Texas Observer readers,

A half-century ago, Molly Ivins penned one of her many famous lines about the Lege in a special Texas issue of The Atlantic Monthly. 

“The Texas Legislature consists of 181 people who meet for 140 days once every two years,” she wrote. “This catastrophe has now occurred sixty-three times.”

The number of lawmakers, the frequency of sessions, and the catastrophic nature of their work all remain unchanged. In other words, swap “sixty-three” for “eighty-nine” and the quip could be published now.

These old lines of Ivins’ speak to the biannual dread progressive-minded Texans feel, perhaps grown only more intense today, as part-time legislators from all reaches of the state descend again on Austin to brainstorm new ways to attack LGBTQ+ residents, hamstring liberal city councils, and invent new crimes through which to further pack our prisons—and, of course, to rack up favors owed by sundry special interests to be paid after sine die.

The thought inevitably emerges: Maybe someone could convince them to meet even less often. Quadrennial, anyone? Or perhaps we could just call this whole legislative-branch thing off.

But, understandable as it is, I think there’s something troubling in this sentiment.

Like it or not (emphasis on the not), we need the Legislature. Even this cursed 89th iteration. Essential and even good things can only be done by these 180-ish individuals. And as they set fires in our public schools, in our cities, and in our homes, progressive reformers must nevertheless skirt the flames and, behind the smoke screen, push marginal improvements and harm reduction.

A few measures stand out to me, all covered in recent Observer reporting, as fixes that should be doable even for our current legislative body: pay raises for teachers, untethered to school privatization; sorely needed raises for other state employees; clarification of the exception to the state’s abortion ban; addressing the state’s future water supply; reducing border security spending; legalization of fentanyl test strips; strengthening the “junk science” law; and requiring transparency from state agencies around artificial intelligence and surveillance.

That’s no exhaustive list. But I hope it demonstrates that there is realistic change to be made. The Observer has been making a point, and will continue to do so, of investigating policy areas where there is at least some chance of bipartisan reform. That isn’t all we do—we must also keep our eyes on longer horizons—but it’s a crucial way for us to use our limited resources.

You’ll see some of this work in our current print issue—including Justin Miller’s feature on the contracting bonanza that is Operation Lone Star—along with more of it in our January/February issue and even more online, where every one of our stories is free to all.

Yours in catastrophe,

Note: To receive our print magazine, become a member here.

The post Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our March/April 2025 Issue appeared first on The Texas Observer.

By SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said.

Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country.

Cuts at NOAA appeared to be happening in two rounds, one of 500 and one of 800, said Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist who said he got the information from someone with first-hand knowledge. That’s about 10% of NOAA’s workforce.

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The first round of cuts were probationary employees, McLean said. There are about 375 probationary employees in the National Weather Service — where day-to-day forecasting and hazard warning is done.

The firings come amid efforts by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to shrink a federal workforce that President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy. Thousands of probationary employees across the government have already been fired.

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., released a statement saying: “Today, hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS), were given termination notices for no good reason. This is unconscionable.”

Meng added: “These are dedicated, hardworking Americans whose efforts help save lives and property from the devastating impacts of natural disasters across the country. This action will only endanger American lives going forward.”

Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking minority member in the House Natural Resources Committee, also said “hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA” were let go.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said on social media that the job cuts “are spectacularly short-sighted, and ultimately will deal a major self-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.”

By JUSTIN SPIKE and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s leader will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country, one that hinges on whether he can persuade Trump to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine’s security against any future Russian aggression.

During his trip to Washington, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come.

Though the deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security, it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders — talks that are likely to commence Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a news conference at a security summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

As Ukrainian forces hold out against slow but steady advances by Russia’s larger and better-equipped army, leaders in Kyiv have pushed to ensure a potential U.S.-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country’s future security.

Many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace — especially one that makes too many concessions to Russian demands — would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion after current hostilities cease.

According to the preliminary economic agreement, seen by The Associated Press, the U.S. and Ukraine will establish a co-owned, jointly managed investment fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of future revenues from natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.

A more detailed agreement on establishing the fund will be drawn up once the preliminary one is signed.

Trump, a Republican, has framed the emerging deal as a chance for Kyiv to compensate the U.S. for wartime aid sent under his predecessor, President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

But Zelenskyy has remained firm that specific assurances for Ukraine’s security must accompany any agreement giving U.S. access to Ukraine’s resources. On Wednesday, he said the agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?”

Trump remains noncommittal about any American security guarantees.

“I’m not going to make security guarantees … very much,” Trump told reporters this week. “We’re going to have Europe do that.”

If a truce can be reached, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine to ensure that fighting between Ukraine and Russia doesn’t flare up again. Both leaders traveled to Washington this week before the Zelenskyy visit to discuss with Trump the potential peacekeeping mission and other concerns about the war.

White House officials are skeptical that Britain and France can assemble enough troops from across Europe, at least at this moment, to deploy a credible peacekeeping mission to Kyiv.

It will likely take a “consensual peace settlement” between Russia and Ukraine before many nations would be willing to provide such forces, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

Zelenskyy and European officials have no illusions about U.S. troops taking part in such a mission. But Starmer and others are trying to make the case that the plan can only work with a U.S. backstop for European forces on the ground — through U.S. aerial intelligence, surveillance and support, as well as rapid-response cover in case the truce is breached.

