Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of flight delays at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. There were 1,000 delays over the weekend into Monday, not 10,000. The Barbed Wire regrets the error. Three-hour wait times. Missed flights. TSA lines stretching out the doors. Texas airports are starting to feel the pressure […]
Category: News
Posted inNews
Thanks to Texas Law, Her Baby’s Death Was Agonizing. Día de los Muertos Is Helping Her Cope.
In Samantha Casiano’s house, Sundays are for family. And for the last two years, that’s included a trip to the cemetery. Every week, they visit her daughter Halo’s gravesite. It sits in the middle of their small East Texas hometown. A gray placard lies on the ground with Halo Hope Villasana written in pink script, […]
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After 220 Days, Leqaa Kordia Is the Last Columbia Protester in ICE Detention. She’s Still Fighting for Freedom.
Leqaa Kordia, 32, attended her asylum hearing via webcam on Thursday, Oct. 23. The blue light of the monitor displayed multiple windows framing her lawyer, the judge, and the government prosecutor. Her team laid out an argument it had made multiple times already: If Kordia, who is Palestinian, is deported to Israel, she will be […]
Posted inPolitics
Your Local Ballot Actually Matters More Than the Presidential One
Early voting is underway for the Nov. 4 election, and you may be asking yourself, what’s the point? Don’t worry, you’re in good company. Texans love to gripe about property taxes, potholes, and school funding, but when it’s time to vote for the people who actually fix (or ignore) those things, most folks suddenly remember […]
Posted inPolitics
Gov. Abbott Admitted to Purging ‘Leftist’ Professors. People Are Calling It the ‘Definition of Fascism.’
Gov. Greg Abbott admitted in an X post on Sunday that Texas is purging professors with “leftist ideologies” — and people are not happy. Abbott’s directive fits into a pattern of faculty changes and government interference on campuses across the state, including the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and Texas State University. […]
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Houston Erased Texas’ First-Ever Gay Pride Crosswalk in the Middle of the Night
A pile of broken, colorful concrete pieces was all that remained of Houston’s rainbow crosswalk as the sun rose on Monday. Construction crews tore up Texas’ first gay pride crosswalk, a beloved feature of the historically LGBT Montrose neighborhood, in the early hours of the morning. The crosswalk, which originated as a memorial for a […]
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‘The Video Speaks for Itself.’ An Historic Murder Case Puts San Antonio Officers on Trial.
The 379th Criminal District Court in San Antonio was bulging with people last Friday, so filled with journalists, police, attorneys, and staff that bailiffs shooed those without a seat out the door. People wanted to see, first-hand, the unprecedented trial that was set to begin. Before the judge called the room to order, Bexar County […]
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‘Are We in a Civil War?’ Texas Troops Are Still in Illinois, but It’s Getting Messy
While politicians and judges debate the legality of Texas National Guard troops’ presence in Illinois, columnists and creators are wondering: “Are we in a civil war?” Here’s some background to that terrifying question: About 200 Texas troops arrived in Illinois Oct. 8 after they were called by President Trump to assist in protecting federal agents […]
Posted inOpinion
Cool! It Really Looks Like Greg Abbott is Taking Orders From Libs of TikTok
Fellow Texans, it’s our sad duty to report that our governor appears to be taking his marching orders from a right-wing social media account (and, yes, we’re talking about … sigh … Libs of TikTok). While it’s a well-known fact that Gov. Greg Abbott lives in fear of being flanked on the right, in these […]
Posted inOpinion
Ken Paxton Compared Charlie Kirk to Jesus — Then Used Him as an Excuse to Crush Free Speech
In the conservative Christian movement, Charlie Kirk was more than a far-right activist — to many, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, the self-described free speech advocate who founded Turning Point USA was a martyr who died for his cause. That sentiment was on full display Tuesday night at an event organized by the Texas Tech […]