War Tent

Field Briefing

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

The Texas Tribune · Jul 28, 2026

Texas

TribCast: Should we be worried about Dallas?

The Dallas-Fort Worth region is growing as fast as anywhere in the country. But the city of Dallas itself lost residents last year. The TribCast crew speaks with urban affairs reporter Joshua Fechter about the challenges and opportunities for the city.

By Matthew Watkins

Texas Observer · Jul 28, 2026

General

With Texas’ Data Center Boom, Uncertainty Is the Business Plan

The usual worry about Texas’ data center boom is that the state is flying partly blind. It does not yet know how much electricity these projects will actually need, how much water they will take, or whether the tax breaks offered in the name of growth will return enough to justif…

Off The Kuff · Jul 28, 2026

General

On Whitmire and ICE

Here we go again. For the second time in four months, Mayor John Whitmire is facing intense criticism over his handling of federal immigration enforcement, an issue he has spent much of his first term trying to keep out of … Continue reading →

Lone Star Left · Jul 28, 2026

Texas

Show Me The Money

Campaign cash, cost per vote, and the war in the Gulf will make Republicans' lives a lot harder.

Texas Signal · Jul 27, 2026

General

Continued Calls For ICE Accountability In Texas

Protesters are demanding not only accountability for what happened to Salgado Araujo, but an end to what they see as systemic violence from a federal immigration enforcement agency

Texas Observer · Jul 28, 2026

General

Houston Is Testing Whether Trump’s ICE Is Above Texas Law

The morning after a still-unnamed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 52-year-old Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on Tuesday, July 7, investigators from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office were on the scene. They hadn’t received an inv…

The Barbed Wire · Jul 27, 2026

Texas

Ken Paxton Would Like a Word (But Not That One)

The AG walked out of his own press conference. Plus: new witness statements challenge ICE's account of a Houston shooting, and Canada quarantines Texas livestock.

Off The Kuff · Jul 28, 2026

General

Houston to bid for 2031 Women’s World Cup

Excellent. Days after the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for men’s soccer teams, Houston officials said their hosting seven matches was a major success. Now, they’re moving forward with bidding to host the Women’s World Cup. “We will … Continue reading →

Barking Spiders · Jul 27, 2026

Commentary

Don't let them saw you in half

It isn't irrational to use your whole brain to understand the world and solve problems

Texas Observer · Jul 27, 2026

General

The Fall of Hope Rising

When Michelle Wright Rhame was asked to be a foster mother, she saw it as a divine calling. She had always wanted to be a mom, but she couldn’t have children of her own—a heartbreak that contributed to the demise of her marriage. She got her opportunity through Hope Rising, a Bre…

The fact that there is so much to do, both to solve the problem on a big scale and to take care of the people around us... I think means it is immoral to lose hopeRobert Evans, Behind the Bastards

Off The Kuff · Jul 26, 2026

General

The sleeper problem

This is both hilarious and annoying. Waking up in a Waymo comes as a shock. Ditto Kasendar remembers soft music drifting from the robotaxi’s speakers as he rode home late at night from a friend’s birthday party last year. The … Continue reading →

Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despairMariame Kaba

What injures the hive injures the beeMarcus Aurelius

Texas Observer · Jul 24, 2026

General

Cycling the Rio Grande as Trump’s Wall Looms

The sun is low over Nuevo Laredo as David Patricio and three friends start unloading gravel and mountain bikes for their evening ride along the Rio Grande, but the weather is still in the 90s and the humidity stifling. In the early 2000s, the City of Laredo began buying up land t…

This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.Frederick Douglass

Off The Kuff · Jul 24, 2026

General

Talarico’s data center plan

Seems perfectly fine. Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico on Wednesday called for a broad set of tighter regulations on data centers in Texas, seizing on what has become a potential political liability for Republicans who until recently had embraced … Continue reading →

Texas Observer · Jul 23, 2026

General

Can a Tejano Star Restore Dems’ Power in South Texas?

Bobby Pulido descended a staircase bedecked in flowers to face the quinceañara in her shimmering blue ball gown. Her magnificent hoop skirt swayed as the Tejano star-turned-South Texas Democratic congressional candidate launched into a rendition of “Hermoso Cariño.” It was Pulido…

While there is a lower class I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison I am not freeEugene V. Debs

Texas Signal · Jul 22, 2026

General

Faith Leaders Condemn ICE Violence In Texas

The faith leaders at the Texas Capitol noted that recent violent actions from ICE go against their religious traditions and beliefs while calling for specific reforms

It's really a wonder I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heartAnne Frank

Texas Observer · Jul 22, 2026

General

‘Where Do We Go from Here’: Forward or Backward?

