The forests that once sheltered the small town of Roseland are turning brown. Now, many residents are left wondering: Is what was left behind after the Aug. 22 blast safe? If it’s making the trees ill, what about them?

War-ravaged Portland

Public Citizen identified eight companies that received nearly $1B in non-competitive state contracts between 2014—2024. During those same years, these companies, their PACs, their officers, and their employees donated nearly $3M to Texans for Greg Abbott PAC. www.citizen.org/article/awar...

Trump hastens plan to deny domestic workers the minimum wage. www.texasobserver.org/texas-domest...

“It’s anti-regulation, it’s anti-Black and anti-immigrant, and it’s anti-social safety net. So these cuts that are coming together really exacerbate the crisis of care.” New from @josephineklee.bsky.social: New Department of Labor regulations could push already struggling caregivers over the edge.

“Republicans advanced 16 bills to strip Washington, D.C., of home rule” … and additionally, “an amendment to one of those bills that would repeal D.C.’s ban on right turns on red lights.” prospect.org/politics/202...

“As the South becomes the new epicenter of data center growth, it is becoming increasingly clear that Big Tech is following Big Oil’s footsteps, compounding the harms of decades of environmental racism.” truthout.org/articles/big...

State takeovers left some Texas school districts with MORE failing schools. www.texasobserver.org/state-school...

New from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Recently released state school ratings reveal that five Texas school districts are at risk of a takeover by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)—the most since a 2017 state law expanded the state’s takeover powers.

Washington Post fires their last remaining Black opinion writer @karenattiah.bsky.social over the most benign comments in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder... Meanwhile Fox still has Brian Kilmeade who casually said all homeless people should be killed. Its all unfair & unbalanced. Wake up.

Charlie Kirk espoused the same violence he is a victim of. These are buttons his group distributed to students. I had collected these for a story on how he and others were weaponizing young people to attack progressives and LGBTQ+ people. www.texasobserver.org/christian-yo...

The U.S spends more money for worse healthcare via @damonsilvers.bsky.social prospect.org/health/2025-...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “has pledged to Make America Healthy Again by reducing access to modern medicine.” @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social prospect.org/health/2025-...

Yet another move by our govt to inculcate TX exceptionalism into our children and make them ignorant of the world. Plus, it doesn’t make sense that world history, which is considerably longer will take up 20% of class time while TX history takes up 45%. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

The Texas Education Agency has now directed school districts to monitor teachers’ social media posts and fire teachers who criticize Charlie Kirk on social media- continuing Kirk’s efforts to have teachers reported and fired for their stated beliefs. www.professorwatchlist.org

Tomorrow Wed Sept 10 at 7pm, join @motherjones.com, @capitalb.bsky.social, @texasobserver.org at the Julia Ideson Building in downtown Houston for an evening of stories, action & resilience in the 20 years after Hurricane Katrina.

New from @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: After two weeks spent outside state lines, Texas House Democrats ended their quorum break as abruptly as a second special session began. Within days, the GOP scheme to engineer a rare mid-decade redistricting had been rammed through the Texas House and Senate.

there is no question in my mind that rfk jr is the most dangerous person in this administration and that his eugenicist ideology threatens the lives of millions of people www.advocate.com/politics/dem...

Josephine Lee: @josephinelee.bsky.social -------------------------------------- Texas Observer: @texasobserver.org Subscribe to their newsletter: www.texasobserver.org/home/subscri... Donate to Texas Observer: texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/donate/

New from @Josephinelee.bsky.social: Many of Jodey Arrington's constituents stand to lose access to both their healthcare and their local hospitals under the tax-and-spending bill, which will slash Medicaid and ACA spending by more than $1T and knock 10M more people off of insurance nationwide.

Featured story, from @candicebernd.bsky.social: “It’s been an open secret in the Legislature for a while that if your bill has the word ‘climate’ in the caption, it’s not getting a hearing. That has been true for many sessions.”

Texas Rep. Orchestrated Big Beautiful Cuts That Could Harm Rural Hospitals in His District: Jodey Arrington’s district is home to more rural hospitals than any other in TX; roughly a 1/4 of those are at risk of closing under the new law, a recent study showed. www.texasobserver.org/jodey-arring...

“Robert Kennedy Has Gutted Our Best Defense Against Future Pandemics mRNA technology saved America’s bacon in 2020. Now RFK Jr. is defunding it.” @ryanlcooper.com prospect.org/health/2025-...

“Judge Rules Ohio’s Voucher System Unconstitutional”- That ruling found that using public funds to subsidize tuition at private religious schools violates the Ohio Constitution’s ban on directing “school funds” to religious or sectarian institutions. prospect.org/education/20...

The Texas Legislature is moving forward with replacing the STAAR with three tests, but parents say the high stakes for districts, schools, teachers, and their students will only increase. www.texasobserver.org/texas-legisl...

