Critics Say CenterPoint CEO’s “Relationship” Influenced $818M Deal For Generators
Were the leases unfairly awarded because of an unspecified personal connection between the utility’s leader and a Life Cycle Power employee?
Sasha von Oldershausen joined Texas Monthly in 2023 to contribute reporting to its news and politics desk. Before that, she worked for several years as a freelancer, regularly writing stories for the New York Times, where she also worked as a stringer for its Metro desk. Her words have also appeared in the Atlantic, Harper’s, the Believer, the Oxford American, and the Paris Review. Originally from New York City, she moved to the small town of Presidio on the Texas-Mexico border in 2014 to write for the Big Bend Sentinel, a local newspaper for which her reporting earned her several awards through the Texas Press Association. After transitioning into freelance work, she remained on the border through 2017 and focused her reporting on immigration, border security, and rural issues, writing for a number of national and regional publications, including Texas Monthly. With her background in local news, she often notices the ways in which seemingly small stories can resonate on a much bigger scale. An Iranian American and the daughter of immigrants, she has a vested interest in Iranian culture and is drawn to issues impacting immigrant populations.
Were the leases unfairly awarded because of an unspecified personal connection between the utility’s leader and a Life Cycle Power employee?
In the Permian Basin, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are setting up huge data centers. Most locals are welcoming, but many are confused.
The technology that makes indoors comfortable is helping make the outdoors less so. But can we survive without it?
One of Texas’s most pristine and isolated waterways is about to become a lot more accessible. And not everyone is happy about it.
This former Austin firefighter found his calling delivering hangover cures and vitamin infusions in the Texas capital.
As told to Sasha von Oldershausen
The bankrupt Infowars host is the latest colorful character to stake out a place in the desert outpost of Terlingua.
An Indigenous man couldn’t understand the court proceedings when he was charged with a crime in Texas. He was sentenced anyway.
When provoked, it springs off its hind legs like a tiny Simone Biles.
After the active duty airman self-immolated as an act of protest against the violence in Gaza, friends of Bushnell from the San Antonio church he attended remember someone who “loved hard and loved quickly.”
Donald Trump and Joe Biden cruised to victory, the Democrats chose Colin Allred to challenge Ted Cruz, and Dade Phelan is heading to a runoff.
El Pasoan Iliana Sosa, who directed a border-themed episode of the HBO documentary trilogy, speaks with Texas Monthly about the unique challenges of capturing “in-betweenness.”
Last week, the novel use of AI technology to suppress Democratic voter turnout prompted investigations by federal and New Hampshire officials. The Texas company under scrutiny has a colorful history.
A nonprofit forges one-on-one relationships with vulnerable first-time mothers to combat a maternal mortality crisis.
The small border town once again finds itself at the center of a performance that’s less about immigration control than political posturing.
Governor Greg Abbott said ERCOT performed “flawlessly." But there were several factors at play.
When a mare illegally crossed the border into Big Bend National Park in search of greener pastures, Facebook users rallied to bring her back to her owner in Mexico. Park officials think they’re missing the point.
A suspicious man brandished a shotgun in an Austin park—then in New York. The responses of the two police departments were markedly different.
Residents of El Paso and Sunland Park, New Mexico, agree illegal immigration is a problem, but the Texas governor’s newest effort is little more than a PR stunt.
A veteran of many Sunset Limited trips to Alpine finally indulges in a private room and finds a lot to love. Especially the French toast.
Karen Ramirez traverses vast Brewster County—a territory bigger than Connecticut—so her patients can finish their days at home.
Delays in dispatching the alert system mean that some children fall between the cracks.
Will tequila and trucks get more expensive? Will exports of chemicals and plastics to Mexico boom? What will happen to immigration?
I recently had a terrifying run-in with one in a West Texas stock tank.
The disorder is commonly associated with the colder months, but studies show that excessive heat also impacts our mental health
After Governor Greg Abbott signed a law blocking gender-affirming care for minors, some have fled the state. Others have no choice but to stay.
Austin nurses walked out of Ascension Seton Medical Center to protest staffing and retention issues, saying their patients are not safe.
Two high-profile workplace complaints made headlines at the Capitol this year, but insiders say others against Houston representative Shawn Thierry have been ignored.
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.
Scientists have figured out how to grow meat in a lab. Cattle farmers insist it’s not the real thing.
A Rice University bioengineer’s mini “drug factories” could save thousands of lives.
Menstrual products are subject to a sales tax, and Democrat Donna Howard has tried to change that since 2017. With support from powerful Republicans, this could be the year.
Taking a cue from authoritarian leaders, state representative Bryan Slaton has proposed property tax relief for some large families. White, straight, property-owning couples would be the primary beneficiaries.
Briscoe Cain wants all Texans to have the right to gather eggs in their backyards, local ordinances be damned.
Asian Americans across the state are rallying against the legislation, saying it’s racially motivated and could have unintended consequences for the Texas economy.
For years, Austinite Leyla Shams worked to keep politics out of her language classes. But as the uprising in Iran continues, she’s no longer staying silent.
At a recent expo in Houston, innovators claimed they can spare us a global catastrophe—and make billions in the process.
The quiet border town hosts amateur drag races at the Presidio International Raceway, featuring anything from souped-up muscle cars to pickup trucks.
Surveillance is part of daily life on the border. But how much do the people watching us know? What do they see? And how much of our privacy are we willing to sacrifice in the name of security?
Welcome to the Texas border, home of the two busiest federal court districts in the nation.
A look inside of Presidio County's time in the national spotlight after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death.