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THIS WEEK: Asian voters could hold the key to Democratic gains in the diversifying purple suburbs of Texas. Sri Kulkarni, Houston-area Republican Congressman Pete Olson’s challenger, is betting on it. “When I first started, I was told not to bother with the Asian-American vote because they don’t turn out,” Kulkarni, who speaks six languages, told the Observer. “Well, I said, maybe that’s because you’re not reaching out to them.”
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The Lede
Raspa Revolution in the Rio Grande Valley
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- In Austin, people wait in line for BBQ. In the Rio Grande Valley, people wait in line for raspas.
- For the August issue of the Observer, Daniel Blue Tyx traveled to the bedroom community of Elsa (20 miles northeast of McAllen) to visit Iced Cube, a neighborhood raspa stand eagerly adapting to the social media age.
- Last summer, less than a month after Iced Cube opened, one of owner Ashley Vasquez’s social media posts went viral, igniting a summerlong frenzy with lines of up to 75 cars and four-hour wait times.
- Yet this summer, Vasquez and her husband, co-owner Johnathan Segura, find themselves at a crossroads. In this rural community, the conflict over Iced Cube reveals stark generational differences. “So much depends on your neighborhood snow cone stand,” said Eddie Margo, the second-generation owner of Margo’s Corner, a Weslaco raspa stand that’s been in business for 35 years. “It’s not just a raspa. It’s your tribe.”
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From the archives
‘We Have No Choice’
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- Carolyn Jones' intensely personal account of her decision to terminate a pregnancy in 2012 — after the state began enforcing HB 2, a harsh law requiring pre-abortion sonograms.
- From the story: “‘I’m so sorry that I have to do this,’ the doctor told us, ‘but if I don’t, I can lose my license.’ Before he could even start to describe our baby, I began to sob until I could barely breathe.”
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What’s Happening at the Observer
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- More than ever, Texas is ground zero for immigration policy. Join us for an important discussion on the latest developments from the frontlines. Panelists will include state Senator Sylvia Garcia, attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Grassroots Leadership Immigration Programs Director Claudia Muñoz, Observer editor Forrest Wilder and immigration reporter Gus Bova. The discussion will begin at 7 p.m. on September 12 at the Central Presbyterian Church, 200 East 8th Street, Austin. The event is free and open to the public.
- How do you get your voice heard? How do you change a rigged system? How do you stir others out of apathy or connect with those across lines of difference? Join the Observer at CitizenFest, a free learning summit on how to exercise civic power. The festival takes place today in Dallas.
- The Texas Observer is headed to New York. Join Texas Observer civil rights Reporter Michael Barajas, The Marshall Project reporter Eli Hagar, and WNYC’s Kai Wright for a discussion about the school-to-prison pipeline moderated by The Appeal’s Sarah Leonard. The conversation will take place on September 17, 2018, at the New School’s Starr Foundation Hall, Room UL102, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10003. It is free and open to the public.
- The Texas Observer has a revamped 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!
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