Tag Archives: Greg Abbott

Give the bars a break

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m OK with this. The Texas Restaurant Association has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to revise the definitions of “bar” in his recent order closing drinking establishments in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases. In a letter to the governor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Final Totals: Democrats carry the day

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s going to be a numbers-heavy post. Let’s start with Texas Elects, giving us a penultimate day summary: Early voting in person ended today (Friday) for the July 14 primary runoff and special elections. Through yesterday (Thursday), 532K people have … Continue reading →

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

Who wants to enforce Greg Abbott’s mask order?

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Gov. Greg Abbott called on police across Texas to step up enforcement of his mask order amid the mounting pandemic, explaining Thursday that they can either “be part of the problem or part of the solution.” Facing … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Greg Abbott has no one to blame but himself

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s be very clear about this. Gov. Greg Abbott is under increasing political fire from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats as he responds to a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths — a record 112 on Wednesday and 106 on … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Thursday: In which I get a look at the vote rosters

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

What’s a vote roster, you say? It’s a detailed list of everyone who voted in a particular election. You can find some recent ones, mostly pertaining to the 2020 elections so far, here. I’ve used the rosters from past elections … Continue reading →

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

Abbott’s approval rating

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This has gotten a bit of chatter, so let’s take a closer look. We released the remaining results of the June 2020 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll today. This post focuses on Texans’ assessment of the state’s political leaders, the state … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Abbott’s approval rating

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Wednesday: This is all the vote by mail we’re going to get

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to start this update off with a bummer of a legal analysis from Vox’s Ian Millhiser: The Texas case, meanwhile, is Texas Democratic Party v. Abbott, and the stakes in that case are simply enormous. Texas law permits voters … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Wednesday: This is all the vote by mail we’re going to get

GOP declines Turner’s invitation to cancel their convention

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The ball is back in your court, Mr. Mayor. The Texas Republican Party is proceeding with an in-person convention next week in downtown Houston, a rejection of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s formal request Monday to move the event online amid a … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Checking on Metro’s mask mandate

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I admit, I was a bit confused when I saw the earlier version of this story. Metro wanted to make sure its mask requirement for all passengers passed legal muster, asking a Houston lawmaker to seek an opinion from Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Checking on Metro’s mask mandate

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Tuesday: A history of Democratic primary runoffs

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday I said that the turnout so far in the 2020 Democratic primary runoff was already historic. Today I’m going to show my work on that. Herewith is the 21st century history of Democratic primary runoff turnout for Harris County: … Continue reading →

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

So how’s Greg Abbott doing post-mask order?

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott consistently polls as the politician with the highest approval rating in the state. He was basking in adulation a few weeks ago when things were reopening and the coronavirus numbers still looked good. How are things going for … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Second Monday: A statewide look

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not going to keep track of what day number we’re at now, as it doesn’t really make sense anymore. But what we can do right now is have a look at how each party is doing with mail votes. … Continue reading →

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

How Texas screwed it all up

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a more succinct headline for this story about how Texas went from having a low COVID-19 infection rate to one of the worst in the country. And the vast majority of the responsibility for this is on Greg Abbott. … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Day Five/Six: Apples and Oranges

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We are at the end of the first official early voting week for the 2020 primary runoffs. At this point, there have been five actual early voting days, as Friday and Saturday the polls were closed for the Independence Day … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 2020 Primary Runoff Early Voting, Day Five/Six: Apples and Oranges

Of course there’s a lawsuit against Abbott’s mask order

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And of course it involves the usual suspects. The day Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate that face masks be worn in most public places across Texas went into effect, a GOP activist and group of conservatives filed a lawsuit in an … Continue reading →

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

State GOP will have its convention

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I hope they don’t kill any convention or hotel workers as a result. Beyond that, I don’t know what to say. The Texas GOP’s executive committee voted Thursday night to proceed with plans to hold the party’s in-person convention in … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Abbott finally issues a mask order

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Better late than never, but it’s pretty damn late. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a nearly statewide mask mandate Thursday as Texas scrambles to get its coronavirus surge under control. The order requires Texans living in counties with 20 or more … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Second lawsuit filed by bars against Abbott

