A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?

Billionaire GOP donor Jeffrey Yass scored millions in private-school tax credits while he bankrolled the lawmakers who expanded them.

A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age o...

With Free Range Productions, Michelle Pitcher digs deep into a conviction involving a dubious hypnosis technique.

James Broadnax is set to be executed April 30. But someone else has admitted to the crime.

A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age o...

Pamela Colloff’s debut book is a propulsive study of a fatally flawed tactic beloved by prosecutors in Texas and beyond.

An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.

An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.

An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.

YouTube video by JoshTolley

A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age…

As many as 20 million of the winged mammals gather at one Texas Hill Country cave, creating one of nature’s most jaw-dropping displays.

YouTube video by Bat Conservation International

As many as 20 million of the winged mammals gather at one Texas Hill Country cave, creating one of nature’s most jaw-dropping displays.

Stubbornly unrealistic assessments of the region’s reservoir system turned this year’s drought conditions into an emergency.

The database of federal global warming research recreates a website that was closed amid the administration’s broad retreat from climate science.

Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.

Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.

Lynn Callaway says she was sent home from two hospitals, despite an infection, due to healthcare providers’ fear of the state’s abortion ban.

Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York

Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.

A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?

A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?

Republicans in Congress are introducing impeachment resolutions against a federal judge in Atlanta. An investigation found that a federal judge in the 11th Circuit had sex with a police officer at the...

Rich Levy, the man behind the Bayou City’s prestigious reading series and the brains behind Inprint, an unusual literary nonprofit, is retiring.

With diversity and history under attack in Texas, Fort Bend County leaders are bucking trends to back the expansion of a museum featuring Black cowboy culture.

Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles wit...

Rich Levy, the man behind the Bayou City’s prestigious reading series and the brains behind Inprint, an unusual literary nonprofit, is retiring.

The Kyle City Council voted to apply for more state grant money for Flock Safety cameras despite a string of local-level contract cancellations of the booming surveillance company’s services.

Houston ISD says its state-appointed superintendent has ended a paid agreement with Third Future Schools, after the Observer obtained the contract and requested comment. A 2025 state law restricts…

Houston ISD says its state-appointed superintendent has ended a paid agreement with Third Future Schools, after the Observer obtained the contract and requested comment. A 2025 state law restricts moo...

With Free Range Productions, Michelle Pitcher digs deep into a conviction involving a dubious hypnosis technique.

Some school district leaders say they believed they had only one option for a partnership to avoid state takeover.

If left intact, the exemption for oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico could forever harm vulnerable species and their habitats.

Douglas Menjivar is a survivor and activist. He’s also married to a U.S. citizen, but he was caught up in the president’s mass deportation agenda anyway.