Ethiopian Constitution day Worshippers celebrate Ethiopian Constitution Day on Saturday, July 16, 2022, at Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Columbus, Ohio. “We commemorate this day because God reveals himself to the sons of man, but we also commemorate this day as a reminder of what it means to be faithful even in the harshest of circumstances,” head pastor Dr. Moses Haregewoyn said during his sermon in reference to the ongoing civil war in Ethiopia.

Emmett Covington, 25, of Athens, Ohio, prepares to land a tatted up eggplant trick during Skate Jam’s deep end bowl competition on Saturday, August 27, 2022, in Athens, Ohio. Covington started skating in Athens at age seven and went on to win one of Skate Jam’s top prizes for the deep end bowl competition. 

Mercedes Bristol, 68, Executive Director of Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, right, brushes the hair of her youngest grandson, Paul Chavez, 12, right, before his mariachi concert in San Antonio on June 16, 2023. Bristol is the primary caretaker of her five grandchildren, including Chavez, who is the youngest. Bristol has taken care of Chavez since he was five years old. “Paul has attachment disorder, he’s really scared not to have anybody,” Bristol said. “He didn’t see his mother for 10 years until last year when I knew her addiction had gotten better… be doesn’t know anybody but me that’s been there.” Due to the value of her Bristol’s car being too high, even after a recent improvement in House Bill 1287, Bristol and her family are not eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits including food stamps starting Sept. 1. “We’re called the invisible foster care, the hidden foster care, nobody knows about this group of people that are raising grandchildren,” Bristol said. “If we die out, it’s just a moment, but if we stay persistent, we’ll see real change,” Bristol said. 

Pablo Zapato, 14, of Mission, climbs out of the water and up through a hole in the limestone at Upper McKinney Falls at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin on July 29, 2023. 

Southern Ohio Copperheads right fielder Trey Rucker (3) high fives teammates during a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League baseball game against the Sandusky Ice Haulers on Friday, July 22, 2022, at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens, Ohio. 

Debbie Hicks, Texas State Park Ranger, watches hundreds of bats emerge from Gorman Cave during a visit to survey the bat population at Colorado Bend State Park in Bend on July 13, 2023.

Lee Mackenzie, co-founder of the Austin Bat Refuge, holds a Mexican free-tailed bat in his hands inside their flight cage in Austin on July 14, 2023. 

Tourists watch on kayaks, paddle boards and boats as Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from their roost at the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin on July 28, 2023. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Congress Avenue Bridge hosts the largest urban bat colony in the world, estimated at 1.5 million bats. 

From left: Ava Moore, 18, Caleb Rapppolee, 17, Pera Taylor, 11, and Salaya Henderson, 11, volunteer gardeners, pick fresh onions at the Dewey Prairie Garden near Donie on July 29, 2023. The Dewey Prairie Garden is a pilot program that practices the final stages of NRG Jewett Mine’s environmental reclamation process that takes on average 12 years from start to finish. 

From left: Jonathan A. and Ricardo Berneus celebrate after passing a license-to-carry class with Central Texas Gun Works at the Lone Star Gun Range in Lockhart on Aug. 5, 2023. Jonathan only wanted to be identified by his first name. 

Omar Robbins, City of Galveston crew leader, sweats in the hot sun while laying concrete for a new sidewalk in Galveston on July 18, 2023. 

The Texas Capitol seen from a parking garage at sunrise on Tuesday, June 6, in Austin, Texas. 

Gov. Greg Abbott signs eight bills during a public safety bill-signing ceremony at the state capitol in Austin on June 6, 2023. Abbott was joined by bill writers, legislators, and sponsors. 

A DPS trooper works on his cruiser’s laptop during a traffic stop in southeast Austin on Aug. 7, 2023. 

Alfonso Lopez, 64, of San Antonio, sits with Paul Ramos, 56, of Austin, as DPS troopers patrol the corner of Montopolis Dr. And E. Riverside Dr. in southeast Austin on Aug. 7, 2023. Data from the Travis County attorney’s office shows that from March 27, when the city announced that troopers would begin patrolling Austin’s streets, to July 12, 82% of the people charged with misdemeanors by state troopers were Black or Latino. During that same period, 69% of misdemeanor charges filed by Austin police were against Black people or Latinos, who together make up 41% of the city’s population.

DPS troopers make a traffic stop in southeast Austin on Aug. 7, 2023. Data from the Travis County attorney’s office shows that from March 27, when the city announced that troopers would begin patrolling Austin’s streets, to July 12, 82% of the people charged with misdemeanors by state troopers were Black or Latino. During that same period, 69% of misdemeanor charges filed by Austin police were against Black people or Latinos, who together make up 41% of the city’s population.

