Monthly Archives: October 2023

Early voting starts Monday

Are you ready? Early voting for the November 7 Joint General & Special Elections begins Monday, October 23, and ends Friday, November 3. A total of 68 voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, … Continue reading

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“Stuck with H-GAC”?

Sure seems a bit late in the game to be raising this possibility. This November, Houstonians will decide whether the city should stay in a regional planning body that does not offer it proportional voting power. But City Attorney Arturo … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Reyes for At Large #1

The Chron is taking a detour in these last few pre-early voting days to endorse in elections other than City of Houston races, but they did endorse Conchita Reyes for At Large #1 along the way. Reyes is a native … Continue reading

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SOS releases 2022 Harris County election audit

They sure know how to time these things. Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s office on Thursday released preliminary findings from its audit of Harris County’s November 2022 election, the latest analysis of an election that has been the subject … Continue reading

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San Marcos settles “Trump Train” lawsuit

I really hope this leaves a mark, because it should. San Marcos police officers and professional staff must receive training on responding to political violence and voter intimidation and ways to develop community trust as part of a legal settlement … Continue reading

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Dispatches from Dallas, October 20 edition

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week we have a long entry after a respiratory bug bit me last week. (The RAT said it wasn’t COVID and I’m recovering … Continue reading

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Lawsuit filed against San Antonio over “reproductive justice fund”

I’m a little concerned about this. The city of San Antonio is facing a lawsuit after budgeting $500,000 to support reproductive health services, including, potentially, transportation and lodging for people seeking abortions outside Texas. A group of anti-abortion organizations filed … Continue reading

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Harris County gets federal grant for its climate action plan

Nice. The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it awarded Harris County one of 16 clean energy grants totaling $30 million, distributed to state and local governments nationwide. The Harris County grant of more than $1.6 million is the … Continue reading

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More trouble for True the Vote

Music to my ears. When identifying the individuals most responsible for convincing supporters of Donald Trump that the 2020 election was stolen, no one surpasses Trump himself. But one could argue that the second person on the list is filmmaker … Continue reading

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 16

The Texas Progressive Alliance would remind the state GOP that you cannot “stand with Israel” while holding hands with Nick Fuentes as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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30 day campaign finance reports – At Large Council candidates

Previously: Mayor City Controller District Council And here are the At Large Council candidates. The January finance reports for city of Houston candidates are here, and the July reports are here. Dist Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand ============================================================ AL1 … Continue reading

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Drought 2023

It’s bad. Any questions? A lingering drought affecting more than 80% of Texas is causing wildfires, hurting agriculture and drying up water supplies throughout the state. This year’s drought comes less than a year after Texas experienced one of its … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Hellyar and Evans-Shabazz

The Chron endorses Nick Hellyar in At Large #2 in a piece that mostly praises other candidates in the race. Houston voters have a clear top-flight candidate in the race for City Council At-Large Position 2. Nick Hellyar, 41, has … Continue reading

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30 day campaign finance reports – District Council candidates

Previously: Mayor City Controller Let’s get into the Council races, starting with the district Council contests. The January finance reports for city of Houston candidates are here, and the July reports are here. Dist Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand … Continue reading

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Seriously, what the hell is going on at HISD?

I have three things to say about this. Well, three things that aren’t just straight-up WTF? Juniors and seniors at Houston ISD’s DeBakey High School for Health Professions walked into their AP Physics classes at the beginning of the school … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For Hollins

The Chron makes a strong endorsement of Chris Hollins for Houston City Controller. Overseeing Harris County’s vote during one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, smack dab in the middle of a raging pandemic, Hollins led a … Continue reading

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Past interviews with Mayoral candidates

As I said last week, I have decided to wait until the runoff to do Mayoral candidate interviews. The size of the field and the limited amount of time I had available to try to schedule probably seven interviews with … Continue reading

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On filing financial disclosure reports

