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...
‘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...
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...
Son of Hays Co District Judge – Twice Accused of Violence This Year – A Major Player in RFK Jr.’s Presidential Campaign
A contractor with ties to Hays County is working with the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential campaign in what The New York Times described as a “central role” in ballot-access efforts – and he has been arrested for assault twice this year.
The Legacy of Luling’s Northside Pool
The legacy of Northside Pool is a riddle wrapped in secrecy that began in 1873 in Brockton, Massachusetts, with the birth of philanthropist and wildcatter Edgar B. Davis. The facts surrounding Davis’s gift of Northside Pool and Southside Pool to the City of Luling in the late 1920s are convoluted and may sound stranger than fiction.
The San Marcos River Should Not Be Home to One of the Nation’s Largest Industrial Parks – Let’s Put a Stop to it
Asked why they moved to the greater San Marcos area, most folks respond along the lines of, “I came here to get away from the concrete … the pollution … the industry … the traffic … the hustle and bustle of the big city.”
Artist Morgan Grigsby Shares Memories and Images of Black Joy
I live and work in Texas and create contemporary realist oil paintings that are inspired by my personal experiences growing up on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
Neo-Nazis Reveal Themselves in an Attack in Martindale
A group including members and/or supporters of a violent prison gang attacked a multiracial group on June 22 on the San Marcos River in Martindale at Don’s Fish Camp.
Plight of San Marcos Teen Accused of Murder Highlights Benefit of a Conviction Integrity Unit in Hays Co
The author visiting Bobby Harper at the Stiles Unit of the so-called Texas Dept. of Justice in Beaumont last November. Photo courtesy of Ruah Ministries. In the late hours of Oct. 8, 1998, Mohammad Yunus, a convenience store clerk, was killed in a robbery at a Conoco...
The Opaque Lens: Body Camera Footage of Police Incidents Doesn’t Have to Be Hard to Get
Body-worn cameras are meant to provide transparency and accountability in incidents where law enforcement officers use excessive and/or deadly force. A model body camera policy from the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation’s website notes, “Body-worn cameras are...
Owner of Distillery in Dripping Springs Identified as Key Figure in Trump’s 2021 Coup Attempt
Dripping Springs is known for its breweries and distilleries. But only one has a mailbox fashioned like a giant shotgun shell and a tasting room festooned with artillery – and whose owner was subpoenaed by the U.S. Congress for his chief role in a plot to overthrow...
Lessons Lockhart Can Learn From the Tulia Drug Bust 25 Years Later
Tulia residents, convicted in an unconscionably flawed drug sting, outside Swisher County Courthouse. Ink illustration by Tori Anne. This November, you citizens of Lockhart will vote on a referendum to 1) decriminalize marajuana locally and 2) declare that the smell...
A New Power Plant in Maxwell Raises Concerns Among Residents
Construction of the Timmerman Peaker Plant in Maxwell, just a few steps from Santa Maria Aida Cemetery and the Church Street neighborhood. Photo by Ursula Rogers. Construction of a natural gas peaker plant by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is well underway...
Violence In Blue: Local Cops Continue to Kill and Lie About It
Loved ones of Malachi Williams gather at the San Marcos Public Library to remember his life in a vigil organized by his family and Mano Amiga in late April. Photographed by Christopher Paul Cardoza. On April 11, a San Marcos Police officer shot and killed 22-year-old...
A Killer’s Paltry Punishment: Just Part of a Tragedy in Martindale
Terry Turner was released from the Caldwell County Jail on May 8. Turner gained notoriety in 2021 after shooting and killing an unarmed man, Adil Dghoughi, who had become lost on his way home in the middle of the night and had pulled into Turner’s driveway to use his...
Disgraced Detective Shatters the Life of a Buda Teen
Elmo and Eli Zapata at the family’s body shop in Lockhart, photographed in May 2024 by Ursula Rogers A little after 6 p.m. on May 30, 2022, several people were lounging by the pool at the Arba San Marcos apartment complex – among them, Hays County Sheriff’s Office...
Hip Hop Came to the Watermelon Thump Last Year – and Citta Tha FatMac Shined
Citta Tha FatMac (Quinton Carter) – who has produced three albums in six years; performed at SXSW; and opened for some of the most elite artists in the business such as Z-Ro, Chalie Boy, MO3, Boosie Badazz, and Rick Ross – entertains concert-goers at Spanish Trails...
The Past and Future of Juneteenth in Caldwell County
Departed Edna Roland, Clay Roland, Mae Terry Adams, Margaret Pansy, Mitchell Ward, and Roselind Roland gather in the St. John Colony community in 2023, as photographed by Ursula Rogers The best kept secret in Caldwell County is the Juneteenth celebration held a few...
Candidates for Hays County’s Newest JP Position Share Their Opinions
Amanda Calvert (left), currently the Administrative Felony Lead Supervisor in the Hays County District Attorney’s office, faces a run-off against J.R. Mendoza (right) for the seat of Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, Place 2 – a position to which Mendoza was appointed...
Did Lazy Policework Put Cyrus Gray and Devonte Amerson in Jail?
Editor’s note: The account of Justin’s murder and the investigation that followed have been reconstructed in witness testimony recorded in the transcripts of The State of Texas vs. Cyrus Lua Gray III. Although Justin Gage and Cyrus Gray’s friends were identified by...
Unearthing Tejano Heritage at Maxwell Hispanic Cemetery
Families met at Maxwell Hispanic Cemetery to clean up. Pictured: (front, L-R) Jeanette Ramos, Sandie Alvarez Hall, Linda Gonzales, Angie Gonzales & Lazaro Rocha, (back, L-R) Rob Hall & Robert Gonzales. Photo by Ursula Rogers In the western corner of Caldwell...
Local Politics of Marijuana: Reducing Police Interactions, Electing Democrats to County Seats
Mano Amiga Action participants rejoice at decisive triumph in Nov 2022 Could cannabis – long derided by critics as a drug that induces laziness – in fact be the largest catalyst of electoral politics in Caldwell and Hays counties the past few years? Evidence suggests...
Why We Should End Cash Bail in Hays County
Let’s start with this graph above, from the Hays County jail dashboard. This is a graph of people being held at the Hays County Jail. Notice that about 75% of the jail residents are awaiting trial. On average, they’re stuck in jail for about 2-3 months. ...