Monthly Archives: March 2026

The new Fort Worth ISD Superintendent speaks

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I’m trying to hear how he differs from Mike Miles. I’m still thinking about it. “It’s going to take a while to correct the system,” [appointed Superintendent Peter] Licata said Friday as he walked around Morningside, a campus slated for … Continue reading →

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The Loving County takeover saga gets more ridiculous

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I am begging for there to be a multi-part prestige podcast about this when it is all over. A legal cat-and-mouse contest is playing out in far West Texas, where local and state authorities are attempting to stymie a charismatic … Continue reading →

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First attempt to regulate prediction markets

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but it has had some effect and is worth keeping an eye on. After two United States senators introduced a bipartisan bill on Monday aimed at banning sports futures on prediction markets, Kalshi and … Continue reading →

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Another voter purge lawsuit filed

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to keep track of them all. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and other sued Thursday to stop a purge of Texas’ voter rolls that the Latino civil rights group and its allies say is discriminatory toward … Continue reading →

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The best analysis of Taylor Rehmet’s runoff win I’ve seen

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Longtime UH poli sci professor Richard Murray is doing some new writing, and he did a deep dive last month on now-Sen. Taylor Rehmet’s runoff win in the SD09 special election that I wanted to share. Here’s the key bit: … Continue reading →

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That’s one way to promote growth

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

But don’t expect it to happen. The study ordered last week by House Speaker Dustin Burrows to examine whether Texas could actually gobble up some of the counties on the eastern rim of New Mexico has some political figures seeing … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for March 29

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

“The Creator of Wordle Just Came Out With a New Game, and It’s Hard”. “After fights over social studies standards, conservative activists come for math“. “The actual analogue to a “Great Books” curriculum for STEM would be a lab-heavy program … Continue reading →

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Four HISD schools achieve some separation from Mike Miles

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This seems like a good thing. They all wanted it, I don’t see any quotes from opponents in the story. Am I missing something? Four of Houston ISD’s most prestigious magnet high schools will have new outside managers, after the … Continue reading →

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One hint about where FWISD might be going

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Not from the naming of the new Superintendent, but by the hiring of his deputy. A top Houston ISD official is joining Fort Worth ISD as second-in-command as the Texas Education Agency prepares to take over the North Texas school district. Daniel Soliz, … Continue reading →

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The Home Team Act

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I’m listening. Progressives on Capitol Hill want to make it harder for professional sports teams to jump to a new city, citing “billionaire” team owners who they say leverage relocation threats for big public subsidies. The so-called Home Team Act, … Continue reading →

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Council HPD/ICE ordinance mostly moves forward

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A proposal to change the way Houston police officers work with immigration agents looks set to move ahead with two of its three original provisions after the City Attorney’s office rejected one of them, saying it would have violated … Continue reading →

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WNBA will return to Houston

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent. The WNBA is coming back to Houston. The Connecticut Sun are being sold to the Fertitta family, which also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed on Friday. An official announcement is expected … Continue reading →

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On autonomous vehicles and traffic

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I eagerly clicked on this analysis of the effect robotaxis will have on traffic, but I have to say I came away from it dissatisfied. If and when self-driven vehicles become widespread, research and common sense both suggest they will … Continue reading →

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Paxton-Hancock slap fight

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Oh yeah. Bring it on. Attorney General Ken Paxton has called for acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock to be removed from office, in a fiery social media tirade responding to a letter Hancock sent accusing Paxton of falling short in his efforts to … Continue reading →

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Wyatt case goes to grand jury

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. The criminal case against Harris County’s elected treasurer, Carla Wyatt, will go before a grand jury following the repeated postponement of a hearing aimed at deciding whether her burglary of a vehicle charge should proceed, according to court records. … Continue reading →

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When the sky actually is falling

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Because sometimes it kind of does. Picture a space rock. This one was 3 feet wide, but it weighed about a ton and moved at a speed of about 35,000 miles per hour across the sky, just 50 miles above Houston on Saturday. … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of March 16

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance likes vegans and beef eaters and bringing you weekly roundups. Off the Kuff points to CD23 as both an underrated pickup opportunity and a possible barometer of Democrats’ statewide fortunes. SocraticGadfly talks about the Cesar Chavez … Continue reading →

