Tag Archives: Ag Commissioner

Back to the barbecue battle

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, Sid Miller makes us pay attention to something we shouldn’t have to. Texas’ barbecue culture is sacred. But some pitmasters are catching heat from a former rodeo cowboy overseeing the state Department of Agriculture. Commissioner Sid Miller is … Continue reading →

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Paxton versus Miller on barbecue

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Just embrace the fact that this is the world we live in. A nonbinding opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Ken Paxton continues a battle between lawmakers, restaurants and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller over regulation of scales used to measure … Continue reading →

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Sid Miller and the unqualified creep

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I missed this when it came out last Friday, and now that I’ve seen it I wish I was still blissfully ignorant of it. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in late 2016 appointed to the state’s Rural Health Task Force … Continue reading →

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2018 primary results: Statewide

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Statewide Dem totals Statewide GOP totals Harris County Dem totals Harris County GOP totals (Please note that all results were coming in very slowly. I expect there will still be some precincts not yet reported by the time this publishes. … Continue reading →

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UT/TT poll: Trump approval more or less the same as before

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

A tad bit more positive than last time, but still nothing to write home about. With the usual disclaimers about partisan imbalance, President Donald Trump’s job approval ratings are holding steady, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Republican roundup

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron makes a conventional choice in CD02. Poe’s vacancy has attracted nine contenders in the Republican primary, and we encourage voters to look for a candidate who will aspire to embody the party’s values while also striving to represent … Continue reading →

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Lots of female candidates running this year

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s that kind of year. Inside a classroom at a community college in downtown Dallas, a group of two dozen women took turns sharing their names, hometowns and what they hoped would be their future titles: Congresswoman. Dallas County judge. … Continue reading →

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The life and times of Kinky Friedman

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I have feelings about this. With Friedman, it’s showtime most of the time. On this occasion, he’s in town with Mary Lou Sullivan, his biographer, who attempted to condense his strange life into 300 pages. Hers was an unenviable task. … Continue reading →

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The Nation on Our Revolution in Texas

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a feature story in The Nation from before the holidays about Our Revolution, one of the many grassroots groups that have become prominent post-Trump to organize and get better people elected. The focus of this story is on what … Continue reading →

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The Republican primary for Ag Commissioner is now about barbecue

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Because of course it is. “Barbecue might be America’s most political food,” wrote the New Yorker earlier this year. The claim certainly applies to the 2018 race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. Instead of farming or ranching issues, it’s Sid Miller’s recent history on barbecue … Continue reading →

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The statewide lineups

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the statewide lineup for Democrats. I’ll add in some notes afterwards. U. S. Senator Beto O’Rourke U. S. Senator Edward Kimbrough U. S. Senator Sema Hernandez Governor Adrian Ocegueda Governor Andrew White Governor Cedric Davis, Sr. Governor Demetria Smith … Continue reading →

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Sid Miller gets a primary opponent

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

But what will our village do without its idiot if ol’ Sid loses? Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is getting a primary challenge from Trey Blocker, the longtime lobbyist, ethics adviser and attorney from Austin. “I’m running because we need to … Continue reading →

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Filing season has begun

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Candidate filing season is now open, and it will run for a month, concluding at 6 PM on Monday, December 11. There will be a lot of activity this year – we are already aware of so many candidates – … Continue reading →

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Can anyone beat Greg Abbott?

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It’s early days and all that, but the evidence at hand now isn’t positive. The reason for that is fairly simple. A poll circulating among the state’s Democratic leadership—which I was given on the agreement that I would not identify … Continue reading →

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Harvey was hard on farms, too

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It wasn’t just the cities like Houston that suffered a lot of damage from Harvey. Harvey did more than transform cityscape by turning highways into rivers; It also upended life for farmers and ranchers across dozens of counties that Gov. … Continue reading →

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Who will run statewide for the Dems?

