Brian is founding member of The Barbed Wire team. A longtime Texas journalist, he has written for the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Monthly, and more. He was also a writer and producer at Rooster Teeth.
Hey y'all, it's Brian Gaar with The Barbed Wire. And good morning to everyone who woke up wondering: Can I still buy weed? Is my salad trying to kill me? Is the power grid about to be eaten by AI? Is Ken Paxton actually losing? And
The AG walked out of his own press conference. Plus: new witness statements challenge ICE's account of a Houston shooting, and Canada quarantines Texas livestock.
Paxton's own voting address is under scrutiny, the Bible's headed to Texas classrooms, ICE kills a man in Houston, Democrats float $1,500 checks — and flesh-eating flies enter the feral-hog debate.
Howdy y’all, it’s Brian Gaar with The Barbed Wire. Welcome back to Texas, which continues to be the only state capable of producing all of these headlines at the same time. Nearly a year after the deadly Hill Country floods, Camp Mystic is filing for bankruptcy, and the
Democrats think they might finally flip Texas, state officials are fighting over flesh-eating worms, hemp retailers are once again trying to determine whether their businesses exist in a legal dimension, and Texas Tech is embroiled in a controversy.
This week’s stories are about the Texans who built communities, whether that meant opening Black-owned bookstores during a racial reckoning or organizing queer mutual aid in Dallas, decades before Stonewall.
Donald Trump has officially endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, bucking his party's mainstream donors and siding with the MAGA favorite in the May 26 Republican runoff. In a statement roughly the length of a Russian novel, Trump praised Paxton as an “America First
EXCLUSIVE It was 6 p.m. in downtown Austin. Traffic was humming, and responsible adults were bustling, which is to say it was absolutely the wrong time to eat Whataburger. Whataburger is 2 a.m. food. Eating it while the sun is still up feels like seeing a teacher at
Texas is about to Thanos-snap a big chunk of what’s sitting on hemp shop shelves. Thanks to a rules shift taking effect on Tuesday, products that were legal yesterday are suddenly failing the test, sending retailers and THC fans into a tailspin. The Texas Department of State Health
Get ready for John Cornyn vs. Ken Paxton: The Sequel Nobody Asked For. After nearly $95 million in attack ads, divorce drama and enough Republican infighting to require protective year, Texas voters have generously decided we all get to do this again in May. Yes, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn
It was the ‘80s, and I was a kid who had trouble sleeping. In the wee small hours of the morning, there was one station that remained on the air: PBS. Watching on my black-and-white TV with a screen no bigger than a deck of cards, I remember
We’ve got an update on the Texas inmate who was thrown in solitary confinement after her daughter raised money to help a sick cat (yes, really): She’s finally back in regular housing. Texas prison officials confirmed that Sonya Reed, 53, is no longer in administrative segregation, which is