Monthly Archives: August 2022

Harris County looks to sue over Comptroller’s BS “defunding” claim

Tell it to the judge. Harris County Commissioners Court this week is expected to hire an outside law firm to take legal action against the state and Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who accused the county of defunding law enforcement in violation … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More on the Gillespie County elections office resignations

From Votebeat, how this mess got started. Last November’s sleepy constitutional amendment election nearly came to blows in Gillespie County, a central Texas county known for its vineyards. A volunteer poll watcher, whose aggressive behavior had rankled election workers all … Continue reading

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MLBPA seeks to represent minor leaguers

Good to see, though there are some questions that will need to be answered. The Major League Baseball Players Association took an initial step toward unionizing the minor leagues Sunday night, sending out authorization cards that will allow minor league … Continue reading

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White Oak bike trail extension: Getting close to done

It’s been a bit more than a month since the last update, and as you can see a lot has gotten done. As you can see, the trail itself is about 90% done, with only the far west end still … Continue reading

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What do we expect from CD23?

It was the perennial razor-close high-dollar swing district all last decade. Will Hurd won it three times, but never reached 50% in any of the three elections. It moved a few points towards the GOP in 2020 when Tony Gonzales … Continue reading

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CC4 poll: Briones 44, Cagle 42

From the inbox: Lesley Briones, candidate for Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 4, released the results of a new poll today that shows her in the lead: Briones 44% / Cagle 42%. The poll was conducted August 9-13 by the national firm, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The gaps in Texas’ background check law

From Pro Publica: In the spring of 2009, Elliott Naishtat persuaded his colleagues in the Texas Legislature to pass a bill that he believed would require the state to report court-ordered mental health hospitalizations for Texans of all ages to … Continue reading

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The Lege sure thinks a lot of companies need to be coddled

It’s kind of amazing, actually. Texas banned 10 financial firms from doing business with the state after Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Wednesday that they did not support the oil and gas industry. Hegar, a Republican running for reelection in November, … Continue reading

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Maybe we shouldn’t pave over our best rain-absorbing wetlands

Just a thought. Even just paving over less of them might be wise. At the far west end of Houston along the Katy Freeway, where the concrete city gives way to bigger sky and taller grass, signs advertising new master-planned communities greet … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Paxton still trying to intervene in the Genecis case

Never stop never stopping. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is attempting for the second time to intervene in a legal fight over gender-affirming medical care at two Dallas hospitals. In an appeal filed this month, Paxton said that a lower court judge erred in ruling … Continue reading

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Weekend link dump for August 28

“We live in deeply conspiratorial times. The spread of misinformation has never happened more speedily, never been so easy to monetize, never felt so inescapably ingrained in our daily lives. It covers every aspect of our being, from politics to … Continue reading

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Libertarians will remain on the ballot

Too bad, Republicans. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Republican effort to remove a host of Libertarian candidates from the November ballot, saying the GOP did not bring their challenge soon enough. In a unanimous opinion, the all-GOP … Continue reading

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More on the Uvalde class action lawsuit

A few more details, anyway. Charles Bonner served the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District with the multibillion-dollar claim Monday, requesting compensation for the victims. Bonner told The Texas Tribune he intended to serve Uvalde city leaders on Tuesday evening at … Continue reading

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More on the targeting of medical abortion

The end goal has always been a complete national ban on abortion. The “return it to the states” nonsense is a dodge to make you think it won’t be that bad and the people claiming it’s about a national ban … Continue reading

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Paxton finds a new way to be two-faced

I mean, what were we supposed to believe? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stunned election administrators across the state last week when he released an opinion that, in theory, would allow anyone to access ballots almost immediately after they were … Continue reading

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Judge rules Texas cannot ban handgun sales to 18-to-20-year olds

WTAF? A federal court in Fort Worth on Thursday struck down a Texas prohibition that limited adults under 21 from carrying handguns. Texas law bars most 18- to 20-year-olds in the state from obtaining a license to carry a handgun … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cheney versus Cruz

