The State of Texas: Should the Lege make UT and A&M renew their rivalry?

What Texas is talking about today No Images? [Click here]( [Texas Optimism Project: Rachel Lindsay]( [Texas Monthly]( November 29, 2018 QUOTE OF THE DAY "If there's something to cover up, I'm sure I'll find it. If it leads to the Vatican, I'll be headed to Rome." —Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon to the Houston Chronicle. On Wednesday, state and local law enforcement descended on the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston's office to [seize records]( related to Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, a priest accused of sexually abusing at least two children who attended a Conroe church. THE LATEST [Should the Law Require UT and Texas A&M to Renew Their Rivalry?]( DAN SOLOMON There’s a history of state legislatures intervening in intrastate football rivalries. [Read more.]( QUIZ 1. In the last election that will allow it, __________ of Texas voters cast a [straight-party ballot](. 2. Last month some serious drama unfolded at the Corpus Christi City Hall: a cake for __________ was [cut before she or others]( had the chance to see it. 3. Andrew Knowlton, host of Netflix's The Final Table, is [part of a team]( that just opened the Carpenter, a __________, in Austin. 4. If the Texans make the playoffs, they will be the first team since __________ in 1998 to start 0-3 and make it to the postseason. 5. Beto O'Rourke made his [first public appearance]( after losing his U.S. Senate race at __________ in downtown El Paso. Look here every Thursday for our weekly news quiz—and check back on Friday for the answers! [Texas Optimism Project: Rachel Lindsay]( OUR TOP STORIES [Our 2018 Holiday Gift Guide]( We’ve rounded up fifty items for the style setters, food lovers, outdoor adventurers, kids, and more in your life. [Read More]( [Rejino Barbeque Is a Testament to Hard Work in Small-Town West Texas]( Aaron and Christina Rejino put everything on the line for their Olton food truck, and their passion pays off in delicious food. [Read More]( [The Corpus Christi City Council Cake Caper]( Last month, a city council candidate stuck his finger in a rival’s celebratory cake. Two weeks later, she got a new one. So much else has happened. [Read More]( THE STATE OF TEXAS Lost Appeal A Grand Prairie mother of four who was sentenced to eight years in prison for illegal voting in 2017 [lost her appeal last week](. Rosa Maria Ortega, a green card holder who was born in Mexico and brought to the U.S. as an infant, says that she believed she had the right to vote, and that when she checked that she was a citizen on voter registration forms she did not think she was being untruthful. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the Second Court of Appeals' decision to uphold her conviction. “This case underscores the importance that Texans place on the institution of voting, and the hallowed principle that every citizen’s vote must count,” Paxton said. “We will hold those accountable who falsely claim eligibility and purposely subvert the election process in Texas.” Uninsured In 2017, the number of [uninsured children in Texas grew](, keeping the state at the very bottom of the barrel for rates of insured children. A study released by Georgetown University shows that in 2016, the rate of uninsured Texas children was at 9.8 percent. In 2017, the number had gone up to 10.7 percent—that's 835,000 children who don't have health insurance. The report also notes that one in five uninsured children in the United States lives in Texas. For the first time in a decade, the U.S. as a whole saw a rise in the number of uninsured children, from 4.7 percent in 2016 to 5 percent in 2017. Bad Teachers . . . and here's another bummer area of growth: teacher misconduct cases [are on the rise in Texas]( for the tenth consecutive year. In the fiscal year that ended September 1, the Texas Education Agency opened 429 cases of improper relationships—a 42 percent increase from last year. But Doug Phillips, the agency's head of teacher investigations, says that much of the jump has to do with a new law that expands reporting requirements and increases penalties for those who don't report. “The number of reports definitely went up since Senate Bill 7, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Phillips told the Austin American-Statesman. “I don’t know if we can say for sure, but my feeling is that . . . we’re just getting a lot more reports that maybe would not have been reported in the past.” THE CULTURE [The Expectations and Realities of Six-Man Football in Small-Town Texas]( JEFF MILLER On the football field, one team went from six to twelve. Another went from eleven to six. And both faced challenges they didn’t expect. [Read more.]( [Stay Roped in with Rodeo Report]( [Stay Roped in with Rodeo Report]( Get an inside look into the high-intensity world that combines talented athletes with horses and livestock, steep competition, old-school traditions, and family fun. Rodeo Report’s coverage from the PRCA circuit includes competitor updates, performance analysis, and behind-the-scenes stories of triumphs, challenges, injuries, and rerides.Read More]( [Texas Optimism Project: Rachel Lindsay]( MORE FROM TEXAS MONTHLY [Barack Obama and James Baker Show Houston Crowd the Art of a Bipartisan Discussion]( MICHAEL HARDY [At Embers Barbecue, Green Chile Steals the Show]( DANIEL VAUGHN [Here’s How Trump’s Border Wall Could Affect Ecotourism in the Rio Grande Valley]( JASON HEID [Give the gift of Texas Monthly.]( [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. Please see our Privacy Policy. If you would like to manage which Texas Monthly Editorial newsletters you are receiving, click Preferences, below. To unsubscribe from our Editorial newsletters, click Unsubscribe. [Like]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](