Summer Willis’s fifth marathon was in New York City, in March 2024, with a 45-pound mattress strapped to her bare shoulders. Less than a year — and dozens of marathons — later, she tackled another race in Austin. Dropping to her hands and knees, Willis crawled for the first 13 miles as a demonstration of […]
Author Archives: Riya Misra
Riya Misra just graduated from Rice University, where she spent two years as editor-in-chief of its student-run newspaper, The Rice Thresher. At Rice, she covered political rallies, campus protests, and an underwear party gone wrong. She spent a summer in Washington, D.C. fine-tuning her investigative reporting skills.
Outside of her newsroom, Riya has degrees in social policy analysis and creative writing. Although raised in Boston, she’s grown oddly fond of the Texas heat.
When the School Year Starts in Texas, So Do the School Stabbings. Parents Have Had Enough.
Children were back on campus for just under two weeks when a student at Ryan High School in the Dallas suburb of Denton allegedly stabbed a classmate. It happened at 9:10 a.m. Friday, reported The Dallas Morning News. Both students were boys under the age of 17. The injured student suffered non-life-threatening wounds, while the […]
The Day Austin ‘Lost Its Innocence’: HBO’s Newest Crime Doc Tackles Haunting Unsolved Murder
For tried and true Texans, HBO’s newest docuseries might hit close to home. “The Yogurt Shop Murders” digs into a 33-year-old cold case in Austin — a murder so haunting, the then-mayor proclaimed it the day Austin “lost (its) innocence.” In December 1991, when Austin was still a relatively small college town, not yet on […]
What Has Abbott’s $100 Million in Border Security Bought Taxpayers? Office Renovations and Expensive Trucks.
Six $83,000 pickup trucks. K-9 dog food. A pink-trimmed concrete office jokingly described as the Taj Mahal. Since 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott’s highly-touted Operation Lone Star has sent more than $100 million to Texas counties, in grants earmarked for border security purposes — but in reality, the funding has also covered items like office renovations […]
‘He’s Making Up Some Sh*t:’ Texas House Issues Arrest Warrants in Quorum-Bust as Democrats Counterattack
UPDATE: The Republican-led Texas House voted 85-6 to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state to break quorum and were not at the Capitol when the chamber gaveled in at 3 p.m. Monday, The Texas Tribune reported. To be clear, the move is largely bluster, since the civil warrants […]
Inside a South Texas Drug-Trafficking Scheme: Kilos of Cocaine, a Middle School, and Two Disgraced Mayors
The former mayor of a south Texas town is facing nearly four years in prison for his role in a nine-person cocaine trafficking ring — which was operating out of a local middle school. The cinematic conspiracy involved now-disgraced former Progreso Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis, who was sentenced last week alongside his brother, former Progreso […]
‘Love Is Blind’ Is Coming to Austin, Home of Horribly Behaved Singles
Tech bros, it’s your time to shine — “Love is Blind” is casting in Austin. The mega-popular show, where faceless singles meet behind a screen, fall in love, and get engaged (to varying degrees of success), bases itself out of one city for each season. The eight-season show has already had its moment in Dallas […]
Thousands of Democrats Pour into Texas to Combat ‘Extreme Republican Gerrymandering’
As redistricting efforts ramp up in Texas, all eyes are on the Lone Star State. Last week, Houston congressional candidate Isaiah Martin went viral online after he was arrested at the Texas Capitol, where he was protesting the Republican-led “gerrymandering scam.” Martin, a 27-year-old Democrat, was removed from a redistricting hearing for refusing to cede […]
Dang, Texas Heat Advisories Are Back. Shocked? Neither Are We.
And we almost made it to August without triple-digit temperatures. North Texas is facing its hottest day of the year yet, and has been placed under a heat advisory as temperatures threaten to reach 105 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, a heat advisory means you should reconsider outdoor activities, primarily during peak heat […]
Ozzy Osbourne Once Urinated On the Alamo. Texas Forgave Him (But Didn’t Forget).
Forty-three years ago, rockstar Ozzy Osbourne drunkenly urinated on the Alamo. What ensued afterward was a strained, decades-long relationship between the Grammy Award winner and the sacred Texas landmark — including an arrest, a 10-year ban, two apologies, a tenuous reconciliation, and, now, a tribute in light of Osbourne’s death. “At the Alamo, we honor […]
