AltWeeklies Wire
After 36 Years Without, Some Residents of La Presa, Texas, Finally Get Electricitynew
For 36 years, the people in this dusty, sweltering colonia south of Laredo, have lived without electricity, potable water, or an adequate sewage system. Now an innovative experiment is bringing power to a dozen lucky residents. While the wheels of bureaucracy turned slowly or not at all, residents suffered, despite many applications for assistance from state and local government.
The Texas Observer |
Forrest Wilder |
08-13-2008 |
Housing & Development
There Are No Honest Players Among Human Smugglersnew
Illegal immigrants are subject to pain and death at the hands of their "rescuers" if they don't pay up in full.
Houston Press |
Chris Vogel |
08-12-2008 |
Immigration
Slideshow: Houston Prepares for Edouardnew
Scenes from Spec's, Home Depot and Kroger on Monday, Aug. 4, the eve of Tropical Storm Edouard's anticipated arrival in Texas.
Houston Press |
Daniel Kramer |
08-05-2008 |
Disasters
Texas Woman Fights Abuse at the State's Schools for the Mentally Retardednew
Her son was beaten up by an angry caregiver at Denton State School.
Dallas Observer |
Jesse Hyde |
08-05-2008 |
Science
How Standing Up Against the Border Fence Cost One Federal Employee His Jobnew
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge project manager Ken Merritt was asked to make a choice: support federal law, or sign off on the plan to build the border wall. He chose in favor of the refuge, and the decision ended his career.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
07-02-2008 |
Immigration
The DREAM Act Might Be Dead, But These Kids' Hopes Are Notnew
They are American in everything but name. They can go to college in Texas and improve themselves. Doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they're just illegal immigrants without social security numbers or futures.
Houston Press |
Chris Vogel |
06-24-2008 |
Education
Lethal Rejection: Karl Chamberlain's Execution is Overnew
On Feb. 21, Karl Chamberlain received a rare greeting card from his half-sister, Liberty Chamberlain: "Happy Death Day," it read. "Glad you're still with us." Chamberlain, the first to receive an execution date once Texas reopened the execution chamber after a Supreme Court ruling, was executed by lethal injection on June 11.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
06-19-2008 |
Crime & Justice
One Man's Painful Journey Through South Texas' Addiction to Asset Forfeiturenew
In October 2005, Javier Gonzalez struck out from Austin toward Brownsville, carrying $10,000 in cash to pay for his dying aunt's funeral. He never made it. Gonzalez was stopped in Jim Wells County for a minor traffic violation, and the county anti-drug task force confiscated his cash.
The Texas Observer |
Jan Reid |
05-21-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Texas Needle Exchange Activists Discuss The Charges They Facenew
The state Attorney General's ruling that legislation authorizing a pilot needle-exchange program doesn't protect participants from being arrested for distributing drug paraphernalia kicked the case against three activists into gear. They face charges that threaten up to a year in jail and $4,000 in fines.
San Antonio Current |
Elaine Wolff |
05-14-2008 |
Science
In Texas, Grassroots Homesteaders Tighten Ranks to Fight Urban Encroachmentnew
The mobilization of what may best be called the Hill Country Militia is an event with water at its heart -- but there are also prized historic roads and farmhouses and ranches threatened by development-driven eminent-domain seizures and an increasing awareness of the value of the region's ecosystem, cedars and all.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
05-14-2008 |
Housing & Development
Putting a Face on Texas' Death Row Populationnew
Shooting through the glass of interview cubicles, photographer and investigator John Holbrook has made eloquent portraits of some of the men -- and one of the women on Texas' Death Row.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Gayle Reaves and John Holbrook |
05-08-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Systemic Neglect at Texas' Troubled Insitutions for the Mentally Retardednew
Texas has the largest remaining set of mental institutions in the nation, housing the state's most vulnerable: some can't feed or dress themselves, and others can't even rise from a gurney or speak. And according to government records, the very people charged with caring for these patients are victimizing them.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
05-07-2008 |
Science
A Former Death-House Chaplain Talks About Capital Punishmentnew
From 1982-95, Reverend Carroll Pickett presided over the executions of 95 inmates. After his retirement, Pickett became an anti-death-penalty advocate and began working with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. At the Death House Door, the documentary following his emotional career, premiered at the SXSW film festival in March.
San Antonio Current |
Kiko Martinez |
04-30-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Hog Wildnew
Feral pigs are ugly, destructive and mean. Some people in Texas just love to trap, stab or shoot them. Or put them in rodeos. With dogs.
Houston Press |
Todd Spivak |
04-21-2008 |
Animal Issues
Teaching Teens How to Parent and Stop Having Childrennew
Battling the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, Texas counselors have their work cut out.
Dallas Observer |
Jesse Hyde |
04-21-2008 |
Sex
