Off the Kuff | Knowledge Is Good

Lawsuits based on false claims about voting equipment could delay millions of dollars in cost of living increases for retired teachers expected to arrive in January. The lawsuits also threaten to hold up state property tax cuts for homeowners — arguably Republicans’ signature policy achievement this year.

Voters widely approved both policies this fall. Now Texas lawmakers are scrambling in hopes of preventing further delays.

The election contests challenging the results of the November constitutional amendment election were filed in Travis County district courts days after the November election by right-wing activists. They are based on false claims that Texas’ voting equipment is not certified and that voting machines are connected to the internet. Abbott has not certified the results of the election and won’t be able to until the lawsuits are resolved in the courts — which experts say could take weeks or months.

Voter advocates say the election contests are yet another attempt to undermine trust in elections. This time, though, it could have immediate negative implications for millions of Texans.

“I think this is a perfect example of the real impact in peoples’ lives when we delay the certification of our vote because of misinformation,” said Katya Ehresman, voting rights program manager at Common Cause Texas.

At least six lawsuits — filed by residents from Bexar, Llano, Denton, Rains, Brazoria, Liberty, and Atascosa counties who have ties to local promoters of election conspiracies — are challenging the 14 constitutional amendment propositions that were on the ballot in November.

By law, challenges to constitutional amendment elections can’t go to trial earlier than a month after it’s been filed — unless requested by the contestant — and not later than six months after it was filed.

But on Friday, in the middle of Texas’ fourth special legislative session this year, a state senator introduced a bill that would eliminate that requirement and to compress the timeline under which such challenges are heard. The bill was then hastily passed through a committee and sent to the Senate floor, where it passed 23-1. It will now go to the House, which was also in session Friday. Its author, Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, said that if it isn’t passed that property tax cuts and extra money for retired teachers would be in jeopardy.

“It’s a big deal,” he said.

In order for the bill to become law, Gov. Greg Abbott would have to add the issue to the special session’s agenda. On Friday, an Abbott aide said he’d consider doing so if both chambers can agree to a bill.

[…]

At least two of the six nearly identical lawsuits were filed by Jarrett Woodward of Bexar County. Woodward has in the past year spoken in front of county commissioners in Kerr, Uvalde, Medina, and Bexar counties trying to persuade them to ditch electronic voting equipment and to hand count ballots instead.

In the lawsuits, Woodward argues the voting equipment used in the Nov. 7 election was not properly certified and that “the ballot marking devices similar to those that Contestants were forced to use for voting in 2023 contain multiple severe security flaws including the opportunity to install malicious software locally or remotely.”

Voting machines used in Texas by vendors ES&S and Hart InterCivic have been certified by the Texas Secretary of State and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Neither the machines used to cast ballots nor the machines used to count ballots have the capability to connect to the internet. The process to certify election equipment in Texas is robust: After vendors submit an application for certification, state officials physically examine the equipment and test its accuracy.

Last year, Woodward and others filed similar lawsuits against multiple county officials across the state for using voting equipment they say is not certified; at least seven were dismissed and the others have yet to succeed. Similar unfounded claims have been made in other states across the country.

See here for a reminder about what the amendments were, and here for a reminder of how mind-bendingly stupid the idea of hand-counting ballots is. Maybe the Lege will speed up this process in the dying days of the latest special session, I have no idea. But I do know who owns the reason for the need to deal with this at all.

The bill in question, by the way, is SB6. The record vote was not available when I looked, but I’d bet you a dollar the one vote against was from that walking spittoon Bob Hall.

Posted in Election 2023, Legal matters | Tagged Atascosa County, Bexar County, Brazoria County, Bryan Hughes, Constitution, constitutional amendments, Denton County, Election 2023, election contest, electronic voting machines, Greg Abbott, Jarrett Woodward, Kerr County, lawsuit, Liberty County, Llano County, Medina County, Rains County, Secretary of State, Senate, Texas, The Lege | 6 Comments

Dodo update

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone needs a home.

“Finding a dodo bird…”

After years of working on bringing back one of the most popular extinct animals — the dodo — Colossal Biosciences has found a home for its bird in Mauritius in a new partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.

