Category Archives: The great state of Texas

Schlitterbahn sold

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

End of an era, as another iconic family-owned Texas business is sold to a non-Texas firm. Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts — which has dealt with a gruesome death, indictments and financial troubles in recent years — is selling a chunk … Continue reading →

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Well, now we’ve all heard of Waskom

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations, I guess. Five men this week declared a small town in East Texas a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” commandeering the language of the movement for immigrant rights to counter the reproductive freedom of women. There are no abortion … Continue reading →

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Sorry, Smithville

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Their loss would be Houston’s gain. MD Anderson Cancer Center will relocate its nearly 50-year-old research facility near Austin to Houston, a decision that’s upset business and political leaders in the central Texas area. Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape has … Continue reading →

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Sea levels rise, property values drop

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Cool, cool, cool. Sea level rise has cost Texas homeowners $76.4 million in potential property value, with Galveston hit the hardest, a new study released Tuesday found. First Street Foundation and Columbia University analysts examined about 3 million coastal properties … Continue reading →

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Injunction ordered in Skull Creek lawsuit

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hope this helps. Three months after the waters of Skull Creek first turned black, a Travis County state district judge issued a temporary injunction Tuesday against Inland Environmental and Remediation and David Polston, its president, requiring the company to stop … Continue reading →

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What’s going on in Skull Creek?

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a story from a couple of weeks ago that you may have missed. I know I missed it until it was pointed out to me. For more than two months, the waters of Skull Creek have flowed black, its … Continue reading →

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Texas’ uncertain nuclear future

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes I forget that Texas has nuclear plants. By the standards of the U.S. nuclear energy industry, Texas’s two nuclear plants are fairly new. Neither one is more than three decades old, while many nuclear sites across the country are … Continue reading →

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State sues over Deer Park fire

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Too big to ignore. Late Friday, the state of Texas sued Intercontinental Terminals — the Houston-based company whose petrochemical storage facility in the suburb of Deer Park caught fire last weekend and burned for days, sending a dramatic plume of … Continue reading →

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Hogs in the city

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Too close, y’all. Too close. If you have noticed more feral hogs in your Houston-area neighborhood recently, you are not alone. Neighbors across the Greater Houston report the wild animals are more frequently making their way into their subdivisions and … Continue reading →

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Space force!

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Yippie. Gov. Greg Abbott wants the U.S. Space Force headquarters to be at Ellington Airport. In a letter to President Donald Trump, Abbott said Texas has the universities and human capital needed to support a Space Force and pitched the … Continue reading →

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Port Arthur

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The Harvey-damaged industrial town is trying to draw new residents while holding onto the ones it has now. Port Arthur may be surrounded by prosperous oil refineries, but the city itself faces challenges. The refineries employ fewer workers than they … Continue reading →

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We can make the end of coal in Texas happen

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s already happening. It just needs a bit of a boost. Texas might have the perfect environment to quit coal for good. Texas is one of the only places—potentially in the world—where the natural patterns of wind and sun could … Continue reading →

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Our increasingly non-dry state

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are now only five counties in Texas where you can’t buy alcohol. On Election Day in Stanton, just north of Midland, Ron Black was skeptical that a particular measure on the ballot would pass. “Well, I think at first … Continue reading →

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How legal pot affects Texas

Posted on January 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It has many effects. In just two weeks in October, the legal landscape for marijuana use in North America changed dramatically. First, Canada opened sales of legalized pot for recreational use, and then Mexico’s high court delivered a definitive ruling … Continue reading →

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The dino turtles of Buffalo Bayou

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I love this story. The creature didn’t growl and didn’t need to. The alligator snapping turtle held menace enough in its massive, gaping jaws, which ended in a sharp beak poised like the fangs of an agitated rattlesnake. Its long, … Continue reading →

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No cannabis for you

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck getting your hands on medical marijuana in Texas. It’s been about a year since the first legally grown marijuana plants were harvested in Texas for their medicinal oils. But since then, fewer than 600 patients have seen any … Continue reading →

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Whatabout that styrofoam?

