If you’re like us and couldn’t stop watching “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” on Netflix last summer and are counting down the minutes for Season 2 dates to drop, you’re in luck: Tiktok has got you covered. Auditions haven’t started, but already DCC prep classes are in full swing ahead of auditions for the 2025-2026 […]
Author Archives: Leslie Rangel
Leslie Rangel, a first generation daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, is deputy managing editor for The Barbed Wire. Her award-winning journalism is focused on issues of health, mental wellness, race, gender and social justice.
Leslie was previously morning anchor for the Good Day Austin morning news show. She has also worked at KXAN in Austin, was founding evening anchor at KWKT in Waco, reported for KFOR in Oklahoma City and KFDM in Beaumont, Texas.
Posted inHealth
So You Want To Get Pregnant in Texas? How To Navigate Abortion Bans and Rising Maternal Mortality Rates
“I’m terrified. Trying to start a family with my hubby and our first pregnancy was ectopic,” one user on threads wrote. “I’m a Black woman in TX where it’s being shown that these health professionals don’t & won’t give af about me if I’m in pain & very well may provide substandard treatment for asinine […]
Posted inCulture
FIFA Collabs with Houston DJ Collective Bombón for 2026 World Cup
If you were tasked with summing up the history of Houston music into only two minutes of a track, how would you do it? Or would you find it impossible, given the rich history of iconic Houston artists? Bombón, a DJ music collective co-founded by Gracie Chavez and Alex “DJ Navó” Nava in 2010, were […]
Posted inNews
Houston-Area Midwife Arrested After Allegedly Providing Illegal Abortions
UPDATE, March 18, 2025: A Houston-area medical assistant and nurse practitioner were also arrested in connection to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s arrests targeting abortion providers. Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, a 29-year-old medical assistant, was arrested for allegedly helping Maria Margarita Rojas perform what Paxton called illegal abortions. Rubildo Labanino Matos, a 54-year-old nurse practitioner, […]
Posted inCulture
She Went Viral Challenging ‘Professional’ Hair Standards. Now, She’s Teaching Fellow Femmes to Be Loud.
It’s been nearly five years, but Tashara Parker still remembers the October morning well: She woke up at 1:45 a.m., went to the Downtown Dallas WFAA TV studios where she worked as a morning anchor, sat in on the daily editorial meeting, did her makeup, put on her microphone, and did her news show. Little […]
Posted inCulture
She Lost Her Job, Then Her Husband Cheated and Left. ‘Chasing Camilla’ Saved Her.
In 2009, 27-year-old Melissa Rojas left Texas. She moved from Dallas to California to pursue a dream career in fashion. At first, she worked as an unpaid intern, then she landed jobs as a stylist for Gina Rodriguez and a personal assistant for Lindsey Lohan. One year later, she was employed by fashion house Thomas […]
Posted inSports
In a Cruel Twist of Fate, Victor Wembanyama Is Out for the Season
What is this cruel, cruel world that Texas basketball fans are living in? First it was Dallas Maverick’s savior Luka Dončić — gone from the team in an absolute bullsh!t trade. Now San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is out for the rest of the season due to deep vein thrombosis, which is the official […]
Posted inNews
50+ Bills Attacking Trans Texans Have Been Filed in the Legislature. Here Are the Ones to Watch.
It’s no secret that Texas is one of the most “extreme state legislatures on LGBTQ+ issues in the country,” as the senior director for legal policy for The Human Rights Campaign told the Austin American Statesman. In the first few weeks of the 89th session, organizations like GLAAD, Equality Texas, and the Transgender Education Network […]
Posted inNews
Beer’s Going to Cost More. Thanks, Trump.
Welp, while y’all were all whining about egg prices (I’m plant-based), everyone forgot about beer. Thanks to a newly imposed 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports by the country’s sweetheart President Donald Trump, some Texas breweries are preparing to upcharge their beer because the aluminum cans they come in are made in China. […]
Posted inNews
Thousands Protest Trump’s ICE Raids as Texas Empowers National Guard to Act as Immigration Officials
For thousands of people across the state, Monday — dubbed “a Day Without Immigrants” — topped off a weekend of protests against Trump’s racist immigration crackdown. Dallas, Houston, Pflugerville, McAllen, and even deep East Texas saw hundreds of people marching and waving flags from a variety of Latin American countries as a sign of solidarity […]