Out today: Laredo isn’t as widely known as the Big Bend for its history and natural beauty, but it’s one of the oldest cities in #Texas, and the Rio Grande as it winds through South Texas is unlike anywhere else in the state. https://www.texasobserver.org/laredo-trump-border-wall-city-deal-border/
#border #SouthTexas #news #politics #USpol
In Laredo's Last Stand Against Trump's Border Wall, Are City Leaders Making a Deal with the Devil?
"A lot of the same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Big Bend are the exact same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Laredo," say opponents of the wall, as local officials have sought to accommodate the feds' demands.
New from Jason Buch: Laredo officials and activists have fended off essentially all border barriers, save for a stretch of less-obtrusive wrought-iron fencing around a Laredo College campus.
Now, the #border town of 250,000 has its back against the wall like never before, and some think it’s already too late. https://www.texasobserver.org/laredo-trump-border-wall-city-deal-border/
#immigration #Trump #Texas #politics #USpol #news #SouthTexas
In Laredo's Last Stand Against Trump's Border Wall, Are City Leaders Making a Deal with the Devil?
"A lot of the same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Big Bend are the exact same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Laredo," say opponents of the wall, as local officials have sought to accommodate the feds' demands.
“#SpaceX has already burned down dozens of acres of wildlife habitat, is dumping polluted water on our beach, has sent rocket debris into our communities, into communities in Mexico [...] #ElonMusk is using our impoverished community as his laboratory to blow up dangerous experimental SpaceX rockets.” - Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the #SouthTexas #EnvironmentalJustice Network
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/16/elon_musk_south_texas
#Musk #Starbase #USpol #USpolitics #tech #techBros #ecocide #environment @nature
“Land Grab”: Trillionaire Elon Musk Sued in South Texas to Block SpaceX’s Takeover of Wildlife Refuge
Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday with the largest initial public offering in stock market history for his rocket and AI company SpaceX. The company is based in South Texas in a city controlled by Musk known as Starbase, which SpaceX has operated from since 2014. Environmental and conservation groups recently filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a land swap approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would give SpaceX more than 700 acres of a national wildlife refuge in South Texas.
With Starbase, “SpaceX has already burned down dozens of acres of wildlife habitat, is dumping polluted water on our beach, has sent rocket debris into our communities, into communities in Mexico,” says Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which is part of the lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Elon Musk is using our impoverished community as his laboratory to blow up dangerous experimental SpaceX rockets.”
While groups like the South Texas Environmental Justice Network are organizing opposition to Musk’s operations in South Texas, local officials are ignoring constituents’ complaints that SpaceX is degrading the environment and their quality of life, says Hinojosa. “We’ve seen elected officials take money from SpaceX here and lobby in favor of more bills that benefit SpaceX.”
New, from Lise Olsen in our magazine: “I wish somebody would really investigate. Because I want to know who took my brother’s life. Who had the nerve to take him.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-troubling-disappearance-of-el-gallito/
#law #Texas #SouthTexas
The Troubling Disappearance of ‘El Gallito’
A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?
Part of living in
#SouthTexas that I loathe is the
#summer #heat. It's fucking on fire outside served with a side of
#humidity soup. I'm sweating while drowning.
Our top story, from Steven Monacelli: “Brandon Herrera is probably the exact opposite of the type of candidate that most people want going into a competitive race in this election. His campaign is not about anything that people really care about.” https://www.texasobserver.org/brandon-herrera-gun-youtube-uvalde-congress/
#Texas #extremism #GunViolence #politics #USpol #news #SouthTexas #border
How a Gun-Rights Extremist Could Soon Represent Uvalde in Congress
On his YouTube channel, Brandon Herrera has discussed the relative merits of weapons used in mass shootings and made light of political violence. He’s now on a glide path to the U.S. House.
As Republicans seek to wring another five House seats out of #Texas in their desperate bid to hold on to the chamber in November, the 23rd wasn’t a district they planned on worrying about. But now, both sides see a battleground.
https://www.texasobserver.org/brandon-herrera-gun-youtube-uvalde-congress/
#politics #USpol #news #midterms #SouthTexas
How a Gun-Rights Extremist Could Soon Represent Uvalde in Congress
On his YouTube channel, Brandon Herrera has discussed the relative merits of weapons used in mass shootings and made light of political violence. He’s now on a glide path to the U.S. House.
"We dare to exist beyond the headlines and define ourselves for ourselves."
Pride Month Repost: Behind the curtain of the filters imposed by outsiders, the Rio Grande Valley boasts an abundance of creative, powerful, and joyful communities, one of them being the #LGBTQ+ community. https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-valley-lgbtq-pride/
#SouthTexas #Texas #politics #USpol #Pride #LGBTQIA #culture
The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy
As we celebrate Pride Month, I am struck by the contrast of what I know to be true about this region and what the popular narratives may be.
Top story: Our correspondent Steven Monacelli took a deep dive into Brandon Herrera, a gunfluencer and now GOP congressional nominee who has spread memes associated with the extremist Boogaloo movement and rationalized lethal political violence. https://www.texasobserver.org/brandon-herrera-gun-youtube-uvalde-congress/
#Republicans #midterms #GunViolence #Uvalde #Texas #SouthTexas
How a Gun-Rights Extremist Could Soon Represent Uvalde in Congress
On his YouTube channel, Brandon Herrera has discussed the relative merits of weapons used in mass shootings and made light of political violence. He’s now on a glide path to the U.S. House.
New today: “Guys like him have been using the ‘It’s only jokes’ and ‘edgy’ line as a way of masking what they really believe ... If Brandon Herrera is flirting with admiring the SS, Rhodesian light infantry, and the Confederacy, it tells me he’s a semi-closeted white supremacist.” https://www.texasobserver.org/brandon-herrera-gun-youtube-uvalde-congress/
#Texas #politics #USpol #news #SouthTexas #border #GunViolence
How a Gun-Rights Extremist Could Soon Represent Uvalde in Congress
On his YouTube channel, Brandon Herrera has discussed the relative merits of weapons used in mass shootings and made light of political violence. He’s now on a glide path to the U.S. House.
Texas Observer
Paria sans portefeuille
gwimo