Category Archives: The great state of Texas

Adoption is not a replacement for abortion

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone who tells you otherwise is at the very least misinformed. More likely, they’re just lying. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion access in many states, some conservative leaders have suggested abortion is unnecessary … Continue reading →

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If your advocacy includes convincing children to carry their rapist’s baby to term, your advocacy is bad

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Towards the end of this overall infuriating story about “crisis pregnancy centers” in Texas, we come to a quote that stunned me so hard I had to step away from the computer for a few minutes. If they can get … Continue reading →

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Don’t give these fools an inch, New Mexico

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Defeat them at every turn. For New Mexico state Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena, the arrival of a new abortion clinic in Las Cruces, the city she represents, is surreal. Over the years, there hasn’t been consistent access to the procedure … Continue reading →

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More on your forthcoming phone bill increase

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron gets on the story. Texans who use a phone should expect to pay more for that service, thanks to a startling rate increase adopted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas last month. Commissioners in July voted to … Continue reading →

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At least you’re (probably) not giving birth in West Texas

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a long story about the lack of prenatal and obstetric care in West Texas. It’s mostly set in Alpine, Presidio, and Big Bend, which are the “big cities” in the area that actually have doctors and medical facilities … Continue reading →

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EPA to investigate TCEQ over concrete plant permits

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this ought to be interesting. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the subject of an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency following complaints that the state agency violated civil rights laws in its permitting of concrete batch plants. … Continue reading →

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Dallas passes its ordinance to protect abortion access

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good job. Dallas City councilmembers almost unanimously passed the “Grace Act,” an ordinance aimed at deprioritizing investigations into abortions by local police departments. […] This new resolution prevents city resources from being used to create records for a person seeking … Continue reading →

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When we say “fix the grid”…

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is one of the obvious ways we could attempt to do that. The state’s High Plains region, which covers 41 counties in the Texas Panhandle and West Texas, is home to more than 11,000 wind turbines — the most … Continue reading →

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Yes, it’s been an especially hot summer

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Record-breaking, in fact. Average high temperatures in Houston so far this summer have outpaced previous historically hot summers on record, according to the National Weather Service. In the months of May, June and July, temperatures in the city averaged 95.1 … Continue reading →

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San Antonio passes its abortion access ordinance

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. With a 9-2 vote, San Antonio City Council approved a resolution on Tuesday that condemns Texas’ abortion ban and recommends that no local funds be used to investigate criminal charges related to abortions. “By passing this resolution, the City of San … Continue reading →

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Dallas joins the abortion decriminalization queue

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Dallas City Council could consider a resolution in August aimed at blunting the impact of the Texas Legislature’s trigger law that will go into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade. Dallas’ … Continue reading →

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San Antonio will make its statement for abortion rights

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

More symbolic than anything, but it still has meaning. Five San Antonio City Council members and the mayor stood in support of a largely symbolic measure Wednesday that would attempt to “decriminalize” abortion locally. Council is expected to approve a resolution during a … Continue reading →

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The porkchopping experience

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Ever wonder what it’s like to hunt feral hogs with a machine gun from a helicopter? Well, here you go. Feral hogs have terrorized Houston neighborhoods for years, tearing up grass and causing property damage in search of food. But did you … Continue reading →

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More on the seafaring abortion clinic

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There were a couple of stories on that proposed abortion clinic on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, which will operate in federal waters and thus be outside state jurisdiction. The clinic is intended to serve women in the … Continue reading →

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We need more monkeypox vaccines

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We have a chance to get on top of this. Let’s try to take it. Houston-area leaders on Monday evening called for more vaccines to combat the small but growing number of local monkeypox infections. There are 57 reported cases … Continue reading →

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Your phone bill is about to go up

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Surprise! Attention all Texans who use a cell phone or landline: The Watchdog has bad news. Starting with September’s phone bill, your bill is going up. I can’t provide a specific number for you except to say that all Texas … Continue reading →

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Offshore wind farm proposed

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s do it. The Gulf of Mexico’s first offshore wind farms will be developed off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, and together they’re projected to produce enough energy to power around 3 million homes. … Continue reading →

