Mike Collier needs to smoke Patrick out of the hole he’s hiding in — and fast.
THIS WEEK: Mike Collier has been publicly trying to get a rise out of the usually bombastic Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick ever since he launched his campaign to unseat him in June 2017. More than a year later, he’s largely failed to do so. If his campaign is to gain momentum in the roughly three months before Election Day, Collier needs to smoke Patrick out of the hole he’s hiding in — and fast.
Grappling with the damage wrought by the Texas City disaster, the deadliest industrial accident in American history, more than 70 years later.
From Patsy Sims' essay: “We were all gathered in the auditorium of Beaumont’s Millard Elementary School when the windows began rattling, a strong enough vibration that 71 years later I remember the moment. ...I remember, too, how we all turned to look out the windows and saw only the placid blue Texas sky on that unseasonably cool April morning. We would not know for some time about dishes crashing off shelves in nearby Port Arthur, or people 160 miles away in Palestine hearing a loud boom and feeling the earth shudder, or a bus on the Houston-Galveston highway that was lifted off the pavement and set back down. ”
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From the archives
Homeland Insecurity
Want to run drugs, smuggle migrants and get away with it?
Join America’s biggest law enforcement agency, Melissa del Bosque and Patrick Michels wrote in 2015.
From the story: “Vargas didn’t like it, but he wanted to keep his job. He’d been moving his family all over the country for years — he’d even left his wife behind for an assignment in Korea — and now they’d finally settled down. His new salary was well beyond what he’d made as a Harlingen cop. After Pedraza left the room, Vargas corralled his partner and walked two blocks to the Subway in the McAllen bus terminal. In the sandwich shop they talked the problem through: Pedraza was out of his mind, no way could Vargas fake the work on Peña’s case. But Vargas was a new agent, still on probation. How could he say no?”
What’s Happening at the Observer
Submissions are now open for the eighth annual Texas Observer Short Story Contest. Enter by August 6 for the chance to win $1,000 and publication in our October issue. This year's guest judge is Natalia Sylvester.
The Texas Observer has a brand-new merch store! Here you can find all kinds of new ways to show your support for the work we do. Show the world your love for independent investigative journalism, and help pay for it all at the same time!
The "State of Drought" events are over — but the conversation doesn't have to end. We launched a Facebook group dedicated to a deep dive discussion of Texas' convoluted and outdated water policy. To join, follow this link and answer a simple screening question.
