Monthly Archives: September 2020

Houston to allow some limited events

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno, man. I get the impulse, but I don’t think I’m ready. Houston will allow certain events in what the mayor calls “controlled environments” to resume in the city, marking his most significant move toward reopening as the spread … Continue reading →

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County’s plan to make in person voting safer is having an effect

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So says this poll. Voters with the highest risk of suffering COVID-19’s worst effects say they’re more likely to vote early this November, according to a Rice University study. A poll of nearly 6,000 Harris County voters found roughly 80% … Continue reading →

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CD31 poll: Carter 43, Imam 37

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Another interesting Congressional race poll. With less than two months to go until Election Day, an increasing number of eyes are looking toward Texas, where Republicans are fighting to keep their grip on the once-reliably conservative state. There is perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A new COVID testing strategy

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds promising. Harris County wants to implement a program that would look at how and where active COVID infection exists, hoping to better understand how the virus spreads within the region in real time, and use those findings to help … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 13

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

“A Brief Explainer on OnlyFans and Why Celebrities Joining It May Be A Bad Thing”. “The pandemic is forcing Democrats to ask: How important is door-knocking, anyway?” “Actually, no, that’s not quite right. I do not need to “hope” that … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 4 Comments

Now we wait on SCOTX

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Shouldn’t have to wait too long to get a resolution to the “Harris County Clerk wanting to send out mail ballot applications to all registered voters” question. A day after a court ruled against him, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

CD21 poll: Davis 48, Roy 47

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Second poll in this district. Between August 31 and September 4, Garin-Hart-Yang interviewed a representative sample of 401 likely general election voters in Texas-21st CD. The survey, which was conducted on both landlines and cell phones, was fully representative of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scrambling to finish the Census

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a hell of a job, and it’s so important. With a deadline looming for local governments to complete a population count for the 2020 Census, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is warning that the city could miss out on billions … Continue reading →

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One lawsuit about voting locations thrown out

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This was filed just a couple of months ago. Continuing to fend off attempts to alter its voting processes, Texas has convinced a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that sought sweeping changes to the state’s rules for in-person voting … Continue reading →

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County Clerk can send his vote by mail applications

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A judge on Friday rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to halt Harris County’s plan to send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters. State District Judge R.K. Sandill denied Paxton’s request for a temporary injunction, stating … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fifth Circuit rejects age discrimination claims in vote by mail lawsuit

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is pretty much the end of the line, at least as far as the courts are concerned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Texas can keep its strict eligibility rules for … Continue reading →

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Mutant mosquito update

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Keeping you informed on the news you can really use. Four years ago, the Zika virus became an issue. More than 300 people were infected in Texas. Zika can cause birth defects and fetal neurodevelopmental abnormalities in pregnant women. The … Continue reading →

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State appeals court rules (mostly) against Libertarians in filing fee lawsuit

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the story. It gets into the legal weeds, and I’m going to try my best to clear them out. A state appellate court this week upheld a 2019 law that extended a requirement that candidates pay a filing fee … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Another look at the County Commissioner race

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the most consequential local race on the ballot this year. Every four years since 1968, Harris County residents have been able to count on a Republican winning the Precinct 3 commissioner’s seat. In that half century, a parade of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

No, seriously, what are we going to do to prepare for the next Hurricane Laura?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, the next one is coming whether we’re ready or not. We just don’t know when it will be here. Though the storm ultimately tracked east, sparing Houston, the problem remains: The region is disastrously unready to handle any … Continue reading →

Posted in Hurricane Katrina | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

What makes a mural?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m kind of fascinated by this. For two decades, passersby could easily miss Bud Adams’ vacant midcentury modern building on the Southwest Freeway near Hillcroft. Not anymore. The low-slung, massive roof over the car dealership, formerly owned by the late … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Where are we with the lawsuit to stop Harris County from sending out vote by mail applications?

