Monthly Archives: September 2025

Interview with Renee Jefferson Patterson

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We continue our visit with the candidates for HCC Trustee. Today we move into District II, where incumbent Renee Jefferson Patterson was appointed to fill the seat earlier this year after Charlene Ward Johnson was elected to HD139. Patterson is … Continue reading →

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Redistricting trial 2.0 begins

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off. This week, a trio of federal judges will consider whether Texas can use its new congressional map in the 2026 election, marking the first legal test for the districts produced by a summer of intense partisan clashing. … Continue reading →

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Rep. Rosenthal to run for RRC

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of a surprise, at least to me. State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, announced Monday that he is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission — the powerful agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry … Continue reading →

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Interview with Monica Flores Richart

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This week we will feature the HCC Trustee races and candidates. Three Trustees are up for a six-year term, though only two of them have opponents; trustee Cynthia Lenton-Gary has no challenger for District VII. The incumbent in District I … Continue reading →

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Recall Houston says it will start collecting petition signatures

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. Could Houston voters soon decide the fate of Houston Mayor John Whitmire? Experts say it’s an extremely long shot, but a group of Houstonians will start collecting signatures next week to remove the mayor from office. Mayor Whitmire has … Continue reading →

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The National Weather Service is basically broken

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s being held together by duct tape and twist ties, and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, all those Project 2025 assholes, and every cowardly Republican in Congress. Some National Weather Service staffers are working double shifts … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 28

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“Every single case of hepatitis B in a child is a tragedy, because we have the tools to prevent this. So no number of children getting hepatitis B and developing chronic disease is acceptable in the U.S.” Go ahead and … Continue reading →

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Still more voter registration problems

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Criminy. Darcy Hood mailed her voter registration application to the Tarrant County elections department in July, after she turned 18. Months later, her application still hasn’t been processed. And it’s unclear when it will be. With the Oct. 6 deadline … Continue reading →

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The city screws with the Main Street light rail line

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

All done in silence, no notice and no transparency. Light rail passengers are facing longer delays while taking Metro’s Red Line route through downtown after the city adjusted the timing of traffic lights. Local officials have not responded to questions … Continue reading →

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State lawsuit on Tarrant redistricting has its hearing

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what happens. A district court judge is expected to decide whether to grant a temporary injunction against Tarrant County’s new commissioner precincts next week. It’s part of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Tarrant … Continue reading →

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State files its response to the redistricting lawsuit

Posted on September 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re playing the oldies, not the new tune that the Trump Justice Department tried to woo them with. Texas officials acknowledged in a new court filing that the Justice Department’s rationale this summer for pushing them to redraw the state’s … Continue reading →

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The Loving County takeover attempt

Posted on September 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is bonkers, and I am here for it. Sheriff Dave Landersman said he started hearing about the group aiming to take over his county a few months ago. It began with locals reporting unfamiliar faces around the Loving County … Continue reading →

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The second life of old EV batteries

Posted on September 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. East of San Antonio in Bexar County, 500 electric vehicle batteries at the end of their automotive lives will soon be repurposed to provide energy storage for Texas’ electric grid, a California company, B2U Storage Solutions, announced on … Continue reading →

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Interview with Michael McDonough

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We finish up our week with HISD candidates with Michael McDonough, who is challenging incumbent Trustee Kendall Baker in District VI. McDonough recently retired after a 30+ year career at HISD, where he was a math teacher, a soccer coach, … Continue reading →

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Andrew White makes it official

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As expected, Andrew White made his encore effort for Governor official on Wednesday. I got two different impressions of it, based on which news story I read about it. From the Chron: Andrew White, a Houston businessman and son of … Continue reading →

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The THC age limit is in effect

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Time to show your ID, I guess. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Tuesday approved an emergency rule to ban liquor license holders from selling THC products to anyone under the age of 21, the agency’s first step toward fulfilling … Continue reading →

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Interview with Maria Benzon

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The other open HISD seat is in District V, where two-term incumbent Sue Deigaard declined to run again. There are two candidates running to fill that seat, and today we will hear from Maria Benzon, a veteran educator with over … Continue reading →

