Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Nirenberg’s choice

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I know what I’m rooting for. Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg is mulling his political future, even as he’s adjusting to his new day job — lecturing Trinity University students on communications. The two main paths he is considering are Bexar … Continue reading →

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The redistricting litigation strategy

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s what we’ve got. Outgunned in the national redistricting war, Democrats are launching a multipronged legal battle to try and prevent GOP gains ahead of next year’s midterms. It stands to be a grueling, lengthy and costly process for Democrats … Continue reading →

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More on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Insecure man makes defensive response to fair questions about his wild idea. Film at 11. Billionaire Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investigation by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel … Continue reading →

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A pair of CD18 polls

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I am just passing these along out of curiosity. Special election polling is very tricky since you just don’t know what the electorate will look like. These are internal campaign polls, which are always inherently suspect. Nobody is particularly visible … Continue reading →

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Some uses of police overtime are more sensible than others

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. As thousands of protesters gathered at Houston City Hall earlier this year during the No Kings protest against President Donald Trump’s multimillion-dollar military parade, Houston police leaders spent more than $102,000 on police overtime … Continue reading →

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A brief gondola check-in

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

California dreamin’. Internal emails, contracts, and PowerPoint presentations obtained by The Anaheim Investigator through the public records act reveal city planners are exploring the option of constructing an aerial gondola system to connect the Platinum Triangle with the Anaheim Resort in preparation for the 2028 Summer … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 14

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“We’re not just talking about soap and water here. The best way to be clean online is to turn your daily wash into an endless assembly line of products that you can show off as part of a collection.” “This … Continue reading →

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A brief note about another poll

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Public Opinion Research: Hey y’all, welcome back! In today’s TPOR installment, we’re diving into the findings from our latest poll on the 2026 Senate race—tracking voter preferences in a hypothetical Democratic primary, and examining the state of play … Continue reading →

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Some reactions to the THC executive order

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron is not impressed. By issuing an executive order banning THC products for minors, Gov. Greg Abbott ensured nobody would be fully satisfied. When crafting legislation, that’s often a good thing. Compromise, by definition, means both sides don’t get everything they … Continue reading →

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Say “no” to AI music

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. When pop groups and rock bands practice or perform, they rely on their guitars, keyboards and drumsticks to make music. Oliver McCann, a British AI music creator who goes by the stage name imoliver, fires up his chatbot. McCann’s … Continue reading →

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A brief note about a poll

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This poll. Only one-third of Texas voters approve of the GOP-led effort to redraw the state’s congressional map, according to a recent statewide poll, which found that independent and Democratic voters overwhelmingly opposed the mid-decade redistricting and would rather give … Continue reading →

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Paxton drops one gender affirming care lawsuit

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good, and bad at the same time. One of the nation’s first doctors accused of illegally providing care to transgender youth under GOP-led bans was found to have not violated the law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says, nearly a year … Continue reading →

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THC vape pens are now illegal

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

For those who need to know. Vapes containing THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 [are now] illegal to sell in Texas […] under a law passed earlier this year. Senate Bill 2024, while narrower than efforts to outlaw all … Continue reading →

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Let’s find a Democrat for CD35

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve gotta compete in these redrawn districts. While a number of Republicans are eyeing [the redrawn CD35] — in addition to the Texas GOP’s preferred candidate — Democrats have been slow to line up for the open seat. But San … Continue reading →

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Zoox to begin its robotaxi service

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Today Las Vegas, sometime later Austin and other cities. Five years after its splashy $1.3 billion acquisition of Zoox, Amazon has officially entered the U.S. robotaxi race, which to date has been dominated by Alphabet’s Waymo. Zoox’s first public launch … Continue reading →

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Abbott bans THC for those under 21

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Why didn’t we just do this first? THC products will remain largely legal in Texas, but will be banned for minors and current regulations further enforced under a new executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott on Wednesday directed the … Continue reading →

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Less funding for homelessness means more homeless