Plaintiffs and lawyers are reflected on the windows while walking out of the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility following the first day of testimony for Zurawski v. State of Texas in Austin on July 19, 2023.

Samantha Casiano is comforted by her husband, Luis Fernando Villasana, following the first day of testimony for Zurawski v. State of Texas outside the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in Austin on July 19, 2023.

Mahoet Tesfay, 12, left, talks with Telina Biniam, 11, right, during an Ethiopian Constitution Day celebration on Saturday, July 16, 2022, at Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Columbus, Ohio. 

The General James M. Gavin Plant shares the skyline with a church and homes of few residents who have stayed in the village since the $20 million buyout by AEP in 2002, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Cheshire, Ohio.

A clean-up crew worker’s reflection in Sulphur Run on Saturday, Feb. 24, in East Palestine, Ohio. Following a Norfolk Southern train derailment and toxic chemical spill, the village of East Palestine, Ohio, was evacuated. On Feb. 3, a Norfolk Southern train derailed, spilling 20 cars’ worth of hazardous chemicals. The train wreck led to a controlled burn and the community evacuating their homes in the village, causing a ripple effect of health concerns, environmental disaster, and an ongoing fight for justice.

Rob Runnion visits one of his goats in his backyard on Saturday, Feb. 25, in East Palestine, Ohio. Runnion’s home relies on a private well for water, which had to be tested separately by the U.S. EPA following the environmental emergency caused by a Norfolk Southern train derailment.

Austin-Travis County EMS first responders take the temperature of Robert Shipp, 75, of Bastrop, inside an ambulance during a 102 degree summer day outside Austin Wrench A Part in Del Valle on July 7, 2023. According to the EMS crew and Shipp, he was seen passing out while searching for car parts under the hot sun, and hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water all day. Austin-Travis County EMS first responders take the temperature of Robert Shipp, 75, of Bastrop, inside an ambulance during a 102 degree summer day outside Austin Wrench A Part in Del Valle on July 7, 2023. According to the EMS crew and Shipp, he was seen passing out while searching for car parts under the hot sun, and hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water all day.

Austin-Travis County EMS first responders laugh with Robert Shipp, 75, of Bastrop, after he gets off the phone with his wife inside an ambulance during a 102 degree summer day outside Austin Wrench A Part in Del Valle on July 7, 2023. According to the EMS crew and Shipp, he was seen passing out while searching for car parts under the hot sun, and hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water all day. Shipp laughed with the EMS crew because his wife didn’t believe him when he initially called and said he was safe in the back of an ambulance.

Martin Capallera, 50, a construction employee, throws on his neon vest and slips on his neck gaiter after taking a break in his car while working in the late morning heat in Austin’s West Campus neighborhood on July 6, 2023. Capallera specializes in rewiring buildings and currently works on the 24th floor of a new building on W. 21st Street and San Antonio. “We try to keep our people safe,” Capallera said. “We’re all the time under the sun.” 

Juan Pedro Muñoz, 45, left, Johnny Barcenas, 24, center, and Juan Barcenas, 45, right, take a lunch break while working on renovating the floor of a home in Austin on July 7, 2023. “We’ve got breaks all day,” Muñoz said. “It’s still very hot and the guys need to drink water and everything.”

Sweat drips off the face of Jackson Maniradukunda, 20, right, while running sprints with James Ishimwe, 19, left, on the track in Yellow Jacked Stadium at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on June 28, 2023. 

James Ishimwe, 19, left, and Jose Aviles, 17, right, take breaks in between sprints while working out on the track in Yellow Jacked Stadium at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on June 28, 2023. 

Kono Austin, 61, of Hawaii, throws red snapper into baskets as his fellow fishermen and employees at Katie’s Seafood Market unload about 30,000 pounds of freshly caught red snapper from a five-day fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston on July 17, 2023. 

Charlie Miltner, an Athens resident and co-organizer of Skate Jam, shows off his painted nails during one of Skate Jam’s free skate sessions on Saturday, August 27, 2022, in Athens, Ohio. Looking back at the first year of Skate Jam, Miltner said, “Everyone wanted to be a part of it because it’s awesome.” 

Members and supporters of the National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, gather for a strike outside the Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin on June 27, 2023. 

Rain falls while Mdou Moctar performs at Nelsonville Music Festival’s Snow Fork Stage on Saturday, September 3, 2022, in Nelsonville, Ohio.