Campaign finance reports aren’t the only filings that city candidates can screw up. About a quarter of the candidates running for city council seats and mayor have not provided financial disclosures to the City Secretary due in September. Twenty-three out … Continue reading

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Carbon capture project coming

Cool. A carbon removal project south of Corpus Christi is one of two sites selected by the Department of Energy to receive up to $1.2 billion to support the development of direct air capture technology. The project, which is being … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Weekend link dump for October 15

“Massive Changes Could Be Coming From the Vatican. Conservative US Catholics Are Mad as Hell.” “Book banning, then, is just one part of a broad effort to chill the free exchange of ideas in K-12 schools. But it is getting … Continue reading

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Lee and Garcia push the city to Do Something about Whitmire’s campaign finances

We’ll see what happens. Two rival candidates have asked the city of Houston to block state Sen. John Whitmire from using $2.7 million in proceeds from stock sales to underwrite his campaign for mayor. Already dominating in the fundraising race, … Continue reading

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Hydrogen hub Houston happens

Nice. The Texas Gulf Coast has been selected by the Biden administration as a clean hydrogen hub, one of seven locations across the United States set to receive billions of dollars in federal funding and private investment to help develop … Continue reading

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Confederate statues finally removed from city’s art collection

Good riddance. Statues of Christopher Columbus, Confederate officer Dick Dowling and an angel representing the “Spirit of the Confederacy” were officially removed from the city of Houston’s art collection Wednesday. The statues were taken down from public display two to … Continue reading

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Galveston County redistricting ruled illegal

Good news. Galveston County Commissioners Court violated the Voting Rights Act when it approved a 2021 map that greatly limited voting power for Black and Latino voters in the county, a judge ruled Friday. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge … Continue reading

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Cruise officially rolls out in Houston

The service is limited for now, but I suspect it will expand soon enough. A driverless ride hailing service is launching operations Thursday in Houston, where residents in select locations can start catching autonomous rides at 9 p.m. Cruise driverless … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Martinez in I, and wait, what?

The Chron made a perfectly fine endorsement. It’s not easy to follow in the footsteps of outgoing Councilmember Robert Gallegos. As the lone Hispanic around the horseshoe, he has robustly represented his hometown and the most Hispanic district in Houston for nearly a … Continue reading

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30 day 2023 campaign finance reports – Houston City Controller

Previously: Mayor Continuing with 30 day campaign finance reports, here they are for Houston City Controller candidates. The July reports for these candidates can be found here. Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand ====================================================== Hollins 160,578 598,460 0 214,799 Martin … Continue reading

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Do unto public schools as you would not do to charter schools

Infuriating, but hardly surprising. In June, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath embarked on the largest school takeover in recent history, firing the governing board and the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District after one of its more than … Continue reading

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Todd Litton announces for SD15

From the inbox: I hope this message finds you and yours well. After some inspiring conversations in and across our community, and a lot of consideration with Jennifer and our family, I am thrilled to share with you that I … Continue reading

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30 day 2023 campaign finance reports – Houston Mayor

We are now less than a month out from Election Day, and that means it’s time for 30 day campaign finance reports, which give a decent picture of where campaigns are now, and may be the best way of understanding … Continue reading

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Another federal complaint filed against HISD

Two and counting. The Greater Houston Coalition of Justice has filed a complaint to the federal government alleging that Texas education authorities created a hostile workplace in Houston ISD by installing Mike Miles as superintendent and replacing the district’s elected … Continue reading

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Lauren Ashley Simmons announces for HD146

From the inbox, and also visible here. Lauren Ashley Simmons, a union organizer and HISD parent advocate, announced her campaign for Texas State Representative, District 146 today. Simmons will run in the Democratic primary election on March 5, 2024, against … Continue reading

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 9

The Texas Progressive Alliance is enjoying the first taste of autumn as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Interview with Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth

As you know, administration of Harris County’s elections has been reverted to the County Clerk’s office, with the Tax Assessor once again being in charge of voter registration. Putting aside the legislative intent and the litigation over this, the November … Continue reading

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