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The Maternal Mortality Rate Surged in Texas in 2020 and 2021The rate of Texas women who died because of pregnancy or childbirth rose sharply in 2020 and 2021 to the highest since the state started tracking maternal deaths, in 2013. Even excluding deaths related to COVID-19, the numbers were worse than usual, reversing two years of progress in driving the maternal mortality rate downward.The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee released a report this month analyzing pregnancy-related deaths within one year of childbirth. The committee, which works on a several-year delay, closely analyzed cases from 2020.The maternal mortality rate in 2020 was 27.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 17.2 in 2019. With COVID-related deaths excluded, the rate was 24.2.But the report shows, once again, that maternal mortality does not impact every community…

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What Interviewing a Suspected Serial Killer and His Victims Taught Me About EmpathyThe first time he called, I was home with family on a Saturday afternoon in 2022. I asked if he had time later to continue our conversation. “Yeah, I have nothing planned,” he laughed. It was a funny line. His name was Billy Chemirmir, and he was in the Dallas County jail awaiting trial on eighteen counts of capital murder. Just a few months earlier, his first trial had ended in a shocking mistrial. Of course he had time. It wasn’t like there were pressing appointments to schedule around while he was incarcerated.I’d been covering the case against Chemirmir for three years as a reporter for The Dallas Morning News. He’d been accused of stalking elderly women at luxury senior living communities in the Dallas area, posing…

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A New Trump Ad Cites My Texas Monthly Reporting—And Distorts ItI awoke last Friday to learn that I had been conscripted into the fracking wars. It wasn’t my choice, and it wasn’t the first time.Earlier in the week, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had released a thirty-second ad in Pennsylvania, which is the second-largest natural gas–producing U.S. state (behind Texas, of course). The gist was that his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, would ban fracking all together if she’s elected. Harris says that’s not true, but as the adage goes, truth is often the first casualty of war. "Harris will ban all fracking…that will immediately put tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians out of work."Trump's newest ad attacks Harris on fracking. #PAPol has seen $260m in aired Presidential spending since Super Tuesday, making up 23% of all aired…

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leon bridges downtown fort worth checklist illustrationMUSICLeon, Leon BridgesOctober 4The Fort Worth artist’s previous solo album, 2021’s Gold-Diggers Sound, captured R&B energy inspired by the retro Hollywood hotel where it was recorded. His new project is a self-portrait that reflects his Texas roots—even if he recorded its thirteen tracks in Mexico City and Nashville. But judging by the song “Peaceful Place,” which blends Latin and West African vibes, Leon’s sonic points of origin may be the EPs Texas Sun and Texas Moon, which Bridges made with Houston’s globe-trotting, genre-bending band Khruangbin. Wherever he’s creating music, his pristine sound inspires nostalgia for a place—or a feeling—that he loves. As he sings on “Peaceful Place”: “I feel at home / Anywhere that I go.”FESTIVALOktoberfest, Fredericksburg October 4–6Immigrants from Deutschland (and their traditions) began arriving in…

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collin allred rallyBy all accounts, U.S. representative Colin Allred is the underdog in this year’s U.S. Senate race. Texas, after all, hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in nearly three decades. But Allred, who was born and raised in Dallas by a single mother and played football at Baylor University and in the NFL, says his “uniquely Texan” story will resonate with voters. He’s also playing up his willingness to go up against the Democratic establishment—as he did in January, when he joined congressional Republicans and a handful of Democrats to support a resolution condemning President Biden’s handling of the nation’s southern border. But what’s really boosting his campaign, he says, is the sentiment that he repeatedly hears from voters: they’re ready to move on from…

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ted cruzHalf a mile east of the U.S. Capitol stands a handsome three-story townhouse with red-brick siding, copper oriel windows, and a corner entrance inscribed with the name of its owner, the innocuous-sounding Conservative Partnership Institute. Most passersby likely have no idea that Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election was largely coordinated behind these stately walls. So was the January 6 rally that turned into a violent assault on the Capitol. In recent years the CPI has spent tens of millions of dollars recruiting and training operatives to staff what its leaders hope will be a second Trump administration. If the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 provides the battle plan, the CPI represents the staging ground.Late on a balmy night this summer, though, the…

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opening spread of "Who's Wasting Our Water?," August 2024.Navigating the Water CrisisI’m writing in response to the “Who’s Wasting Our Water” cover story [August 2024]. While the articles were well written and comprehensive, I believe you failed to thoroughly investigate desalinization. There is no such thing as a water shortage on Earth. The challenge lies in making the water we have suitable for consumption in areas where water is scarce, and desalinization technology offers a promising potential solution, particularly for Texas, with its access to the Gulf of Mexico.  Furthermore, I believe that expanding nuclear power generation could create excess power to operate desalinization plants and pump fresh water inland. By combining technologies in both the energy and water sectors, Texas has the potential to lead the way in sustainable water management.James Greene,…

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damon's real texas bbq exteriorWhen Brandon Cruz finally found the potential smoker for his future restaurant, back in 2007, it was on one of the worst days of his life. Driving by the Jack in the Box in Wharton, he spotted a truck and trailer loaded with old propane tanks. Cruz offered the driver $175 cash for a sleek 380-gallon tank he could turn into a smoker. The driver refused, saying it could fetch $300 at the scrapyard. Just then, the driver noticed a flat tire on his trailer and asked Cruz if he had a jack big enough to help. “For a hundred and twenty-five dollars I have a jack,” Cruz told him, and the driver agreed to part with the tank at Cruz’s reduced price.Cruz was elated,…

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How to Make Sure You Are Registered to Vote in TexasIn late August, Governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas election officials had removed more than 1.1 million names from the voter rolls. Many of these removals were consistent with routine election maintenance; more than 457,000 of the removed names belonged to deceased Texans, and another 134,000 belonged to Texans who had confirmed to officials that they had moved. The governor’s press release claimed that officials had also found the names of more than 6,500 possible noncitizens on the voting rolls, as well as more than 6,000 Texans legally barred from exercising the franchise because of felony convictions.Still, the single largest group among the removed names belonged to voters on the state’s “suspense list,” many of whom could remain eligible voters. Here, we’ll explain how to…

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adan banuelos bella hadid window to the westI ended up in a black SUV with Adan Banuelos and Bella Hadid for a reason most Texans are familiar with—it was too damn hot. It’s 5:45 p.m., and we’re at a Weatherford ranch owned by sports media company Teton Ridge. Hadid is in girlfriend mode. “I just think he’s going to start losing it if he’s in the sun for too long,” she says. Hadid, who landed from New York minutes prior, is a vision even in the unyielding ranch sun. (Banuelos picked her up in a helicopter from the airport.) They’ve choppered here to promote Window to the West, Teton Ridge’s six-part collection of short films that aim to encapsulate Western culture via vignettes of athletes, craftsmen, and musicians. The series opener, Horse Sense,…

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