Tag Archives: Bexar County

Of course people are harassing the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office now

This is the world we live in. Hate mail and calls are rushing into the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office after Sheriff Javier Salazar announced an investigation into how 48 South American migrants were “lured” onto a flight to Martha’s Vineyard. … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment, La Migra | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Of course people are harassing the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office now

More on the DeLorean reboot company and its interesting legal history

Another prestige podcast in the making, I suspect. Six months after DeLorean Motors Reimagined, the startup seeking to produce a new incarnation of the 1980s sports car, said it would put is headquarters in Texas, a lawsuit filed against the … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Three migrants sue Ron DeSantis

I’m venturing a little from the core mission of covering Texas politics, but this was too irresistible, and there is a Texas connection. Three Venezuelan migrants flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard last week filed a federal class-action lawsuit … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ken Paxton keeps trying to kill the SAISD vaccine mandate

On brand, always on brand. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed another petition seeking to reverse a Bexar County judge’s decision that rejected the state’s bid for a temporary injunction to block the San Antonio Independent School District’s staff … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bexar County Sheriff to investigate the “immigrants lured to Martha’s Vineyard” saga

Good, because this whole thing is not only weird and creepy but it’s not hard to see how at least some aspects of it could have been illegal. Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is opening … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment, La Migra | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Let’s name a few legislative battlegrounds

It’s getting to be that time of the election cycle. Two years ago, Democrats were gearing up for a rare opportunity in modern times: capturing the Texas House majority. But after they came up woefully short — and Republican-led redistricting … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Let’s name a few legislative battlegrounds

DeLorean reboot company hit with intellectual property lawsuit

Here’s a plot twist I didn’t see coming. Mere months after the city and county coughed up nearly $1.1 million in incentives to attract the revamped DeLorean Motor Co., the venture has been hit with a lawsuit alleging its founders … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on DeLorean reboot company hit with intellectual property lawsuit

This is why elections administrators are under attack

What a lousy thing to do right now. Harris County’s new elections administrator has not taken office yet, but the Harris County GOP is already trying to shape his reputation. On Wednesday, State Senator Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, tweeted an image … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Here’s hoping we’ll have fewer mail ballot rejections in November

Counties are taking the problem seriously, which is a good start. The statewide rejection rate [for mail ballots] was more than 12 percent in the primary — six times what it was in the last midterm year in 2018. By … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

San Antonio will make its statement for abortion rights

More symbolic than anything, but it still has meaning. Five San Antonio City Council members and the mayor stood in support of a largely symbolic measure Wednesday that would attempt to “decriminalize” abortion locally. Council is expected to approve a resolution during a … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

SAISD vaccine mandate upheld again

Also still on hold, but the state loses again at the appellate level. A state appellate court upheld San Antonio Independent School District’s authority Wednesday to mandate its workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, almost a year after the district instituted … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bexar County raises its COVID threat level

Hopefully not a sign of things to come. Local health officials raised San Antonio’s COVID-19 risk level to high this week after warning of a “silent surge” just two weeks ago. That surge continues, according to data from the city’s Metropolitan Health District, … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bexar County raises its COVID threat level

DAs are not going to be able to avoid enforcing anti-abortion laws

I appreciate the sentiment, but that’s not how it works. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, local prosecutors in several of the largest Texas counties vowed not to file criminal charges in abortion-related cases, seemingly offering hope … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on DAs are not going to be able to avoid enforcing anti-abortion laws

There was definitely an improvement in mail ballot acceptance for the primary runoffs

The last time I looked, I was largely unable to find any news stories about mail ballots and their rejection rates for the May primary runoff elections, with the exception of one story about Bexar County and how they were … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When we had more deaths than births in Texas

Seems like that would be a bad thing. In the midst of the nation’s deadliest pandemic, Texas recorded more births than deaths every month since 2016 — with one exception. Provisional data from the Texas Department of State Health Services … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on When we had more deaths than births in Texas

A better mail ballot

I’m glad someone’s working on this. After thousands of mail-in ballots were rejected in Texas’ statewide primaries in March, election officials and voting rights groups are stepping up efforts to make sure voters don’t run into the same problems with … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A better mail ballot

Runoff results: Around the state

After the primary, I rounded up the Democratic runoffs we’d have in May. I’m going to use that post to round up the results from last night, as best as I can tell as of when I gave up the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hey look! Some info about mail ballots in the May election!

