Tag Archives: Texas

July 2025 campaign finance reports – Harris County offices

It’s mid-to-late July, and you know what that means: It’s campaign finance report season! We’ve got a lot to cover, as there’s more angles and intrigue than usual, certainly a lot more than there was three months ago. I’ll start … Continue reading

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Dispatches from Dallas, July 18 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth: one of our state senators is going for AG; more about the sale of the DMN to … Continue reading

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Hands Off Our Districts protest tomorrow

From the inbox: Dear Democrats, friends and neighbors, We’re asking everyone who believes in fair representation to join us this Saturday at 10:00 AM for the Day of Protest, “Hands Off Our Districts.” In solidarity with community leaders, elected officials, and precinct chairs across Harris County, … Continue reading

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Re-redistricting watch: El Paso in focus

Not a big surprise. President Donald Trump’s request that Texas Republicans seek to create five new congressional seats for the GOP in an upcoming special legislation could involve redrawing boundaries in El Paso, a website focused on Congress says. Diluting … Continue reading

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Benjamin Flores

We have more than one Democrat running for Governor. I first met Ben Flores last fall, at his small pig farm on the outskirts of Bay City, a working-class town about half an hour north of Matagorda Bay. The cybersecurity … Continue reading

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The long haul of recovery

We only really have a best guess as to how many people are still missing from the Hill Country floods. More than 10 days after catastrophic July Fourth floods along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, the official death toll … Continue reading

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Nathan Johnson officially announces for AG

He should be a good candidate. State Sen. Nathan Johnson is running for Texas attorney general, the three-term Dallas Democrat announced Tuesday. He told The Texas Tribune that, if elected, he would look to restore “faith and confidence” in an … Continue reading

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So what’s Colossal Biosciences up to now?

Always be finding new species to say you’re going to de-extinct. A species of huge, flightless bird that once inhabited New Zealand disappeared around 600 years ago, shortly after human settlers first arrived on the country’s two main islands. Now, a Texas-based biotech company … Continue reading

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What the medical marijuana industry wants from the special session

To protect their interests, of course. Texas’ medical marijuana dispensaries entered into this year’s legislative session with a two-prong strategy to expand: to loosen the state’s rules on their industry that has made the program largely inaccessible to those who … Continue reading

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Just how intimate are those emails?

The mind reels. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t want to reveal months of communications with Elon Musk or representatives from the tech mogul’s companies, arguing in part that they are of a private nature, not of public interest and potentially embarrassing. Musk had an … Continue reading

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RIP, David Adickes

A giant has passed. David Adickes, the painter and sculptor responsible for some of Texas’s most popular public art, died on Sunday at the age of 98. His eight-decade career took him from a modest childhood in Huntsville to the … Continue reading

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There’s still flooding in the Hill Country

It keeps raining. Emergency crews suspended their search for victims of catastrophic flooding in Central Texas on Sunday morning amid new warnings that additional rain would again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of … Continue reading

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Paxton divorce filings sealed

Noted for the record. A state district court judge in Collin County agreed Friday to seal all records relating to divorce proceedings between Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton, according to reports by The Dallas Morning News and … Continue reading

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Why does Greg Abbott hate FEMA?

I mean, FEMA loves Texas, so… Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to request federal assistance last week after devastating floods hit the Texas Hill Country. But the Republican governor is simultaneously helping the Trump administration find ways to “wean off” … Continue reading

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This session’s fight over casinos was mostly billionaire-on-billionaire violence

A good read from Texas Monthly about how Miriam Adelson tried to throw a bunch of money around and hire every lobbyist in the state to get casino gambling on the ballot, only to run into a different billionaire throwing … Continue reading

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Opening look at the re-redistricting effort

They’re coming for our districts. More than one million Houstonians could have new congressional representation as early as next year under Gov. Greg Abbott’s push to redraw the state’s political maps. Abbott has ordered the Texas Legislature into a special … Continue reading

