Monthly Archives: December 2014

San Antonio special legislative elections appear to be set

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Rumor has it. State Rep. Mike Villarreal said Friday that Gov. Rick Perry has set Jan. 6 as the date for a special election to fill his position in the state House and a Senate seat being vacated by Leticia … Continue reading →

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Buc-ee’s wins logo legal challenge

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t mess with the beaver. A lawsuit between two beaver-loving Texas-based businesses was dismissed before it even reached the courtroom, with the bigger company coming out victorious and the other left logo-less. Back in early July the lawyers for popular … Continue reading →

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Heights bike trail connection update

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good news from Swamplot: OVER THANKSGIVING weekend city workers opened a portion of the proposed hike-and-hike trail that will one day link downtown and Acres Homes. Work began last October on this new section, one that heads west from the … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Driving Wheel

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One of the giants of the blues, Albert King: I guess I discovered blues music in college, with Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, and Robert Cray being my points of entry. That eventually led to Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, … Continue reading →

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Same sex marriage will have to wait for the Fifth Circuit

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. A federal judge has refused to permit immediate same-sex marriages in Texas, saying he expects they will be allowed some day but he doesn’t want to act precipitously. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia on Friday rebuffed a request by … Continue reading →

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Steve Stockman may leave Congress but his stench will linger

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Steve Stockman, ladies and gentlemen. When Rep. Steve Stockman won a long-shot bid in 2012 to return to the House of Representatives, he credited a dream team of tech-savvy volunteers who worked long hours and slept on the floor of … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Comcast over residential WiFi hotspots

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Two San Francisco-area residents are suing Comcast for plugging their home’s wireless router into what they call a power-wasting, Internet-clogging, privacy threatening network of public WiFi hot spots. The class-action lawsuit, filed last week in … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: It’s the least wonderful time of the year

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, it’s Christmas time again, and inspired in part by this Slate story on how bad Do They Know It’s Christmas? is, here’s a list of Christmas songs we, or at least I, could do without this year. 1. Do … Continue reading →

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San Antonio City Council passes vehicles for hire revision

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Unlike Dallas, it’s the cab companies that are happy about it. After nearly three hours of debate Thursday, the San Antonio City Council voted 7-2 to approve new rules for ride-share companies Uber and Lyft that provide service in the … Continue reading →

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The Lege is unlikely to do anything substantive on education this session

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, there will be lots of sound and fury, as well as various sideshow distractions, but in the end the main issue to resolve – school finance – will be at best “tweaked”. For anything more than that, we will … Continue reading →

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Microbreweries file lawsuit over distribution rights

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Three Texas breweries filed a lawsuit against the state on Wednesday seeking to to overturn a 2013 law they say violates the Texas Constitution by forcing them to give away their territorial distribution rights for free. In their complaint, … Continue reading →

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Houston pastors to fight against the Plano equal rights ordinance

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Of course they will. When Houston passed its Equal Rights Ordinance earlier this year, the Texas Pastor Council came out strongly in opposition of the law. Now the Houston-based group is challenging the nondiscrimination ordinance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and … Continue reading →

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City deficit not as big as feared

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is a nice surprise. A huge budget deficit looming at City Hall – which has spurred talk of layoffs, service cuts, new fees and higher taxes – has been cut in half, relieving some pressure to scramble together a … Continue reading →

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Some Republicans embrace tuition re-regulation

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is a welcome change, but let’s not be distracted by what isn’t being said. Tuition and fees at the state’s public colleges and universities would be capped at their current levels and only be permitted to grow at the … Continue reading →

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Dallas City Council approves vehicles for hire revisions

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It was smooth sailing, relatively speaking. Starting in late April, ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft will be able to operate legally in the city of Dallas. The City Council on Wednesday voted 13-2 to overhaul the city’s ordinance for … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of December 8

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance stands with the Garner and Brown families in the quest for equal justice for all as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Abbott puts on a moderate act

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He cares about education! During a Capitol news conference in which he announced the selection of his senior staff, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Monday that education will be his top policy priority. Abbott said he wants to improve the educational … Continue reading →

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Plano passes equal rights ordinance

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

How about that? In a split vote Monday, the Plano City Council passed the controversial Equal Rights Policy over the objections of many residents in the standing-room-only crowd. The amendment to the city’s 1989 anti-discrimination policy extends protections from housing, … Continue reading →

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Will the TNCs leave San Antonio?

