Monthly Archives: November 2016

The new voters

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

One more data point before we get the actual data. A late surge of new voters helped Harris County achieve record early turnout and suggests that local registration drives paid off – although to which party’s benefit remains anyone’s guess … Continue reading →

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Today is Election Day

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart urges voters to prepare before heading to vote on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. “Harris County Voters can find their Election Day polling location and review the list of acceptable forms of identification … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of November 7

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is happy this election is over as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Races I’ll be watching on Tuesday, Legislative edition

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here are the legislative races I’ll be looking at to see what kind of a day it has been for Texas Democrats. After the 2012 general election, the Dems had 55 seats in the Lege. Thee Democrats lost in 2014, … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks for SEC charges to be dismissed again

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Once more, with feeling. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked a federal judge to once again dismiss a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint accusing him of defrauding investors in private business deals in 2011. U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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How much is that bathroom bill worth to you, Danny?

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Is it worth $8.5 billion and 185,000 jobs? The Texas economy stands to lose $8.5 billion and 185,000 jobs if anti-LGBT legislation passes in next year’s session, according to an analysis from the Texas Association of Business, the state’s chamber … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Time once again to talk about the Super Bowl and its economic impact

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’re less than 100 days out from Super Bowl LI here in Houston. I don’t know how much people who are not directly involved in the planning and execution of it are thinking about that. The economic benefits of hosting … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for November 6

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

“More than 15 years ago, 17 babies were born after an experimental infertility treatment that gave them DNA from three people: Mom, Dad and an egg donor. Now researchers have checked up on how the babies are doing as teenagers. … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Twelve: Nearly a million

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your final daily EV report and your updated tracker spreadsheet. The final tally from Friday was 105,005 in person votes and 2,882 more mail ballots returned. That brings us to 882,580 people showing up at an early vote location, … Continue reading →

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Asian voters are much more Democratic than they were before

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Just another trend to keep in mind. Much like Cubans in Miami, the nation’s nearly 2 million Vietnamese-Americans, including about 110,000 in the Houston metro area, have long been regarded as a shoe-in for the GOP. Stridently anti-communist, they were … Continue reading →

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Texas Central releases ridership study

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From their website: A comprehensive ridership study conducted by L.E.K Consulting has confirmed that Texas is ready for a privately developed Bullet Train line serving North Texas, the greater Brazos Valley and The Greater Houston Metro areas. According to this … Continue reading →

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“Denied”, continued

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Part 2 of the Chron’s reporting on special education limits. A few days before school began here in 2007, district administrators called an emergency staff meeting. The Texas Education Agency had determined that they had too many students in … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Money

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Miss Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: I found a couple of live versions of this, but they were all apparently done by audience members, and Sharon Jones has too good a voice for … 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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Muslim voting

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So it turns out that prolonged demonization of a population is a good way to get said population to turn out and vote against the party that is demonizing them. A record 86 percent of registered Muslim voters are expected … Continue reading →

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The answer is to always cram more people in the jails

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman is asking the state jail commission to let nearly 200 inmates sleep on plastic cots on the floor of the already overcrowded county jail system, a request challenged by more than a dozen Houston-area … Continue reading →

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Two Ike Dike updates

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ike Dike could be hidden by dunes: The “Ike Dike” that is being proposed to protect the Galveston-Houston area from a potentially catastrophic hurricane storm surge could take the form of undulating sand dunes hiding a steel or concrete core. … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: Ladies’ night, part 20

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This is the part of me that’s glad the election is almost over. 1. Part Of Me – Katy Perry 2. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson 3. Peter Pan – Kelsei Ballerini 4. Dancing In The Dark … Continue reading →

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KTVT/Dixie Strategies: Trump 52, Clinton 39

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one in every crowd. Real Estate Mogul and Republican Presidential nominee Donald J Trump has surged to a twelve point lead in Texas over Former Secretary of State and Democrat nominee, Hillary R. Clinton in the latest KTVT CBS … Continue reading →

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TEA says no more special ed limits

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see about that. The Texas Education Agency has agreed to stop auditing school districts that give specialized education to more than 8.5 percent of students, officials announced Wednesday, cheering experts, advocates and lawmakers outraged by the policy. In a … Continue reading →

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Anheuser-BuschInBev to buy Karbach

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

If you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em. Fast-growing Karbach Brewing Co. of Houston is the latest U.S. craft brewery to be acquired by a global beer giant, announcing Thursday morning that Anheuser-BuschInBev is buying it for an undisclosed amount. The … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Eleven: Last chance

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart announced within minutes after the polls opened this morning, that Harris County crossed the 700,982 voter benchmark setting a new record for early voters by personal appearance. With essentially two full days … Continue reading →

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Wait, who supports paper ballots now?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Following repeated allegations by Republican Donald Trump that the election may be rigged to ensure a win for Democrat Hillary Clinton, Texas lawmakers are actively considering ways to boost confidence in the … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Off to trial for Paxton

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

No more appeals, so a trial is in the works. Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are no longer asking to have a state securities fraud case against him dismissed, moving him closer to a trial on the criminal … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Ten: Who are these people?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Are we seeing new voters in the early voting so far, or is it all the same old same old? More than a quarter of Harris County’s 2.2 million registered voters cast a ballot in-person or by mail last week, … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of October 31

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance asks if you have voted yet as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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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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Chron overview of Heights dry referendum

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For an issue that directly affects a few thousand people, this sure had gotten a lot of attention. [Bill] Baldwin is part of the “Keep the Heights Dry” movement, a group of individuals urging residents who live in the dry … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of HD135

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

One more look at a local legislative race. Novice political candidate Jesse A. Ybañez believes his focus on the people of the increasingly diverse Texas House District 135 makes him a better choice than longtime state Rep. Gary Elkins. Ybañez, … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Nine: A brief comparison

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a comparison of where the voters who cast their ballots through the first eight days of early voting came from in 2012 and in 2016: Dist 12 Day 8 12 Total Day 8% 16 Day 8 % of 2012 … Continue reading →

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How turnout happens

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

If there are a lot of new voters turning out in Harris County this year, the Texas Organizing Project will be the reason why for a lot of them. The untapped power of the Latino electorate is one of the … Continue reading →

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The dry debate

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron hosted a mini-debate about the vote to change the Heights dry ordinance on its Monday op-ed pages. Bill Baldwin represented the status quo, for keeping the Heights (the original Heights) dry. With the stark reality of land use … Continue reading →

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More on the Texas telemedicine lawsuit

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly has a nice overview. Imagine you’re sick, or you think you might be sick, and you want to talk to a doctor. Instead of waiting a week or two to see your primary care physician, you just open … Continue reading →

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Early voting, Day Eight: We do have a pretty good idea of who has been voting so far

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Why such a mushy article about the state of early voting so far? Because Texas voters can use a single click to back an entire slate, the down-ballot candidates running countywide have ever-slimming chances of influencing their destinies. As polarization … Continue reading →

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