Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

DaSean Jones wins after provisional and cured mail ballots are counted

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure someone is going to throw a fit over this. The Harris County felony judge race for the 180th criminal state district court flipped Friday night in favor of incumbent DaSean Jones after new mail and provisional ballots were … Continue reading →

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Concept Neighborhood’s Second Ward project

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds really cool. I hope they can pull it off, and in a reasonable amount of time. Plans to turn a swath of the East End into a walkable district are getting larger and more ambitious – setting the groundwork … Continue reading →

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Remnants of the Challenger found

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Divers searching the Bermuda Triangle for World War II-era aircraft found a piece of NASA history: wreckage from the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds after liftoff Jan. 28, 1986. This wreckage, discovered well northwest of the Bermuda Triangle, will … Continue reading →

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On comparing counties from 2018 to 2022

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I started with this. Voters in counties across Texas chose GOP leaders over Democrats at a higher rate than they did four years ago, a Dallas Morning News analysis shows. The findings, based on data as of noon on Wednesday, … Continue reading →

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Collin County DA denies sexual harassment allegations

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty damn forcefully, but also in a way that’s kind of telling. Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis repeatedly called accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation against him “false, defamatory and outrageous” at a news conference Wednesday, where he presented … Continue reading →

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Labor complaints filed against Tesla gigafactory in Austin

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some non-Twitter Elon Musk news, in case you felt the need for that. On Tuesday, the Austin-based nonprofit Workers Defense Project announced it was filing complaints with the federal Department of Labor (DOL) alleging wage theft and falsified safety training … Continue reading →

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A brief look at the judicial races

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From a few days ago: The advertisements rolled out with weeks to go until the November election. In one TV spot, the sister of Martha Medina urged Harris County voters in Spanish and another in English to honor her sister, … Continue reading →

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HISD redistricting is on the docket

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Already happening, in fact. Houston ISD plans to redraw the boundary lines for its nine school board trustees based on population changes reflected in the latest U.S. Census. HISD officials emphasized that the changes only impact voting, not what schools … Continue reading →

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Commissioner-elect Briones

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good story. Yes, Lesley Briones secured a victory that handed Democrats a stall-proof majority on Harris County Commissioners Court. And yes, she upset Republican Commissioner Jack Cagle in a precinct where he has won reelection every cycle since 2011, beating … Continue reading →

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Christopher Busby: The Case for Texas Democratic Optimism

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: The following is a guest post that was submitted to me. I occasionally solicit guest posts, and also occasionally accept them from people I trust.) The election came and went with a similar story. Texas Democrats just started to … Continue reading →

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If Greg Abbott demands an investigation, Greg Abbott will get an investigation

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is all still so dumb. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is launching an investigation into “alleged irregularities” during last week’s election after receiving a referral from the Texas Secretary of State’s office. Ogg sent a letter to Texas Department … Continue reading →

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Senate passes Respect For Marriage Act

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. And remember who opposed it, kids. Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz tried to block a Senate vote to explicitly enshrine equal marriage rights for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans into federal law Wednesday, after 12 GOP … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of November 14

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is relieved that democracy is still a thing as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Paxton taken off the hook for testifying in abortion funds’ lawsuit

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

By the Fifth Circuit, of course. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not have to testify as nonprofits that help patients legally obtain abortions seek clarity on whether they can do their work in states like Texas where the procedure … Continue reading →

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One weird trick for maybe doing better with the next election

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Democratic Party does another election post-mortem. The odds were more stacked than usual against Texas Democrats this election cycle, with an unpopular president from their party going against them. Yet there was still hope and cautious optimism within … Continue reading →

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This is all so dumb

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to quote a large swath of this Reform Austin story because it sums up what has been happening the past couple of days better than I could. Gov. Greg Abbott called for an investigation into Harris County’s election … Continue reading →

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Sen. Gutierrez begins his mission to be a pest about Uvalde

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

One of the things I’ll be watching this session. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio has pre-filed three bills ahead of Texas’ next legislative session that would reform state gun laws and set up a state fund to compensate … Continue reading →

