Justice Repeatedly Delayed Is Justice Repeatedly Denied

Devonte Amerson, waiting. Photo by Ursula Rogers. In March of 2018, San Marcos police officers traveled to Houston, Texas, to arrest Cyrus Gray and Devonte Amerson. According to them, the two young men had taken part in the 2016 robbery that ended with the shooting...

The Examiner Sits Down with Rising Star of the Stage, Jamias Hughes

Jamias Hughes, an actor from the Class of 2024 at Lockhart High School, earned a spot at the prestigious National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York City last summer. This honor – equivalent to the Tony Awards for U.S. teenagers, also called the Jimmy...

‘Oaksterdam’ doc highlights Maxwell cannabis activist’s successes

A younger Brett Stahl using county transit at the HempCity protest in front of the San Marcos jail in 1992. When I met Richard Lee, I felt like a wide-eyed child even though only 4 years separated us. He’d just opened Legal Marijuana: The Hemp Store in Houston with...
How the Police Violate Our Constitutional Rights

How the Police Violate Our Constitutional Rights

Lamar Hankins, retired city attorney, in his San Marcos home. Photo by Ursula Rogers. Imagine that you are out watering your out-of-town neighbor’s flowers and a policeman shows up. He asks what you are doing and who you are. You respond with your name (Pastor...

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In Praise of Commissioner Lon Shell

In Praise of Commissioner Lon Shell

The author, left, in a Hays County press conference in 2022 to debut the jail dashboard – newly furnishing the public and policymakers detailed data on local incarceration – alongside Eric Martinez of Mano Amiga as well as Commissioner Lon Shell. Commissioner Debbie...

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In Our Indie Bookstore Era

In Our Indie Bookstore Era

Books, as physical objects, have been pronounced dead time and again, yet each time they’ve risen anew. There was a point when the invention of the Kindle and the closure of formerly ubiquitous chain bookstores like Borders really did seem like the final nail in the coffin…

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Caldwell County News Round-up

Caldwell County News Round-up

This month we will learn if Caldwell County – perhaps the most likely prospect of anywhere in Texas this cycle – might flip its Commissioners Court: from a 4-1 Republican stronghold to a 3-2 majority for the Democrats.

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Hays County Needs a Better Road Bond

The Hays Coalition for a Better Bond formed in September to inform and educate voters about a sudden decision the county commissioners made on Aug. 13 to put a road bond on the November ballot for $440 million.

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The Freedom Act in Lockhart: “We ain’t going back!!”

When my sister Margaret Carter first shared with me her involvement with the Mano Amiga coalition’s petition drive to elevate “The Freedom Act” – to decriminalize small quantities of marijuana for personal use – to the November ballot, I was enthralled and mildly surprised that the penalties are basically the same as they were 50 years ago.

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Caldwell Commissioner Candidates Blast Racist Anti-Immigrant Resolution Backed by Incumbents

Caldwell Commissioner Candidates Blast Racist Anti-Immigrant Resolution Backed by Incumbents

A resolution passed by Caldwell County commissioners at the end of 2022 – proclaiming that immigration places local residents “under an imminent threat of disaster to their health, life, and property” – illuminates a clear distinction between the political views of incumbents B.J. Westmoreland and Ed Theriot and those of the two challengers who hope to unseat them in November.

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