Notices by Texas Observer (texasobserver@texasobserver.social)

Yesterday: I've had it with hearing the same story over and over again—another 100-year-plus rainfall event, another tragic result from people occupying the floodplain without an adequate warning system. More pain. More loss. https://www.texasobserver.org/flooding-houston-hill-country-planning/

#water #environment #rivers #floods #Texas #politics #USpol #ClimateChange #weather #history #news

New today: We Texans keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We are not going to change this narrative until we change our view of climate change and of living and developing in the floodplain.

Our climate is changing and our rainfall patterns—and drought patterns—are proving it repeatedly. https://www.texasobserver.org/flooding-houston-hill-country-planning/

#environment #ClimateChange #drought #flooding #Texas #TexasFloods #weather #news #politics #USpol #sustainability

"We forget what we don’t want to remember. While I understand that impulse, there are dangers embedded in our forgetfulness. This is especially true for anyone living in Flash Flood Alley."
https://www.texasobserver.org/san-antonio-hill-country-floods-history-1921-2025/

#politics #USpol #news #Texas #history #environment #weather #TexasFlood

New from Justin Miller: "If you actually redraw the districts that are named in the letter, that’s just buying like a Texas-sized legal fight. You’re just inviting the argument that you’re intentionally discriminating against communities of color." https://www.texasobserver.org/redistricting-plans-michael-li-interview-2025/

#Texas #democracy #racism #Republicans #news #politics #USpol

New today: People living near a power plant experience an 11 percent increase in asthma rates, a 15 percent increase in acute respiratory infections, and a 17 percent increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. https://www.texasobserver.org/abilene-texas-stargate-natural-gas-plant-harms/

#health #AI #ElonMusk #news #politics #USpol #Texas #NorthTexas #pollution #tech

Farmers, #water managers, fishermen, river advocates, and everyday residents told me they would fight for their water to the very last drop. Others have already begun asking the existential question: Where will we go when the river runs dry? https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-conchos-texas-mexico-water-treaty/

#Mexico #politics #USpol #border #environment #ClimateChange #news #weather #drought

From July 3: Federal resources for managing climate-augmented weather disasters are being wiped out. Meanwhile, state leaders stand by while denying the seriousness of climate change as a driver of these events—and the threat this poses to the state economy. https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-texas-doge-cuts-disaster-aid/

#ClimateChange #water #environment #politics #USpol #Trump #flooding #TexasFloods #weather #news

“With climate change, which we don’t talk about in #Texas, most of our floodplain maps are obsolete. They’re out of date. The rainfall amounts are not nearly large enough to predict the type of #floods we’re going to have. So whatever [Texans] think it is, it’s worse than they think.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texans-hang-on-in-hill-country-tragedy/

#politics #USpol #news #flooding #news

New today: It’s a different camp, different year, different creek, but the same story. This story—the one where the Hill Country experiences devastating and unexpected flash #floods following an intense period of extended drought—is a familiar one for those of us who grew up in the area. https://www.texasobserver.org/hill-country-flood-family-home-fourth-of-july-2002/

#Kerrville #KerrCounty #Texas #CentralTexas #flooding #history #environment #weather #politics #USpol #news #ClimateChange

In the parts of the Hill Country known as “Flash Flood Alley,” a geographic area subject to rapid onset flooding, the changing climate, manifested through extreme #weather paired with the distinctly harsh and rugged landscape, can lead to particularly deadly scenarios. https://www.texasobserver.org/hill-country-flood-family-home-fourth-of-july-2002/

#ClimateChange #environment #politics #USpol #news #CentralTexas #flooding #Kerrville

Earlier: What does it say about us when we tolerate—or even support—policies that traumatize, neglect, and abuse children? How much cruelty will we inflict—or passively allow our nation’s leaders, laws, & institutions to inflict on our behalf—on #children? https://www.texasobserver.org/republicans-immigrant-children-budget-court/

#HumanRights #immigration #ICE #Republicans #politics #USpol #news #fascism

The administration is trying to kill every program that pops up in a search for the word “climate.” In the process, the heart is being cut out of agencies that produce information that the state needs to manage its environmental threats. https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-texas-doge-cuts-disaster-aid/

#weather #Trump #FEMA #politics #USpol #news #Texas #environment #ClimateChange

From Justin Miller in our magazine: As the GOP has grown ever brasher in its pursuit of a radical conservative agenda, the fruits of #Democrats' inside strategy have become ever-less bountiful.
https://www.texasobserver.org/dems-89th-legislative-session-what-now/

#Texas #politics #USpol #news #TXlege

In the Valley, we are no strangers to being the backdrop of political power wars. With frames meant to reduce our stories and humanity, we’re often made out to be these powerless one-dimensional caricatures that don’t know any better and can’t advocate for ourselves. https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-valley-lgbtq-pride/

#LGBTQIA+ #SouthTexas #border #culture #pride #politics #USpol #Trump #ElonMusk

“It’s a safe space to be yourself regardless of who that is. I don’t understand why people want to smother that.”

From 2022: Drag Queen Story Hour? Over 150 people crowded into a West Texas cafe for this small town's first such event. https://www.texasobserver.org/wolfforth-lubbock-drag-queen-story-hour/

#drag #pride #politics #culture #USpol #news #Texas #WestTexas #children

Earlier: "This isn’t a removal. It’s not lawful under the Immigration and Nationality Act. It doesn’t conform to anything that was previously passed in legislation ... Essentially, he was disappeared forcefully." https://www.texasobserver.org/el-salvador-austin-immigration-lawyer-teen-forced-disappearance/

#politics #USpol #news #ICE #immigration #HumanRights #Trump #Austin #Texas

Yesterday: Many might find themselves surprised at the abundance and depth of the #LGBTQ+ community in the Rio Grande Valley, and this just scratches the surface. https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-valley-lgbtq-pride/

#LGBTQIA+ #SouthTexas #culture #politics #USpol #pride #border

@jeff ”Make your own instance, and they will follow you.”—John Mastodon

Featured story, from Kit @oconnell: “This industry has really grown and is starting to achieve some maturity, and there’s so many good actors and quality products on the market that this [ban] is going to devastate them. This is going to devastate their livelihood.” https://www.texasobserver.org/dan-patrick-texas-devastating-thc-ban/

#TXlege #Texas #Republicans #politics #USpol #news #cannabis #marijuana #drugs #economy

Featured story: "As a proud first-generation, undocumented graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a lifelong product of #Texas public schools, I am outraged—but not surprised—by the latest cowardly attack on our immigrant community." https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dream-act-paxton-trump-immigrant-rights-movement/

#Austin #politics #USpol #immigration #HumanRights #education #law #TXlege