“You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal — a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump. “That is the prize. But we have to get it right.”

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Zelenskyy has been vague on exactly what kinds of security guarantees would be suitable for his country, and while he continues to advocate for Ukraine’s eventual membership in NATO, he has also suggested a similar security arrangement would suffice.

But Trump on Wednesday said Ukraine “could forget about” joining the Western military alliance.

Still, Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump, their first since the U.S. leader’s inauguration in January, is seen in Kyiv as a diplomatic win for Ukraine. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said being able to meet personally with Trump before Russian President Vladimir Putin does “is a good signal.”

Zelenskyy said he hopes to discuss whether the U.S. plans to halt its military aid to Ukraine and, if so, whether Kyiv would be able to purchase weapons directly from the U.S.

He also wants to know whether Ukraine can use frozen Russian assets for the purchase of weapons and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Moscow.

Fears that Trump could broker a peace deal with Russia that is unfavorable to Ukraine have been amplified by recent precedent-busting actions by his administration. Trump held a lengthy phone call with Putin, and U.S. officials met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia without inviting European or Ukrainian leaders — both dramatic breaks with previous U.S. policy to isolate Putin over his invasion.

Trump later seemed to falsely blame Ukraine for starting the war, and called Zelenskyy a “dictator” for not holding elections after the end of his regular term last year, though Ukrainian law prohibits elections while martial law is in place.

As Zelenskyy seeks to lower the temperature with the U.S. while in Washington, American officials are saying the economic deal, if implemented, would itself provide a measure of security to Ukraine through the presence of U.S. investments on its territory.

On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. working on mineral extraction in Ukraine would amount to “automatic security because nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there.”

“It’s a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there and we’re going to be working over there,” Trump said. “We will be on the land.”

That perspective is echoed by the text of the economic agreement, which says the U.S. “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.”

Washington, it continues, has “a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.”

Spike reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

In 2016, three men escaped from an Orange County jail, and then, out of options, called a cab. The driver who showed up was an elderly Vietnamese man, Long Mã, a divorced war veteran, whom they kidnapped and held hostage during a weeklong ordeal, the trio and their captive evading capture by hiding out in Southern California motel rooms.

Mã’s experience was elaborated in a 2017 GQ article by Paul Kix, “The Accidental Get Away Driver,” which described the unique bond he formed with Bac Duong, one of his kidnappers, a Vietnamese national, and the terror he experienced at the hands of Hossein Nayeri, the ringleader. This wild story has now been brought to the screen by co-writer/director Sing J. Lee, in a lyrical and meditative adaptation that focuses on mood and feeling, rather than action-oriented suspense.

There’s an excellent unknowingness to the first moments of “The Accidental Getaway Driver.” The concrete sprawl and traffic lights indicate we’re in Orange County, and the Vietnamese spoken everywhere lets us know we’re in the OC enclave known as Little Saigon. Long Mã, played with a heart-piercing soulfulness by Hiep Tran Nghia, answers the call for a ride, but the elderly man doesn’t feel like working so late and tries to decline. Tây (Dustin Nguyen) convinces him it’s a short trip and they’ll pay double, so he picks up the three men, who then request more and more stops. When he protests, Tây pulls a gun on him. The journey is only just beginning.

Lee’s approach to the material is to focus on performance and tone, and specifically the relationship between Tây (the character based on Bac Duong) and Long, which emerges as the two Vietnamese men start to share their life stories with each other during the long stretches of downtime while they’re hiding out and trying to figure out the next move. Tây protects his elder from the skittish, young Eddie (Phi Vu) and the psychopathic Aden (Dali Benssalah), who brags to the older man about his crimes, which includes torturing and mutilating a man in the desert.

Cinematographer Michael Fernandez brings a texture and tactility to this crime story, capturing the inadvertent beauty of this gritty, unremarkable setting: faces bathed in the glow of crimson brake lights and neon convenience store signs; realistically rumpled motel rooms and cigarette smoke swirling in the backseat of an old Corolla.

Rather than hone in on the details of these three escaped prisoners’ crimes, Lee and co-writer Christopher Chen focus on Long’s subjective experience in his time with them. All we know about them is what he does: we glean information about their pasts in warm conversations with Tây, or via a threatening monologue from Aden. Eddie remains a bit of a cipher until the group sees his mother and sister on the news and he breaks down.

Often, we’re taken into dreamlike memories of Long’s: snippets of his childhood in Vietnam, watery, muddled remembrances of his lost marriage and family, a few abstract, surreal images that gesture to his past but don’t reveal much. The intent is to remain in his inner world as he goes through this extreme event, but while it is beautiful and poetic, it is also somewhat abstruse and feels in conflict with the momentum of the larger story.

“The Accidental Getaway Driver” seeks not to elucidate the facts of this true crime tale, but rather to imagine Long’s state of mind during it, which is emotionally evocative but hinders the viewing experience as the film grinds to a halt for meandering asides. The performances, especially from Nguyen, Benssalah and Nghia, are moving, but it does feel like the film loses steam under its own conceit, despite the wealth and narrative richness of the material at hand.

‘The Accidental Getaway Driver’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language)

Running time: 1:42

How to watch: In select theaters on Friday, Feb. 28 and nationwide on March 7

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