“Colonias” have become a defacto solution to the nation’s affordable housing crisis in Texas — with 500,000 Texans choosing to live in the impoverished, informal communities despite the deficiencies. Is their very presence a moral blot on a rich nation’s conscience? Or are they a defacto affordable housing solution that should be more formalized and regulated?
Read moreFive school shootings so far in 2018 have resulted in serious physical injury or death – including the fatal shooting of 17 students and teachers in Florida.
Read more
Three hundred years after the founding of a Spanish mission in San Antonio, Texans are grappling with post-statehood histories that put white male settlers front and center. A new generation of historians seeks a more diverse set of characters.
Read moreDemocrat Beto O’Rourke and Republican Will Hurd of Texas bonded over an unexpected hit road trip earlier this year. But as elections draw near, this bipartisan friendship may not be charming voters.
Read more
In the absence of broad federal support, state managers in Louisiana have had to go it alone in the quest to save the state’s eroding coastline.
Read more
While they are heartened to have a vocal advocate in the White House, eight officers interviewed by the Monitor say they see it as a minor benefit for a profession that is both intensely local and becoming increasingly complex.
Read moreFrom Texas to Florida to Illinois, many of these young prosecutors are eschewing the death penalty, talking rehabilitation as much as punishment, and often refusing to charge people for minor offenses. While their numbers are small, they are taking over DA offices at a crucial moment.
Read more
New Zealand is home to one of the highest proportions of threatened species in the world. Desperate to save its beloved wildlife, the archipelago nation is seizing on a drastic and controversial strategy: kill all the predators.
Read more
The Los Angeles River and Washington’s Anacostia River could become tests of how well communities can balance new development with opportunities for longstanding residents.
Read moreAmerica has a history of funding basic science at the federal level, on the notion that it pays off for society. The Trump budget challenges that view – including on climate research.
Read more