Tag Archives: TDCJ

The Huntsville bats get a reprieve

A little bit of good news, which we can all use. Hundreds of thousands of bats living in a damaged Texas Department of Criminal Justice warehouse will get a little more time before their fate is decided. A temporary stay, if you will. … Continue reading

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Border and immigration news roundup

Same deal, too much news, yadda yadda yadda… As Abbott orders state police to return migrants to border, critics on the right say it’s not enough. Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday authorized state law enforcement to return migrants suspected of … Continue reading

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A roundup of border and lawsuit stories

Too much news, not enough time… New federal lawsuit seeks to halt Texas’ border trespassing arrests, give more than $5 million to illegally detained migrants. In a new challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial border security crackdown, a lawsuit filed … Continue reading

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Will the Huntsville bats be homeless?

I sure hope not. Hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats in the coming weeks will return to an abandoned Texas Department of Criminal Justice warehouse, their preferred spot to spend the summer. They will find their usual digs partly … Continue reading

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The Huntsville bat warehouse

I love stories like this, even when they leave me wanting more. Hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats streamed out of the abandoned brick building on a recent weeknight, leaving behind the burned-out structure where they’ve stayed for many … Continue reading

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We’ll be paying for the freeze for a long time

What’s more, we have done nothing to prevent the same thing from happening again. Publicly funded state agencies needing to keep the lights and heat on during the freeze racked up huge bills. In February 2020, the Texas Department of … Continue reading

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It’s just the next GoFundMe for “border security”, with more grifting and human rights abuses

Have I made my opinion sufficiently clear, or do I need to spell it out for you? Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said Texas will spend $250 million to begin building a wall along the Mexico border, picking up … Continue reading

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Let’s please find more opportunities to avoid using unpaid prison labor

More like this, in other words. As Houston officials hashed out the budget last spring, City Council members Abbie Kamin and Carolyn Evans-Shabazz quietly asked to send a routine contract back to the Turner administration. The $4.2 million deal was needed to … Continue reading

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Meanwhile, the jail is filling up again

We really need to do something about this. The Harris County Jail population has been steadily rising since late April and is now approaching its pre-pandemic capacity despite early efforts to curb crowding, according to the sheriff’s office. With an … Continue reading

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More reopening

It’s going great so far, right? Gov. Greg Abbott will allow hair salons in Texas to reopen Friday and gyms on May 18, moving more quickly than expected to further restart the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic. The businesses … Continue reading

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How about that other coronavirus hot spot?

You know, prisons? For more than fifty years, Palestine, Texas, has been known as a prison town. Most of the time, that hasn’t been a problem. True, it was a bit controversial in the 1960s when the Texas corrections department … Continue reading

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Decriminalizing truancy

This is important. Senate Bill 106, filed by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, would make major overhauls to current truancy law, including referring students to a civil court that hears truancy cases rather than a criminal court. Under current law, children … Continue reading

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