The State of Texas: Honoring my loved ones on día de los muertos

What Texas is talking about today No Images? [Click here]( [Talk Like a Texan podcast: Listen Now!]( [Texas Monthly]( November 12, 2018 QUOTE OF THE DAY "TODAY IS YOUR LAST DAY TO VOTE EARLY!" —Us, reminding you that today, Friday, November 2, is the last day of early voting in Texas. [Find your polling place]( and get out there. Civic duty, y'all. THE LATEST [Honoring My Loved Ones on Día de los Muertos]( CAT CARDENAS I’ve struggled to keep my grandma and aunt with me since their deaths. But this year, I decided to honor their memories—and show them my life as an adult—by making my first día de los muertos altar. [Read more.]( #TMWANDERS READER PHOTOS Caddo Lake (the Texas side, duh). Photograph by Hattie Hackler • [@]([hattiehackler_official]( We love seeing how our readers enjoy Texas. Want to join the fun? Tag your best Texas photos #TMwanders on Instagram, and we'll reach out if yours is chosen! We'll feature a new reader post here each Friday. QUIZ ANSWERS We’ll feature a news quiz every Thursday, with answers posted in Friday’s newsletter. Below are the answers for yesterday’s quiz: 1. Jeff Henry, the mastermind behind the Schlitterbahn waterslide that killed a boy in Kansas City, was hit this week with [an unrelated felony charge]( for drug possession with intent to distribute (and possessing paraphernalia related to) methamphetamine. 2. Sugar Land [may relocate the remains]( of 95 African American inmates against the advice of activist Reginald Moore. 3. The phrase "This race is as tight as the rusted lug nuts on a ’55 Ford” can be [attributed to]( Dan Rather. 4. Asian Americans, [the fastest growing minority group in the country](, could have a big impact on the Texas midterms. 5. Comedian Bill Hicks is [finally getting the biopic treatment](. His death was turned into a major plot point in Preacher, a nineties comic book. Look here every Thursday for our weekly news quiz—and check back on Friday for the answers! [Talk Like a Texan podcast: Listen Now!]( OUR TOP STORIES [Catfishing and Conspiracy in Groves]( A young city councilman’s Grindr photos were leaked, and he now faces a recall election. Was there a conspiracy to oust him, and did it come from inside City Hall? [Read more.]( [Texas Monthly Reader Poll: Beto O’Rourke Outpaces Ted Cruz Among Readers]( In our very unscientific poll, Texas Monthly readers chose Democrats over Republicans in all statewide contests. [Read more.]( [The Longhorns Might Not Like The S&P+ Ranking, But it Works]( The computer system ranking don’t like the Longhorns. Here’s why. [Read more.]( THE STATE OF TEXAS Hanging On U.S. Representative Steve King, of Iowa, was an early Ted Cruz supporter in the Texas Republican's last bid for president, eventually becoming the campaign's national co-chair. Now, Cruz [seems to be repaying that loyalty](. Years of what the Texas Tribune calls "incendiary and racially-charged comments" have come to a head recently as top GOP brass have condemned King. But Cruz hasn't distanced himself just yet. “I don’t know everything Steve has said," Cruz told the Dallas Morning News. "I think it’s disappointing to be saying and doing things that are dividing us, that are pulling us apart. I think we need to be finding ways to come together." King said that shortly after the DMN's piece published, Cruz called him to express support. Well, Dam! Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams [issued an emergency proclamation]( on Wednesday saying that the Prestonwood Lake Dam is in the early stages of failure due to erosion. The public is in no danger, but city officials warned that there could be possible roadway flooding downstream. Heavy rains on Wednesday and the discovery of the dam's erosion caused the city to post this ominous message on its website: ""It appears failure of the spillway may be imminent." The Comeback Andrew Jones, a guard for the University of Texas's basketball team, has [started practicing this season]( after being diagnosed with leukemia in January. Jones began treatment at MD Anderson, in Houston, shortly after his treatment and was released in February, with outpatient treatment concluding in August. He's still unsure if he'll play this season; he's recovering from a toe fracture he sustained last month. "Only the strong survive, and that's been something that I've lived by these last couple months," Jones said. "It's a choice whether if you want to just continue to go on and fight through adversity, or you can just sit there and let it take over you." Hook 'em, Andrew. LONGFORM [The Hero of the Sutherland Springs Shooting Is Still Reckoning with What Happened that Day]( MICHAEL J. MOONEY A year in the life of Stephen Willeford, who disrupted the mass murder in his small town’s First Baptist Church and became known as the ultimate good guy with a gun. [Read more.]( [From Cupcakes to Clean]( [F]([rom Cupcakes to Clean]( The Texas Optimism Project interviews Hey Cupcake! founder Wes Hurt about overcoming addiction, and how his recovery inspired Clean Cause, which aims to provide sustainable funding for others in recovery. [Read more]( [Talk Like a Texan podcast: Listen Now!]( MORE FROM TEXAS MONTHLY [Did Post Malone Deserve That Viral Takedown?]( DAN SOLOMON [Harris County Clerk Removes Soros Attack From Website After Accusations of Anti-Semitism]( MICHAEL HARDY [Talk Like a Texan: Let’s Chaw the Rag]( JOHN NOVA LOMAX [Subscribe to Texas Monthly today and save!]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Website]( Texas Monthly PO Box 1569 Austin, TX 78767 Texas Monthly has sent you this alert because you signed up to receive it either online at texasmonthly.com, at the website of one of our business partners, or when you filled out a reader response card. You may opt-out from Texas Monthly newsletters at any time. 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