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THIS WEEK: Fairfield Lake State Park — which clocked 67,500 visitors last year and reeled in $351,500 in revenue, according to state data — has an uncertain future. The 1,460-acre East Texas state park is part of a property owned by Vistra Energy, which has leased the land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department since 1976. But now Vistra is looking to sell the property, and there’s no guarantee the new buyer will be interested in continuing to lease the land to the state.
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The Lede
How 50 Years of Feminism in the Texas Legislature Shaped the Fights We See Today
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- Legislators began tackling issues like funding family planning, equal economic opportunity for women and justice for sexual assault survivors in the early 1970s. Their work continues a half-century later.
- In her nearly five decades under the pink dome, state Representative Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, has seen huge gains in women’s rights and representation. But Thompson, the longest-serving woman in the history of the Texas Legislature, is quick to point out that many challenges remain. Women make up only 23 percent of the Legislature, and in the decades since she began her tenure, the state has failed to consistently fund family planning, protect women from economic discrimination and deliver justice to survivors of sexual assault.
- But setbacks in recent years, as well as President Trump’s election and the #MeToo movement, fueled change. Women spoke up about the historically misogynistic behavior of male lawmakers and staffers in Texas, and a list of “bad men” at the Capitol surfaced in November 2017. A year later, a record number of women ran to replace them.
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From the archives
Too Big to Fine, Too Small to Fight Back
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- Texas’ environmental agency targets small business owners for minor recordkeeping violations, while letting the corporate polluters off easy, Naveena Sadasivam found in 2018.
- From the story: “Farahnakian makes a few thousand dollars a month from selling sodas, beer and gas at his store; Citgo has annual revenues reportedly north of $40 billion. Farahnakian is a first-generation immigrant who isn’t fluent in English and is unfamiliar with the state’s regulatory system; Citgo has significant political and financial capital that it can use to fight TCEQ. Farahnakian was punished for recordkeeping violations and there is no evidence of gas leaking out of his tanks; Citgo admitted to pumping 50,000 pounds of hydrogen cyanide into the air. Yet Farahnakian’s penalty for a recordkeeping error was about the same as Citgo’s fine for releasing toxic air pollutants over five years."
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What’s Happening at the Observer
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- Save the Date! Join us this Tuesday February 26 for our annual Rabble Rouser! RSVP here.
- Have you done great journalism in 2018? The deadline for submissions for the 2019 MOLLY National Journalism Prize is fast approaching. Winner gets a $5,000 cash award and, more importantly, a beer stein. Submit here: https://www.texasobserver.org/mollyawardsubmissions/ by February 28.
- The Observer will be taking part in Amplify Austin beginning on February 28 at 6 p.m. For 24 hours, you can support the local giving in Austin by donating to support our work. Watch for more details to come!
- We’re now accepting applications for summer 2019 internships! Two positions are available: one digital intern and one editorial intern (for cultural coverage). The deadline to apply is March 29.
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