El Paso and Lubbock. More than 23,000 Texans had died as of mid-December. The Te
The Texas Observer3 min readAmerican Government
Texas Observed
AFTER THE 2020 ELECTION, IT’S TIME FOR TEXAS DEMOCRATS to stop setting unrealistic expectations about top-ticket races and instead start focusing on the down-ballot seats they’ve already won. Over the past decade, Democrats have flipped district cour
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Strangest State
Visit texasobserver.org/strangest-state for more “Strangest State” and links to original stories. Got a local oddity or some small-town news to share? Tips are welcome at editors@texasobserver.org. ■
The Texas Observer2 min readCrime & Violence
A Different Inspiration
WITH THE PROMISE OF A COROnavirus vaccine this year, Texas has an opportunity to return not to life as normal, but to a better, more equitable, and more fair place. What that looks like is up to you, to all of us. As journalists, we adhere to ethical
The Texas Observer4 min readAmerican Government
Teens for a Green New Deal
CHANTÉ DAVIS, A 16-YEAR-OLD NEW ORLEANS NATIVE, knows that climate change is urgent and personal. In 2005, she and her family were evacuated right before Hurricane Katrina decimated their hometown. They settled in Houston, where, over the past decade
The Texas Observer13 min read
Graveyard Shift
ISABELLE PAPADIMITRIOU WAS FINALLY A GRANDMA. The baby girl, Lua, was born in August 2019 in Brooklyn. Though Papadimitriou lived in Coppell and worked as a respiratory therapist in Dallas, she’d been able to visit her granddaughter in New York twice
The Texas Observer11 min readAmerican Government
LEGE In The TIME Of CORONAVA VIRUS
BY THE TIME TEXAS LAWMAKERS MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE PANDEMIC STARTED, MORE THAN 23,000 OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS WILL HAVE DIED OF COVID-19. MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION WILL HAVE BEEN INFECTED. ROUGHLY 4 MILLION WILL HAVE FILED UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS, A
The Texas Observer12 min readCrime & Violence
Undetected
On their last visit, Corken, who had tiny feet and hands, needed a new pair of slides, so they stopped at her favorite shoe store, the only one with a decent selection in size 5. Later, they caught a matinee at an upscale theater. “We always got a pe
The Texas Observer9 min readCrime & Violence
‘This Killing Machine’
DALTON COBLE DIDN’T KNOW HIS grandfather particularly well, but stories of Billie Wayne Coble have cast a shadow over his family since before he was born. In August 1989, Billie murdered his estranged wife’s parents and brother. The slayings shocked
The Texas Observer4 min read
‘Fugitive Dreams’ Tells a Timeless Tale for Right Now
JOHN, A NERVOUS CHATTERBOX WITH A child’s innocence, retches under a tree on the side of the road. “Dust in the lungs,” he says. His companion, the downhearted Mary, forces him to stand and leads him out of sight. “Cops’ll beat you dry for that shit,
The Texas Observer5 min read
Pride of Laredo
IN 1914, THE TEXAS RANGERS HAD A REPUTATION for complicity in extralegal violence and property crimes against Hispanic Texans. So when they rode up to the office of El Progreso newspaper in Laredo one day with a score to settle, the wisest choice of
The Texas Observer1 min read
West Texas Stars
I took a tripto west Texasby myselfpulled over at nighton a stretch nowhere near McDonaldor Ft. Davisand just walked a long whilethe soundof my feet on sandthat hadn’t been touchedin perhaps centuriesand I never looked uponly downfocusing my gazepick
The Texas Observer2 min read
Eye On Texas
ROGELIO CHAVIRA AND DOLORES CHACON were sweethearts in high school, class of 1970. Although they split up before starting at the University of Texas at El Paso, Dolores and Rogelio have fond memories of their first romance. “He was just so polite, ju

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