Tag Archives: coronavirus

We need a better word than “controversial”

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron: Meet Al Hartman, the controversial Houston CEO who is suing Hidalgo, Abbott over COVID orders. Al Hartman is not shy about his beliefs. As a guest on a Christian radio show, he spoke about a faith so … Continue reading →

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

2020 early voting starts today

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Early Voting period for the November 2020 General Election begins tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th, and continues through Friday, October 30th. This is the longest Early Voting period in Texas history, and voters who are not eligible … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Judge briefly halts Abbott’s order limiting mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Late Friday breaking news, which lasted until the early afternoon on Saturday. A federal judge ruled Friday that Texas counties can have multiple drop-off locations for absentee ballots heading into the Nov. 3 general election, blocking the enforcement of Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Abbott to allow bars to reopen

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sort of. It’s kind of the most Abbott thing ever. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that bars in Texas can reopen for in-person service next week — as long as their county governments choose to allow it. Effective Oct. 14, … Continue reading →

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On executive power and the role of the Legislature

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few thoughts from recent events relating to Greg Abbott, COVID-19, vote access and suppression, local control, all those Hotze lawsuits, and so forth. 1. I think most of us would agree that however we assess Greg Abbott’s performance … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

First hearing for mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully we’ll get some action quickly. Lawyers for voters and voting rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent order limiting counties to one location where voters can hand-deliver mail-in ballots. Abbott waited too long … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fourth lawsuit filed over Abbott’s order limiting mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is heard from: BREAKING: We just sued #Texas over Governor Greg Abbott’s discriminatory 11th hour decision to PROHIBIT counties from providing voters with more than 1 drop-off location for mail-in ballots. This ban has … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Win one, lose one at SCOTX

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The win: Early voting in Texas can begin Oct. 13, following the timeline the governor laid out months ago, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, rejecting a request from several top Texas Republicans to limit the timeframe for voters to … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Third lawsuit filed against Abbott’s order to limit mail ballot dropoff sites

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This one’s in state court. Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting Texas counties to one mail ballot drop-off location has been challenged in court a third time. The lawsuit filed in Travis County court on Monday alleges that Abbott’s order exceeds … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When Republicans fight

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Such a sight to see. Gov. Greg Abbott’s most exasperating allies sure chose an awkward time to act up. In the face of a momentous election, with an array of issues that includes the pandemic, the recession, climate change, racial … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022, Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lots of HISD students will stay remote for now

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The people have spoken. If the state’s largest district follows through with reopening campuses to students on Oct. 19 — the tentative plan, still based on public health conditions — more than half of the district’s nearly 200,000 could remain … Continue reading →

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Second lawsuit filed against Abbott’s mail ballot dropoff order

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Chuck Lindell on Twitter, on Saturday afternoon: We have a 2nd federal lawsuit against Gov. Abbott’s order limiting counties to 1 drop-off location for mail-in ballots, this one from the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans. Petition: https://democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/10/Straty-v.-Abbott.pdf Background: — … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

We really can track COVID-19 through wastewater

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is terrific news. Researchers with the city, Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine were able to sniff out a potential second outbreak of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter in downtown Houston earlier this year by looking down its … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Abbott’s order to limit mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Voting rights advocates and civic groups have rushed to the courthouse in a bid to block Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 1 order allowing Texas counties no more than one drop-off location for voters casting absentee ballots, calling … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SCOTX hears mail ballot case arguments

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we are. Harris County Clerk Christopher Hollins’ plan to send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters in the county far exceeds what the state Election Code allows, the attorney general’s office argued before the Texas Supreme … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

And straight ticket voting is off again

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise, but boy are we all getting whiplash over here. Texas voters will not be able to select every candidate of a major political party with one punch, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, upholding a 2017 state law … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Paxton opposes Hotze mandamus to curb early voting

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Reform Austin: In a brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argues that the GOP group suing Gov. Greg Abbott to prevent him from extending early voting for the November election has no standing … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Of course the Fifth Circuit paused the straight ticket voting ruling

