Monthly Archives: March 2016

Texas blog roundup for the week of March 21

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes your brackets are in better shape than its own as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Runoff watch: JPs and Constables

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

OK, sit back and settle in, this may take awhile. Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Place 1 – Democratic The race to succeed retiring JP Dale Gorczynski turned out to be a bit of a barnburner. The two leading … Continue reading →

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When are we going to get a general election poll of Texas?

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As goes Utah… According to a new Deseret News/KSL poll, if Donald Trump becomes the GOP nominee, the voters of Utah would opt for a Democratic candidate for the first time in over 50 years. Poll respondents said they would … Continue reading →

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The New Mexico abortion option

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This should come as a surprise to no one. Though abortions among residents are down the number of out-of-state women traveling to New Mexico for abortions has grown significantly over the past three years. According to state Department of Health … Continue reading →

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More speed bumps coming

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Like ’em or not. Houston officials are speeding up the process of slowing down residential street traffic. A laborious process to improve traffic and safety by installing traffic calming devices such as speed humps is radically streamlined in a new … Continue reading →

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Complaint filed against Sid Miller

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. A liberal advocacy group on Monday asked the Texas Rangers to investigate whether Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller used taxpayer money to fly to Oklahoma to get an injection known as “the Jesus Shot” that is supposed to cure … Continue reading →

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More on the rush to naturalization

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib looks at the trend in Texas. Amid a heated presidential election focusing heavily on immigration, a similar uncertainty about the future of immigration policies under a new president appears to be pushing thousands of legal residents in Texas … Continue reading →

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The Purple City plan for I-45

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Check it out. Should a major freeway plan consider the needs of cyclists? Of transit riders? And if we’re going to tear down and reconstruct the entire downtown freeway network of the fourth-largest city in America, shouldn’t the final result … Continue reading →

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We’re not so good at school funding

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I’m as shocked as you are. Texas earned the worst marks in the country for its funding of public education, according to a research report released Wednesday. Researchers with Rutgers Graduate School of Education and the New Jersey-based … Continue reading →

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Runoff watch: Railroad Commissioner

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So yeah, the Railroad Commissioner runoff is a bit of a mess, on both sides. I’m going to let the Trib summarize the problem. In his campaign for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, former state Rep. Wayne Christian … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors file their response briefs at the 5th Court of Appeals

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In sum: Don’t think about Rick Perry! A Travis County court’s decision to throw out Rick Perry’s abuse-of-power indictments should have no bearing on Ken Paxton’s securities fraud case, the team prosecuting the first-term attorney general wrote in their latest … Continue reading →

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Other cities want to be like Houston

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For parks and landscaping. The word “infrastructure” typically conjures up images of towering buildings, layered freeway interchanges and heavily monitored drainage ditches; concrete, cars, trucks and impressive feats of engineering that attempt to mold the natural world and resources to … Continue reading →

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Prepping for the city budget

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Turner gives a brief preview of what is to come. Mayor Sylvester Turner said Friday that he expects to lay off 40 city employees and eliminate 54 vacant positions as he seeks to close a budget shortfall of as … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for March 20

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, just another massive Web vulnerability you need to worry about. Fifty things about Game of Thrones season 1, if you’re into that sort of thing. “That’s the paradox of I Am Cait. Jenner might not be a perfect spokesperson … Continue reading →

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Sid Miller and the Jesus Shot

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Less than a month after taking office, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller flew to Oklahoma City with a top aide, billing the taxpayers at least $1,120 for flights and a rental car, … Continue reading →

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More Metro appointments for Mayor Turner

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorial board gets its wish. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Friday named two new Metro board members and reappointed two others – taking a more moderate course than his predecessor, who replaced all five of the city’s appointees. Disability … Continue reading →

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On teaching kids who don’t speak English

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From The Atlantic: Out of all the cities in Texas, this would seemingly have been the one where schools knew how to help Spanish-speaking students learn. El Paso is progressive and welcoming, and is more than 80 percent Latino. Its … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: I’m Beginning To See The Light