The Dallas-based company has previously announced it’s trying to wake the Tasmanian tiger and woolly mammoth from their eternal slumber. Colossal’s progress on the dodo would lead the bird back to its native home in East Africa and potentially give the company the power to save other soon-to-be extinct species, said Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences.

“Our goal with all the species we work on is to bring them back into their natural habitat,” Lamm said. “This endorsement and collaboration from the Mauritian Wildlife is a big testament to the incredible work that not only our scientific teams are doing to bring back the dodo but the team to successfully wild them back into their natural habitats.”

Though Colossal still doesn’t have a timetable for the dodo’s return, its comeback could turn the tides for birds like the pink pigeon which are close to meeting the same fate, Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal officer, said.

The pink pigeon, a 15-inch tall herbivorous bird native to Mauritius, is also facing extinction due to habitat degradation, diseases and inbreeding, according to the Natural History Museum.

“The dodo is going to help the pink pigeon,” he said. “As we develop these Colossal de-extinction programs, we’re identifying species that would benefit directly from those technologies. All the technologies that we’re going to develop around the dodo have become tools that we can start to apply to the pink pigeon and other pigeon conservation projects.”

[…]

Lamm said he expects Colossal to put members of its team in Mauritius next year to work with the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and the local government.

The collaboration between Mauritius and Colossal may help dispel some of the Jurassic Park comparisons the company has received in the past, Lamm said.

“We’ve heard all of those comments over the years,” Lamm said. “But we have an opportunity to do it for good reasons because when you remove an animal from an ecosystem, that ecological void is felt. We’re not out to build things that shouldn’t exist. We’re focused on undoing the sins of the past and bringing back species to their native homes that mankind had a role in its demise.”

See here and here for some background. On the one hand, I have no idea how seriously to take all of this. The science is, let’s just say “razor’s edge”, and the claims are more than a little grandiose. There are also questions about funding and no clear timeline for any actual work product. Oh, and then there’s the Jurassic Park of it all, which I’m glad to see that Colossal Biosciences is willing to acknowledge. There’s a lot going on here. On the other hand, the stated goals seen quite worthwhile, and it all sounds cool as hell. I’m willing to see where it all goes. The Star-Telegram has more.

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged Ben Lamm, Colossal Biosciences, DNA, dodos, elephants, extinction, mammoths, Mauritius, pink pigeon, Texas, tigers | 1 Comment

Paxton sues Pfizer for not ending the COVID pandemic quickly enough

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What the actual fuck?

A crook any way you look

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused drugmaker Pfizer of fear-mongering and lies about the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine, which the company insinuated would end the pandemic, according to a lawsuit Paxton announced Thursday.

“In a nutshell, Pfizer deceived the public,” reads the 54-page lawsuit, filed in a Lubbock state district court.

The lawsuit alleges Pfizer “engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.”

Pfizer was the first drugmaker to get the federal government’s emergency approval for the vaccine in late 2020, less than a year after the first infection was detected in the U.S.

The company has since won full approval for the use of its vaccine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Also, the pandemic has since been declared over.

But the lawsuit comes at a time when Texas conservatives are pushing bans on COVID-19 vaccine mandates and trumpeting other anti-vaccine positions that are espoused by their grassroots supporters in the months leading up to election season.

Paxton’s arguments, many of them familiar tropes among the anti-vaccine and COVID-19 denial crowd, hinge on the fact that the pandemic did not end soon enough — even though Pfizer officials never promised an end date to the health threat.

The drugmaker, he argues, claimed its vaccine was 95% effective but did not manage to end the pandemic within a year after being introduced.

“Contrary to Pfizer’s public statements, however, the pandemic did not end; it got worse. More Americans died in 2021, with Pfizer’s vaccine available, than in 2020, the first year of the pandemic,” the lawsuit says. “This, in spite of the fact that the vast majority of Americans received a COVID-19 vaccine, with most taking Pfizer’s.”

But like other portions of Paxton’s lawsuit, that’s a statement that is technically true, but easily manipulated, experts say. Other assertions made in the lawsuit filing, they argue, are completely unsubstantiated, such as one claiming that vaccinated people were more likely to die from COVID-19, which Texas health data disputes.

