In the town of Somerville, Texas, a medical horror story is unfolding that could become one of the most chilling ever told. For decades, residents of this small community northwest of Houston have been exposed to dramatically high levels of arsenic, dioxins and other cancer-causing chemicals, apparently thanks to a plant that uses the toxic gumbo to treat railroad cross-ties. Today, our reporter has learned, these contaminants exist at levels higher than those found at the infamous Love Canal landfill in New York State. As a result, a place once known mainly as the nation's chief source of railroad ties may become known for something far more sinister: the largest cancer cluster ever recorded. This week we recommend, "Toxic Town," by Houston Press investigative reporter Todd Spivak.

The recent arrests of Phoenix New Times founders and owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin for writing about an illegal grand jury probe of New Times sparked public outrage in Arizona. And whether you live in Arizona or not, you'll find plenty to be angry about in New Times' latest story about the ongoing abuse of power by county attorney Andrew Thomas and county sheriff Joe Arpaio. Thomas and his hired gun, former special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik, not only arrested Lacey and Larkin but schemed to bankrupt the paper via outrageous fines. And this week, as part of New Times' ongoing coverage of the county's dysfunction, staff writer Paul Rubin reveals just how badly Thomas has antagonized local judges--including his remarkable demand that all county jurists recuse themselves from cases involving undocumented immigrants because the judges are too soft on Mexican banditos.