My parents lived through Jim Crow. Around our dinner table, they told stories that sounded impossible to me as a child. They talked about not being allowed to eat in certain restaurants, or even to try on clothes or shoes before buying them. My father often spoke about growing up…

Off The Kuff · Jul 22, 2026

General

It’s getting weird in Fort Bend

Is there a court date set to address this? The fight over who is legally entitled to serve as Fort Bend County Judge is now disrupting the basic workings of county government, with officials clashing over whether Commissioners Court can … Continue reading →

The study of disasters makes it clear that there are plural and contingent [human] natures - but the prevalent human nature in a disaster is resilient, resourceful, generous, empathic, and braveRebecca Solnit, "A Paradise Built In Hell"

The Texas Tribune · Jul 21, 2026

Texas

TribCast: The Hill Country floods again

A little more than a year after catastrophic floods devastated Central Texas, another deluge hit the area. How are residents and the state responding to this new tragedy?

Texas Observer · Jul 21, 2026

General

Excerpt: How to Close a Camp

Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted with permission from How to Close a Camp: Dispatches from the Fight Against Immigrant Detention, out from Haymarket Books this July. The Prison-Immigration Knot By the late 1980s, thanks to over a decade of laws criminalizing immigrants a…

Texas Observer · Jul 21, 2026

General

The Tides of Tarrant

In 2022, longtime Tarrant County Judge R. Glen Whitley, a consummate moderate Republican, opted to retire after a nearly 30-year reign. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, another moderate GOPer, was his most likely successor. But the county’s conservative movement rallied instead behi…

The world is scary but so are we. There are so many of us and we and our friends are tough as nails and will fight for each other.Margaret Killjoy's advice to a trans child

Off The Kuff · Jul 21, 2026

General

Campaign finance complaint filed against Plummer

Oops. A complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission accuses Letitia Plummer, the Democratic nominee for Harris County judge, of seven campaign finance violations, including improperly paying a family member, according to a document obtained by the Houston Chronicle. It’s unc…

The fact that there is so much to do, both to solve the problem on a big scale and to take care of the people around us... I think means it is immoral to lose hopeRobert Evans, Behind the Bastards

Texas Observer · Jul 20, 2026

General

A Love Letter to the Black Woodswomen of Deep East Texas

When you were 8, you could control the wind. The trees would listen, waving their long branches at you. The leaves would applaud as you made your way down Marcus Street. That was when the birds called your name and the squirrels followed you. Back then, imagining was easy. Secret…

Barking Spiders · Jul 19, 2026

Commentary

The Turing Test

I put fiction here now too, so there

Off The Kuff · Jul 18, 2026

General

A small bit of insight into the mind of Cornyn voters

What will they do? For months, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn battered each other in a nasty and expensive race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Texas. Now that Paxton has emerged victorious, GOP leaders from … Continue reading →

The Drey Dossier · Jul 18, 2026

National

Trump Addresses the Nation: Fact-Checks + Breakdown - LIVE

Trump gave a primetime address Thursday night announcing the declassification of a pile of documents he says prove American elections are broken beyond defending, and we watched the whole thing together in real time.

Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despairMariame Kaba

Texas Observer · Jul 17, 2026

General

The Real Lesson Behind Texas’ New Bible Curriculum Requirements

In late June, the Texas State Board of Education set controversial new curriculum requirements for the state’s public schools, which educate approximately 5.5 million students. Alongside further curtailing of cultural, ethnic, and geographic diversity, the new requirements mandat…

What injures the hive injures the beeMarcus Aurelius

This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.Frederick Douglass

Texas Observer · Jul 16, 2026

General

Inside the Dark World of Romance Scammers

Amanda Eyre Ward is an Austin writer and author of 13 novels—three of which are set in Texas and the rest scattered all over the world. Her latest book, Arrivals and Departures, out June 16, delves deep into the dark world of international romance scammers and how they masquerade…

While there is a lower class I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison I am not freeEugene V. Debs

Texas Observer · Jul 15, 2026

General

A Birth Plan for the Dying

We have a plan for the day you are born and the day you die. We can make you breathe—or at least try to—when your lungs fail and your blood can no longer clot. At the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in central Houston, we repair spinal defects before birth and replace hearts after a m…

The Drey Dossier · Jul 15, 2026

National

The True Cost of Trump Accounts

This is part of my ongoing investigation into the National Design Studio. Please see parts one and two .

