Master of Puppets
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Who Stands Between Texas and a Fascist Railroad Commission?
On May 26, former Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French eked out a 1-point victory over incumbent Jim Wright in the Republican runoff for a seat on the state’s poorly named oil and gas regulatory agency: the Railroad Commission (RRC). … Continued
ICE Contractor for Controversial Camp East Montana Is Trailed by Fraud Allegations
Inside a cluster of windowless tents, detainees describe losing their sense of time as they spend weeks and even months beneath the flicker of industrial lightbulbs. Camp East Montana—the largest immigrant detention facility in the country—has quickly become a symbol … Continued
The Year for Magical Thinking
By the beginning of the 2024 electoral cycle, I’d spent enough time as a progressive-leaning observer of Texas politics to have developed a certain telltale armor. No one was going to convince me that Colin Allred was about to succeed … Continued
Mexico’s Deportation Capital
Editor’s Note: This story was co-published with Puente News Collaborative a bilingual nonprofit newsroom, convener and funder dedicated to high-quality, fact-based news and information from the U.S.-Mexico border. Just days after United States immigration agents detained Daniel Ramirez last month … Continued
The Last Mayor of Houston
On his second Saturday as the 63rd mayor of Houston, former state Senator John Whitmire drove to Yale Street Grill, a no-frills diner in the Heights neighborhood, to rendezvous with Bill King, a former Houston Chronicle columnist and current fellow … Continued