Monthly Archives: September 2022

Three migrants sue Ron DeSantis

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m venturing a little from the core mission of covering Texas politics, but this was too irresistible, and there is a Texas connection. Three Venezuelan migrants flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard last week filed a federal class-action lawsuit … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 19

Posted on September 22, 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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Interview with Laura Jones

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

For my second Congressional interview this week we stay up north for a visit with Laura Jones, the Democratic candidate un CD08, which is open this year following the retirement announcement of Rep. Kevin Brady. Jones is a small business … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Lori Chambers Gray

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to my readers. This year it’s mostly incumbents running for … Continue reading →

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District court judge dismisses State Bar complaint against Brent Webster

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a bad ruling, and it needs to be appealed. A Texas district judge has dismissed a professional misconduct lawsuit against a top aide of Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to discipline them for their effort to overturn the … Continue reading →

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Community meetings about the Harris County bond referenda

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Ask your questions, get some answers. Harris County voters will decide in November whether to approve a bond package totaling $1.2 billion, with the vast majority aimed at road construction. On Monday, the county [began] a series of 24 community … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Linda Dunson

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to my readers. This year it’s mostly incumbents running for … Continue reading →

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DMN/UT-Tyler: Abbott 47, Beto 38

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Insert shrug emoji here, and insert link to the unreadable DMN story here. I’ll give you the main results of interest and then a few comments after that. Abbott 47, Beto 38 Patrick 39, Collier 28 Paxton 37, Garza 30 … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton keeps trying to kill the SAISD vaccine mandate

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

On brand, always on brand. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed another petition seeking to reverse a Bexar County judge’s decision that rejected the state’s bid for a temporary injunction to block the San Antonio Independent School District’s staff … Continue reading →

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Bexar County Sheriff to investigate the “immigrants lured to Martha’s Vineyard” saga

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, because this whole thing is not only weird and creepy but it’s not hard to see how at least some aspects of it could have been illegal. Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is opening … Continue reading →

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

Interview with Robin Fulford

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This week I have interviews with two Congressional candidates. First up is a very familiar name to local Democrats, Robin Fulford. Fulford is an activist, organizer, and founding member of the Democratic Club of The Woodlands. Fulford comes from a … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Shannon Baldwin

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to my readers. This year it’s mostly incumbents running for … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Texas’ ridiculous social media censorship law

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Back to you, SCOTUS. A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political viewpoints will go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block placed on the statute. NetChoice … Continue reading →

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Now we’re dealing with hoax shootings

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A new thing we need to be prepared for. Texas and other states have experienced hoax shootings, but experts say these threats shouldn’t be taken lightly. Research shows that if someone is going to commit a mass shooting there is … Continue reading →

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Weekend link dump for September 18

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

“To be sure, beaver fans have been around for centuries, if not longer.” Regis Philbin, American icon. “Petulance is not measured in hoarded blocks and broken crayons but in the demise of our democratic order.” Everyone’s taking their fast food … Continue reading →

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Broader injunction issued to halt DFPS investigations of trans kids’ families

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas’ child welfare agency is once again blocked from investigating parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. The injunction applies to any family that belongs to PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group with more than 600 members in … Continue reading →

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Paxton to be deposed in Servergy-related lawsuit

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This gets into some deep lore about the Paxton crime saga. Attorney General Ken Paxton will face lawyers for the men who accused him of securities fraud seven years ago in a one-hour deposition after the November elections. The Dallas … Continue reading →

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In which I indulge in a bit of schadenfreude

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A base instinct, I admit, but I’m going to do it anyway. The district director for Texas’ newest congresswoman, Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, recently resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. The far-right website Current Revolt first reported a series of … Continue reading →

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Nuro keeps on expanding in Houston

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Someone must be using these services. I’m not, but someone must be. Houstonians will soon be able to get completely autonomous delivery of their dinners, groceries, and more thanks to a new 10-year partnership. Uber Technologies, Inc. and Nuro have … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against True the Vote

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, this will be fun to watch. A defamation and computer fraud lawsuit filed this week against Texas-based True the Vote asks a judge to essentially determine whether the election-integrity group’s campaign against a small election vendor constitutes slanderous lies … Continue reading →

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Marijuana and the Ag Commissioner race

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a clear choice, though to be fair on this one issue it’s not as clear as with some other offices. But really, anytime the choice includes “not Sid Miller”, it’s pretty damn clear. The first time Susan Hays tried … Continue reading →

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Monkeypox case rate slows

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Monkeypox infection rates are slowing in Houston, data shows, with health officials pointing to changing behavior as the key reason for the decline. The 14-day average of daily new cases dropped by 43 percent, from .23 cases … Continue reading →

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We should soon find out what’s been going on in the NWSL

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. Soccer says an investigation into alleged abuse and misconduct in the National Women’s Soccer League is expected to be completed by early next month. The investigation, led by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, was initiated last … Continue reading →

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State delays report on maternal mortality until next year

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, didn’t get to it, other things to do, you know. Texas health officials have missed a key window to complete the state’s first major updated count of pregnancy related deaths in nearly a decade, saying the findings will now … Continue reading →

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Republican Commissioners skip out again

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Cowards. Harris County’s two Republican commissioners skipped Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting, preventing county leaders from passing a property tax rate and proposed budget for the next fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. State law requires four members of the court … Continue reading →

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The next ridiculous lawsuit we’re all going to have to endure

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Grit your teeth, here it comes. A University of Texas at Austin professor has sued Texas A&M University claiming a new faculty fellowship program designed to increase diversity at the flagship university in College Station discriminates against white and Asian … Continue reading →

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Opera in the Heights will stay at Lambert Hall

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The uncertainty is over, Opera in the Heights is staying home. After months of not knowing what the future for the neighborhood staple might hold, a consortium including a longtime Houston singing club and two donors have purchased … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Audrie Lawton Evans

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to my readers. This year it’s mostly incumbents running for … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Politics Project poll: Abbott 45, Beto 40

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Feels kind of familiar. Gov. Greg Abbott leads his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by 5 percentage points, according to a new poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. The survey found that Abbott received … Continue reading →

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The active shooter hoax at our neighborhood school

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This made for a super eventful Tuesday afternoon. Police and panicked parents scrambled to Heights High School Tuesday afternoon, in frantic response to a false report that a gunman had shot 10 people in a room on the 2,400-student Houston … Continue reading →

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Texas blog roundup for the week of September 12

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance hummed a few bars of “God Save The Queen” as we compiled this week’s roundup.

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Interview with Stephanie Morales

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

After redistricting, there is at this time one swing State House district in Harris County, and that’s HD138. HD133 was closer in 2020 at the Presidential level, but no other Dem statewide candidate did better than 44%. HD132 is a … Continue reading →

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Judicial Q&A: Judge Brian Warren

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for Democratic judicial candidates. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to my readers. This year it’s mostly incumbents running for … Continue reading →

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Echelon Insights: Abbott 48, Beto 46

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Make of this what you will. It’s a national poll plus samples of likely voters in a variety of states, some red and some blue and some purple, including Texas. The numbers of interest for us: Do you have a … Continue reading →

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