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just math. An annual survey of the homeless population in the Houston area suggested that the region — which has attracted international attention for its ability to reduce homelessness — is at an inflection point. As the emergency funding … Continue reading →

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The Summer Willis Act

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Too much of what we got from the Legislature this year was garbage. Wingnut Republican priorities are the only things that really matter to them, and we got a lot of it. But some decent things made it through, and … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 8

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is always glad to see a legislative session end as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Talarico’s announcement

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And we’re off. Texas Rep. James Talarico launched his bid for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, promising in an interview to bring honesty and compassion back to politics, while pursuing a fairer distribution of wealth and power in the country. “It’s … Continue reading →

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HISD still has a teacher turnover problem

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Doesn’t seem to be going away. Across Texas, 1 in 6 teachers didn’t return to teach in 2024-25. In Houston ISD, it was nearly 1 of 3. The state’s largest school district had a turnover rate of 32.2% compared with … Continue reading →

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More indictments against Maria Rojas

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Remember to wait until her lawyers get a chance to respond before making any inferences about this. The Texas midwife who earlier this year became the first person charged under the state law banning people from performing abortions is now charged with 15 … Continue reading →

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NY AG to intervene in Carpenter case

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Raising the stakes. New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday said she will intervene in a legal fight over Texas’ ban on abortion pills, escalating a national showdown between states that have restricted abortion access and others that are … Continue reading →

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Let’s unseal those divorce records

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, please. As you might recall, Texas Attorney General (and noted pen pilferer) Ken Paxton and state Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) are getting divorced after 38 years of marriage. Angela Paxton announced on X.com in early July that she initiated the divorce “on … Continue reading →

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Another look at Waymo’s robotaxi approach versus Tesla’s

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good long analysis here. A month after Tesla launched a trial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June for select fans, CEO Elon Musk told investors that the company’s driverless taxis would likely be available to “half the population of … Continue reading →

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Interview with Vincent Sanders

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, there is a hearing scheduled to begin October 1 in federal court to hear arguments about the new Congressional map. The original group of plaintiffs against the current map, whose trial was finally heard in May, subsequently … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over ban on lab-grown meat

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating. Two cultivated meat companies have filed a lawsuit against officials in Texas over the law that bans the sales of lab-grown meat in the state for two years. California-based companies UPSIDE Foods, which makes cultivated chicken, and Wildtype, which … Continue reading →

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The WPBL holds a tryout

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Another step forward for professional women’s baseball in the US. That future began to actualize over a whirlwind weekend in Washington, where more than 600 women from 10 countries arrived for open tryouts ahead of the WPBL’s inaugural season next … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 7

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“This isn’t a debate about vaccine safety— researchers take that seriously and study it continuously. This is a coordinated campaign to undermine evidence-based medicine itself. When the nation’s top health official calls for retracting peer-reviewed research (a recent Danish study … Continue reading →

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Talarico says he’s in for Senate

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go. Texas Rep. James Talarico will announce Tuesday he’s jumping into the race for U.S. Senate, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss them. Politico and CNN reported the plan earlier Friday. … Continue reading →

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The latest abortion news

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll start here. The Texas Senate passed new bounty hunter-style abortion legislation Wednesday night to quash mailed abortion pills, targeting a method that has slipped through the cracks of abortion bans and contributed to the slight rise in the total number of … Continue reading →

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State GOP sues to force closed primaries

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I have no idea how this might work. The Republican Party of Texas filed a lawsuit against Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson on Thursday in a bid to restrict participation in the GOP’s primary elections to only voters registered … Continue reading →

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The CD18 lineup

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Wednesday was also the filing deadline for the CD18 special election. Amanda Edwards has a photo of the SOS proclamation that includes a listing of the candidates and their parties. This Community Impact story also has the lineup and campaign … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against anti-student protest bill

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is the time in the calendar when bills from the last legislative session that are now in effect get sued for various reasons. This one is particularly head-scratching. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued the University of … Continue reading →

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