Notices by Texas Observer (texasobserver@texasobserver.social)

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

When politicians take away clinics, birth control, abortion access, and trusted community providers, they’re not saving lives. They’re putting people in danger. And disproportionately, they’re endangering Latinas. https://www.texasobserver.org/cuts-women-healthcare-reproductive-rights/

#politics #USpol #news #abortion #healthcare #Texas #TXlege #women

“Who loves this the most are criminals and the cartels, because all the profit just got put right into their pockets.”

This week's top story, from Kit @oconnell: Texas is renewing its commitment to a draconian state tradition— marijuana prohibition— with a new law that will cost 10,000s of jobs if it goes into effect.
https://www.texasobserver.org/dan-patrick-texas-devastating-thc-ban/

#politics #hemp #cannabis #drugs #economy #news #TXlege #Texas #USpol

"In Texas, nearly half of Latinas live in medically underserved areas. Nearly one in four of us who are of reproductive age lack health insurance." https://www.texasobserver.org/cuts-women-healthcare-reproductive-rights/

#Texas #healthcare #women #politics #USpol #news

Ronnie Dugger, founding editor and longtime publisher of the Texas Observer and for many years the crusading conscience of the progressive movement in Texas and beyond, died of complications of dementia at a hospice center in Austin on May 27. He was 95. https://www.texasobserver.org/ronnie-dugger-1930-2025/

#politics #USpol #journalism #RIP #Texas #media #history #news

New from Joelle DiPaolo: “They’re trying to control every aspect of #trans and queer Texans’ lives. This kind of legislation really just feels like a way to push people out of the state and make them feel like they don’t belong here.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lege-2025-anti-lgbtq-bills-passed/

#LGBTQIA+ #queer #transgender #fascism #TXlege #Texas #politics #USpol #news

Immigrant rights organizations and others have voiced concerns that more local police and #ICE collaboration will lead to racial profiling, an erosion of trust between cops and immigrants, and immigrants staying home for fear of encountering police. https://www.texasobserver.org/legislature-sheriffs-ice-cooperation-jails-streets/

#police #HumanRights #Texas #TXlege #politics #USpol #news #immigration #Trump

New from Michelle Pitcher: “Bills in this package are going to swell the Texas pretrial population. That’s going to impact counties first. Local jails, which are already having to send people out of county or out of state in order to keep their populations manageable are going to find they have an even worse problem on their hands.” https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-house-bail-legislature/

#prison #TXlege #Texas #politics #USpol #Law #news #GregAbbott

"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 #Texas #news #TXlege #immigration #HumanRights #ICE #ElSalvador #CECOT

New from Peter Barth, in collaboration with @Bellingcat: The murder of William “Bill” Asher Richardson Jr., a wealthy Texas oilman, on August 1, 1971, remains unsolved. The case is one of an overwhelming number of unsolved homicides in the U.S. An open source review has turned up new leads, including potential ties to organized crime. https://www.texasobserver.org/new-leads-in-an-infamous-cold-case/

#news #Texas #history #law #OilAndGas

From the archives: “We’ve issued a whole lot of water rights—basically more water rights than there really is #water in the river during dry years.” https://www.texasobserver.org/dow-brazos-river-pollution-nurdles/

#politics #USpol #news #ClimateChange #pollution #environment #OilAndGas

Earlier, from Joelle DiPaolo: “If biological sex were as obvious as lawmakers keep insisting that biological sex is, we wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t have to try so hard to legislate the gender binary into existence.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lege-pushes-to-define-biological-sex/

#politics #USpol #news #trans #transgender #LGBTQIA+ #transphoia #TXlege #Texas #gender #science

“If biological sex were as obvious as lawmakers keep insisting that biological sex is, we wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t have to try so hard to legislate the gender binary into existence.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lege-pushes-to-define-biological-sex/

#trans #LGBTQIA+ #TXlege #transphobia #news #politics #USpol #transgender #Texas #law #gender

New from @josephinelee: A state Senate #education bill offers just $55 in additional funding per student, a paltry sum (even compared to the House version). Public school advocates and superintendents say its not nearly enough to cover their deficits. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-districts-senate-finance-plan/

#schools #politics #USpol #news #TXlege #Texas #economy

“The people have been left out of this thing since day one. There has been no consideration or concern for human beings at all. It’s just wrong.”

Top story: Cryptomining in #Texas is devouring our natural resources, polluting the land, and filling the air with unbearable #noise. https://www.texasobserver.org/the-crypto-racket/

#pollution #politics #USpol #news #crypto #bitcoin #energy #OilAndGas #environment #ClimateChange

Earlier: "They don’t know what we experience—or don’t experience—on a day-to-day basis. Some of those people that are commenting or viewing from a million miles away don’t have a clue." https://www.texasobserver.org/val-verde-county-sheriff-border-interview/

#border #police #ICE #GregAbbott #Democrats #politics #USpol #Texas #SouthTexas #news

From the archives in 2023: As a Christian, I find it repugnant to see the loving, peaceable teachings of Jesus distorted over and over. Worse, reporters often let conservative Christians get away with speaking for all believers. https://www.texasobserver.org/npr-religion-christian-nationalism-john-burnett/

#religion #media #journalism #censorship #extremism #politics #USpol #news #culture

Top story: While #Bitcoin is designed as a decentralized payment system, its consumption of Texans’ true wealth—natural resources—is centralized in the hands of a few companies, sucking up massive amounts of water and #energy to keep hardware running 24/7.
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-crypto-racket/

#water #environment #ClimateChange #pollution #politics #USpol #news #Texas #crypto

“Ain’t nothing illegal happening here. We’re just having fun.”

Last week: These queens joyously defied a university system ban on #drag shows with makeup, storytelling and dance. https://www.texasobserver.org/university-texas-students-day-of-drag-defiance/

#trans #LGBTQIA+ #transphobia #politics #USpol #news #education #censorship