Leslie Rangel, a first generation daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, is former deputy managing editor for The Barbed Wire. Her award-winning journalism is focused on issues of health, mental wellness, race, gender and social justice.
News
UPDATE: The Republican-led Texas House voted 85-6 to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state to break quorum and were not at the Capitol when the chamber gaveled in at 3 p.m. Monday, The Texas Tribune reported. To be clear, the
News
Forty-eight-year-old Katherine Howe let memories of the summer of ‘87 rush back to her on Friday. As the world woke up to the news of missing girls who’d been swept away from their summer camp cabins in violent flood waters on July 4, Howe was transported
Immigration
While federal authorities crack down on immigration across the country, Texas has emerged as an epicenter, as federal officials snatch up immigrants and protesters organize in response. Across the state in the past month, ICE has detained a mother of five outside of a San Antonio immigration court. Outside an
Health
Texas lawmakers finalized a bill to walk back parts of the state’s abortion ban this week, because, surprise, surprise, it turns out that abortion care is healthcare. The bill, sent to the governor on Tuesday, is intended to give Texans a slightly lesser chance of dying during pregnancy or
Culture
What does the Met Gala 2025 have to do with Texas? And why should we care about Texans at the Met Gala and designer fashion that costs more than your entire car payment, while we’re struggling with trying to keep pregnant Texans alive, our health departments and public schools
Health
UPDATE: May 21, 2025 The so-called “life of the mother” act to “clarify” medical emergencies that constitute exemptions under the laws, SB 31, easily passed the Texas House and will soon be on it's way to the Governor’s desk. Once the Governor has signed the law,
Culture
Thanks to Beyoncé, now the rest of the world knows what it really means to be Texan and country. We know some outsiders looking into our state think that we’re all a bunch of racist, transphobic, ignorant people, but Beyoncé (intentionally or not) is using Cowboy Carter to show
Health
This week I’m celebrating seven years married to my husband and we still have no children. We’re happily married and very much enjoy not having parenting responsibilities, but it’s a part of life that we both want. We thought for sure by now, in our mid 30s,
Culture
If you’re like us and couldn't stop watching “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” on Netflix last summer and are counting down the minutes for Season 2 dates to drop, you’re in luck: Tiktok has got you covered. Auditions haven’t started, but already DCC prep
Health
“I’m terrified. Trying to start a family with my hubby and our first pregnancy was ectopic,” one user on threads wrote. “I'm a Black woman in TX where it's being shown that these health professionals don't & won't give af about
Culture
If you were tasked with summing up the history of Houston music into only two minutes of a track, how would you do it? Or would you find it impossible, given the rich history of iconic Houston artists? Bombón, a DJ music collective co-founded by Gracie Chavez and Alex
Health
UPDATE, March 18, 2025: A Houston-area medical assistant and nurse practitioner were also arrested in connection to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s arrests targeting abortion providers. Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, a 29-year-old medical assistant, was arrested for allegedly helping Maria Margarita Rojas perform what Paxton called