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The upcoming Council vote in San Antonio over vehicles for hire could have some repercussions. City Council will meet Thursday to vote on proposed rules that would allow rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber to operate legally in San Antonio. … Continue reading →

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Revamping Secure Communities

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Long overdue. A federal jail screening program known as Secure Communities epitomized for critics the worst failings of the nation’s immigration system, causing the deportations of tens of thousands of immigrants who had committed no crimes or only minor infractions. … Continue reading →

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Once again with Anglo Dems and Anglo voters

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Time once again for the biennial eulogy for Anglo Democrats in the Texas Legislature. When Donna Howard of Austin won a seat in the Texas House in 2006, she was the only white woman among Democrats in the state Legislature. … Continue reading →

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What’s the Lege going to do with the revenue?

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not as much as it should, of course, because the Lege never comes close to doing as much as it should. It’s a question of whether they’ll try to address some real problems, or just engage in an orgy of … Continue reading →

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On grand juries

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some folks are trying to change the makeup of grand juries in Harris County. It was a largely black crowd with at least a third of the audience made up of white people and a few anarchists sprinkled in. They … Continue reading →

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How Texas can improve its pre-k programs

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From Raise Your Hand Texas: Raise Your Hand Texas recently released a report highlighting research-driven practices proven effective in public pre-kindergarten programs across the country, and comparing how Texas’ pre-k program stacks up. “Pre-Kindergarten for the Modern Age: A scalable, … Continue reading →

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Abbott and the Latino vote

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib drops a number on us. Along with his 20-point margin of victory, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott accomplished something on Election Day that many naysayers doubted the Republican could: He took 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. For Texas conservatives, … Continue reading →

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The first college football playoff

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

How about that committee selection process? As it turns out, it wasn’t a case of Baylor or TCU in the collective mind of the College Football Playoff committee after all. It was neither, and the joke’s on both. TCU wins … Continue reading →

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San Antonio City Council to vote on vehicles for hire this week

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the San Antonio City Council is set to update its vehicles for hire ordinances, which is to say it’s getting ready to approve rules that would allow Uber and Lyft to operate legally there. The Express News … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill trial update

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s complicated. For many in the courtroom, a judge’s promise Friday that the Waller County landfill trial would conclude “before Santa Claus comes” was welcome news. Earlier in the week, they had lamented the possibility that the trial – one … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for December 7

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s not just make noise, let’s make a difference. If you’re just now coming out of your Thanksgiving coma, this is what put you there in the first place. This is what oligarchy looks like. Tim LaHaye has been wrong … Continue reading →

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Kolkhorst wins SD18

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One special election begets another. State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst won a promotion to the Texas Senate on Saturday, leveraging her 14-year incumbency and high-profile endorsements to fend off a fellow Republican opponent who spent nearly $2 million of his own … Continue reading →

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Everyone wants to get in on the fracking fight

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Come on in. National environmental groups joined forces with grassroots activists in Denton on Thursday, seeking to defend in court the first municipal fracking ban adopted in Texas. The Denton Drilling Awareness Group, a citizens group that fought to put … Continue reading →

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Texas’ first same-sex marriage

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating story. More than 40 years ago in a small chapel off the Gulf Freeway, a hulking ex-tackle from Brownsville slid a ring onto the finger of his partner, transforming the slight man wearing a blond bouffant wig standing opposite … Continue reading →

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Making room for quail

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Preservation isn’t just for urban elites. Jim Willis knows it isn’t easy to love a prairie. The quilt of burnt orange and brown that covers his Colorado County land can’t awe or inspire the way a canyon or mountain range … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Don’t Worry Baby

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the Beach Boys, not looking very beachy but sounding like they always do: I will never understand the 50s and 60s fashion of band members all dressing alike. It just looks so weird now. Anyway, a group that did … Continue reading →

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