Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Paxton special prosecutor pay update

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Situation more or less the same as before. Texas’ highest criminal court on Wednesday declined to intervene in the long-running battle over the prosecutors’ pay in the securities fraud case against Attorney General Ken Paxton. After a trial court judge … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for January 28

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

“I unwittingly bought a 1980s racist horror at a garage sale”. “Back in 1894, North American whaling crews — marooned up near the Yukon Territory’s Herschel Island in Pauline Cove, awaiting the ice to thaw out so they could get … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 1 Comment

How are the city’s talks with H-GAC going?

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Things seemed to be going reasonably well. The deadline had passed but no one seemed to fussed about it. Despite a deadline set by Houston voters for early January, the process to increase Houston’s role in regional planning will take … Continue reading →

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Paxton harasses another out of state clinic

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Disgusting, but par for the course with our degenerate AG. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking medical records from a Georgia telehealth clinic that offers gender transition care to young people in Texas and other states where the treatment … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Can we have a do-over on that impeachment thing?

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What an interesting question. Republican state Sen. Drew Springer called for Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate to consider reopening impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton. In a letter to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the state … Continue reading →

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More on why we need a split primary

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Votebeat fills in some blanks. Some Texas election officials are running out of time before the March 5 primary to find sufficient polling locations, equipment, and election workers mandated by a new Republican-backed election law, and may not be able … Continue reading →

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Three new Hall of Famers

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations all around. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot boom was back in a big way with the announcement of a three-person Class of 2024 on Tuesday night. Masterful third baseman Adrián Beltré and decorated Twins … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with Rep. Lizzie Fletcher

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve made it to the end of this weird week, which includes running this interview on Friday instead of Wednesday as I had originally planned. These things happen, and so we adjust. I still do have two days of interviews … Continue reading →

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We’re beginning to quantify the effect of the abortion ban

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Three stories from the Chron about abortion and forced births. The first one involves rape victims. Read carefully. More than 26K rape-related pregnancies estimated after Texas outlawed abortions. Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after … Continue reading →

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No, really, Paxton ordered to sit for deposition

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Oh yeah. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to end a whistleblower lawsuit against him has been dealt another blow after a Travis County judge denied his attempt to end the case without being deposed. The ruling, which Paxton’s office publicized … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Texas blog roundup for the week of January 22

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is still thawing itself out as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Interview with Pervez Agwan

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I said on Monday that this was going to be a slightly weird week schedule-wise, and so it remains. My intent was to follow with my interview with Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, but the schedule gods had other ideas. That is … Continue reading →

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More NES schools coming

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, in fact entirely expected, but I do have a question. As many as 40 schools will be added to Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ New Education System in the 2024-25 school year, the district announced Tuesday, bringing … Continue reading →

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“Living at the office” residency lawsuit update

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. A judge has allowed a Texas Senate candidate backed by state GOP leaders to keep campaigning amid questions about his eligibility. But she has also declined to dismiss the case, letting it move forward ahead of … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Robert Schaffer

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to those who plan to vote in … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Woodfill/Pressler story keeps getting uglier

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Truly gross. In 2017, a Houston college student wrote to the family of Paul Pressler, warning them that the former Texas judge and Southern Baptist leader was a pedophile. “There is a serious issue at hand,” he wrote in an … Continue reading →

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On HISD’s budget issues

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

They’re Mike Miles’ problem now. It would be nice if he shared with us how he intends to deal with them. Last fall, when Houston ISD’s new superintendent, Mike Miles, first laid out his expensive plans for Texas’ largest district, … Continue reading →

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

Judicial Q&A: TaKasha Francis

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to those who plan to vote in … Continue reading →

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HISD Board declines the use of chaplains

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good call. Houston ISD’s Board of Managers voted unanimously Thursday to approve a resolution preventing chaplains from serving as hired or volunteer school counselors in the district. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 763 in June, which requires each school … Continue reading →

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On the weather and the climate

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good news: The dormant wildfire season — which has produced nearly all of the 30 largest wildfires in Texas — is here, but data from the Texas A&M Forest Service suggest this may be a mild year thanks to El … Continue reading →

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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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Judicial Q&A: Judge Kyle Carter

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to those who plan to vote in … 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 →

Posted in Crime and Punishment, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Weekend link dump for January 21

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

“Cities are machines built not for their own sake, but for the purpose of human life. Yet when we treat buildings as works of art, and the cities that contain them as museums, we preserve their forms but kill the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lawsuit seeking January 6 emails from Abbott and Paxton can proceed

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lot of lawsuits out there against the state and/or the likes of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton. I do my best to be aware of them and keep track of them, but inevitably some things get lost in … Continue reading →

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Paxton ordered to sit for deposition anyway

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Bwa ha ha! A Travis County judge issued an order Friday for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sit for a deposition on Feb. 1 in the lawsuit brought by four of his former employees. However, some of those plaintiffs … Continue reading →

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Is this the end of the DeLorean dream?

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe? Bexar County Commissioner’s Court pulled the plug Tuesday on an incentives package for DeLorean Motors Reimagined, an electric-vehicle startup that pledged to create 450 jobs if it got tax breaks to locate its headquarters in San Antonio. The commissioners … Continue reading →

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DOJ releases its Uvalde report

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s brutal. Officers had many opportunities as the 2022 school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was still unfolding to reassess their flawed response to the shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, the US Justice Department concludes in a … Continue reading →

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Mayor Whitmire wants to add Metro cops to HPD

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

On its face this makes sense. Mayor John Whitmire said he’s negotiating with Metro to combine its almost 400 public safety employees with Houston’s Police Department under Chief Troy Finner. The transit group’s police department, with a budget in 2024 … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Texas Freedom to Read Project

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. A group of Texas parents has a mission: Let their kids follow their curiosity in school libraries. The Texas Freedom to Read Project launched in December to counter the statewide surge in book challenges and removals in public … Continue reading →

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Interview with Claude Cummings

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We wrap up our week of Harris County Tax Assessor candidates with Claude Cummings. Cummings serves as an Employment Development Manager with the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, where he connects individuals involved in the justice system with … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Fran Watson

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to those who plan to vote in … Continue reading →

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Paxton will no longer fight the whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Kind of stunning, definitely a stunt, and also his latest and most desperate ploy to avoid being deposed. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his agency will stop fighting a whistleblower lawsuit by four former top executives who … Continue reading →

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