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks for asking, we had the hearing in district court yesterday. Voting in person will be safe across Texas in this fall’s general election despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the state’s elections director asserted in a Harris County courtroom Wednesday … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Here comes Forward Majority

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. A national Democratic super PAC is pumping over $6 million in to the fight for the Texas House majority. The group, Forward Majority, plans to spend $6.2 million across 18 races that will likely determine who controls the lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A win for those with lousy signatures

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news on the voting litigation front. As Texas prepares for an expected deluge of mail-in votes in November, a federal judge has found that one facet of the state’s signature verification rules for those ballots is unconstitutional and … Continue reading →

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

Texas blog roundup for the week of September 7

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance prefers stew to bracelets and eating soup to throwing it as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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Dallas ends its scooter experiment

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Over in Dallas, never started in Houston. Tis better to have scootered and stopped than to have never scootered at all. That is the consensus of a handful of Houston proponents of rental scooters as they watched Dallas this week … Continue reading →

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PPP/Giffords: Trump 48, Biden 47

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Evan Smith: New @ppppolls poll in Texas: @realDonaldTrump 48 @joebiden 47 @JohnCornyn 44 @mjhegar 40 https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TexasResults1.pdf #txlege #txsen #tx2020 — EvanSmith (@evanasmith) 3:18 PM – 08 September 2020 I could not find a news story, press release, or even … Continue reading →

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Back to school

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

How’d it go for you and your kids? On a normal first day of school, Texas children would wake up early to cram into school buses, eager to huddle and chat with their friends in the hallways before streaming toward … Continue reading →

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They just don’t want you to vote by mail

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s okay if you’re a Republican, of course. As states across the country scramble to make voting safer in a pandemic, Texas is in the small minority of those requiring voters who want to cast their ballots by mail to … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

RIP, Luby’s

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The end of an era. Looks like the days of LuAnn platters are coming to an end. Luby’s board of directors has “approved and adopted a plan of liquidation and dissolution,” the company announced. The plan will need to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Census shenanigans halted for now

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. [On] Saturday, US District Judge Lucy Koh issued a temporary restraining order to stop Census Bureau officials from winding down door-knocking and online, phone, and mail response collection by September 30—a month early—writing that the shortened census timeline could … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

HISD may do remote learning on Election Day

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Makes sense to me. Houston ISD’s administration wants to hold online-only classes on Election Day this November, citing safety concerns at more than 100 campuses that are expected to be used as polling locations. “While it is not unusual for … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Good riddance to a bad person

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We should all be thoroughly disgusted by this. A Texas assistant attorney general sent dozens of tweets over the past several months threatening violence against progressives, spouting racist and transphobic rhetoric, casting doubt over the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic … Continue reading →

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UT-Tyler/DMN: Trump 48, Biden 46

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s our first post-convention poll from an outfit that has polled the state at least twice so far this year. Texas remains a toss-up in the presidential race. But Democrat Joe Biden’s modest – and somewhat startling – lead over … Continue reading →

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Politico profile of Lina Hidalgo

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. In late April, Lina Hidalgo stood at a microphone in the Harris County emergency operations center in Houston and pushed up the teal fabric face mask that had slipped off her nose. Her voice was slightly muffled as … Continue reading →

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

How are things at college these days?

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

About as can be expected. Students at a Baylor University dormitory are required to “reside in place” after a spike in positive coronavirus cases in a campus dormitory. Baylor officials wrote in a letter to the community that the number … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Weekend link dump for September 6

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

“There are many differences between Bush and Trump as individuals, and many differences between their administrations. But both of them represent a Republican Party soaked in contempt for, and mistrust of, the federal government. When you don’t respect, or even … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | 1 Comment

Libertarians will stay on the ballot

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Republicans. You were too late after all. The Texas Supreme Court on Saturday rejected an attempt by Republicans to kick 44 Libertarians off the ballot in the November elections. Several Republican Party candidates and organizations had sued to remove … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Yes, bail reform is good

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the first pieces of evidence, from Harris County, to support that. A new report examining the impact of recent changes to bail practices in Harris County found that releasing more misdemeanor defendants from jail without requiring cash bail did … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments