Monthly Archives: April 2022

Biden administration to appeal airplane mask mandate order

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Tuesday it would appeal a judge’s ruling ending a mask mandate on airplanes if public health officials deem it necessary to stem the spread of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and … Continue reading →

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State task force recommendations on AstroWorld

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. To avoid a repeat of the mayhem at last year’s deadly Astroworld Festival, Texas needs to standardize its event permitting process, establish “clearly outlined triggers” for stopping shows and ensure local public safety agencies are organized in a clear … Continue reading →

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Hotze gets bail

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know about you, but I’d feel much safer if this guy had been locked up. Far-right activist Steven Hotze on Thursday made his first court appearance since being indicted on criminal charges after funding a private investigation into … Continue reading →

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Hotze indicted for his bogus “voter fraud investigation”

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Lock him up. Steven Hotze, the far-right agitator who funded a private investigation into voter fraud that ended with a private investigator pointing a gun at an innocent air conditioning repairman, has been indicted for his role in the episode. … Continue reading →

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Wendy Davis sues over SB8

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Former Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, best known for her 13-hour filibuster of a 2013 abortion bill, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Texas’ recent abortion law. The suit claims the law is “blatantly unconstitutional” and written to “make … Continue reading →

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We will have a new elections administrator on July 1

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s get the best we can. The Harris County Election Board on Tuesday voted to accept Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria’s resignation and hire a national search firm to find a replacement, two weeks after the five-member panel could only agree … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of April 18

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance stands with the people of Ukraine as it brings you this week’s roundup.

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City Council approves security camera ordinance for bars and convenience stores

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have mixed feelings about this. Houston bars, nightclubs and convenience stores must install security cameras outside of their buildings within 90 days in a citywide surveillance effort Mayor Sylvester Turner hopes will diminish violent crime in high-risk areas. City … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Mask mandate lifted for planes and trains

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And other forms of mass transportation. The Biden administration will no longer enforce a U.S. mask mandate on public transportation, after a federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, overturning a key White House … Continue reading →

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We don’t have enough garbage truck drivers

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t pay them enough, it would seem. For the last few months, Juan Sorto and his neighbors have looked toward the curb on Thursdays and asked themselves the same uneasy question: Did the garbage trucks come? Last week, they had. … Continue reading →

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The Texas City explosion, 75 years later

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not the sort of thing you want your city to be known for. Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of what has come to be known as the Texas City Disaster, the deadliest industrial accident in United States history. All told, … Continue reading →

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Here’s your public meeting schedule for Houston City Council redistricting

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Attend one and be In The Know. Houston residents will have a chance to preview potential changes to Houston’s 11 City Council districts at a series of public town hall meetings in April and May. […] The town hall meetings … Continue reading →

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How Dallas is handling supply and demand of voting centers

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Given the current kerfuffle over voting locations for the primary runoffs in Harris County, I thought this story from Dallas was of interest. More than three dozen Dallas County voting sites that were used last month won’t open for elections … Continue reading →

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Paxton threatens HISD over its COVID sick leave policy

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We live in such stupid times. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Republicans in the Legislature are taking aim at Houston ISD, arguing that the district’s COVID sick day policy violates state law. This academic year, Houston ISD is offering 10 … Continue reading →

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Air Force aims to care for its families with LGBTQ members

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them, but… The Air Force has issued a reminder to service members that it can help protect them from anti-LGBTQ state initiatives, such as the one in Texas that raised the possibility of child welfare investigations against parents … Continue reading →

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Houston Comets 2.0?

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’d be happy to see the WNBA come back to Houston. From 1997 to 2000, legendary players Cynthia Cooper, Tina Thompson, and Sheryl Swoops led the Houston Comets to the first four national WNBA titles. The team was a dynasty: … Continue reading →

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Where are we voting in the primary runoffs?

