San Antonians take to the streets earlier this year to protest Texas’ abortion ban. Credit: Jaime Monzon

San Antonio’s top news stories of 2023 were marked by big-city woes, including construction, crime and dangerous dogs. Meanwhile, the influence of a contentious session of the Texas Legislature and the state’s abortion ban also made their mark.

Here’s a look at the 10 most significant news stories affecting the Alamo City this year.

1. Dangerous dogs. This year marked the first San Antonio leaders fully acknowledged what many residents have been saying for years: the city has a problem with stray and dangerous dogs. A string of grisly maulings prompted City Council to approve a big budget increase for Animal Care Services so it can promptly respond to calls — something residents complain it’s failed to do.

2. Cruel abortion ban. The Texas Supreme Court rejected a lower court’s ruling that resident Kate Cox could end a terminal pregnancy that posed serious health risks. In doing so, it signaled that the lengths that GOP-controlled Texas is ready to go to enforce a ban that many consider cruel and extreme. Expect more court challenges to play out.

3. Never-ending construction. With multiple major construction projects going on at once, San Antonio residents found themselves unable to travel busy thoroughfares including Broadway, North St. Mary’s Street, North New Braunfels Ave. — to name just a few. Council approved funds to aid small businesses, but for many, that helping hand came too late.

4. The Spurs’ future. Wembymania broke out after the Spurs landed 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 NBA draft pick. At the same time, discussions percolated about building a pricey new stadium for the city’s sole professional sports team. Expect to see debates ensue about where it will be located and how much will be funded by taxpayers. And plenty of big — and familiar — promises about how much miraculous economic benefit such a facility will bring.

5. Republican infighting. Even though the GOP controls all the levers of power in Texas, it became clear all the party’s leaders aren’t on the same page, or even looking at the same goddamned book. A war between moderates and the growing extremist wing of the party broke out over the failure to remove disgraced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from office. Things only got worse after a top conservative lobbyist hosted a day-long meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

6. Police shootings. San Antonio police shot at least 21 people this year, the highest number recorded since at least 2015, according to data from the Texas Justice Initiative. In the cases of Melissa Perez, a woman suffering a mental health crisis at her apartment complex, and Erik Cantu, a teen parked outside a McDonald’s, those shootings resulted in indictments of the officers who pulled the trigger.

7. School closures. Stung by years of declining enrollments, school districts including San Antonio ISD enacted plans to shut down campuses they identified as underutilized. While advocates said the “rightsizing” moves are overdue, they proved controversial with parents and educators, who argue school consolidation will prove disruptive to students while yielding no educational improvements.

8. Change in county leadership. Nelson Wolff retired as county judge, a position he’d held for more than two decades, enabling Peter Sakai to take the position on Jan. 1, 2023. Since the transfer, we’ve seen a difference in styles between the two leaders and a contentious budget fight that it’s hard to imagine would have broken out under Wolff’s watch.

9. Hell no to vouchers. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott discovered the limits of his power after the Texas Legislature, controlled by his own party, rejected his repeated attempts to push through a school voucher bill. The measure was unpopular with both Democrats and rural Republicans, who view it a mechanism for robbing public schools so affluent Texans can have more money to send their kids to private campuses.

10. Public safety concerns. Tensions bubbled up between San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales after a string of shootings of police officers, including some committed by suspects out on bond. Residents’ crime concerns also played a key role in the ballot box defeat of a proposition that would have codified cite-and-release for petty crimes while decriminalizing cannabis and abortion.

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This article appears in Dec 27, 2023 – Jan 9, 2024.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...