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

For several statewide offices, it is unclear at this time who might run. Lillie Schechter, the new chairwoman of the Harris County Democratic Party, has watched in recent months as at least seven candidates have come through the doors of … Continue reading →

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Warning labels, schmarning labels

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Sid Miller, ladies and gentlemen, addressing the concerns of rancher Bruce Hunnicutt about the use of poison to try to control the feral hog population. Hunnicutt, 58, operates a hog hunting business on 30,000 acres — he owns 600 and … Continue reading →

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No more feral hog poison

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It was not to be. The manufacturer of a controversial bait used to kill feral hogs withdrew its state registration for the poison, putting Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s plans for a Texas “Hog Apocalypse” on hold. “We have received tremendous … Continue reading →

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Hog apocalypse update

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The poison plan for controlling feral hogs is set to be put on pause by the Legislature. A bill poised to pass the Texas House would amend the Texas Agriculture Code to prohibit the Department of Agriculture from registering, approving … Continue reading →

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Let’s have a study of that hog apocalypse first

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe we should figure out what the effects of poisoning feral hogs might be before we start poisoning them. Two bills from Texas lawmakers — state Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, and state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin — would require state … Continue reading →

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If you can’t porkchop ’em, poison ’em

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The war on feral hogs enters a new phase. At a Feb. 21 news conference in Austin, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced the agency had issued a rule that would allow Kaput Feral Hog Bait, a pesticide containing the … Continue reading →

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Texas Dems look to 2018

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I have a few things to say about this. A tight-knit group of Texas Democratic leaders traveled to the state capital [in late January] to begin preliminary conversations about the 2018 midterm races. According to over a dozen interviews with … Continue reading →

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Some Republican women unhappy about Sid Miller

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. For many female Texans working in Republican politics, last month’s release of a video showing GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump boasting about groping women was bad enough. They have since watched in astonishment as male elected … Continue reading →

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Sid and Donald, BFFs

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Birds of a feather. At a rally Sunday in Las Vegas, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump paused his usual meditation on the latest polls to direct his crowd’s attention to a “great guy on television today.” “His name was Sid … Continue reading →

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Miller avoids charges for his questionable trips

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t catch ’em all. Travis County prosecutors will not press criminal charges against Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller for tapping taxpayer funds for two trips that involved personal activities — including an appearance in a Mississippi rodeo and the receipt … Continue reading →

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Sid Miller joins Team Trump

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said Friday he is working with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign to help lead an agriculture team. In an interview with KFYO’s Chad Hasty, Miller described the effort, likely to be announced next … Continue reading →

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Legislative hearing on emergency leave

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Figure this will be on the legislative agenda next spring. At a Texas House hearing Tuesday looking into how some state agencies were able to keep some departing employees on the public payroll by granting them emergency leave, lawmakers expressed … Continue reading →

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Abbott orders state agencies to obey the law

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Better late than never. Gov. Greg Abbott and Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Wednesday ordered state agencies to stop paying departing employees by placing them on “emergency leave.” “Pursuant to this directive, the use of emergency leave, administrative leave or other … Continue reading →

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Lone Star Project requests investigation of severance packages

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Today, Lone Star Project Director Matt Angle sent letters to the Texas Rangers, the State Auditor and the Travis County District Attorney requesting formal investigations into a series of questionable payments made by Attorney General Ken Paxton, … Continue reading →

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What, me worry?

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ken Paxton? Sid Miller? Meh, no big deal. Gov. Greg Abbott is steering clear of the legal problems swirling around two of his fellow Republican statewide officials, saying he does not know the facts of their cases and expressing little … Continue reading →

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Being Sid Miller

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s complicated, especially when your stories keep changing. The Texas Rangers are currently investigating whether Miller broke the law when he took those out-of-state, taxpayer-funded trips in February 2015. The first was to Oklahoma, where internal emails from the Department of … Continue reading →

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Your increasingly regular Sid Miller update

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

What a piece of work this guy is. For years, a sticker affixed to more than 170,000 gas pumps in Texas featured a straightforward headline — “Fuel Feedback?” — alongside a toll-free number, email address and instructions for consumers with … Continue reading →

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Weekend scandal news roundup

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

If anything comes from the Texas Rangers investigation into his questionable expenditures, Ag Commissioner Sid Miller would be prosecuted in Travis County. If embattled Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is prosecuted for misusing government funds, his trial would be in … Continue reading →

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Sid Miller’s spokesperson jumps ship

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Who could blame her? The top spokeswoman for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller resigned Monday, citing a “tremendous lack of communication” at the agency. The spokeswoman, Lucy Nashed, a former aide to then-Gov. Rick Perry, said she was leaving after … Continue reading →

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