This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think.
This week in news from the DFW area, book bans (local and statewide), election administration, some scary climate predictions for Galveston, more Six Degrees of Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow, a local is running for president in 2024, and zoo babies are back!
Also early voting for the May 6 election has started, so get out there and vote in your local elections, fellow Texans. May elections have a low turnout so your vote is important!
Today we’re going to talk about book banning in Texas schools. In case you want to know what’s banned in your local districts, PEN America has a database of school book bans for fall 2022. Frisco ISD is the big north Texas book banner right now, with about 5 of the 9 pages in the index that are devoted to Texas book bans devoted to Frisco’s removals. If that sounds like a lot, it is, and the numbers are increasing: ALA: Number of unique book titles challenged jumped nearly 40% in 2022.
And that’s just the local districts, not getting into the shenanigans the Lege is up to this year: Texas education board could ban textbooks that discuss gender identity under proposed bill. That’s HB 1804 for those of you calling your legislators. Also in the Lege, the House passed HB 900 and Franklin Strong’s Substack post on it is worth your time. He summarizes the discussion based on five points. Three are by Representative Erin Zweiner, who rightfully draws the lines connecting this years book bans (sex and gender) with last year’s book bans (“CRT”). Two are by Representative Jerry Patterson, who sponsored this bill. Patterson represents Frisco ISD, which as we noted above, has removed a lot of books from classrooms and libraries this school year. (We talk about Frisco ISD a lot around here. It’s also where Marvin Lowe, who harassed a transgender student at TASB, is a trustee.)
- Following up on the Haider Garcia resignation in Fort Worth: KERA: Tarrant County looks for new elections chief. O’Hare outlines what he wants in position. County Judge O’Hare says election deniers are not automatically ruled out for the job. Related from Talking Points Memo: Survey: Massive Turnover In Local Election Officials Due To Harassment Is Likely By 2024. Also, from the Guardian, ‘Get cancer’: how election lies morphed into a plague of hate in Arizona. Both these articles are really worth your time. The TPM article gives you an idea of the breadth of the problem and the Guardian shows you the depth for individual election officials. As with school boards, the goal from the right is to take elections administration over by forcing out anyone who won’t get with the authoritarian right’s program.
- Why Texans need to know how fast Antarctica is melting. This NPR-produced multimedia infographic about sea level rise around Galveston is terrifying. It talks about the Army Corps of Engineers effort to put up a higher seawall. I hope they get it finished before the waters drown Galveston or a hurricane flattens the island again.
- 2023 Goldman environmental prize winners include Texas Gulf coast defender. The Texas winner is Diane Wilson, who won a $50 million settlement from Formosa Plastics to help clean up toxic plastic waste from its Point Comfort facility in 2019.
- A note from LinkedIn: To immigrants who got laid off & have 60 days before you have to leave America: here is an in-depth compilation of resources and ideas! The H-1B system was a mess in the 90s and it’s getting worse over time for both H-1B holders and their American colleagues.
- Six degrees of Clarence Thomas updates: From the DMN: A Trammell Crow-related case made it to the Supreme Court during Clarence Thomas’ tenure (Archive link). Which says Thomas lied. From the Guardian: Judicial record undermines Clarence Thomas defence in luxury gifts scandal which is a diplomatic way of saying Thomas lied. Also, from the New Republic: No Labels Took More Than $100,000 From Clarence Thomas Buddy Harlan Crow.
- The DMN has an editorial on Sidney Powell: State Bar of Texas not backing down in fight against former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell (Archive link). Nice to see the DMN on the side of getting rid of lying lawyers.
- Following up on Charles’ post yesterday about downtown parking in Houston and my own post about downtown parking, here’s a scary consideration: Heavier Vehicles in Aging Parking Garages Are a Recipe for Disaster. American cars are bigger and heavier than they used to be, plus now that they’re going electric, that’s additional weight (EVs are heavier than gasoline-powered cars). As the interviewer said in the article, “New urban nightmare just dropped.”
- I also note Charles’ recent post about the settlement in the Collin County DA’s harassment lawsuit. His post covers most of what I have to say, and the KERA article he posted covers everything I’ve read in other local sources like the DMN. The DMN does note that both DA Willis and his wife, District Judge Jill Willis, ran unopposed in November. (Archive link.)
- Also in Collin County, this time at Collin College: Trustee Candidates Hope To Turn Collin College Around from ‘Epicenter of Censorship’. If you’ve forgotten the long-term troubles that Collin College has had, this article reviews them for you. I wish candidates Scott Coleman and Megan Wallace and Trustee Stacey Donaldson good luck in the May 6 election.
- Content warning for animal death and cruelty for this one, unfortunately: Cows found dead with tongues missing across Texas. Police investigating mutilations. (Archive link; NYT coverage). I hope the authorities find out who’s killing these animals and stop them.
- Giving this piece of local news the prominence it deserves: Richardson CEO, pastor Ryan Binkley announces 2024 presidential campaign (Archive link). At least he probably has a better chance than Ron DeSantis.
- In local food news: A Dallas Group Established Its Own Wagyu Beef Herd to Supply Its Restaurants. Yum. I haven’t tried any of these restaurants, but they’re now on my list.
- Some of Our Favorite Bathroom Signs in Dallas. My favorite is the bartender sign at the Grapevine but I really like the “inclusive” sign at Alexandre’s.
- Last but definitely not least: Dallas Zoo says 4 new baby lemurs are ‘thriving’ (Archive link). Look at that cute little face!