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

A classic and a standard, performed by Bobby Darin: The version I have is from the soundtrack to the movie Swingers, and I feel like Darin enunciates differently in that one. I can’t find a video for that, however, so … Continue reading →

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Third-place Constable candidate alleges fraud in his race

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, goodie. A Harris County constable chief deputy who narrowly missed making the runoff in the Precinct 3 constable’s primary election earlier this month has sued the top two vote-getters, seeking to annul the results because of alleged violations of … Continue reading →

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What kind of ruling might we expect in the school finance case?

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

KUHF explores the possibilities. Four major scenarios to watch for: The Texas Supreme Court could not rule at all. Instead, it could send the case back to the lower court to see if the latest $2.5 billion dollars to the … Continue reading →

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Fiesta down

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Durham/North Shepherd strip, from about 11th Street up, has largely been immune to the implacable Heights-area gentrification machine. That may be about to change. One of the oldest Fiesta stores is closing at the end of this month, leaving … Continue reading →

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Plane sharing

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? Ken Haney has flown in the cockpit of military and commercial planes for more than 35 years. His business partner Steve Geldmacher has logged more than 4 million miles as a traveler. Both say they have watched … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: In the city, part 2

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

More city songs! We’re going to be at this for awhile, actually. 1. Asheville/Crashville – Austin Lounge Lizards 2. Babylon – Clandestine/David Gray/Don McLean 3. Back To Tyrone – SixMileBridge 4. Baltimore – Eddie From Ohio/Milkshake 5. Bangkok/One Night In … Continue reading →

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How much more “undue” does it need to be?

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

HB2 is doing exactly what it was intended to do. A new report released Thursday shows Texas abortion patients traveled farther for services and experienced higher out-of-pocket costs following the closure of more than half of the state’s legal abortion … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutor payment lawsuit tossed

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A Collin County court Thursday tossed out an attempt to stop payments to the special prosecutors appointed to pursue the financial fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Filed by prominent real estate developer and Paxton donor Jeff … Continue reading →

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UberEats expands

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for those of you who like having food delivered. A larger section of metro Houston now can use Uber’s meal delivery service seven days a week and with more dining options through a new app. A new UberEats … Continue reading →

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Donald Trump is making more citizens

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

He’s good for something. Over all, naturalization applications increased by 11 percent in the 2015 fiscal year over the year before, and jumped 14 percent during the six months ending in January, according to federal figures. The pace is picking … Continue reading →

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Reps. Green and Green want investigation of voting machine shortage

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Two Houston congressmen are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether unequal distribution of voting machines and polling locations in Harris County disenfranchised minority voters during the March 1 primary … Continue reading →

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Simpson prevails in SD01 primary

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

All elections are now officially resolved, at least at the state level. Two state representatives are set to face off for an open seat in the Texas senate after the third place candidate said Monday he will not request a … Continue reading →

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Another look at how long the Paxton case could take

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The DMN makes the same comparisons that I have made. Ken Paxton has spent eight months — the majority of his time as attorney general — under indictment. The legal cloud shows no sign of dissipating. How long the case … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of March 14

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for its annual overdose of college hoops as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Runoff watch: Judicial races

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There are three District Court race runoffs on the Democratic side, and two Court of Criminal Appeals runoffs for the Republicans. There are also a few Justice of the Peace runoffs, but I’ll deal with them in another post. 11th … Continue reading →

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Abbott lies about vote fraud

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ross Ramsay calls him out for it, much more politely than I would have. The governor of Texas thinks that fraud in the electoral system that put him and others in office is “rampant.” He can’t back that up. Greg … Continue reading →

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One State Bar complaint against Paxton dismissed

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

A little bit of good news for our embattled AG, but not much. The State Bar of Texas has dismissed one of two pending complaints against Attorney General Ken Paxton. The dismissed complaint, filed in February by attorney and blogger … Continue reading →

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