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McCollege: As Dallas College Consolidates Its Campuses, Some See Crisis

By Simone Carter
Apr 20, 2022

Dallas College has consolidated its seven formerly independent campuses into a single-school structure. Not everyone is happy.
Thicker Than Water: The Re-Rebirth of Midlake

By Vincent Arrieta
Mar 2, 2022

On a chilly January day in their hometown of Denton, the members of beloved folk-rock outfit Midlake are having a spirited discussion about bagels.
A Rough Road to Texas House: On the Campaign Trail of Capitol Riot Defendant Mark Middleton

By Patrick Strickland
Feb 23, 2022

At first glance, Sneaky Pete’s wouldn’t strike you as the kind of place where someone vying for your vote would pitch their political campaign. On the shore of Lewisville Lake, it’s a spot where people can grab a cold beer and a greasy burger after a long day on the water...
Frozen in Place: How Winter Storms Push Texas Jails and Prisons to the Brink

By Tyler Hicks
Feb 8, 2022

When Jerome Van Zandt was booked into Harris County Jail in November 2020, he was optimistic. “There’s no way I’ll be here more than three months,” he told himself. A Navy veteran with 20 years of service, he had been caught with less than a gram of crack cocaine and...
Lynetta Washington Was Killed During a Street Takeover. Her Family is Still Searching For the Killer

By Jacob Vaughn
Jan 18, 2022

The Dallas Police Department maintains that the shooting was an accident and that no one meant to kill Lynetta Washington. Her family still thinks otherwise and is determined to get justice.
A Gunman Killed 23 People at a Luby's in Killeen 30 Years Ago. It Changed Texas Forever.

By Tyler Hicks
Jan 11, 2022

The man and his weapons were both from out of town. That’s one of the first things many Killeen residents, both past and present, will remind you: He wasn’t one of them. George Hennard was from Pennsylvania, and he was living in Belton, a city about 25 minutes away from...
Where Have All the Busboys Gone?

By Kristina Rowe
Dec 22, 2021

For former sous chef David Gibson, last Christmas was a good one, considering what he’d endured in the months leading up to it. After 15 years of work in the service industry ...
The Observer Picks: The News Desk's Top Five Long Reads of 2021

By Observer Staff Writers
Dec 14, 2021

The Dallas Observer looks at its top five longform stories from 2021.
Reefer Madness: Compassionate Use Laws Leave Some Texans Out

By Christian McPhate
Nov 30, 2021

Peggy had just left the hospital when she went to visit her cannabis dealer in Denton. A retail cashier in her mid-60s, she was struggling to pay her bills and buy the drugs prescribed to treat an inoperable brain tumor. She needed the cannabis to give her an appetite when...
In Texas Jails, Some People End Up ‘Lost in the System’ for Months or More

By Tyler Hicks
Nov 23, 2021

Finis Prendergast passed nearly three years in what he calls “the depths of hell.” Some days were spent “literally starv ing on the floor.” At other times, his surroundings became so rancid Prendergast could barely breathe. “The air smells like urine,” he told Vice in February. “I think they counted...
In Bid for Governor’s Mansion, Allen West Will Have to Win Over the Texas GOP

By Simone Carter
Nov 10, 2021

The Army requires its soldiers to take up running, and despite needing a pacemaker, the 60-year-old retired lieutenant colonel has retained the habit. In the mornings, Allen West gets up by 5:30 and pounds the pavement for 4 miles, sometimes longer. The Republican politician says it’s during these times that...
Lemmon Lake Was To Be the White Rock Lake of Southern Dallas. Now, Nature's Reclaiming It.

By Jacob Vaughn
Oct 12, 2021

Over the decades, Dallas has gone through periods of high hope for Lemmon Lake. But since the levee broke, the area has turned into a wet meadow and nature has begun to reclaim it.
A Texas Man Begged for Mental Health Help. Instead, He Ended Up in Jail Time and Again.

By Michael Murney
Sep 22, 2021

On a balmy evening last November in Tyler, Enus Lewis finally came undone. After dark, Lewis left his mother’s house and staggered into oncoming traffic on the busiest road he could find, hoping an oncoming car would kill him. Months of battling a tidal wave of grief had sharpened Lewis’...
Dallas Journalist Barrett Brown Went to the U.K. Now, He Wants Asylum.

By Simone Carter
Sep 15, 2021

To a great extent, Barrett Brown is fueled by cheap tobacco and vengeance. The embattled journalist wants to inflict as much damage as possible on America, and recently, he’s broadened his scope to include the United Kingdom. There, Brown is attempting to claim asylum, largely because he says he’s been...
Wrongly Deported as a Teen, Jakadrien Turner Speaks Out About the Lawyer Who Defended Her

By Christian McPhate
Sep 7, 2021

Jakadrien Turner had survived a lot. In early January 2012, at 15 years old, she made her first appearance on CNN. Turner wore a denim jacket and her blondish-brown curls beneath a dark hat as she walked through the DFW airport with her mother, Johnisa Turner, and grandmother Lorene Turner...
Fighting the Marvin Nichols Reservoir Could Take Lifetimes

By Jacob Vaughn
Aug 10, 2021

The fight against the Marvin Nichols Reservoir is one Northeast Texas residents have had to instill in their kids. It's been going on for decades and shows no signs of stopping.
Searching for Psychic Ann: One Man's Fight Against a Shadowy Group of Grifters

By Jacob Vaughn
Jun 16, 2021

Desperate and looking for guidance, a California man reached out to a psychic. It ended up costing him $90,000.
'The Foot Soldiers': A Neo-Nazi Skinhead Gang Terrorized Dallas in the Late 1980s

By Patrick Strickland
Jun 9, 2021

In the late 1980s, a Dallas-based skinhead group known as the Confederate Hammerskins attacked people of color, rival skinheads and places of worship around town.
Texas Nationalists See Secession Looming. Does Anyone Else?

By Patrick Strickland
Apr 21, 2021

State Rep. Kyle Biedermann filed a bill to allow Texans to vote on independence from the U.S. The Texas Nationalist Movement sees an opportunity to push secession.
How Collin College Became the Center of a Months-Long Free Speech Debacle

By Simone Carter
Apr 14, 2021

A handful of teachers spoke out against Collin College over COVID-19 and free speech disputes. In response, the school fired several female professors.
As Doctors Decry Gun Violence, Texas Republicans Push Lax Restrictions

By Simone Carter and Patrick Strickland
Apr 7, 2021

When Dr. Sue Bornstein called for gun policy reform, she quickly attracted backlash from guns rights advocates, including the NRA.
In Small-Town North Texas, Some Confederate Monuments Still Stand Tall

By Patrick Strickland
Mar 2, 2021

While Confederate monuments are coming down in larger cities, they still stand tall in many small towns across North Texas.