Pop your popcorn, this should be fun. U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the GOP’s highest-profile critics of former President Donald Trump, plans to set her sights on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans who she says “made themselves … Continue reading

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Beware the tasty invasive Aussie lobsters

Hopefully we can eat enough of them to mitigate their impact. They may be delicious, but they’re also invasive. Texas Parks and Wildlife announced Thursday that several Australian redclaw crawfish were recently discovered again at an apartment complex pond in the Brownsville area. Labeled … Continue reading

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Paxton issues deranged opinion on access to ballots

This is utterly chaotic. And completely out of the blue. A legal opinion released by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week will almost certainly throw county elections offices into chaos after November, experts say, exposing election clerks to possible … Continue reading

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

A different EMTALA ruling in Idaho

As expected. You know where this goes from here. A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Idaho from enforcing a ban on abortions when pregnant women require emergency care, a day after a judge in Texas ruled against President Joe Biden’s … Continue reading

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Paxton’s State Bar disciplinary hearing

We are slowly moving towards finally having some kind of result in this saga. Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued Wednesday that a Kaufman County judge should toss a lawsuit alleging he acted unethically in a legal challenge … Continue reading

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Arredondo fired

Took awhile, but there it is. The Uvalde school board agreed Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the school district police chief broadly criticized for his response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, in a vote that came shortly … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Restraining order granted in Paxton’s EMTALA lawsuit

Ugh. Texas hospitals will not be required to provide emergency abortions after a federal judge ruled the Biden administration was unauthorized to enforce such a rule. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock ruled that the guidance by the … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading

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Kemp’s ridley turtles making a comeback

We deserve a little good news. For the first time in 75 years, hatchlings of the world’s smallest sea turtle species have been discovered on the Chandeleur Islands, a chain of barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico off the … Continue reading

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Texas blog roundup for the week of August 22

There is still nothing classified as Top Secret in the Texas Progressive Alliance weekly roudup.

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Rockport, Dickinson, Port Arthur: Five years after Harvey

Yeah, we’re at “five years after Hurricane Harvey made landfall” time. Here’s a long story about how three smaller towns that were in its path are doing now. Each day, Gary Billy drives past the empty corner lot where his … Continue reading

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

Abortion funds file First Amendment lawsuit for their right to assist others access abortion

We’ll see what SCOTUS does with this one, because for sure that’s where this will end up. Reproductive rights groups on Tuesday filed a federal class-action lawsuit to head off possible prosecution from Texas officials for helping Texans gain access … Continue reading

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The Constables’ and Comptroller’s ridiculous complaint

This is transparent bullshit. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar this week accused Harris County commissioners of defunding local constables and threatened to prevent the county from implementing its proposed 2023 budget if the county does not reverse course. In a letter … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Class action lawsuit for Uvalde parents being prepped

There are a lot of blanks to be filled in for this. You can be sure I’ll be watching for them. Some of the families affected by the Robb Elementary School mass shooting are now a part of a major … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Beto still seeking to dismiss oligarch’s lawsuit against him

Might have better luck this time around. Remember last year when Gov. Greg Abbott’s biggest donor sued gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke for defamation, slander, and libel? Well, that’s still going on. The legal fight has moved into a state appeals … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I don’t know why anyone thinks that IVF will be safe in Texas

That’s what people are saying now. Abortion bans across the country have thrown into question the fate of in vitro fertilization, an expensive medical process that helps people become pregnant. But experts and anti-abortion groups say Texas’ laws shouldn’t apply … Continue reading

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Let’s name a few legislative battlegrounds

It’s getting to be that time of the election cycle. Two years ago, Democrats were gearing up for a rare opportunity in modern times: capturing the Texas House majority. But after they came up woefully short — and Republican-led redistricting … Continue reading

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Yes, let’s build more bike trail bridges

It’s all about connectivity. Stopping for a water break on the normal blistering-hot Houston day, bicyclist Reagan Smithers, 33, can see the tops of the trees along her street from the White Oak Bayou Trail. As the grackle flies – … Continue reading

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