It’s not much, but I’ll take what I can get. For the second time in less than two weeks, Texans are heading back to the polls to decide on a host of statewide and local elections. Voters are deciding who … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Debtors’ court

This is not good. In this court and others in Bexar County, debt collection lawsuits more than doubled from 2012 to 2020. “I’m trying to manage this behemoth, but there are some guidelines I have to follow as well,” said … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Debtors’ court

May 2022 special election Day Four EV report: Checking in on the mail ballots

In my first look at early voting for the May special election, I noted the fairly large number of mail ballots that had been cast so far in Harris County and wondered if we would hear about mail ballot rejections … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

SCOTx declines to save Chick-fil-A

But they didn’t kill off the possibility of it being saved, either. Conservative activists suing the City of San Antonio alleging it violated the Texas “Save Chick-fil-a” law have not presented evidence of a violation, the Texas State Supreme Court … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Divorce granted in common-law same-sex marriage case

Good result. On March 24, a San Antonio jury returned a verdict in favor of Christopher Hoffman, a gay man who sought to prove a common law marriage existed since 1996 with his former partner, Moises Ortiz. The decision clears … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Divorce granted in common-law same-sex marriage case

Bexar County looks for ways to reduce future mail ballot rejections

Good luck. I hope if they learn anything useful they share it with the rest of us. Bexar County Commissioners on Tuesday directed local officials to come up with a plan to reduce the number of rejected mail-in ballots in … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bexar County looks for ways to reduce future mail ballot rejections

When a divorce helps to define a marriage

Interesting case. A gay San Antonio man has filed for a divorce in which he seeks to prove a common law marriage existed with his former partner of 25 years when federal law prohibited same sex marriage. The law has … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

When you get 91.34% of the vote in an election, as Beto did in the Democratic primary for Governor, there’s usually not a whole lot of interesting data beneath the surface. But you never know until you look, so I … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Precinct analysis: Beto’s range in the 2022 primaries

More data about mail ballot rejections

Keep it coming. Thousands of Texans who attempted to vote by mail in the March primary were disenfranchised in the state’s first election conducted under a new Republican voting law. The state’s largest counties saw a significant spike in the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The rejected mail ballots of Bexar County

I have four things to say about this. Bexar County rejected mail-in ballots at roughly ten times the rate it did before the passage of the state’s new voting law last year. Before Senate Bill 1 took effect, with its … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Precinct analysis: Final 2022 primary vote totals from those counties of interest

At the end of early voting, I posted some totals from various counties around the state. I noted at the time it was an imprecise comparison since I included final 2018 turnout numbers as the comparison point for 2022 and … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Initial post-election wrapup

Just a few updates and observations to add onto what I posted yesterday morning. Any deeper thoughts, if I have them, will come later. – Cheri Thomas and William Demond won their races for the 14th Court of Appeals. I … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

A roundup of runoffs

I was going to just do a basic recap of all the primary races that will require runoffs, and then this happened, and I had to do some redesign. U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, has decided to end his reelection … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

2022 primary early voting statewide

Turnout information for early voting for all counties is available on the Secretary of State website. They used to only have this for the 30 most populous counties, which skewed things in a Democratic direction, but a law passed in … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Some DAs refuse to enforce Abbott’s anti-trans order

More like this, please. District attorneys in five of the largest counties in Texas on Thursday announced that they will not comply with Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) and state attorney general Ken Paxton’s (R) directive that state agencies begin investigating … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Some DAs refuse to enforce Abbott’s anti-trans order

I repeat: We need to get more kids vaccinated

Come on, Houston. In spite of the spread of the omicron variant, national COVID-19 vaccination rates for children ages 5-11 remain low. The same is true for children in Harris County, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of CDC data. Of Harris … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on I repeat: We need to get more kids vaccinated

Don’t expect the absentee ballot fiasco to improve

Things are working as planned. Signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in September, the voting law known as Senate Bill 1 contained an array of new restrictions on the state’s voting process and narrowed local control of elections. Among … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment