Tag Archives: California

Hollywood’s plans to come back

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve posted a few times about how sports leagues like MLB are making plans to return to action from coronavirus shutdowns. The larger entertainment industry, including TV and movie making, are in a similar position as the sports leagues, and … Continue reading →

Posted in TV and movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Whither college football?

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

All NCAA spring sports were canceled due to coronavirus, beginning with March Madness and going through baseball and softball and soccer and everything else. Everyone has been looking forward to the fall when things were supposed to be back to … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What does “reopening the economy” look like?

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll find out (sort of) later this week. Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that reopening the Texas economy will be a “slow process” guided by public health concerns as he continued to preview a forthcoming executive order that will detail … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

We still have no idea how many people have been infected

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s just a real lack of testing being done. Six times in three weeks, Marci Rosenberg and her ailing husband and teenage children tried to get tested for the new coronavirus — only to be turned away each time, either … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus and driving

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There are a lot fewer cars on the road now, though the decrease may not be quite as much as you’d think. Traffic around the country has plummeted since governments began enacting stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus outbreak, but data … Continue reading →

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Another lawsuit the Astros want tossed

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It was the first one filed against them relating to the banging scheme. The Astros have asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the team, owner Jim Crane and baseball operations employee Derek Vigoa … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Of course he thinks that’s “essential”

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Doesn’t get any more on-brand than this. Gun stores are essential business and should be allowed to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday. Paxton said in his nonbinding opinion that state law prevents … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Another scooter injury study

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Keep ’em coming. Electric scooter injuries have surged along with their popularity in the United States, nearly tripling over four years, researchers said in a study published Wednesday. Nearly 40,000 broken bones, head injuries, cuts and bruises resulting from scooter … Continue reading →

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Texas is on track to pick up three more Congressional districts

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Put an asterisk next to this, as the actual Census will need to bear that out. The U.S. population continues to shift south and west, according to new Census Bureau data that offers the clearest picture yet of how the … Continue reading →

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CNN/SSRS: Trump 48, Biden 47

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Time for a non-Mayoral poll. The story is about results, primary and general, in both California and Texas, so forgive the abrupt opening sentence. In Texas, however, it’s a different picture, with Biden holding wide leads across nearly every major … Continue reading →

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How other states are handling the Census

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Better than we’re handling it. So cities and states with big immigrant populations — like California and New York City — are supplementing the Census Bureau’s efforts like never before, allocating money to outreach groups that can go to communities … Continue reading →

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On paying college athletes

Posted on September 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

In case you missed this news out of California. California is going to pass this likeness rights bill and boy howdy does the NCAA not like it California Senate Bill 206, otherwise known as the Fair Pay to Play act, … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Ride sharing for kids

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another transportation option. Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive, a ride-hailing platform that hires vetted caregivers to drive children 6 and older, is now available in Houston. “Parents shouldn’t have to choose between their careers and their children’s education and activities, but … Continue reading →

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It’s up to cities to make the Census work

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege shirked its duty, so this is what’s left. Across the country, states are spending millions on making sure they get a better headcount of their residents. For example, California officials announced they are investing as much as $154 … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another look at scooter mayhem

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the Associated Press: As stand-up electric scooters have rolled into more than 100 cities worldwide, many of the people riding them are ending up in the emergency room with serious injuries. Others have been killed. There are no comprehensive … Continue reading →

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

In case you thought scooters were not enough of a menace

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

How do pogo sticks grab you? San Franciscans may soon be able to bounce their way around town, if a Swedish-based mobility company has its way. Earlier this month, start-up company Cangoroo announced plans to deploy hundreds of pogo sticks … Continue reading →

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Lege passes on helping with the Census

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Typically short-sighted. But in a time when the census is tinged with partisan politics — mostly over Trump’s proposed inclusion of a citizenship question — Texas lawmakers adjourned without taking action to ensure a complete count. State Representative César Blanco, … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Senior stoners

