Search Results for: text to 911

Text to 911 option coming locally

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Ever wonder why you can’t text 911? Well, in Harris and Fort Bend Counties, you will soon be able to. By the end of the year, millions of Houston-area residents are expected to have a silent alternative: the Text-to-911 option … Continue reading →

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911 to text is here

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Text-to-911 service is available now in Harris and Fort Bend counties for Verizon and T-Mobile wireless customers. “This is not to be used just because people like to text, but when people cannot make a voice call,” said … Continue reading →

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Texting 911

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is clearly the way of the future, though I admit that I myself would be a bit leery of using it right now. With eight of 10 Americans using their cellphones to send or receive text messages, some emergency … Continue reading →

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Texting campaign contributions

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I see no reason why this should not be allowed. A Houston-based PAC is asking the Texas Ethics Commission to approve a proposal that would allow the committee to solicit text message contributions from donors in the state. The Federal … Continue reading →

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

Send a text to 9-1-1

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think it had ever occurred to me that you couldn’t send a text message to 9-1-1, but then that’s because it hadn’t occurred to me that you might want to. They’re working on it, however, and you will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Interview with Melissa Noriega

Posted on April 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have two more interviews for you for the now-elected HCAD Board positions, for which I remind you that election day is May 4 and early voting begins a week from today on April 22 and runs through April 30. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Getting revenge is the best revenge

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have one thing to say to these Republicans. State Rep. Glenn Rogers is mad as hell, and he’s not being shy about it. “Kiss my ass!” he recently told a statewide Republican official who had endorsed his primary opponent. … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How should state agencies use artificial intelligence?

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve now got a committee for that. When the Texas Workforce Commission became inundated with jobless claims in March 2020, it turned to artificial intelligence. Affectionately named for the agency’s former head Larry Temple, who had died a year earlier, … Continue reading →

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

Interview with Amanda Edwards

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be a slightly weird week, as I have had some recent scheduling challenges. Happens every cycle, not a big deal, but in the short term it can scramble things a bit for me. My original plan … Continue reading →

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On hiring more cops

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not as easy to do as you might think. Halfway through his inaugural speech, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said the city made it far too hard for people to join the Houston Police Department. As an example, Whitmire pointed out … Continue reading →

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Autonomous Metro shuttle 2.0

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. Metro is restarting its delayed study of autonomous transit, with the full-throated support of outgoing Houston mayor Sylvester Turner as a vital step toward a region not further choking on cars and trucks. “Those objectives do not end at … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On “active shooter” training and what happened at Uvalde

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

You may not want to read this story, which is part of a package that includes a TV documentary. It’s about the Uvalde massacre and how it could be that so many law enforcement officers were just standing around doing … Continue reading →

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TikTok ban lawsuit has its day in court

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like it was a pretty good day for the plaintiffs, but as we know that’s the first very small step in a long journey. A federal judge seemed skeptical of the state’s reasoning to ban TikTok on Texas public … Continue reading →

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A legal view of the Arlington nun mutiny

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Fort Worth Report talks to some legal experts about the fascinating dispute between the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington and Fort Worth Bishop Michael F. Olson. Lawrence Sager is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School … Continue reading →

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Hydrogen hub Houston happens

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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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Endorsement watch: Kamin for C, Jackson for B

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron gets to two more endorsements, both for incumbents, the first being in District C. Abbie Kamin was the city’s first pregnant council member, a title she wore proudly and that informed her own advocacy around the horseshoe at … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Sallie Alcorn

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There are three open At Large Council seats this year, which means there are two incumbents running for re-election. Council Member Sallie Alcorn is the incumbent in At Large #5, serving as the chair of the Regulatory and Neighborhood Affairs … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Who might testify at the Paxton impeachment trial?

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe these people. The names of witnesses for Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial must be submitted to the Texas Senate by Tuesday, but the public won’t know who they are until they’re called to testify. Such witness lists are not public, … Continue reading →

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Still more Paxton revelations

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. In new allegations revealed Wednesday, Texas House investigators accused suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton of engaging in a complex cover-up to hide his relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul as senior … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, June 30 edition

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from the Metroplex: updates on the Dallas cyberattacks and two other hacks with DFW connections you may not have heard … Continue reading →

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Two “Trump Train” defendants settle

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Two of the eight Trump supporters accused of participating in a “politically-motivated conspiracy” by closely following, honking at and slowing down a campaign bus for President Joe Biden on a Texas highway in the weeks leading up to the … Continue reading →

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So yeah, climate change is bad for Houston

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Some science for you. As Houston continues to grapple with extreme weather conditions, scientists find record-breaking sea level rises in the U.S. Gulf Coast, which could leave cities such as Houston more vulnerable to severe storms and flooding in the coming decades than previously … Continue reading →

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The forced-birth zealots target the Internet

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I hate to be an alarmist, but we live in a time and a place where stuff like this has to be taken seriously. A proposed state law in Texas would force Internet service providers to block websites containing information … Continue reading →

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Bills filed to stop the TEA takeover of HISD

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Feels too late to me, but it can’t hurt to try. State senators have filed the first bill to soften the law that triggers school district takeovers. State Sens. Carol Alvarado, Borris Miles and John Whitmire filed Senate Bill 1662 in response to the threat of … Continue reading →

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ShotSpotter

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m more skeptical than not, but there is a way to make me less so. Two years in, Houston’s ShotSpotter program has resulted in 5,450 alerts, 99 arrests and the seizure of 107 guns, but no real consensus on its … Continue reading →

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The 988 hotline has been very busy lately

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t suppose this is a surprise. Calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline have surged in Texas and the U.S. since its launch last summer, highlighting the demand for mental health services in the wake of the pandemic … Continue reading →

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There’s a lot of resistance to releasing information about Uvalde

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. The City of Uvalde and its police department are working with a private law firm to prevent the release of nearly any record related to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in which 19 children and two teachers … Continue reading →

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We don’t have enough garbage truck drivers

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t pay them enough, it would seem. For the last few months, Juan Sorto and his neighbors have looked toward the curb on Thursdays and asked themselves the same uneasy question: Did the garbage trucks come? Last week, they had. … Continue reading →

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Paxton appeals gender affirming care order

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Of course he did. Attorney General Ken Paxton filed for an appeal Thursday after a state judge blocked Texas’ child protection agency from investigating the parents of a transgender teenager who received gender-affirming medical care. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum … Continue reading →

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District G special election final early turnout

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to start this post with some numbers, to provide context. Election Mail Early E-Day Total Mail% Early% ========================================================== May09 Dist H 647 1,259 2,280 4,186 33.9% 45.5% May18 Dist K 1,737 1,867 1,531 5,135 41.2% 70.2% Jan22 Dist … Continue reading →

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It would seem that the San Marcos Police Department has some major problems

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Geez. The city of San Marcos admits in new court documents to text exchanges among its police officers about the Joe Biden bus incident in October 2020. But it denies what it calls a “characterization” of the exchanges by the … Continue reading →

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Third Court of Appeals upholds Harris County mask mandate

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Savor the win, for it’s off to SCOTx next. A state appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower-court injunction that allowed Harris County to impose mask requirements despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning such mandates. The Austin-based 3rd Court … Continue reading →

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SCOTx demurs

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting: . Important context here > — Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) 6:55 PM – 19 August 2021 . The Texas Supreme Court has left in place a Travis County judge’s TRO (that blocked @GovAbbott’s ban on mask mandates in Austin), … Continue reading →

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Your driverless pizza delivery is finally on its way

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Still not sure what the allure of this is. Autonomous cars will begin delivering Domino’s pizzas to Houstonians through a new partnership between the pizza chain and Nuro, a California startup, the companies announced Monday. Domino’s is rolling out Nuro’s … Continue reading →

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