Tag Archives: Galveston

Galveston ISD mask mandate remains, Round Rock gets halted

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A Galveston County judge Thursday denied an attempt by Attorney General Ken Paxton to stop Galveston ISD from requiring masks, according to a court document. Judge Kerry Neves ruled against Texas’ request for a temporary restraining order on mask … Continue reading →

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Remembering Ike as Nicholas pays a visit

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Won’t be as bad, thankfully. But still be careful. Tropical Storm Nicholas is approaching the Texas coast Monday, threatening torrential downpours and flooding for Houston. It also brings with it memories of Hurricane Ike, which wrought havoc across the region … Continue reading →

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The final Ike Dike plan

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s taken a long time to get to this point. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the final version of its Coastal Texas Study, which examines a proposed coastal barrier to protect the Houston region against storm surge. … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott will blame you if you get sick

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

He will take no responsibility at all. With COVID-19 hospitalizations soaring past 5,000 statewide for the first time in nearly five months, state officials are stepping up vaccination outreach programs and promotional campaigns but Gov. Greg Abbott insists that the … Continue reading →

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What will Harris County do about rising case numbers?

Posted on July 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m afraid we’ll find out soon enough. The Harris Health System’s COVID-19 ward was down to just one patient at the beginning of July. Anxious to hit zero COVID-19 patients, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, the hospital system’s CEO, purchased and stored … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: State House district changes by county

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions Appellate courts, Part 1 Appellate courts, Part 2 Judicial averages Other cities District Attorney County Attorney Sheriff Tax Assessor County Clerk HCDE Fort … Continue reading →

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What are the limits on limiting vaccination requirements?

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

News item #1: Carnival will require COVID vaccinations for all passengers cruising from Galveston: Carnival Cruise Line today announced plans to begin cruising from the Port of Galveston on July 3. Cruises will be open to customers who are fully … Continue reading →

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The freeze was hard on the trees

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Palm trees in particular. Galveston’s majestic palm trees could be another casualty of Texas’s four-day freeze last month. The cold snap that left millions of Texans without power and caused burst pipes across the state has also had a pronounced … Continue reading →

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We also have to worry about water

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully not for too much longer. On Friday, as the ice melted and lights flickered back on in homes and businesses across the state, Texans were melting snow into their toilet tanks and mopping up water from busted pipes. The … Continue reading →

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More vaccination hubs

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Keep ’em coming. State health officials Saturday announced 79 hub providers that are expected to receive allotments of COVID-19 vaccines this week, including newly designated hubs in some suburbs of Houston. The hub providers include two in Galveston County, one … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Appellate courts, part 1

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Introduction Congressional districts State Rep districts Commissioners Court/JP precincts Comparing 2012 and 2016 Statewide judicial Other jurisdictions My next two posts in this series will focus on the 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals. These courts are a little strange … Continue reading →

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The regional COVID situation

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not great, Bob. COVID-19 is surging across southeast Texas, especially in the suburban counties outside of Houston, which have seen a steady increase in the number of new cases, data show. Galveston, Chambers, Brazoria, Liberty, and Montgomery counties have all … Continue reading →

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Counties of interest, part one: Around Harris

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s been so much focus in the past couple of years about the suburbs and how their traditional voting patterns have changed. I wanted to use the election results we have to take a closer look at what that means. … Continue reading →

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Harris County posts updated election results

Posted on November 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: . That won’t affect most races, and it probably does not affect any Harris-County specific races. But if provisional ballots are like that statewide, it could affect larger, close elections. I’m particularly watching Chief Justice for the 14th … Continue reading →

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Followup omnibus Election Day post

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Wanted to clear up some loose ends from the late night/early morning post and add a couple of things I’d missed the first time around. I’ll have a longer “thoughts and reactions” post probably tomorrow. – The district results from … Continue reading →

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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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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 →

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Coronavirus and hurricane shelters