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Texas’ favorite fast food chain is being asked to make changes to how it serves its food. Activists are pressuring San Antonio-based Whataburger to end its use of foam cups and containers in favor of materials friendlier to the environment. … Continue reading →

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Rural counties and AirBnB

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s working well for them. Texans running Airbnb rentals in rural counties earned $20.6 million in supplemental income in the last 12 months with 169,000 guests, according to a new report from the hospitality company. These results represent a growth … Continue reading →

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Trump trade war troubles

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. There’s a Chinese proverb: Sow melons, reap melons. Sow beans, reap beans. In other words, expect tit for tat. President Donald Trump — and by extension many of the nation’s farmers — … Continue reading →

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Austin drops its bag ban

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

What choice did they have? The City of Austin says it will no longer enforce a ban on single-use plastic bags at most retail outlets, following a state Supreme Court ruling last month that struck down Laredo’s bag ban. The … Continue reading →

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What the Texas State Aquarium is up to after Harvey

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

They’re doing what they need to do, which they should be doing. During Harvey, aquarium officials took in other birds and marine animals from the University of Texas-Austin Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas and the Aquarium at Rockport Harbor … Continue reading →

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Too many people don’t get sick leave

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the CPPP: All Texans should be able to care for themselves or a loved one if they get sick, regardless of what kind of job they do or how much they earn. Approximately 4.3 million Texas workers – or … Continue reading →

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TDCJ, here’s your moment in the sexual harassment spotlight

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Please learn from it. More than a decade after a sexual assault scandal rocked the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the agency is still a “boys’ club” plagued by sexual harassment and a culture that makes it difficult for women … Continue reading →

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Rio Seco

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This is not good. Mario Rosales, who farms 365 acres along the Rio Grande, knows the river is in bad shape this year. It has already dried to a dusty ribbon of sand in some parts, and most of the … Continue reading →

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Remember the (gross mismanagement by George P. Bush’s Land Office at the) Alamo

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe remember this in November. As the election season rolls on, keep this in mind when Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush opens his mouth: The officeholder from the state’s best-known political family certainly knows how to spin a story. … Continue reading →

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Hiring and harassment at TxDOT

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good morning. Here’s another story about harassment and discrimination being suffered by female and minority employees at a public institution, in this case the state Department of Transportation. The Texas Department of Transportation held Tamela Saldana up as a “superhero” … Continue reading →

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Cities and suburbs up, rurals down

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The story of Texas’ population. Recently released data from the Texas Demographic Center spelled bad news for many rural areas in the state: populations there were still shrinking, or growing slowly. Population growth in Texas remained concentrated in urban areas … Continue reading →

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Santa Fe

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have anything profound to say, though I would suggest that someone on Dan Patrick‘s staff try to explain to him the concept of fire codes and emergency exits. Beyond that, I’ll say again what I’ve said many times … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott, Russian stooge

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Heck of a job, Greggie. A former director of the CIA and NSA said Wednesday that hysteria in Texas over a 2015 U.S. military training exercise called Jade Helm was fueled by Russians wanting to dominate “the information space,” and … Continue reading →

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RIP, Barbara Bush

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Former First Lady and mother of President George W. Bush has passed away. Barbara Pierce Bush, matriarch of an American political dynasty that has produced presidents, governors and other high officials, has died in Houston. She was 92. Bush was … Continue reading →

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Texas’ maternal mortality rate not as bad as previously reported

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, if a bit puzzling. Several of the state’s top health experts released a report in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology on Monday showing that by using the new method, the number of women who died dropped from … Continue reading →

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The Schlitterbahn indictments

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still stunned by this. Three Schlitterbahn Waterparks officials now have been swept up in a criminal probe into the 2016 decapitation death of a 10-year-old boy at the company’s Kansas park. An indictment unsealed Tuesday in Kansas reveals for … Continue reading →

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Everybody should be counted

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The 2020 Census has big challenges, especially in Texas. But even two years out from the 2020 count, local officials, demographers, community organizers and advocates say they are worried the census could be particularly tough to carry out in Texas … Continue reading →

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Beware billboard blight

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Does anyone actually want this? Some 25,000 billboards along certain stretches of Texas highways could soar in size under a regulatory change approved by state transportation officials. The Texas Transportation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to eliminate the existing 42½-foot height … Continue reading →

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