The #Texas Parks and Wildlife Department remarked that the company had done insufficient work to determine the impact on “important rare or protected species and their associated habitats”—including alligator snapping turtles and other creatures that live in or near the reservoir—along the more than 100-mile route proposal.
The Texas Observer
Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir
If approved, opponents warn that a massive new utility project could disrupt toxic sediment, and more, in Lake Livingston—Houston’s “most cri...
 #environment #ClimateChange #pollution #politics #USpol #news #GulfCoast #Houston
From David Brockman: The ban on churches endorsing candidates is overwhelmingly supported. 77% of Americans surveyed oppose houses of worship endorsing political candidates and 67% say houses of worship should keep out of political matters altogether.
The Texas Observer
How Trump’s IRS May Unshackle Churches from Their Political Restraints
As if everyday life in these United States wasn’t politicized enough, your local house of worship could soon become a part of the campaign battle...
 #religion #economy #Trump #news #politics #USpol #extremism
Death penalty update, from Michelle Pitcher: “We as a legislature actually created a way for people like Mr. Roberson to challenge convictions based on science that later turns out to be wrong. ... The courts simply aren’t engaging in that process.”
The Texas Observer
Robert Roberson Faces New Execution Date in Controversial ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case
The new date comes after Ken Paxton took over the case that could lead to the nation's first execution based on the contested diagnosis.
 #DeathPenalty #news #politics #USpol #HumanRights #prison #law #Texas
Farmers, #water managers, fishermen, river advocates, and everyday residents told me they would fight for their water to the very last drop. Others have already begun asking the existential question: Where will we go when the river runs dry?
The Texas Observer
‘With What Water?’: Texas, Mexico, and the Disappearing Rio Conchos
Drought has hollowed out Chihuahua’s Conchos Valley and bred civil unrest as South Texas demands the water it’s owed.
 #Mexico #politics #USpol #border #environment #ClimateChange #news #weather #drought
From Gus Bova, in our magazine: The majority of U.S. states enacted forced-sterilization laws that targeted the non-white and the disabled, leading to more than 60,000 coerced operations. But #Texas, perhaps surprisingly, never passed such a law.
The Texas Observer
The History of Eugenics in Texas Isn't What You Think
A new book unearths a chapter of the state’s story when anti-intellectual fundamentalism was put to good ends.
 #history #politics #USpol #ableism #racism #books #bookstodon @bookstodon group #science
From @npub1j3fa...mqxd: County officials have continued to deflect questions at press conferences about what actions they took after #NWS warnings came out when many were asleep, saying they remain focused on search and rescue operations.
The Texas Observer
'I Think We’re Gonna Stay': Texans Hang On in Tragedy-Stricken Hill Country
The Richardsons are among the lucky in Kerr County, at the epicenter of “flash flood alley,” who narrowly survived the river’s sudden rise.
 #politics #USpol #weather #flooding #flood #CentralTexas #Texas #Kerrville #KerrCounty #environment #ClimateChange
Our top story: Extreme #flooding events are nothing new to #Texas. Neither are droughts. And the first does tend to follow the second here. This weather reality has likely been exacerbated by climate change.
The Texas Observer
I Remember the 2002 Fourth of July Hill Country Floods. This Year, the Water Returned.
These floods do not come from nowhere. They are an effect of larger historical, structural, and environmental processes.
 #ClimateChange #news #politics #USpol #environment #water #floods #CentralTexas #Kerrville #KerrCounty #history #weather #drought
Our top story: What happens after the flood and the waters have receded? What comes after all that is left are fractured memories and moldy floorboards?
The Texas Observer
I Remember the 2002 Fourth of July Hill Country Floods. This Year, the Water Returned.
These floods do not come from nowhere. They are an effect of larger historical, structural, and environmental processes.
 #history #floods #flooding #CentralTexas #KerrCounty #Kerrville #water #ClimateChange #environment #weather #news
Bringing this one back ... just because! From Justin Miller in 2024: Ken and Angela Paxton have ties to a jet-setting lobbyist-turned-CEO caught in a tangled web of alleged fraud involving a powerful business clan and a commercial shipping giant.
The Texas Observer
A Jet-Setting CEO, the Paxtons, and an Alleged Massive Fraud
Ken and Angela Paxton have ties to a corporate honcho caught in a tangled web of alleged fraud involving a powerful business clan and a commercial ...
 #corruption #fraud #Texas #KenPaxton #AngelaPaxton #politics #USpol #TXlege #news #law
Earlier: Without any announcement or open debate, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed a biennial state budget that will effectively halve the amount dedicated to its multi-billion-dollar #border security operations—from a proposed $6.5B down to about $3.4B.
The Texas Observer
Texas Quietly Downsizes Border Security Spending
But outlays remain far above state funding prior to the Operation Lone Star era.
 #immigration #police #security #HumanRights #Texas #politics #USpol #TXlege #news