mastodon 4.7.3Founded in 1954, the Texas Observer is a #progressive #nonprofit news outlet and print #magazine covering the Lone Star State.
Follow Interim Editor-in-Chief @gusbova@texasobserver.social
McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow @josephinelee@texasobserver.social
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Out now: 69% of residents believe the United States should never declare an official religion. Just imagine the mess if the government tried to foist one religious group’s beliefs on so varied a people.
Yet that’s effectively what Christian nationalists are attempting to do today. https://www.texasobserver.org/a-wall-thats-worth-defending/
#politics #USpol #news #constitution #history #books #bookstodon
"SB 13 also neutered librarians’ authority over their collections. I no longer det"ermine what goes into my collection. I make recommendations. ... In many districts, AI is being used to assess the lists of books turned in by librarians." https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
#Texas #FreeSpeech #books #bookstodon #library #schools #education
New from our magazine: In a study of over 300 circuit court decisions on environmental cases made during the #Trump era, more than half ruled in favor of polluters, diminished protections, and limiting the effectiveness of government agencies. https://www.texasobserver.org/man-v-nature/
#politics #USpol #environment #pollution #law #Texas #ClimateChange
"It didn’t take long before Tammy Fogle, the leader of our local Moms for Liberty group, issued 27 book challenges. She had no children attending our schools, but SB 13 had opened the door for her." https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
#censorship #books #library #Schools #education #politics #USpol #news #bookstodon
If the “heritage American” idea sounds equal parts stupid and dangerous, you’ve understood it correctly. https://www.texasobserver.org/american-citizenship-and-other-myths/
Molly Ivins believed #journalism should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
The 2026 MOLLY Prize for Investigative Journalism is now open🎉
🏆 $5,000 award
📍 Honored May 6 in Austin
🗓 Deadline: March 20, 2026
If your 2025 reporting challenged power, we want to read it.
Enter now: #Linkinbio
In the latest Strangest State, our pal Molly walks us through some of the bizarre news that makes Texas ... Texas.
Read more from the March/April 2026 issue of our magazine: https://www.texasobserver.org/strangest-state-chases-chisos-creatures-crossings/
New from Jason Buch: “That facility is, like, terrible, horrible. There’s a lot of people in there. A lot. Each room has like 45 capacity. And they’re putting like 60 people in each room. The restroom is a mess. Dirty. People are sleeping on the floor, people are sleeping in the restroom.” https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-ice-detention-bond-prosecutorial-discretion/
Out today: SB 13 neutered librarians’ authority over their collections. I no longer determine what goes into my collection. I make recommendations, and a council of parents called a School Library Advisory Council (SLAC) decides whether or not to recommend approval. https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
#books #education #Library #censorship #Texas #TXlege #Politics #USpol #News
Out today: Black voters in #Texas have, for decades, been asking for the political system to deliver a candidate that speaks with them in mind and showcases that the Black communities of Texas are not afterthoughts. https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-talarico-crockett-influencer-class-problem/
"I can’t have many of the #books I loved in high school. Modern collection development policies and state laws don’t allow for it."
https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
On the streets and in the courts more than a century and a half later, we’re seeing the dire consequences that come from attempts to curtail who counts among the nation. https://www.texasobserver.org/american-citizenship-and-other-myths/
Earlier: “Neutrality” is often a way to police whose stories matter and whose expertise counts. Knowledge rooted in lived experience is repeatedly framed as political, while dominant perspectives are treated as universal. https://www.texasobserver.org/ut-system-new-controversial-topics-policy-policing-knowledge/
From Gus Bova in our magazine: If conservatives are going to unsettle what it means to be American, maybe it’s best to accept the invitation. https://www.texasobserver.org/american-citizenship-and-other-myths/
#democracy #HumanRights #books #politics #bookstodon #politics #USpol #law
In exciting #news, Texas Observer Staff Writer Michelle Pitcher has co-won the Texas Institute of Letters’ short nonfiction award and Investigations Editor Lise Olsen has won for best nonfiction book! Congratulations!
See the winners here: https://texasinstituteofletters.org/winners-of-2026-literary-awards/
#awards #journalism #media #bookstodon #books #Texas @bookstodon@a.gup.pe
Our top story: Were it up to them, diamondbacks would pass their whole lives without making a sound. But trouble finds them anyway. https://www.texasobserver.org/consider-the-rattle/
From our friends at Grist: In Ozona, older adults are thriving. The Crockett County government has created a strong network of senior services, and ensures that they are supported with the help of some powerful new neighbors—wind companies. https://www.texasobserver.org/rural-west-texas-ozona-wind-energy-seniors/
#energy #environment #WestTexas #Texas #politics #USpol #aging
Previously: A federal jury trial that began Feb 17 is the first major test of the #Trump admin’s campaign to label left-wing activists as domestic terrorists. The case is the first time the government has ever filed terrorism charges against “antifa." https://www.texasobserver.org/antifa-scare-prairieland-19-trial-ice-detention/
#antifa #activism #FreeSpecch #NorthTexas #Texas #politics #USpol #news
Our top story: “It would be easy, and not wholly incorrect, to call me a diamondback partisan. If I am, it’s because I like rattlesnakes as they are.” https://www.texasobserver.org/consider-the-rattle/
Featured story: “She was more interested in herself than serving justice. She knows how to talk the talk to the public, but the way she behaved when she was on the bench was just not appropriate.” https://www.texasobserver.org/dallas-county-da-creuzot-ouster/
#Texas #law #politics #USpol #news #Dallas #NorthTexas #midterms
From Grist, in partnership with the Observer: Older residents in the small town of Ozona are thriving. Here's the unique way that wind energy is keeping retirees close to home, and giving them a better quality of life. https://www.texasobserver.org/rural-west-texas-ozona-wind-energy-seniors/
#Energy #politics #USpol #news #ClimateChange #environment #WestTexas #Texas
New from Kalyn Gensic: "I entered this profession just as the storm clouds of the current book-banning push were starting to gather, but I enrolled in a librarian certification program hoping it would pass over me like lamb’s blood was painted on my doorframe.
And for the first three years, wishful thinking worked ..." https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-isd-librarian-book-ban/
#library #Books #bookstodon #education #schools #censorship #politics #USpol #Texas
"The nation had scarcely processed what had unfolded when another mass shooting wracked Dayton, Ohio, thirteen hours later. We jumped into covering the twin tragedies from afar, another deadly day in a politically divided nation replete with guns." https://www.texasobserver.org/el-paso-book-jazmine-ulloa/
#books #boosktodon #history #GunViolence #border #Texas #journalism
Featured story, from Gus Bova: November's liberal army will be helmed by James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, after the capital city and Latino-majority areas propelled the former to victory over Jasmine Crockett. https://www.texasobserver.org/lead-blue-backlash-texas-dems-austin/
Our top story: Increasingly, the folkloric entity and the living animal have little in common. What, then, are these snakes? And what does their legendary rattle truly mean? https://www.texasobserver.org/consider-the-rattle/