Texas Observer · Jul 15, 2026

General

The Hard Ceiling Over Texas Cities’ Climate Plans

In 2015, a 25-year-old flooring installer named Roendy Granillo collapsed and died of heat stroke on a construction job in Melissa, a small town northeast of Dallas, after his family said he was denied a water break. They carried his story to Dallas City Hall, and the council pas…

It's really a wonder I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heartAnne Frank

Off The Kuff · Jul 15, 2026

General

New World screwworm versus the feral hog

Who would win? Two of Texas’s most troublesome invasive species have much in common. They reproduce alarmingly fast, send shudders down the spines of Texas ranchers, and can traverse similar distances (about twelve miles a day). One is the feral … Continue reading →

The Texas Tribune · Jul 14, 2026

Texas

TribCast: An ICE shooting roils Houston

In this week's episode, our hosts speak with Texas Tribune reporters Uriel J. García and Colleen DeGuzman about the unanswered questions and investigations in response to the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

The study of disasters makes it clear that there are plural and contingent [human] natures - but the prevalent human nature in a disaster is resilient, resourceful, generous, empathic, and braveRebecca Solnit, "A Paradise Built In Hell"

The Barbed Wire · Jul 14, 2026

Texas

☎️ The voter-fraud tip line comes for its founder

Paxton's own voting address is under scrutiny, the Bible's headed to Texas classrooms, ICE kills a man in Houston, Democrats float $1,500 checks — and flesh-eating flies enter the feral-hog debate.

Texas Observer · Jul 14, 2026

General

A Jailhouse Snitch and the System that Made Him

Paul Skalnik was a con artist, passing bad checks, role-playing as a successful businessman, and racking up a series of sometimes overlapping marriages. Over the years, he bilked numerous people out of their savings with hollow promises and half-cocked schemes, which often ended…

Off The Kuff · Jul 14, 2026

General

The data center fiasco in Taylor

Wild stuff. The Taylor City Council was set to consider a proposed ordinance Thursday night that would temporarily ban data centers. But 15 minutes after the council meeting began, the city released a statement on its Facebook page saying council … Continue reading →

The world is scary but so are we. There are so many of us and we and our friends are tough as nails and will fight for each other.Margaret Killjoy's advice to a trans child

The Barbed Wire · Jul 13, 2026

Texas

🫠 The transformative power of being weird

🏳️‍🌈 My dear queer stars, congrats on making it through Pride Month, and welcome back to Big & Bright 🌈 ⭐ 👏! I hope you’ve rehydrated and recovered. Pride may be over, but the discourse never stops, because some folks seemed determined to reheat a

Texas Observer · Jul 13, 2026

General

In Texas Schools, a Crisis of Arrests of Kids as Young as 10

Editor’s Note: This story was supported by grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California. Seated inside a Starbucks café last February, Grace Bellido, 14, shares some of her favorite books by pencil…

Off The Kuff · Jul 13, 2026

General

The Hinojosa rebate

I like this. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, is promising to send each Texas household a $1,500 check drawn from the state’s rainy day fund if she defeats Gov. Greg Abbott this November. “The government is … Continue reading →

Off The Kuff · Jul 13, 2026

General

Half Price Books to return to Montrose

And there was much rejoicing. Five years after Half Price Books left Montrose, the booksellers purchased the former Soundwaves building and plans to return in 2027. Soundwaves announced it was closing its last remaining location that sat off 3509 Montrose … Continue reading →

The fact that there is so much to do, both to solve the problem on a big scale and to take care of the people around us... I think means it is immoral to lose hopeRobert Evans, Behind the Bastards

Off The Kuff · Jul 11, 2026

General

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not ICE’s target

Unbelievable. The 52-year-old Houston man fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent earlier this week was not the target of the agency’s operation, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, who has called for release of any video … Continue reading →

Off The Kuff · Jul 11, 2026

General

Replanting the trees lost in the Kerrville flood

Good work. As Michael Eason drove along the banks of the Guadalupe River late last summer, amid places he had worked and photographed over the years, he couldn’t help but be moved by the devastation. “Depending on where you were … Continue reading →

Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despairMariame Kaba

Texas Observer · Jul 10, 2026

General

The Bats of Bracken

The gaping mouth of Bracken Cave, created when limestone collapsed into a sinkhole in this rocky patch of Hill Country millennia ago, reveals only darkness to the human eye. Yet the room inside is filled with the pulsing life of tiny, furry, pregnant Mexican free-tailed bats in A…

Off The Kuff · Jul 10, 2026

General

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo roundup

For 35 years, a Mexican father built homes in Houston. Then a morning drive ended in tragedy. For the last 35 years, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s day began the same way: He woke up at 5 a.m., kissed his wife goodbye, … Continue reading →

Off The Kuff · Jul 10, 2026

General

Texas Tech sued over censoring professors

I wish them luck. Faculty groups sued Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the university system’s regents Wednesday, asking a federal judge in El Paso to block classroom restrictions they say have censored professors who teach about race, gender identity … Continue readin…

Lone Star Left · Jul 10, 2026

Texas

Who Killed Louis Franke?

