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The Latest Breaking News from Texas Observer

The Texas AI Boom Is Outpacing Water Regulations

Each data center can “drink” as much as an entire community. Yet, Texas does not require these tech firms to disclose projected or actual water consumption.

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How to Cause a Dysfunctional Government

On RFK, Jr., Trump v. Slaughter, and the serious flaw of the right’s unitary executive theory.

Texas Observer

A Reporter’s Religious Quest in Houston Suburbia

At a Hindu temple hidden in Pearland, I found lessons about community, womanhood, and alienation.

Texas Observer

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Country’s Largest Air Pollution Permit Issued to Power Plant for Data Centers in West Texas, Developer Says

It’s among a handful of similarly colossal ventures announced during 2025, making Texas the global epicenter of a gas power buildout.

Texas Observer

Austin’s Willy Baltazar Is a Man of Many Masks

From Veracruz to Texas, he keeps a centuries-old tradition alive.

Texas Observer

In Texas Cities, Let a Hundred Mamdanis Bloom

Our state has long-term lessons to learn from the New York socialist’s rise.

Texas Observer

The River and the Fever Dream

A converted digital camera can use infrared light to reveal Texas border militarization—in the same way the armed forces once scanned for enemies from the sky.

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Trump’s Plan for Venezuelan Oil Raises Prospects of Paramilitary Violence

Latin America has lots of experience with private military contractors protecting foreign companies in lawless conflict zones. It seldom goes well.

Texas Observer

In Dallas, Spanish-Inflected Shakespeare Adaptations Experiment with Language

Two plays challenge their source material and speak to today’s audiences.

Texas Observer

Uvalde Trial Raises Question of Whether Police Stop School Shootings

Since Columbine, expectations for cops have been clear. But reality often hasn’t measured up.

Texas Observer

Congressman Tries to Cut Pay of ICE Prosecutor with Racist X Account to $1

Last week, the prosecutor James Rodden returned to Dallas immigration court a year after the Observer's original investigation into his social media. Congressman Marc Veasey’s amendment did not receive a committee vote Wednesday.

Texas Observer

‘Black Bird Redemption Song’: A Fort Worth Artist’s Work on Confinement, Freedom, and Fred Rouse

An exhibition at the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin runs through January 25.

Texas Observer

In Texas State Jails, a Rising Death Toll and a Broken Promise

Once billed as rehabilitative alternatives to prisons, these facilities are the sites of fatal overdoses—like that which ended the life of a Texan named Jackie Wiley.

Texas Observer

In Ink and on Airwaves, Texas Media Grows Ever More Concentrated

Hearst's acquisition of struggling newspapers in the state may seem like welcome news. But bigger doesn't always mean better.

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Revealed: Four Businesses with Ties to Patriot Front Operating in North Texas

The neo-Nazi group is engaged in a strategy to establish an independent economic ecosystem. Through publicly available information, interviews, and in-person observation, the Observer has identified companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that are operated either by members of Patriot Front or individuals with multiple connections to Patriot Front.

Texas Observer

ICE Prosecutor Who Runs Racist X Account Returns to Dallas Immigration Court

James Rodden, identified by the Observer last year as the operator of an account that routinely posted hateful statements, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.

Texas Observer

Texas Taxpayers Will Fund Dozens of Private Schools that Openly Discriminate

The state has signed off on voucher funds for schools that exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids.

Texas Observer

Texas Police Invested Millions in a Shadowy Phone-Tracking Software. They Won’t Say How They’ve Used It.

One sheriff who leads an anti-smuggling task force says the software helps “develop leads to eventually obtain probable cause.” Civil liberties experts say its use violates constitutional rights.

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Texas Observer

A Dallas Megadonor, a New Nonprofit, and the War on ‘Housing First’

A scheme to relocate the unhoused out of one Texas city's downtown sheds light on a larger right-wing takeover of federal homelessness policy.

Texas Observer

Why Houston Oil Majors Are Hesitant to Go All In on Venezuela

Though petro-giants have long sought lost assets in the South American country, they have reasons, for now at least, not to leap at Trump’s invitation to join his war on the climate and the international legal order.

Texas Observer

Could This State Senate Runoff Be a Tipping Point for Tarrant County?

The special election in Senate District 9 pits “people power” against mountains of conservative cash and the rising influence of Christian nationalism.

Texas Observer

Midterm Memo: The C-Team. Maybe B-.

The Texas Democratic slate-in-progress could definitely be worse.

Texas Observer

Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our January/February 2026 Issue

A note from the editor-in-chief

Texas Observer

Our Most-Read Stories of 2025

Some of the articles that y'all really loved this year

Texas Observer

Our Best Longform Stories of 2025

Nonfiction that's meant to be started, finished, and leave you with something to show for it

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