Author Archives: Charles Kuffner

Details of Rep. Nehls’ ethics investigation released

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Still not sure how serious it all is. But at least now we know what it’s about. U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Richmond, is being investigated by his peers over allegations that he used campaign funds for his personal use, according … Continue reading →

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The Swift Warehouse renovation

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always a sucker for stories about historic warehouse renovations, so of course I’m going to note this. A Houston development team known for turning run-down, defunct buildings into hip, bustling projects is planning to transform a historic warehouse complex … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for May 12

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

“Someone from @piersmorgan’s staff asked if I would like to come onto Pier’s show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, to talk about the state of his attire. Since he invited feedback, I thought I’d do a thread comparing his style to menswear … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lawsuit filed over Humble ISD’s lack of single member districts

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Add another to the pile. A former Humble ISD Spanish teacher sued the district Thursday, alleging trustees and administrators violated the Voting Rights Act by holding all at-large elections for the school board. The lawsuit, filed by Brewer Storefront, the … Continue reading →

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Harris County sues TCEQ over concrete plant permit

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A good fight to pick. Harris County sued the Texas Commission on Environment Quality on Wednesday for approving a permit for a concrete crushing plant located near Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston’s Kashmere Gardens. The lawsuit – filed in … Continue reading →

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A longer look at why we don’t have hockey in Houston

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Some fascinating stuff here. “I think it’s surprising that if you look at the growth of the NHL and you see that Atlanta and Houston aren’t represented, that is sort of shocking given the size of those markets,” said Neil … Continue reading →

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Election 3 of 4 for SD15 is up next

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the primary runoffs starts May 20, which is to say a week from Monday. Are we not excited? Few voters paid attention to Saturday’s state Senate District 15 special election that saw emergency room nurse Molly Cook … Continue reading →

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More on the coming HISD cuts

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I repeat, this is going to suck. An undisclosed number of Houston ISD teachers and principals received notices this week that they will be out of a job, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said Thursday. Miles said principals have begun making … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

We sure Ken Paxton isn’t investing in VPNs?

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I mean… When she saw that Pornhub was disabling access in Texas, Express VPN privacy advocate Lauren Hendry Parsons’s reaction was rooted in what she’s seen the past few years. “Honestly, all I thought was, here we go again,” Parsons … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, May 11 edition

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, we have election results; the anniversary of the Allen Premium Outlets shooting; various events at Commissioners’ Court … Continue reading →

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More on the Finner departure

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

That email was the final straw. After months of controversy surrounding the Houston Police Department’s practice of suspending cases due to short staffing, the revelation Tuesday that Chief Troy Finner was on an email discussing one such case in 2018 … Continue reading →

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

Feds investigating Katy ISD

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation Monday into Katy Independent School District to determine if its controversial gender identity policy discriminates against students, according to records obtained by the Houston Landing. The investigation … Continue reading →

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ERCOT and the AI demand boom

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Once again we ask, can our grid keep up? The rapid expansion of data centers, fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence platforms and the increasing digitization of the economy, is driving a surge in electricity demand in Texas and … Continue reading →

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HPD Chief Finner retires

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This came suddenly. Troy Finner has stepped down as chief of the Houston Police Department, Mayor John Whitmire announced in a late-night, four-paragraph email to city employees Tuesday. “I have accepted the retirement of Troy Finner as Chief of Police, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

All but one of the Astroworld wrongful death lawsuits have been settled

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A big day in court yesterday. Nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed after a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld music festival have been settled, including one that was set to go to trial this week, an … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We need to pay more attention to the I-10 construction proposals

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

By which I mostly mean I need to pay more attention to them, because they sound terrible. Between the shrill of large trucks barreling down Interstate 10 – when only the whoosh of cars dominates the din – Matt Tetlow … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Texas blog roundup for the week of April 6

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance congratulates Sen.-elect Molly Cook as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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April 2024 campaign finance reports – Senate and Congress

