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THIS WEEK: When the federal government builds a border wall, the taxpayer foots two bills. First, there’s the cost to get the thing built, a figure proclaimed in presidential budget requests and press accounts. And second, there’s a slew of concealed costs — expenditures that hide in general operations budgets, arise from human error or kick in years down the line. Excluding the hidden costs, Trump’s wall is running taxpayers a cool $25 million per mile, up nearly fourfold from just a decade ago.
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- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates in Texas have been climbing since 2000, when the rate was 10.2 per 100,000 people. By 2017, the rate had risen to 13.4.
- Texas Observer rural reporter Christopher Collins spent more than a year examining the problem in rural East Texas, home to some of the highest suicide rates in the state. The investigation found that as suicide has quietly gripped many communities here, the state’s mental health care system is being stretched well past its limit.
- No one knows for sure why East Texas is especially susceptible to suicide, in part because the causes of suicide are complex, but also because virtually no one is studying the growing problem. Despite increasing recognition of rising suicide rates as an urgent public health problem, the state of Texas isn’t spending any money to investigate the roots of the crisis in rural Texas, much less taking action to find remedies.
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Support the Texas Observer with a tax-deductible
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From the archives
Company Town
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- Naveena Sadasivam details how big business turned a Gulf Coast beach town into an industrial zone.
- From the 2016 feature: “Freeport LNG’s buyout strategy pitted residents who were staunch opponents of the project against those who weren’t convinced they could stop the company, or saw the situation as an opportunity to move away. The ensuing debate tore the town apart. In the spring of 2014, almost half of Quintana’s residents — many of whom had signed Doty’s petition — submitted a second petition, this time in support of the project. Within another year, the company had purchased the vast majority of the island’s 70 or so homes, tearing down many of them. As Quintana residents moved out, Freeport LNG rented the homes it had purchased to its workers. Eventually, the town elected two company employees to the five-member Town Council. Freeport LNG is currently halfway through constructing its $14 billion new plant. In a matter of two years, Quintana went from beach town to company town.”
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Now Available in the Texas Observer Store
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Inspired by the ladder card from Lotería, our newest shirt design references the small upward steps that Latinx communities must take to overcome the obstacles placed before them.
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What’s Happening at the Observer
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- There are still a few tickets available for the 2019 MOLLY Prize dinner. This year, we’re very excited to have Rebecca Traister as our keynote speaker. Come celebrate the power of great journalism — and hear from a few great journalists! The event is set for the evening of June 6 at the Four Seasons in downtown Austin. More information here.
- If you're at the Agave Festival in Marfa, stop by the Texas Observer table for special subscription offers and some new merch!
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