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Still TBD. Harris County Democrats on Thursday accused their Republican counterparts of excluding predominantly Black and Latino areas from a “disturbingly racist” map of proposed voting locations for the May 24 primary runoff, days after alleging the county GOP was … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

New variants being detected

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Got to keep an eye on that. Two new omicron subvariants that health officials say are contributing to a COVID uptick in New York State have been identified in Houston, according to researchers at Houston Methodist. Genome sequencing efforts within the hospital system have … Continue reading →

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The UH wildlife cameras

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I love stories like this. A duck waddled between the trees of Glenwood Cemetery, not far from where four University of Houston students tied their camera to a trunk. If the bird came closer to the lens, the device would … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for April 17

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

“If the increasingly bare-knuckle battle between Florida’s conservative Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the Walt Disney Co., over the Sunshine State’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law and other legislation, sounds eerily familiar, it should. The current clash of values and … Continue reading →

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Abbott ends his border hostage-taking

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I cannot get over how stupid and cynical this was, and yet it may be politically successful. Gov. Greg Abbott reached a fourth and final deal — this one with Tamaulipas’ governor on Friday — to end state troopers’ increased … Continue reading →

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Second lawsuit filed over Galveston redistricting

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Similar grounds, different plaintiffs. A coalition of civil rights groups in Texas filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Galveston County, alleging that the county’s redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against a growing minority population in the Gulf Coast community. The complaint, … Continue reading →

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Texas child welfare workers are resigning

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Three guesses why. Morgan Davis, a transgender man, joined Texas’ child welfare agency as an investigator to be the advocate he never had growing up. Less than a year later, one of the first cases under Gov. Greg Abbott’s order … Continue reading →

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JC Hartman

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good column from Jerome Solomon about the first Black baseball player for the Astros, who were still the Colt 45s at the time. You have probably never heard of many of the first Blacks to play modern-day baseball for franchises. … Continue reading →

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Abbott’s awesome border “emergency” cash-a-palooza

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You get a lucrative contract! And you get a lucrative contract! Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown is producing a private contractor bonanza, showering tens of millions of dollars on staffing companies, technology firms and builders, including one business that sold … Continue reading →

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Four candidates file for CD34 special election

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The sprint is on. Two Democrats and two Republicans have filed for the June 14 special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, in a South Texas congressional seat that the GOP wants to flip. The filing deadline was 5 p.m. … Continue reading →

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Texas Central owes some property taxes

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

deep sigh A planned high-speed train between Houston and Dallas, backers say, would allow travelers to avoid costly and time-consuming freeway traffic. Before it can deliver that relief, however, the company behind the high-speed rail project will have to stop … Continue reading →

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More on Lambert Hall and Opera in the Heights

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron, about the forthcoming sale of the Heights Christian Church and its effect on Opera in the Heights, which has long performed at Lambert Hall on the church’s property: “The whole reason someone had the idea to start … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott is still a threat to international trade

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is at best window dressing. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott relented Wednesday, agreeing to ease the additional safety inspections of trucks at the busiest border entry point near Laredo in exchange for promises of more border security by Mexican officials … Continue reading →

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City Council approves paid parental leave for city employees

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. City of Houston employees will have access to paid parental leave for the first time beginning in May after a decade-long push to adopt the family-friendly policy that advocates hope will help the city attract and retain working parents. … Continue reading →

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Our new school library standards

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I am casting a gimlet eye at this, at least for now. The Texas Education Agency released statewide standards Monday for how school districts should remove and prevent “obscene content” from entering Texas public school libraries. In the agency’s model … Continue reading →

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It’s hurricane forecast season

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna be busy again. You should know what to do about it by now. Another above-average hurricane season is in the forecast for 2022. A prediction issued Thursday by scientists at Colorado State University says there will be at least … Continue reading →

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Interview with Terrance Hall

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Today we wrap up the series of interviews with candidates in the May 7 special election for HCC Trustee in District 2. Our conversation today is with Terrance Hall, the pastor of Kingdom Builders Cathedral Church and an HCC graduate … Continue reading →

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How the reproductive rights groups reacted to the Lizelle Herrera arrest

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Respect. Deep, abiding respect. Cathy Torres was ready to log off for the weekend and start celebrating her 26th birthday when she got a text message with a link to a local news story: A woman in the Rio Grande … Continue reading →

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