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

With the primaries settled and there being no runoffs of interest for Senate and Congress, we can combine the two sets of reports into a single post. The January reports for Senate are here the October 2023 reports are here, … Continue reading →

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The Mayor and the Land Commissioner are buds

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. On Mayor John Whitmire’s first day in office, he got a call from Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. Her message? “We want to work with the City of Houston,” Whitmire recounted at an … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Our chief export these days is forced birth zealotry

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe New Mexico should build a border wall. Abortion rights opponents in Texas dictated terms and pressured officials in New Mexico municipalities to pass ordinances restricting clinics, according to public records — potentially as part of a bigger legal strategy. … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Some further special election stuff

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We begin with this from the inbox. The Harris County Clerk’s Office posted the unofficial May 4 Uniform and Special Elections results on the Harris Votes website early Sunday morning, with 56,612 ballots cast in total. About 2% of Harris … Continue reading →

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What could it have cost for the firefighters?

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

City Controller Chris Hollins throws out some numbers and kicks up a fuss. Houston Controller Chris Hollins faced fierce criticism from firefighters union president Marty Lancton, after estimating that equalizing past pay for Houston firefighters with their peers in other … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Amtrak is going hard for the high speed rail line

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I love it. If Texas ends up getting a long-envisioned high-speed railway between Houston and Dallas, the Amtrak executive now leading the initiative says it would feature the fastest trains in the world. The plan for the 240-mile route between … Continue reading →

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

Yeah, it looks like we do have to worry about Metro going backwards

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Transportation advocacy group LINK Houston, in its annual “Equity in Transit” report released this week, asked the region’s public transit provider to accelerate a $7.5 billion plan that was backed by Harris … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

HISD budget cuts coming

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to get ugly. Houston ISD’s state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said Friday afternoon that the school district is facing an estimated $450 million gap in funding that will largely be made up by staff reductions as federal pandemic … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Let’s wait till 2031 for that Women’s World Cup

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe 2027 was too soon. U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) have withdrawn from the 2027 World Cup bidding process on Monday, only weeks before the public vote scheduled on May 17 at the FIFA Congress in Thailand. … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for May 5

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever happened to Charlotte Braun, the least popular Peanuts character? “This article attempts to answer the question of why the polls show good numbers for Republicans that don’t always bear out in final results and why current polling might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 2 Comments

May 2024 Harris County special election results

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Election live results are here. As of the 11 PM update, in which 118 of 151 voting centers had reported, Molly Cook was easily winning the SD15 special election, with about 56% of the vote. In the HCAD elections: Position … Continue reading →

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Texas man seeks to “investigate” ex’s out of state abortion

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Take a couple of deep breaths and we’ll have a brief discussion of this on the other side. A Texas man has asked a court for permission to launch an investigation into his ex-partner’s alleged out-of-state abortion, which could lead … Continue reading →

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

HFT leaders vote “no confidence” on Mike Miles

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Hardly a shock. The leaders of Houston’s largest teachers union approved a resolution of no confidence in Houston ISD’s Superintendent Mike Miles on Tuesday, in a strong but ultimately symbolic rebuke of the state-appointed superintendent’s leadership. The union’s resolution calls … Continue reading →

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One last pre-election look at those Appraisal Board elections

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib, which did the initial reporting that informed me of these dumb new elections in the first place. The new law requires only counties with more than 75,000 residents to hold the elections, a designation that applies to … Continue reading →

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Apple appeal delays Astroworld trial

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This may take awhile. The start of the first civil trial stemming from the 2021 Astroworld Festival, at which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge, has been delayed. Jury selection had been set to begin Tuesday, May 7 … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mutinous nuns file and then withdraw a restraining order motion

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This happened last week. Legal and ecclesiastical tensions escalated between the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth after a group of sisters filed for a temporary restraining order on Monday against Bishop Michael Olson … Continue reading →

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The SD15 effect on the HCAD elections

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We have had two elections going on these past weeks. I’ve done my best to bring attention to the three HCAD elections, but they have gone on alongside the special election in SD15. While the stakes in that one are … Continue reading →

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