The Texas Observer April 2018

Beating Bohac My thanks for the Observer’s political coverage. Christopher Collins’ piece caught my eye (“Two Democratic Primary Hopefuls Run Afoul of State Labor Group,” January 31, texasobserver.org). I’m a longtime independent progressive activist. Among other things, I’m part of the Indivisible group that protests outside Senator John Cornyn’s Houston office every Tuesday, rain or shine. I happen to live in House District 138 and support Adam Milasincic’s candidacy. The AFL-CIO made a grave mistake in dissing Adam and backing his opponent. It’ll take a strong progressive to defeat longtime far-right incumbent Dwayne Bohac, one of the most destructive Lege members. I’ve met with Adam and stay in touch with him. He listens and takes advice. He’s the real deal. Adam has worked for free, pro bono, to represent hurricane…

I APPRECIATED CHRISTOPHER COLLINS’ INSIGHTFUL article (“The 7 Most Pressing Issues Facing Rural Texas,” December 7, texasobserver.org). You may have passed through Anson on visits to the Abilene area. I graduated from Anson High in 1959. It was a bustling, busy county seat when I lived there. The shops around the courthouse were all open — multiple cafes, banks, dry goods and grocery stores. When I last visited, most were closed. Some shops on the square (now a traffic circle) were only storefronts. The Palace Theater was practically in ruins. Anson could be a charming town like Wimberley or Fredericksburg. But it is now so sad. Most of my classmates left. Of my eight closest girlfriends, only one stayed. She had a business and land. I had hoped, with three…

JUST A SMALL CORRECTION TO YOUR EDITORIAL (“Here Comes #2018,” February issue), in which you write, “In the sense of living under remarkably persistent one-party rule, Texas is Turkmenistan with better roads.” A year or so ago I spent a couple of weeks in Turkmenistan, and I can assure you that their roads are as good as if not better than Texas’ FM roads. Ashgabat does a better job of trying to keep the general population economically content than Austin does, although not as much as it did in the past. Texas gives us circuses while Turkmenistan gives its people bread. You’re going to have to compare Texas to someplace like Cambodia if you want Texas to look good. Sound Off editors@texasobserver.org or comment on Facebook.com/texasobserver and texasobserver.org…

MORE THAN A YEAR INTO DONALD TRUMP’S SCANDAL-plagued tenure, what sort of person would show up to march in the streets in support of the president? On a Saturday in early March in deep-blue Austin, the answer was a menagerie of D-list conservative celebrities, actual Nazis and the sort of ordinary Trump supporters who bolster his persistently high approval ratings among Republicans. Harim Uziel, founder of a Los Angeles group called “Homies for Trump,” was one of many speakers who traveled from out of state to attend the small rally, which drew about 100 people. Like many at the event, Uziel, who’s Latino, repeatedly denied being racist: “Do I look like a Nazi? That’s fake news, homies.” Other speakers included Lauren Morris, a dreadlocked white woman with the Islamophobic group…

HURRICANE HARVEY WAS DESTRUCTION IN THREE ACTS. The first occurred on August 25, when the storm crashed ashore north of Corpus Christi with 130 mph winds. For its second act, Harvey lingered over the Texas coast for days, disgorging an unprecedented amount of rain that turned Houston into a lake, before drifting out into the Gulf. Janice Rogers faced Harvey’s third and final act when the storm swung back for a second landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border on August 30. Rogers, 57, waded through waist-deep water outside her west Port Arthur apartment to reach a helicopter that flew her to safety. After she slept in a shelter for two days, someone convinced her to board a military plane sending evacuees to Dallas. Rogers, born and raised in Port Arthur, hasn’t…

AT AROUND MIDNIGHT ON PRIMARY NIGHT IN DALLAS, Lisa Luby Ryan was flanked by two leaders of Texans for Vaccine Choice, arms raised, cheering. “We just got a call from Representative [Jason] Villalba, who conceded to us and wished us well,” said Ryan, the far-right challenger to the GOP incumbent. Jackie Schlegel, executive director of Texans for Vaccine Choice, and Rebecca Hardy, its state policy director, wore Ryan campaign shirts and huge grins. “Victory!” they shouted. Schlegel’s feud with Villalba began in 2015, when the Dallas Republican filed legislation, ultimately unsuccessful, to eliminate nonmedical “conscience exemptions” for vaccination in public schools. A mother who says one of her kids was injured by vaccines, Schlegel created the now-influential group, which she argues is not anti-vaccine but pro-parental rights. In the months…