Tabla de contenidos para March/April 2021 en The Texas Observer

The Lege Is Back How can the citizens of Texas stop these people from ruining Texas (“Lege in the Time of Coronavirus,” January|February 2021)? They’re not wearing masks, not concerned about getting the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone, filing lawsuits against anyone or anything they don’t agree with, spending our tax money on their own personal agenda and not on the needs of the people. Shame on them. I will be doing grassroots organizing to get all of them out of office. Shirley Marie Ellis VIA FACEBOOK I HATE WHEN LEGISLATORS ARE IN SESSION. NO TELLing what they will come up with. Never good for constituents. Josie Esquivel VIA FACEBOOK Young Texans THE YOUNG LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR FUTURE WITH imagination and promise (“Teens for a Green New Deal,” January|February 2021).…

Following a five-year legal battle, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the fall of 2020 that Texas could move forward with kicking Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program. The state health commission gave the 8,000 or so low-income Medicaid patients who rely on Planned Parenthood for their care until February 3 to find new providers. After a judge intervened and temporarily blocked the move, a new hearing was set for February 17. Casino magnate and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson died at age 87 on January 11, the day before the Legislature reconvened and shortly after he spent $4.5 million to help Republicans keep control of the Texas House. But his death doesn’t seem to have slowed the efforts of his company, Las Vegas Sands, to legalize casino…

ALONG WITH THE NEW ADMINISTRATION, a flaccid, political notion seems to be taking root: With Joe Biden in power, the only thing the United States has to worry about is the COVID-19 pandemic. From late-night television hosts to progressive commenters, much of the population appears to be uncritically invested in the next four years of the Biden regime. And what’s not to love? The president has installed a diverse, multicultural Cabinet; he appears to have an IQ higher than his pants size and has brought socially acceptable behavior back to the White House. The Biden administration offers a noticeable change from the Trump administration, which ended the only way it could: with neo-fascist cosplay militia members storming the Capitol. The whole thing looks a lot better, sure, but apart from…

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Texans have now been infected. Hospitalizations surged past last summer’s record highs this winter. Tens of thousands have died. Vaccines brought new hope, then mounting frustration with the disorganized rollout. Throughit all, ordinary Texans across the state have tried to keep themselves healthy, their loved ones safe, their families together. They’ve tried to survive. The pandemic has changed all of us in ways small, big, irreparable, and intertwined. Last summer, we talked to nine Texans about their experiences with COVID-19. In this issue, we check back in with those folks—and hear from a few new ones—who have graciously shared their stories. JAMES T. CAMPBELL HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AGE: 65 JAMES T. CAMPBELL LOST HIS FATHER, JAMES Cleophas Campbell, to COVID-19 last March, soon…

The white supremacist fantasy to civilize the West is exactly the idea that shapes the narrative itself. MORE THAN MOST WESTERNS, News of the World is about things that no longer are. Where most entries of the genre take a broader view of the West and its iconography, Paul Greengrass’ latest feature relishes the historical specificity of Texas in 1870. It’s a world drained by the exhaustion of the Civil War but also hopped up on the lawlessness of westward expansion. The United States is turning a page in its own history, and those who can’t keep up are sure to be left behind. The film’s focus is on the chaos of change, which is also, unfortunately, where it loses its way. In Wichita Falls, we’re introduced to Captain Jefferson…

“The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is asking for help from the public in the investigation of a fatal hit-and-run crash that resulted in the death of a pedestrian on FM 160 east of FM 2830. The crash occurred at approximately 11:00 p.m., Sunday June 14.” Bluebonnet News You must have been a thing of beauty: among the hoots, clicks, whistles of swamp-land dark, then spotlighted, machina-flung, crescent body, eclipsing, rising—nyxnaut—occluding white pores in velvet night nap. Such silence all listening to the luminous staccato, 270 bones, rapturous vibrato, soul—too long in marrow—released. No one knows when to applaud. Then: chirrup C. Prudence Arceneaux, a native Texan and the author of Dirt, teaches creative writing at Austin Community College.…

The office of constable may have made sense back when Texas was a sprawling frontier. Constables were charged with puttting down “riots, routs, affrays, and unlawful assemblies.” Defund the Constables TEXAS REPUBLICANS’ LONGTIME DEMAND THAT CITIES SHRINK THEIR BUDGETS ran into a thin blue line last year. Austin called their bluff. The city passed a plan to cut or reallocate about $150 million from its police budget in August following nationwide protests for criminal justice reform—which included calls that cities “defund the police.” In response, state leaders have proposed punishing localities that try to trim their law enforcement finances. Some have even discussed a state takeover of Austin police. No need to sort out the inconsistencies. A liberal city did something, so now Texas Republicans want to do the opposite.…

Back from their migration south, Central Texas bats will begin to flock from caves this month to feed. Which of the following statements about bats in Texas is untrue? a. Texas is home to the largest bat colony in the world. b. Texas is the only U.S. state with a recorded vampire bat sighting. c. The most common bat in Texas is the Mexican long-tongued bat. d. Texas counts the most bat species of any state in the country. ANSWER C. Though the Mexican long-tongued bat can be spotted in Texas, the most common bat in the Lone Star State is the Mexican free-tailed bat.…

Visit texasobserver.org/strangest-state for more “Strangest State” and links to original stories. Got a local oddity or some small-town news to share? Tips are welcome at editors@texasobserver.org.…

ADÁN MEDRANO’S NEW DOCUMENTARY, Truly Texas Mexican, begins with a disclaimer: “This film may make you uncomfortable and it should.” For the next 90 minutes, Medrano, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, tells the story about his community’s food—a tradition that was never taught or explored when he was at the institute. Medrano identifies as being Chicano and Indigenous to Texas. Over the course of the film, which will premiere on March 21 on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google TV, Medrano adapts his 2014 cookbook of the same name by meeting with Mexican American, Tejano, Chicano, and Mestizo chefs in an attempt to find the Indigenous roots of Texas-Mexican food (not to be confused with Tex-Mex). The chefs featured in the documentary are all women who are passionate…