
February 2015 Issue
Features


Ranch Blessing
How the sale of the Powderhorn Ranch is the greatest thing to have happened for Texas.




My Brother’s Secret
Growing up in my family, there were things you just didn’t talk about. Like feelings. Or sex. Or dying from AIDS.

The Reformer
Texas’s criminal justice system has seen some staggering changes in the past decade. Thank Cathy Cochran.

Columns

The Texanist: How Can I Get My Girlfriend to Live With the Smell of Smoke From a Nearby Barbecue Joint?
Our estimable advice columnist on buildin’ a fire pit, dressin’ like an oilman, plannin’ a destination wedding (or not), and lettin’ go of a non-barbecue-lovin’ woman.

The Fight of His Life
Half a century ago, Terry Daniels was an SMU undergrad majoring in political science who had taken an interest in boxing. Then he found himself in the ring with the heavyweight champion of the world.

Cadillac Dreams
When an oil well on Joe Bowers’s Panhandle property came in, he knew just what he wanted to buy.

This Time It’ll Be Different
Plummeting prices. Industry layoffs. Panicked mergers. Are we about to experience the eighties all over again?

Through the Looking Glass
How Erica Grieder learned to stop worrying and look forward to the Eighty-fourth Legislature.
Reporter

Last Man Standing
Despite all the exits and entrances around him, House speaker Joe Straus plans on staying right where he is.

Meanwhile, in Texas . . .
Some crazy stuff went down in the past thirty days. Here are a handful of headlines you may have missed.
The Checklist
What to hear, read, and watch this month to achieve maximum Texas cultural literacy.



Justice Was Overserved
After DWI charges against Justice Nora Longoria, of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, were dismissed, outraged Hidalgo County Republicans pointed out that Longoria and the district attorney and district court judge who decided to let her off are all Democrats—and a police dash-cam video that showed her bombing her field sobriety test went viral.



Death and Twitter
In Reynosa, a brave and conflicted group of social media users goes where journalists fear to tread.
Touts




What the Hay?
Yes, a key ingredient at Austin’s Gardner usually comes in the form of a bale. But you wouldn’t want to squander these astonishing dishes on a horse.