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Water is wet, the sky is blue, the Fifth Circuit gives Ken Paxton whatever he asks. A federal appeals court on Monday put a temporary hold on a lower court’s ruling last week that reinstated the practice of straight-ticket voting, … Continue reading →

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Paxton appeals stright ticket voting ruling

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Letting no moss grow. The Texas Attorney General’s office filed an appeal and motion to stay Saturday following a federal judge’s order to reinstate straight ticket voting ahead of the November general election. Lawyers representing the Texas Secretary of State … Continue reading →

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The people responded to the call for poll workers

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In Harris County, bigtime. Muhammed Nasrullah was ready to call it quits. After working as an election judge in every Harris County contest since 2004, the COVID-19 pandemic discouraged the 67-year-old retired mechanical engineer from signing up again. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

October Census deadline restored

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, though as with everything we can’t be sure just yet that it’s for real. A federal judge in California late Thursday blocked the Trump administration from stopping the 2020 Census count next week, saying it should continue until … Continue reading →

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Straight ticket voting reinstated (for now)

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That was unexpected. Less than three weeks before early voting begins in Texas, a U.S. district judge has blocked the state from eliminating straight-ticket voting as an option for people who go to the polls this November. In a ruling … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Trib overview of the Senate race

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It really comes down to the top of the ticket. There’s no getting around it. Even before a pandemic struck, protests over racial justice took to the streets and a vacancy opened on the U.S. Supreme Court, this year’s U.S. … Continue reading →

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And the PAC12 flip flops, too

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone’s playing football again. The Pac-12 will play a seven-game conference football season beginning Nov. 6, the league announced Thursday. The decision, voted on by the Pac-12’s CEO group on Thursday, represents an official reversal after the conference announced in … Continue reading →

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Hotze and crew appeal to SCOTX to stop the extra week of early voting

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a lawsuit over his extension of early voting for the November election from prominent members of his own party — including state party Chairman Allen West, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bar owners still mad at Abbott

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t blame them, but the situation is complicated. As Gov. Greg Abbott outlined his latest reopening plan this week, bar owner Greg Barrineau watched in disbelief. Abbott, who announced that Texas restaurants could expand dine-in service to 75% capacity, said … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Still code red

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll turn it down a notch when the data says we should. The counts of coronavirus patients in local hospitals have been falling for two months. Restaurant patios are packed. Houston’s symphony and pro soccer teams are resuming at limited … Continue reading →

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Texas Central gets federal approvals

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

A big step completed. Federal officials have issued final approvals to backers of a Houston-to-Dallas high-speed rail line, clearing the way for construction of the proposed line, in a move almost certain to face challenges from opponents. Texas Central Railroad, … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

So far so good on school reopening

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still early, though. For the first Houston-area school districts to resume in-person classes, the early results for COVID-19 on campus are in: so far, mostly so good. Eight districts that brought children back to schools in August are reporting … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Voter registration during a pandemic is hard

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Especially when online voter registration is not an option. In the first seven months of 2020, new registrations in Texas were down nearly 24% compared with that same time frame in 2016, according to numbers from the nonprofit Center for … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Appeals court sides with Hollins in mail ballot applications case

Posted on September 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s up to SCOTX now. A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a district court ruling that denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to block Harris County officials from sending mail ballot applications to the county’s 2.4 million registered voters. … Continue reading →

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And so the re-reopening begins

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Are we really ready for this? Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that most of Texas will be able to loosen some coronavirus restrictions, including letting many businesses increase their capacity to 75%, as soon as Monday. Retail stores, restaurants and … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

We suck at COVID data, the continuing story

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Would have been nice to have known this when it was happening. State health officials published new data this week that showed the state’s positivity rate was higher in the spring that originally disclosed, even as public officials cited the … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Harris County preps to print mail ballots

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

How many they have to print remains an open question at this time. For the first time, Harris County will pay a third-party vendor to print mail ballots, a move intended to help the county clerk handle what is expected … Continue reading →

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