Local activists warn that while residents must ration, unimpeded industrial expansion is imperiling the region’s future.

Stephen Harrigan explores his own Catholic boyhood in Texas—and the prophecy left behind by a Portuguese prophet girl—in a ...

The state created “Texas Partnership” charter schools to turn around struggling public campuses, but an Observer investigation has uncovered numerous academic and financial issues.

The state created “Texas Partnership” charter schools to turn around struggling public campuses, but an Observer ...

All of the Texas Observer’s articles are available for free syndication for news sources under the following conditions: The ...

All of the Texas Observer’s articles are available for free syndication for news sources under the following conditions: ...

Republicans want to double down on a system that can keep Texans in jail for years without a trial, while attacking bail ...

We still have one, after all, so may as well act like it.

A version of this story ran in the May / June 2025 issue. It’s the sort of day where you can tell that the state Capitol is bustling with civic activity well before you pass through the security ...

A reporter returns to a border town riven by a drug war.