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This one was expected. Several Texas bar owners filed a $10 million federal lawsuit Tuesday afternoon against Gov. Greg Abbott, in an attempt to void his executive order shutting down bars for a second time since the beginning of the … Continue reading →

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

The lack of testing is becoming a more serious problem

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It was already serious. Now it’s extra serious. As the new coronavirus continues to spread in Texas, leaders of some of the state’s biggest cities said Monday that their testing sites were being strained, forcing them to turn away people … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The lack of testing is becoming a more serious problem

More on that bar owners’ lawsuit

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s something, that’s for sure. They’re here. They serve beer. And they are hopping mad at Greg Abbott. As the Washington Post’s Teo Amus reported Tuesday, a group of Texas bar owners from around the state has banded together to … Continue reading →

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

Hey, how about trying that local control thing again?

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like it might be worth a shot to led Mayors and County Judges lead on coronavirus response again, since they’ve done so much better a job of leading than Greg Abbott has. As Texas grapples with soaring coronavirus cases … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is this convention really necessary?

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously. I know they don’t care about anyone else, but maybe the state GOP might think about the health and well-being of their own people? As the coronavirus pandemic engulfs Texas’ metropolitan areas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has left the … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The pause effect on bars and restaurants

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I feel terrible for them, but what could we do at this point? Ed Noyes was trying to get some shut-eye when he woke up to seven different texts Friday morning. Three of the five bartenders at his Fort Worth … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food, The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Put a pause on that reopening

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

At this point, we had no other choice. Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday took his most drastic action yet to respond to the post-reopening coronavirus surge in Texas, shutting bars back down and scaling back restaurant capacity to 50%. He … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Have we gone from “concerned” to “alarmed” yet?

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We’re getting there. With cases of the coronavirus surging to record levels in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott recommended Tuesday that Texans stay home as much as possible and for the first time moved to allow the tightening of two kinds … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Can we make it past July?

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s when it looks like we’ll hit the peak of the pandemic here. And it could be ugly. A surge in COVID-19 cases since Memorial Day could set the Houston area on track for a peak of 2,000 daily hospitalizations … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How bad is it going to get in Houston?

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m worried, y’all. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas continued to reach record highs over the weekend while new cases also climbed in the Houston area. The new figures come as County Judge Lina Hidalgo and leaders in other … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Maybe we should have had this election in May

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, the irony. When the coronavirus threat was newer and seemed more immediate, Texas postponed its May elections to pick winners in several party primary runoffs, fearing the health risks of exposing voters and poll workers. With those statewide elections … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Maybe we should have had this election in May

Fauci and football

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I hate to rain on your tailgate, but… The NFL is planning to begin its season on time, but Dr. Anthony Fauci pulled the reins on that optimistic view Wednesday. “Unless players are essentially in a bubble – insulated from … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Our wishy-washy Governor

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about evading responsibility. At least now it’s starting to become clear to people. Counties and cities across Texas swiftly followed Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff’s lead this week after he ordered businesses — without opposition from Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back to school, kids

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, I don’t know about this. Texas students will be returning to public schools in person this fall, Gov. Greg Abbott told state lawmakers Thursday morning. The state’s top education officials confirmed the plans in a statement to The Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hidalgo issues new mask order

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott said we could, so there. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued an order Friday mandating that businesses require customers to wear masks, her latest effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. She and other county leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

From the “Live by the leaked audio, die by the leaked audio” department

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, the irony. Two staffers for the hardline conservative group Empower Texans have been caught on an audio recording disparaging Gov. Greg Abbott with profanity and joking about his wheelchair use. Upon the comments surfacing Friday morning, Abbott’s office and … Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness, Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s really hard out there on the restaurants

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I feel for them, but none of this is unsurprising. Celebrating her birthday in Galveston, Melinda Prince walked out of Yaga’s Cafe on Thursday full of coconut shrimp. What she didn’t realize was one of the employees at the restaurant … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments