Monthly Archives: September 2023

SCOTx rules whistleblowers’ lawsuit can proceed

Good. The Texas Supreme Court has sided with former top deputies of Attorney General Ken Paxton and cleared the way for their whistleblower lawsuit to move forward. The all-Republican Supreme Court on Friday rejected Paxton’s request to dismiss the lawsuit … Continue reading

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

New criminal courts coming online

Good. Three new felony courts with a $9.2 million budget are expected to open next week, in what officials say is the final stretch in tackling a backlog of criminal cases that have piled up over the past six years. … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sarah Stogner to run for RRC again

But not as a Republican. This could be interesting. Sarah Stogner announced Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival that she is mounting her second campaign for the Texas Railroad Commission — this time, leaving the Republican Party to run as … Continue reading

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Interview with CM Mary Nan Huffman

I had not planned to do an interview for District G this cycle – I only have so much time and capacity, and as of the July reporting deadline, incumbent CM Mary Nan Huffman did not have an opponent. And … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Cruise cars are out on our streets

From Axios. Cruise is testing autonomous vehicles without safety drivers in Houston ahead of a planned expansion into commercial nighttime service by the end of the year. Driving the news: A spokesperson for the autonomous vehicle company confirmed to Axios … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For the hospital bond

Good call. It’s unacceptable for a public hospital whose mission is to save lives to instead endanger them due to aging infrastructure that’s been neglected for too long. The pipe break was the second of three in 2020. Just weeks … Continue reading

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Dispatches from Dallas, September 29 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, the mayor of Dallas has jumped parties, quelle surprise. Also, some local follow-up on the Paxton impeachment, … Continue reading

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Interview with James Joseph

One more interview in At Large #3, then I’ll have a bonus interview for you tomorrow. Today we speak with James Joseph, a native Houstonian, Fifth Ward resident, and newly minted PhD. A public relations consultant with a long background … Continue reading

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Two book ban updates

Bad news. A state law banning “sexually explicit” books from Texas schools will now go into effect, after an appeals court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling. The three-judge panel did not offer any reasoning. Their decision is temporary until … Continue reading

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City Council approves B-Cycle lifeline

I approve of this as a stopgap, but a real plan needs to be in place. Houston’s floundering bike sharing system has a little more life, after city officials approved $500,000 to keep the system operational, at least until a … Continue reading

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 25

The Texas Progressive Alliance is rooting for as much Republican division post-impeachment as possible as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Interview with Casey Curry

Moving on in At Large #3, we come to another candidate with an interesting former job, longtime TV meteorologist Casey Curry. After a decade of weather reporting on the local news, Curry is now working in philanthropy and communications. She … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Drag ban officially ruled unconstitutional

Good. Texas cannot enforce a new law that restricts some public drag shows, a federal judge said Tuesday in declaring the legislation unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge David Hittner found Senate Bill 12 “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills … Continue reading

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Lots of people will not get that latest COVID shot

Sadly not a big surprise. We could move this at the margins, but not as long as any part of government is in Republican control. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends new covid-19 booster vaccines for all — … Continue reading

Posted in National news, Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with Twila Carter

Continuing on with At Large #3, today we meet Twila Carter, who among other things has had one of the best jobs of anyone I’ve interviewed: For over a decade, she served as Senior Vice President of Community Relations of … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The whistleblowers say they aren’t going away

Glad to hear it. In a Monday filing to the Texas Supreme Court, the whistleblowers [Blake Brickman, David Maxwell, Mark Penley and Ryan Vassar] argued that Paxton has failed to uphold key parts of the settlement agreement, including the $3.3 … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, Scandalized! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Endorsement watch: Picking someone in District E

The Chron makes their first candidate endorsement for November 2023. Houston City Council races are officially nonpartisan, but since just about everything seems partisan these days, let’s go ahead and say it: District E, the bizarrely shaped district that conjoins … Continue reading

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Interview with Donnell Cooper

The last open At Large seat is At Large #3, which also has the biggest field of nine candidates. I have interviews with four of them this week, beginning with Donnell Cooper. Cooper is a Houston Community College Acres Homes … Continue reading

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Harris County libraries are now “book sanctuaries”

It’s great that they’re doing this, and terrible that they have to. As book bans and challenges occur across the state and nation, Harris County libraries have joined a movement dedicated to preserving people’s right to decide for themselves what … Continue reading

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Metro introduces its bike share program

Sounds pretty good, actually. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is expected to contract with a Canadian operator that will provide up to 700 e-bikes and 100 charging stations as the agency embarks on the creation of its own … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Weekend link dump for September 24

“Before Alex Rodriguez flipped the switch on his defiant, longtime drug-cheat image … before the post-career entrepreneurial whirl and frolic across the celebrity landscape with superstar then-fiancée Jennifer Lopez … before the TV gigs with Fox Sports and ESPN and … Continue reading

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Chron talks to some Mayoral candidates

You can find a bunch of Mayoral Q&As with the Chron editorial board here on this Mayoral Candidate Questions page. All of them also include a brief video of the chat, with the following Mayoral candidates so far: John Whitmire … Continue reading

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Katy ISD’s book banning

What are these people doing? Katy Independent School District has remained silent on the reasons 14 additional books were removed from shelves and how the district’s book review policy is being implemented, despite a public pledge of transparency on book … Continue reading

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

“Mars” mission update

Keep these coming, please and thank you. Ultra runner Kelly Haston is not going stir-crazy inside her 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat, and that’s a pleasant surprise. “It is comfortable and spacious, and I do not yet miss being outside,” Haston said. … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Whiny loser Mealer drops her election contest lawsuit

Girl, bye. Alexandra del Moral Mealer, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s former Republican opponent, dropped her lawsuit challenging the results of the election she lost last November by over 18,000 votes, according to court documents filed Thursday. Mealer filed an … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

City runoff election will be December 9

Slightly reducing the overall intrigue factor of the season. The runoffs for Houston’s City Hall elections will be held Dec. 9, the secretary of state’s office confirmed on Tuesday. Houston voters will head to the polls Nov. 7 to elect … Continue reading

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The Arlington nun mutiny

Oh my God this story is wild. There’s a strange saga unfolding in Texas. It involves allegations and accusations of illicit sexual relationships, drug use, theft, abuse, spying, planted evidence, and plots to steal a multimillion-dollar property. The people involved … Continue reading

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

Interview with Marina Coryat

We wrap up our week of interviews with At Large #2 candidates with Marina Coryat, a Trinidadian immigrant who has served as Communications Director for Texas State Representative Senfronia Thompson since 2019. Coryat has worked in the city’s Solid Waste … Continue reading

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Book ban lawsuit opinion released

It’s a strong one, not that that will mean anything to the troglodyte nihilists at the Fifth Circuit. In temporarily blocking enforcement of a new Texas law that limits books with sexual content in school libraries, a federal judge called … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

City to provide some funding to B-Cycle

Good. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to extend a half-million dollar lifeline to the city’s nonprofit bike share program, he said Wednesday. Turner said he will present City Council next week with a proposal to send funding to Houston Bike … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dispatches from Dallas, September 22 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, the big news is, of course, the Ken Paxton acquittal and the domino effect it’s having on … Continue reading

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Interview with Holly Vilaseca

We continue our week of At Large #2 with a familiar name, Holly Flynn Vilaseca, who served for five years as HISD Trustee, being appointed in January 2017 to fill out an unexpired term and then winning a full term … Continue reading

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Rep. Rhetta Bowers jumps into the CD32 primary

Really crowded now, and already a little spicy. State Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, D-Rowlett, has joined the large primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, in representing Congressional District 32. Bowers made her campaign official Tuesday, reversing a previous … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For that amendment, you know the one

The Chron approves an amendment but forgets to tell us which one. So much has changed in the 15 years since Renu Khator became UH’s president. She set a clear goal for Tier 1 status and worked toward it step … Continue reading

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