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

Texas journalist based in Austin reporting on politics, government, education, and the environment around the state. He's a student at the University of Texas at Austin, pursuing degrees in Journalism ...

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 ...

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 ...

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: ...

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

Legislation to allow some forms of drug checking has reached the same Senate committee where a similar bill died last session ...

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

Orlando J. Pérez, Ph.D., is a professor of political science at the University of North Texas at Dallas, specializing in U.S.