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Two things we have to be thinking about today. Houston officials and public health experts are expressing concern that Tropical Storm Laura could amplify the spread of COVID-19 by displacing residents to public shelters or residences outside the area, increasing … Continue reading →

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Here comes Laura

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Be prepared. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo urged residents to prepare for a hurricane as the track and intensity of Tropical Storm Laura remains uncertain. She said the greatest threat posed by Laura likely would be high winds and a … Continue reading →

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Revisiting the May elections

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m ambivalent about this. Most cities in Texas — from Galveston to Lubbock — moved their May elections to November under a pandemic-era decree by Gov. Greg Abbott. But the choices facing voters will remain limited to candidates who filed … Continue reading →

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Who gets to be on the I-45 panel?

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not thrilled about this. Houston will have a say in a regional response to design differences in the planned widening of Interstate 45 within the city — and so will Sugar Land, Montgomery County and Waller County. After voting … Continue reading →

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Harris County issues school closure order

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This was expected. Harris County and Houston health authorities on Friday ordered all public and non-religious private schools to delay opening for in-person instruction until at least Sept. 8 — a date likely to be extended unless the region sees … Continue reading →

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How bad is it going to get in Houston?

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m worried, y’all. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas continued to reach record highs over the weekend while new cases also climbed in the Houston area. The new figures come as County Judge Lina Hidalgo and leaders in other … Continue reading →

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Reopening the beaches

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Galveston has opened its beaches again. Galveston beaches were reopened to pedestrians Monday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. after being closed for nearly a month due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Galveston City Council voted 4-3 on the … Continue reading →

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Driving may be down, but traffic fatalities are not down as much

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a bit of a conundrum. COVID-19 can keep millions of Texans at home and cut vehicle travel roughly in half in many cities, but cannot keep hundreds from dying on state roads — continuing a stubborn trend of carnage … Continue reading →

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That was a statewide stay-at-home order

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And we’re under it now, even if you don’t want to call it that. Gov. Greg Abbott released a new video Wednesday clarifying that his executive order issued on Tuesday “requires all Texans to stay at home” except for essential … Continue reading →

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Younger people get coronavirus, too

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Because that’s how viruses work. More Houstonians younger than 60 are testing positive for the novel coronavirus than those who are most at risk of developing serious complications from the illness. Of that number, middle-aged adults — those in their … Continue reading →

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The rest of the H-GAC region

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As long as we’ve been talking about Waller County and Montgomery County, I thought I’d check in on the other members of the Houston-Galveston Area Council region. Harris County and six of its seven neighbors – Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, … Continue reading →

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What’s up, Waller County?

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Meet the lone holdout county in the Houston area. Waller County Judge Trey Duhon says he expected to announce a stay-at-home order for his rural county this week, following the lead of other major counties in the region. But then … Continue reading →

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Here come the shelter-in-place orders

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The shutdowns are getting shut-down-ier. Many of Texas’ biggest cities and counties are ordering residents to shelter in place whenever possible. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff on Monday evening ordered residents to stay in … Continue reading →

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Primary precinct analysis: Who did what in the RRC race

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Railroad Commissioner primary was a bit like the Senate primary – multiple candidates (though not nearly as many), not a whole lot of money, but the candidate who did best in fundraising was also the leading votegetter. Here’s a … Continue reading →

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Primary precinct analysis: Everyone did something in the Senate primary

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So while we wait for actual precinct data from the primary, I thought I’d take a look at some county-level data from the non-Presidential races, as they have the county-by-county breakdown on the SOS election night pages. The US Senate … Continue reading →

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Primary early voting: Comparing 2020 to 2016

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron looks into the early voting numbers around the state. Experts cautioned that early voting data should be taken with a grain of salt — for one because the subset of people who vote early aren’t necessarily representative of … Continue reading →

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2020 Primary Early Voting begins today

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t have a long primary season in Texas – the filing deadline was barely two months ago, though to be sure some candidates have been running for much longer than that – and the first part of it is … Continue reading →

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