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Still rough times for oysters

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing from earlier in the year. Tuesday marks the start of Texas’ commercial and recreational oyster season, but the bulk of the state’s oyster reefs are already closed for harvesting. This follows last year’s season during which the majority of … Continue reading →

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State and county election result relationships, part 4: What happened in 2022

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Now that the final totals are in, let’s go back and do the same exercise in comparing overall results for statewide candidates to the results they got in Harris County, and then from there … Continue reading →

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The case for redrawing Constable/JP precincts

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A Twitter thread of interest: Harris County hasn’t redrawn its civil court boundaries since 1973, leading to lopsided caseloads. Here’s 1,000 new maps that would reduce lines at the courthouse, give judges more time in eviction & debt cases, and … Continue reading →

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Our future doctor shortage

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Putting a pin in this. As reported by Jan Hoffman for The New York Times, in order to satisfy their prerequisites for specialty board certification, OB-GYN physicians in post-graduate medical residency programs must comply with national requirements, which include training in the performance of … Continue reading →

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The Lege is a little more diverse now

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A good thing. Voters in Texas added to the diversity of their state Legislature on Tuesday, tripling the number of openly gay Black lawmakers holding office and electing the first two Muslim lawmakers to serve in the Capitol. As recently … Continue reading →

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Mail ballot rejections were down for November

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but still room for more improvement. More than 10,000 ballots were rejected in the state’s largest counties in Tuesday’s midterm election, making for a rejection rate of about 4 percent, according to preliminary data from the secretary of state’s … Continue reading →

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If all we ever do are defensive measures, we’ll never make any progress

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these things, although some of them definitely should be questioned. I am saying we can’t just do things like these. The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday a plethora of proposals that would, among other … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for November 13

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

“One of the cores of democracy is neighborhood trust. You need to trust others in your society and in your community for democracy to work. Period. When there’s a very high level of distrust, you will see a fracturing of … Continue reading →

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In which Harris County Republicans look for moral victories

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Believe me, as a Texas Democrat and a longtime fan of the Rice Owls, I know what it looks like to search for moral victories in the face of defeat. It looks like this. Harris County Republicans on Tuesday posted … Continue reading →

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The state of the AstroWorld lawsuits

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still at the beginning of a very long road. The roughly 2,500 plaintiffs who filed lawsuits in the aftermath of the Astroworld Festival are now part of what is expected to be a yearslong legal process to seek recourse from … Continue reading →

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IKEA gets self-driving trucks

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not for home delivery. Not yet, anyway.

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Election 2022 miscellania: Marijuana, Austin Mayor, CRT

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Three items of interest for you. First up, several local initiatives to decriminalize marijuana were successful on Tuesday. By the end of Election Day, five Texas cities have voted to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession. After Austin voters overwhelmingly approved the … Continue reading →

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The “less is more” option for improving Election Day

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This deserves serious consideration. Widespread problems with Harris County elections likely would be relieved if officials reduced the number of polling locations in favor of fewer sites that operate more efficiently, a Rice University researcher and some recent reports say. … Continue reading →

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Trump judge blocks student loan forgiveness order

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same crap, different day. A federal judge in North Texas ruled on Thursday that President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is “unlawful,” the latest challenge to the policy that has seen several attacks from conservative groups. U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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Click out

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gotta say, this is shocking. Six days after winning a World Series title, the Astros parted ways with general manager James Click on Friday, ending months of intensifying speculation with unprecedented action and throwing one of the sport’s most successful … Continue reading →

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Judge Hidalgo celebrates her win

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Winning is sweet. Victory laps are even sweeter. Fresh off a narrow reelection that was anything but assured, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday held a news conference to praise colleagues, thank supporters and call out some members of … Continue reading →

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There were still ballots being counted yesterday

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I think they’re done now? It’s hard to say for sure from the story. With more than 1.1 million ballots cast, Harris County on Thursday still was counting ballots from Tuesday’s election. The county filed a request for an extension … Continue reading →

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