“Map Shows States Pushing to Mandate Ten Commandments in Schools” 8/24/25 www.newsweek.com/map-shows-st...

NEW: We sent a letter to Texas school districts warning them not to implement a new law that requires all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. This week, a federal court deemed the law “plainly unconstitutional.” Public schools are not Sunday schools.

Health insurance carriers request raising ACA premiums by more than 20% on average in Texas by www.texastribune.org/2025/08/21/t...

“In Texas, rural schools are often the hubs of their communities. The state’s new program could compromise that.” By @claywickham.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

From 2023: The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rates of any wealthy country, by a lot, and the rates are increasing. The rate of Black mothers dying is more than twice as high as that for white women.

Out yesterday from @liseolsen.bsky.social: Beathard was put to death in 1999 for murders that his co-defendant claimed to have committed without him. A new documentary-in-progress seeks to bring his case to light.

New today from @francescadnunz.bsky.social: “He has never been imprisoned or had a criminal record. His life has always been marked by hard work and integrity. He has no connection to the Tren de Aragua case.”

Our top story: The Texas Legislature is poised to pass what transparency advocates warn is “the most massive secrecy grab in Texas since the adoption of the Public Information Act.”

From Mihika Manocha: From removing librarians on campuses to requiring teachers to cut personal pronouns from their email, the quiet attacks on personal expression and free speech have become apparent throughout Texas school districts.

From @francescadnunz.bsky.social: “He has never been imprisoned or had a criminal record. His life has always been marked by hard work and integrity. He has no connection to the Tren de Aragua case.”

The GOP States With Guards Deployed to D.C. Have Urban Murder Rates Way Higher Than D.C.’s prospect.org/blogs-and-ne...

Introducing the September/October 2025 issue of Texas Observer magazine, with cover art by Adrià Volt, and stories by Michelle Pitcher, Julie Poole, Francesca D'Annunzio and more. Become a member to get our magazine 6 times per year: texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/join/

From @josephinelee.bsky.social and @michellepitcher.bsky.social in 2024: 24 Texas prison units still have agribusiness operations. Nine are located on former plantations. Incarcerated workers harvest many of the same crops that slaves and later convict laborers did from 1871 to 1910.

NEW: TX Rs blame decamped Dems for holding up flood response. They also argue a disaster-response bill they shunned in the regular session wouldn't have gone into effect until after the 7/4 flood. Here's the climate bills they've ignored for over a decade now: www.texasobserver.org/texas-gop-sa...

“This is the most massive secrecy grab in Texas since the adoption of the Public Information Act.” Our top story, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: A move to "standardize" police personnel files could have devastating consequences for transparency.

From @josephinelee.bsky.social: “Until we fix the student assessment and the student school accountability system, students will continue to be taught to the test.”

From @candicebernd.bsky.social: “It’s been an open secret in the Legislature for a while that if your bill has the word ‘climate’ in the caption, it’s not getting a hearing. That has been true for many sessions.” www.texasobserver.org/gop-flood-re...

From @marytuma.bsky.social: “We continue to be underfunded while the demand—and the stakes—grow. And it’s not as if the attacks on abortion have slowed down in Texas, we still deeply need investment, possibly now more than ever.”

20 years after Katrina, the storm still lingers. Join @motherjones.com, @capitalb.bsky.social & Texas Observer in Houston for an evening of stories, action & resilience. When: Sept 10 | 7PM Where: Julia Ideson Building, Houston, TX Tickets: bit.ly/KatrinaEvent2025#Katrina20 #TheLingeringStorm

If held to the same standards, 27 private schools identified by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune through tax filings likely would have violated state law. … meant to prevent self-dealing and conflicts of interest if they were public. www.texastribune.org/2025/08/13/t...

Texas pumped $8.5 billion to schools statewide, but failed to raise the basic allotment to adjust for inflation. Districts are still reporting budget cuts. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/art...

Texas parents says the state’s proposal to replace the STAAR offers no real reform, just more punishment of schools, teachers, and students. @texasaft.org www.texasobserver.org/texas-legisl...

“The state is using the assessment to punish campuses and teachers and other students … and parents don’t want to be a part of that system.” New from @josephinelee.bsky.social: The state's testing system is massively unpopular in both parties. Will we actually replace it with something better?

From @josephinelee.bsky.social: David Peña sees about 60 patients a day, but he tries to understand each one as a veteran with “their own story.” He says it’s becoming increasingly challenging—worker morale dropped after his department lost two supervisors this year.

An accurate story by @josephinelee.bsky.social. I've used VA medical care for 21 years, including 13 here in Texas. Once considered the jewel of the American healthcare system, the process for accessing VA care has become endlessly frustrating and barely usable.