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No more backup power mandates for senior living places

That’s our Legislature, y’all. In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, thousands of seniors across the Houston region were stuck in buildings without power or air-conditioning, often left to fend for themselves in the sweltering summer heat. The suffering galvanized Houston-area Democrats to once again fight for what had repeatedly failed: … Continue reading

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Dispatches from Dallas, July 12 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth: an attack on an ICE facility near Fort Worth; what’s being done about flooding and emergencies in … Continue reading

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Hill Country flood roundup

Just some articles of interest, no real thread. Climate Change Helped Fuel Heavy Rains That Led to Devastating Texas Flood Climate scientists said the torrential downpours on July 4 exemplify the devastating outcomes of weather intensified by a warming atmosphere. … Continue reading

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Measles update: There’s good news and there’s bad news

The good news. Texas health officials on Tuesday said the county at the center of the state’s measles outbreak is no longer classified as an outbreak county. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported no new cases of measles … Continue reading

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Paxtons getting divorced

Whoa. State Sen. Angela Paxton announced Thursday she has filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,” Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, said in a post … Continue reading

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So now the Lege will get involved

As I said yesterday, I don’t know if Greg Abbott would have called a special session to address the great tragedy happening in the Hill Country if one hadn’t already been on the calendar for other reasons. He didn’t call … Continue reading

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Abbott adds redistricting and wingnut priorities to special session agenda

And also some flooding stuff, which was clearly top of mind for him. Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday unveiled a jam-packed agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, calling on lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional maps and address several unfinished … Continue reading

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The flood warning history of Kerr County

They’ve tried for awhile to get some funding for a flood warning system. They’ve failed every time. Nearly a decade before catastrophic flash flooding killed at least 75 people in Kerr County, including 27 children, several local officials were hard … Continue reading

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Fifth Circuit keeps SB4 block in place

A bit of good news. A Texas law that would deputize state and local police to question and arrest people they suspect of being in the country illegally was blocked once again. The law would also authorize local judges to … Continue reading

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On the value of disaster warnings

It’s hard to know where to start with this. For the last three days, state Rep. Wes Virdell has been out with first responders in Kerr County as they searched for victims and survivors from the devastating floods that swept … Continue reading

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Hill Country flood update 2

A brief overview of the situation, written on Sunday at noon. The death toll rose to 68 as a result of the Fourth of July floods along the Guadalupe River, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. That includes 28 children. There were … Continue reading

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Hill Country flood update

The situation remains very bad, with a significant potential to get much worse. The official death toll from the catastrophic floods that hit the Texas Hill Country rose to 27 as of Saturday morning, according to the Kerr County sheriff’s … Continue reading

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Paxton drops his latest whistleblower appeal

We’ll see if this time it sticks. Texas will pay $6.6 million to four former top deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton who say they were fired after reporting their boss to the FBI. This years-long legal saga reached its … Continue reading

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California threatens retaliatory re-redistricting

It’s a thing they could do. House Democratic leadership, rank-and-file members and aides to at least one blue state governor have been meeting to decide how to retaliate if Texas Republicans follow through on the White House’s push to reshape … Continue reading

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The Hill Country floods

Just terrible. At least 13 people are dead and dozens more are missing — including more than 20 children who were staying in area summer camps — as heavy rains caused “catastrophic” flooding along the Guadalupe River, with parts of … Continue reading

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A sudden surge in potential candidates

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg may be running for Governor. Sources say former Mayor Ron Nirenberg has been telling fellow Democrats he’s considering a run for governor in 2026 — a potentially grueling race against the formidable Republican Gov. … Continue reading

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Dispatches from Dallas, July 4 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, it’s time to catch up on all the things that have been happening since I took the … Continue reading

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Measles update: Yes, there are still new cases being reported

It’s still a thing. The Texas Department of State Health Services says three new measles cases have been detected in the last week in connection to an outbreak in West Texas. The state has been tracking case numbers since the … Continue reading

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