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Makes a lot of sense, really. Most states now have legal medical marijuana, and 10 of them, including California, allow anyone 21 or older to use pot recreationally. The federal government still outlaws the drug even as acceptance increases. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

An overview on bail reform

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Mother Jones, a look at how bail reform is progressing in Harris County. I’m going to focus on the part about the second bail-related lawsuit, which covers felony arrests. A federal judge in Harris County is currently considering a … Continue reading →

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A second win for plaintiffs in Census citizenship question lawsuit

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all up to SCOTUS now. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted in “bad faith,” broke several laws and violated the constitutional underpinning of representative democracy when he added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. In finding … Continue reading →

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The down side of scooters

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Watch out for that tree. And that pedestrian, and that street light, and that strange bump in the sidewalk, and that abandoned scooter someone just left lying there… In September 2017, Tarak Trivedi, an emergency room doctor, and Catherine Lerer, … Continue reading →

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Anti-Obamacare ruling appealed

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The big non-Mueller story to follow for 2019. The Democratic coalition of states battling Texas over the fate of the Affordable Care Act has formally begun the process of challenging a Dec. 14 decision ruling the law unconstitutional in its … Continue reading →

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The hearing for the lawsuit to kill Obamacare

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. At the hearing Wednesday, Texas aimed to convince U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to block the law across the country as it continues to fight a months- or years-long legal case that could land before the … Continue reading →

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

A big ask for hurricane recovery

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. I mean that mostly sincerely. Texas needs an additional $61 billion in federal disaster recovery money for infrastructure alone after Hurricane Harvey’s devastation, according to a report from the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas that was … Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Uber drivers sue over employment status

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This will be worth watching. Lawyers for 19 Texas drivers for Uber on Friday filed a federal class-action lawsuit in Houston, claiming the ride-hailing app company’s oversight and control of supposedly independent drivers is so pervasive, they should be considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Video fraudsters in trouble again

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

In California this time. California prosecutors on Tuesday charged two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos of themselves trying to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood with 15 felonies, saying they invaded the privacy of medical providers by filming without … Continue reading →

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

More on the STAR Voting System

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron updates us on the latest in modern voting technology. The drumbeat of election rigging and foreign hacking of voting machines have energized ongoing efforts to develop a new model of digital election equipment designed to produce instantly verifiable … Continue reading →

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Uber moves driverless car pilot to Arizona

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This happened right before Christmas, so I’m just catching up to it now. The day after California regulators shut down Uber’s self-driving car program in San Francisco, Uber on Thursday packed up its autonomous vehicles and hauled them to Arizona, … Continue reading →

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Uber pulls driverless cars from San Francisco

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for the California DMV. Uber pulled its self-driving cars off San Francisco’s streets Wednesday after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles revoked their registrations, effectively ending the company’s controversial pilot program after just one week. The move marked … Continue reading →

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

Driverless Ubers arrive in San Francisco

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here they come, ready or not. Uber has always had a special relationship with this city. The ride-hailing company was founded and headquartered here. In its early days, one of the towns where Uber grew fastest was its hometown. On … Continue reading →

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California is the new Texas

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Or will be, as far as litigating against the federal government goes. Gov. Jerry Brown has tabbed Rep. Xavier Becerra to serve as California’s interim attorney general, selecting the Los Angeles Democrat to fill a vacancy opened by the imminent … Continue reading →

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More on the overtime rule ruling

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the NYT: Over the last two years, Federal District Court judges in the state have chipped away at Mr. Obama’s legacy by striking down or suspending no fewer than five regulations, executive orders or actions, and guidelines, including an … Continue reading →

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Google enters the rideshare market

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This will be worth watching. Google is moving onto Uber Technologies Inc.’s turf with a ride-sharing service to help San Francisco commuters join carpools, a person familiar with the matter said, jumping into a booming but fiercely competitive market. Google, … Continue reading →

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The Donald is spurring people to register to vote

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Just another data point for your consideration. Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential election cycle dominated by Donald Trump and loud GOP cries to close the border. Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments