Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Final November 2025 early voting: A lot of people voted early

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And here’s a look at the final early voting totals. Final EV total 2025 = 212,104 Final EV total 2021 = 114,060 Final EV total 2017 = 60,974 A lot of people voted last week! Even I was a little … Continue reading →

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“Death Star” lawsuit filed in Dallas

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Two years after state lawmakers passed a sweeping law aimed at preventing Texas cities from adopting progressive policies, that law may finally get its first major test. Three Dallas residents sued the city in Denton County District Court Wednesday … Continue reading →

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Time once again to compost those pumpkins

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

You know what to do. The City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department, in partnership with Council Member Sallie Alcorn, is excited to announce the return of the 5th Annual Pumpkin Compost Drop-Off Program. Don’t toss your pumpkins in the … Continue reading →

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The latest UT Politics Project poll also has some warning signs for Republicans

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Two data points isn’t enough for a trend, but it is worth noticing. A small majority of Texans oppose the deployment of the Texas National Guard for law enforcement in cities out of state, according to a recent statewide survey. … Continue reading →

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Judges can discriminate against same-sex couples

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. Texas judges who decline to perform a wedding ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief” do not violate the state’s rules on judicial impartiality, according to a comment the Texas Supreme Court added to the state’s judicial … Continue reading →

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The restaurant AI experience

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Several Houston restaurants have cracked the code on efficiency, using artificial intelligence to streamline small tasks and free up staff to focus on hospitality. ChatGPT and other AI tools have surged in popularity across industries, and the restaurant world … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Tarrant County redistricting map

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. A group of Tarrant County residents who sued over the county’s redistricting process did not prove the new map is racially discriminatory, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. Tarrant County’s Republican commissioners pushed through an unusual mid-decade redistricting … Continue reading →

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A brief Fort Worth ISD roundup

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

You know the drill… How a single Fort Worth ISD campus prompted a state takeover The Texas Education Agency is taking over the Fort Worth Independent School District — a district with more than 70,000 students — because a campus … Continue reading →

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Elon Musk once again makes a full self-driving promise

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Death, taxes, etc. During the Tesla Q3 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk revealed that, within the next few months, the company’s robotaxi service could begin operating without the safety monitors that currently ride in the front seat of all the … Continue reading →

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A brief wrapup of the redistricting trial

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Meant to do this awhile ago but never quite got my act together. The future of Texas congressional elections and minority voting rights are in the hands of three federal judges after hearing nearly two weeks of testimony in a … Continue reading →

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Ogg contempt hearing delayed again

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll get there eventually. A contempt of court hearing is still in the works for former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg to determine if she violated a gag order in the criminal case for two Venezuelan nationals accused of raping and killing … Continue reading →

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Michelin 2.0

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re back, with more stars. The Michelin Guide announced its picks for top Texas restaurants at the Wortham Theater Center Tuesday night. Last year, 15 Texas restaurants earned a Michelin star, including six in the Houston area. Michelin recognized 117 restaurants in total last year. Stars … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 27

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Happy Halloween to all who celebrate and to all who read the weekly Texas Progressive Alliance roundups. Off the Kuff produced the Q3 campaign finance reports for Texas Democratic candidates for Congress and the Senate. SocraticGadfly noted that free speech … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues over alleged Tylenol-autism link

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Johnson and Johnson, accusing the pharmaceutical company of failing to warn consumers about the risk of taking Tylenol while pregnant. This lawsuit, the first of its kind from a state government, comes … Continue reading →

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McLennan County joins the mid-decade redistricting trend

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Three does make a trend. An unusual mid-decade redistricting that McLennan County commissioners quietly approved this past week appears to transfer thousands of Republican voters to the historically Democrat-friendly Precinct 2 of the Commissioners Court. Precinct 2 was drawn in … Continue reading →

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Full Fifth Circuit to reconsider West Texas A&M drag ban

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hrmph. A federal appeals court will take a second look at whether West Texas A&M University can ban drag shows, setting aside an earlier ruling that found the university’s ban likely violated students’ free speech rights. The Fifth Circuit Court … Continue reading →

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Sen. Eckhardt will run for CD10

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt launched her campaign for Texas’ 10th Congressional District on Monday, saying voters in the district, long held by Republicans, deserve choices. The Austin Democrat’s announcement comes a month and a half after Rep. Michael … Continue reading →

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Paxton chases a doctor out of state

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s horrible, and there’s no end in sight. A Dallas pediatrician has surrendered her medical license, a year after becoming the first target of a law that banned providing gender-transitioning hormones to minors. Last October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton … Continue reading →

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IPAWS

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an informative story about an underutilized tool in the emergency response arsenal. In the fall of 2016, as wind-stoked wildfires raced across parched forest and threatened lives around Gatlinburg, Tennessee, state and local officials went back and forth about … Continue reading →

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October 2025 campaign finance reports – CD18

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I looked at the October campaign finance reports for Congress and Senate last week, but didn’t include CD18 because they had a later deadline for reporting. Today we get to catch up on that. The April reports for Congress and … Continue reading →

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Will Fort Worth ISD get to keep its Superintendent?

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I think this will give some insight into how the TEA is thinking about its takeover strategy now. Instability has defined Fort Worth schools for more than a decade, former and current city leaders say. Immediately after the state moved to … Continue reading →

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WPBL names its inaugural team cities

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A brief update. The Women’s Professional Baseball League has chosen New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco as the cities that will represent the four teams that will compete in the inaugural season, the league announced Tuesday. The upstart … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for October 26

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making”. “The lesson for me, from the early blogosphere, is that quality of speech matters, too.” The Earth is now a ringed planet. Good to know. Forty years … Continue reading →

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Early voting Day Five: A brief comparison

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Final EV total 2021 = 114,060 Final EV total 2017 = 60,974 Day Five EV total 2025 = 63,969 So less than halfway through early voting this year, we have exceeded the entire EV total from 2017, and are more … Continue reading →

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Cards Against Humanity settles its lawsuit against Elon Musk

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We continue to live in strange times. Cards Against Humanity, the satirical party game, has settled its trespassing lawsuit against Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX. Court records show the lawsuit was dropped last month. In an email to fans sent … Continue reading →

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A different approach to Austin-San Antonio commuter rail

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Deeply flawed, as far as I can tell, but interesting. Travis County leaders are exploring new ways to connect Austin to San Antonio. On Tuesday morning, county commissioners approved a $124,953 study from HNTB, an engineering company, to … Continue reading →

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Dems have a statewide judicial slate

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: DEMOCRATS LAUNCH CAMPAIGNS FOR TEXAS STATEWIDE JUDICIAL OFFICES Seven Democrats launch campaigns this week for the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Democrats are planning to campaign for every statewide judicial office on the … Continue reading →

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Metro makes its excuses

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Weak. Metro board chair Elizabeth Brock on Thursday stood by the agency’s decision to remove the Montrose rainbow crosswalk this week after a Houston resident asked why it was erased so quickly. “My primary concern is how quickly y’all allowed … Continue reading →

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RIP, CityCast Houston

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sad to see them go. Hey, there! I can’t believe I’m writing these words. After over 800 newsletters, today is my last one to you. Hey Houston and City Cast Houston officially shut down on Oct. 24 😢 I truly enjoyed … Continue reading →

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TEA will take over Fort Worth ISD

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck, y’all. You’re gonna need it. Fort Worth ISD’s nine locally elected trustees are out as Texas officials stepped in Thursday after years of poor student outcomes. In the new year, a slate of state-appointed leaders will take over … Continue reading →

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Book ban law permanently enjoined

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Very good. A Waco federal judge has permanently blocked Texas from enforcing the key provision of a 2023 law restricting the content of school library books, ruling Wednesday that a requirement that vendors rate each title for sexual explicitness … Continue reading →

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Are you ready for some flag football?

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. An NFL-owned professional flag football league is coming soon. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said today in London that a flag football league will be in place within the next couple years, which would put … Continue reading →

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Delving into the Paxton mysteries

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Will we see their divorce records? More than a year after Donald Miles and his ex-wife’s divorce became final after 24 years of marriage, Miles wanted to keep those records private. The Plano resident filed a motion last October to … Continue reading →

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Austin seeks waiver for its rainbow crosswalk

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

All the cool kids are doing it. The city of Austin is exploring a waiver that would allow its current street art to stay in place. In a message board post on Monday, Mayor Kirk Watson said the city plans … Continue reading →

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