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A Skeet Jones update

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

NBC News does us the favor of an update on Skeet Jones, the (allegedly) cattle-rustlin’ County Judge of Loving County. On a December day in 2021, Loving County Judge Skeet Jones, 71, climbed atop an oilfield tank surrounded by wide-open … Continue reading →

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The West Texas earthquake problem

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’re number one! Earthquakes were never anything people in West Texas thought much about. Years would pass in between tremors that anybody felt. Even after the shale revolution arrived in force a decade ago and oil crews started drilling frantically in the region’s … Continue reading →

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Austin takes its shot at protecting abortion access

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them great success. I don’t think the fanatics in the Legislature will let them achieve it, but we’ll see. Austin City Council unanimously (in the absence of lone Republican Mackenzie Kelly) approved four items on Thursday, July 21 … Continue reading →

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The Huntsville bats get a reprieve

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

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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The birth control gap

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas will do nothing to address this as long as the current government is in place. Ramírez’s situation reflects an immense need in the country: 21 million women of reproductive age needed publicly funded contraceptive care as … Continue reading →

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When abortion is outlawed, pregnant people will be denied health care

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s already happening. The Texas Medical Association is asking state regulators to step in after it says several hospitals afraid of violating the state’s abortion ban have turned away pregnant patients or delayed care leading to complications, The Dallas Morning … Continue reading →

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Big Law versus the Forced Birth Caucus

Posted on July 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Place your bets. The Texas Freedom Caucus may have kicked a hornet’s nest when it threatened Sidley Austin partners with civil and criminal penalties and disbarment in a letter last week, according to firm leaders in Texas and managing partners … Continue reading →

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Get your kids vaccinated (I’m saying it again)

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We have a long way to go. In the two weeks since the federal government allowed emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 5, nearly 32,000 Texas kids in that age group have been vaccinated. That accounts for … Continue reading →

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A seafaring abortion clinic?

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It could happen. A California doctor has a plan to launch a floating reproductive health clinic in the Gulf of Mexico, where care will be regulated by federal — not state — law. The plan — currently in the fundraising … Continue reading →

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We’re number one in the worst way

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Bad and getting worse. When a disturbed teenager in Uvalde sought a high-powered rifle that could fire numerous rounds, he didn’t have far to go. Texas has more licensed gun dealers and manufacturers than any other state, according to a … Continue reading →

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Brief abortion news roundup

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Too much news, etc etc etc. You know the drill. Houston crisis pregnancy centers, labeled ‘deceptive’ by experts, find new spotlight after Roe ruling. Since 2011, pregnant Houstonians seeking abortions at the Planned Parenthood clinic off the Gulf Freeway have … Continue reading →

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GLO threatens to take away more Harvey relief funds from Houston

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. The state General Land Office says it may have to take over more of the city’s Hurricane Harvey housing relief programs, citing what it says is consistently sluggish progress on a slew of the initiatives. The land office said in a … Continue reading →

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Whole Woman’s Health moving to New Mexico

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sad, but inevitable. One of the nation’s largest independent abortion provider said Wednesday that it is pulling out of Texas and opening a clinic in New Mexico to support Texans and others facing limited abortion access after the Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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Bexar County raises its COVID threat level

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully not a sign of things to come. Local health officials raised San Antonio’s COVID-19 risk level to high this week after warning of a “silent surge” just two weeks ago. That surge continues, according to data from the city’s Metropolitan Health District, … Continue reading →

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The empty “mental health” promise

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What’s going on in Uvalde these days. Days after the May 24 shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised an “abundance of mental health services” to help “anyone in the community who needs it … the totality of anyone who lives … Continue reading →

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In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in a drought

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And by “we”, I mean most of the state. About 80% of Texas is currently experiencing some level of drought conditions, ranging from “moderate” to “exceptional.” The drought, which caused wildfires across the state earlier this year and prompted burn bans, is now … Continue reading →

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“We all marched into Stuckey’s, one hundred thousand strong”

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I wish her all the best. [Stephanie] Stuckey, 56, is in the third year of a turnaround for Stuckey’s, which, at its 1960s peak, boasted 368 travel centers along highways in 40 states. Their teal, steeply arched roofs were visible … Continue reading →

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