The Capitol steps, a legislator's blood, and the men who walked away clean.

What injures the hive injures the beeMarcus Aurelius

This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.Frederick Douglass

Texas Observer · Jul 9, 2026

General

What Is (and Isn’t) Happening with the Border Wall in Big Bend

You’ve probably heard about the Trump administration’s plans for a border wall through Big Bend. Or its plans not to build a wall at all, but instead to put up a futuristic forcefield of lights and sensors. You may have even heard that public pressure backed the Department of Hom…

While there is a lower class I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison I am not freeEugene V. Debs

Texas Observer · Jul 8, 2026

General

One State Under Whose God?

If Texas is, as its pledge of allegiance states, “one state under God,” this begs a question. What God? Whose God? For many Texans, it’s undoubtedly the Christian God, because (so they say) we’re a Christian nation. They can point, for instance, to the 190-foot-tall “Cross of Our…

Off The Kuff · Jul 8, 2026

General

Countersuit filed in Fort Bend County Judge dispute

Let’s go. Just hours after interim County Judge Daniel Wong sued County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson on Monday, Smith-Lawson responded with a legal action seeking to remove Wong from office. The fight has played out in news conferences, contentious Commissioners Court … Contin…

Off The Kuff · Jul 8, 2026

General

When will the Collier lawsuit be heard?

This was the most recent update I found, about a week after the stories about the lawsuit being filed. Collier filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s ballot access laws. He argues they violate the constitutional rights of independent candidates … Continue reading →

It's really a wonder I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heartAnne Frank

Texas Observer · Jul 7, 2026

General

Inside Houston’s 1970 School Strike

Editor’s Note: Lupe Mendez, poetry editor of the Texas Observer, is author of the new book We Exist in the Whisper: Huelga School Verses (Arte Público Press, 2026)–one of the first works to tackle Houston’s 1970s huelga school movement. Mendez’s moving mélange of poetry, intervie…

Off The Kuff · Jul 7, 2026

General

Interim County Judge Wong sues to stay in office

One way or another, this needs to be decided by a judge. Fort Bend’s battle over who is legally running county government is now headed to court. Fort Bend interim County Judge Daniel Wong filed suit Monday against County Attorney … Continue reading →

The study of disasters makes it clear that there are plural and contingent [human] natures - but the prevalent human nature in a disaster is resilient, resourceful, generous, empathic, and braveRebecca Solnit, "A Paradise Built In Hell"

Texas Observer · Jul 6, 2026

General

Throwing the Book at Books in Prison

Every Thursday and Sunday evening, a dozen volunteers file into the back room of Vesper, a community space in East Austin. In the workroom-turned-library, there is a small kitchen, bright overhead lighting, and hundreds of books and magazines stacked every which way on floor-to-c…

Public Notice · Jul 6, 2026

General

How Kalshi infects the news

CNN and CNBC are pushing Kalshi on viewers but not telling them the whole story.

Off The Kuff · Jul 6, 2026

General

More weasel words on data centers from Abbott

He really is trying to find the guy that did this. Gov. Greg Abbott called for blocking new data center development in rural parts of the state during a campaign stop in East Texas on Tuesday. “We must prohibit them … Continue reading →

Off The Kuff · Jul 6, 2026

General

Missing the old SWC

A little trip down memory lane. In early June, when former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s playing status was still up in the air, a group of key Red Raiders released a 21-minute video, explaining the school’s position in Sorsby’s … Continue reading →

The world is scary but so are we. There are so many of us and we and our friends are tough as nails and will fight for each other.Margaret Killjoy's advice to a trans child

The Texas Tribune · Jul 5, 2026

Texas

Former U.S. Rep. Bill Archer dies at 98

The Houston Republican served for three decades in Congress, rising to become chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

The world is scary but so are we. There are so many of us and we and our friends are tough as nails and will fight for each other.Margaret Killjoy's advice to a trans child