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The “who’s running for Governor” question again

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’ll be there until there’s a final answer. Even as some Texas Democrats are optimistic about their chances in next year’s midterm elections, the party’s most recognizable names are so far avoiding the chance to take on Gov. Greg Abbott, … Continue reading →

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Here come the robot umps

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Cued up for next season. Major League Baseball will implement a challenge system for balls and strikes in the 2026 season after the league’s competition committee voted Tuesday to usher in the era of robot umpiring. Following years of testing … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 24

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance will not be silenced as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Interview with Audrey Nath

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Challenging incumbent Bridget Wade in District VII is Audrey Nath, one of many Mike Miles critics on the ballot that I noted in July. Nath is a pediatric neurologist, an MD/PhD from Rice and UT-Houston, and an HISD mom. She’s … Continue reading →

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District Clerk Marilyn Burgess not running for re-election

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of a surprise. Marilyn Burgess, the elected Harris County district clerk, is not running for a third term in 2026, she said in a statement days after voting for her own pay increase amid a salary grievance. Burgess, … Continue reading →

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Talarico passes the first test

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fundraising. What did you think I was going to say? In his first public appearance after launching his U.S. Senate bid, state Rep. James Talarico said he had sprinted over the highest hurdle a first-time candidate for statewide office must … Continue reading →

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Interview with Bridget Wade

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with our week of HISD Trustee race interviews, the next two days will be in District VII, where the incumbent is Bridget Wade, who defeated Anne Sung in 2021. Wade is the past President and longtime member of the … Continue reading →

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Third lawsuit filed against Ten Commandments law

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This one is a followup to the first one. Texas’ Ten Commandments law is facing another legal battle after a coalition of 15 families filed a lawsuit against their school districts to block the mandate to display the religious text … Continue reading →

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Bexar County’s voter registration problems

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not great, Bob! Bexar County is sitting on more than 45,000 voter registration forms that haven’t been processed — less than 50 days before voters decide whether to devote public dollars to a downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs. … Continue reading →

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Interview with Felicity Pereyra

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Welcome to the start of the 2025 interview season! I went into this early on thinking there wouldn’t be much, as there are no city of Houston elections, but with the special elections in CD18 and At Large #4 it … Continue reading →

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The revenue cap squeeze on first responders

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Great story, and an even better illustration of a couple of points I’ve been making for quite some time. Just weeks after flash flooding killed more than 100 people in Kerr County, many of the first responders who served on … Continue reading →

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Waymo comes to Nashville, driverless trucks come to I-10

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Two for the price of one today. Story #1: Robotaxi leader Waymo on Wednesday announced that its driverless vehicles will begin transporting passengers in Nashville, Tennessee, next year while heading in a new direction by teaming up with Lyft instead … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 21

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“Eisenhower saw the Interstate as a nation-building project, and in one sense he was right—but that vision came at the expense of the cities it was meant to serve. If there is freedom on the open road cutting through America’s … Continue reading →

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How the hemp industry wooed Greg Abbott

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting stuff here, and a reminder that some things are eternal. Colton Luther, a 29-year-old from Houston who hosts the cannabis podcast “Puff and Prosper,” isn’t your typical Austin lobbyist. But in July, Luther sat across from Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

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Sen. Sarah Eckhardt may run for CD10

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin said Wednesday she is seriously considering a run for Congress in the GOP-leaning district being vacated next year by 20-year Republican Michael McCaul, saying its time for candidates in her party to … Continue reading →

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Home Depot is watching you

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Beware the surveillance cameras. Hundreds of AI-powered automated license plate reading cameras paid for by Lowe’s and Home Depot and stationed in the hardware stores’ parking lots are being fed into a massive surveillance system that law enforcement can access, … Continue reading →

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The Trib profiles Talarico

Posted on September 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. About 20 minutes into his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Texas Rep. James Talarico started making his case that the Bible sanctions abortion. In the Book of Luke, the Austin Democrat noted, Mary has a vision from God … Continue reading →

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