#stephen-f-austin

#stephen-f-austin

Wandler spoke in support of SB 13, telling lawmakers it "empowers parental access" and "mandates accountability with the school districts." His investment in the bill's passage wasn't merely rhetorical: Public records show Bookmarked spent at least $80,000 lobbying in favor of the measure, and later hired the powerful Texas lobbying firm Moak Casey to help promote its cause.

In reality, the Lone Star State is vast-and incredibly diverse-spanning more than 250,000 square miles of major cities, small towns, beach getaways, country roads, and border communities. For travelers arriving in Texas, one thing quickly becomes clear: the Lone Star State isn't just one destination-it's many.

In 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17 into law, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at public institutions across the state. In the years since, the University of Texas at Austin has been steadily remaking itself in the image demanded by conservative legislators across town.

Over the past several years, Texas has moved from griping about "woke campuses" to fundamentally restructuring the governance, curriculum, and tenure protections of its public universities. The cumulative effect is not reform. It's consolidation of power. And the target is the traditional independence of higher education. TL:DR - send your kids to Texas public universities, and it's like having the Texas legislature teach your kids.

On a chilly day before Christmas, Teresa Rivas helped a tween boy pick out a new winter coat. "Get the bigger one, the one with the waterproof layer, mijo," she said, before helping him pull it onto his string-bean frame. Rivas provides guidance counseling at Owen Goodnight Middle School in San Marcos, Texas. She talks with students about their goals and helps if they're struggling in class. She's also a trained navigator placed there by a nonprofit called Communities in Schools.

In a letter sent to faculty and staff obtained by KBTX, Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Alan Sams said the decision was made "as part of the broader implementation of the recently updated Systems policy". He claimed that the Texas university "made the difficult decision to begin winding down the Women's and Gender Studies (WGST) academic programs, including the BA, BS, Graduate Certificate and the Minor", claiming it was due to "enrolment over the past several years".

Loving County, in northwest Texas, may have the highest trouble-to-resident ratio in the United States. With sixty-four inhabitants, as of the 2020 census, the county is the least populated in the country. Control of its top elected positions-sheriff, judge, constable, county clerk-can be swung by a handful of votes. Many of those vying for power are related to, and estranged from, their opponents. Election results are regularly challenged by the losing candidate, sometimes repeatedly;