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Patrick disses Rehmet

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is obnoxious, but also a little amusing. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is sidelining the Texas Democrat who in January won a stunning upset victory in what had been considered a safe Republican state Senate district. The Republican did not … Continue reading →

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Fewer people going to Dilley detention center

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Take the wins where you can. Only 100 people are currently detained in the federal government’s controversy-plagued family detention center at Dilley, nonprofit news outlet ProPublica reports. That compares to an average daily population of more than 900 in January. The … Continue reading →

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Robot cooking

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Who’s eating? When a customer orders kung pow chicken at the new iWok restaurant by the Texas Medical Center, a robotic system sends small white bowls of pre-cut ingredients to sit next to an electric wok. A metal gripper dumps … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food, Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Republicans had trouble with precinct voting, too

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I know, I’m shocked too. At least 12,674 Dallas County voters trying to cast ballots in both party primaries showed up at the wrong polling locations March 3 after the county GOP forced the elimination of countywide polling … Continue reading →

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Morath names the new Fort Worth ISD Superintendent

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I wish him well, but more than that I wish the students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders of Fort Worth ISD well. A Floridian who briefly led one of the nation’s largest school districts will captain Fort Worth ISD while … Continue reading →

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A brief check in on District C

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As of Tuesday, we are officially halfway through early voting for the Houston City Council District C special election. There have been 2,937 votes cast so far – 778 by mail, 2,159 in person. Except for Sunday and Monday, every … Continue reading →

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Second post-primary poll shows Talarico up

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the basic info, the poll was conducted by Impact Research between March 12-17, which makes it fully after the first poll we saw, both of which have Rep. James Talarico narrowly up on both Sen. John Cornyn and AG … Continue reading →

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Lawsuits have been filed against xAI over Grok nonconsensual sexual images

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. On Monday, three girls filed a class-action lawsuit against xAI alleging that the company’s Grok AI tool was used to generate child sexual abuse material from their photos. This new civil case joins at least two others revolving around nonconsensual deepfakes … Continue reading →

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Hockey returns to Houston area

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

You’ll have to drive a bit to get to it, though. Hockey is coming back to Houston. The North American Hockey League announced the relocation of the North Iowa Bulls to the Houston area for the 2026-2027 season. The team … Continue reading →

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Not-quite-final Derek Ryan report

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Turnout The numbers posted on the Secretary of State show that 2,165,744 people voted in the Republican Primary and 2,311,826 people voted in the Democratic Primary. Yes, more people voted in the Democratic Primary, 146,082 more to … Continue reading →

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From the “Don’t run if you don’t intend to try” department

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is all so dumb. Kelly Hall and his co-worker were playing the video game “Call of Duty” in the office of their Austin towing company, waiting for customers, when his friend turned his attention to another television. The election … Continue reading →

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Spring ISD hoping to avoid HISD’s fate

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck, y’all. Spring ISD has just a few more months to turn around a struggling high school or risk a state takeover of the entire district — but school leaders are optimistic that early test scores show improvements. After four … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for March 22

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

“Pull up a chair and endure yet another goddamn article about generative AI.” A long read but worth your time. “From location tracking and monitoring software to wearable tech like Meta’s AI Glasses and smartwatches, each advancement in tech innovation … Continue reading →

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The SD04 special election

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Lone Star Left reminds me of an upcoming race I’d overlooked. I’m usually pretty good at staying on top of these, but for some reason, I had lumped Texas Senate District 04 into the districts with regular elections. When, in … Continue reading →

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Harris County criminal case backlog cleared

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Great news. After months of declining criminal caseloads in Harris County courts, prosecutors on Tuesday declared victory in clearing out a crippling backlog of felony cases caused by Hurricane Harvey and exacerbated by the pandemic. “The backlog is not numbers,” District … Continue reading →

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So how do first responders handle autonomous vehicles?

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This story raised more questions than it answered for me. A viral image from the March 1 shooting in downtown Austin — an autonomous vehicle blocking an ambulance from reaching the scene where a gunman fatally wounded three people and … Continue reading →

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KP George convicted of money laundering

Posted on March 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Welp. Fort Bend County Judge KP George was convicted Friday of felony money laundering after jurors found he funneled campaign funds into personal accounts and used the money to cover his personal expenses. The verdict came after several hours of … Continue reading →

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