[…]

But while facts and science remain on the side of COVID-19 vaccine supporters, who include experts in some of the most influential medical organizations across the world, the lawsuit still has political ramifications, said Terri Burke, executive director of The Immunization Partnership in Houston.

“What this really does is it’s just another attempt to erode confidence in all vaccines,” Burke said.

Paxton argues in the lawsuit that death rates were higher in some areas among vaccinated people than among unvaccinated people, but that’s not true for the overall rate in Texas.

The state’s own Department of State Health Services COVID-19 death tracker shows that as of April, the COVID death rate for fully vaccinated Texans is 12 times lower than that of unvaccinated Texans.

“These arguments have been around for a long time, and there are fact checks” that prove them wrong, Burke said. “This lawsuit and the rhetoric behind it are not going to make us safer. … It’s performative politics, as usual.”

I got nothing. We do not live on the same planet as this guy. I don’t know what else to say. The Chron has more.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Centers for Disease Control, coronavirus, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Pfizer, Texas, The Immunization Partnership, vaccinations | 5 Comments

HISD’s continued enrollment decline

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not great.

Houston ISD saw its steepest enrollment decline this year since the first full school year of the pandemic, losing roughly 6,000 students, according to preliminary data obtained by the Houston Landing.

Some 183,884 students now attend HISD schools, down from 189,934 in 2022-23.

The count has not been vetted by the Texas Education Agency, but was provided to the Landing by HISD in response to a public records request. The number represents the total students present on “snapshot” day, the last Friday in October each year, when Texas school districts tally their official enrollment.

The 3-percent drop in students could spell a reduction in state funding next year at a time when questions already are swirling over HISD’s fiscal future.

The loss of students also increases the likelihood of upcoming school closures and consolidations, a possibility HISD Superintendent Mike Miles already has mentioned.

HISD did not provide comments in response to questions from the Landing.

Texas’ largest district has bled students each of the last four years and lost roughly 32,200 students since 2016-17, when enrollment peaked at about 216,100.

Apart from 2020-21 during the pandemic, this year’s enrollment losses represent the most drastic dropoff in the last 10 years.

The decrease in students likely represents a combination of families relocating to other districts, homeschooling and enrolling in private or charter schools. TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky said his agency has seen anecdotal evidence of more students homeschooling or attending private schools in recent years.

Kobersky wrote in an email that it is “likely too early to tell” whether the TEA’s final enrollment number for HISD, which will be released in several months, will differ significantly from the preliminary snapshot day count obtained by the Landing.

This year’s 183,884 enrollment level is slightly higher than early estimates produced by Miles that about 182,000 students were attending HISD. However, it is typical that snapshot day enrollment would notch above daily attendance levels, because schools make extra efforts to lure students to campus that day.

Whether families’ decisions had to do with the rapid changes to HISD this year under state-appointed leadership remains unknown.

Campus-by-campus enrollment counts for this school year have not yet been released. However, early data reported by the Landing in October showed schools overhauled under Miles’ model saw larger attendance dips to start the school year than other campuses.

Regardless of which campuses saw the steepest student losses, the entire district is likely to feel the fiscal fallout of the enrollment changes. A large portion of HISD’s cash comes from the state, which bases its funding level on the average number of students attending district schools. Texas provides districts $6,160 base funding per student, a rate that has not changed since 2019. The state sends additional dollars to districts based on the number of special education students, English learners and other factors.

A couple things to note. This problem is not unique to Houston – San Antonio and Fort Worth, among others, are facing similar issues. Demography is also part of the problem – there are fewer children in HISD’s geographic area. There are things that HISD can do to try to mitigate some of this, and I know that existing Trustees were at least talking about that. My concern is that I don’t see any evidence of this being on the radar right now. Mike Miles doesn’t care about anything that he doesn’t see as part of his mandate, and the Board of Managers doesn’t do anything outside of what Miles tells them to do. I’ve been concerned that Miles’ policies will drive people out of HISD schools, but even if I’m wrong about that it doesn’t look like Miles and the BoM will pay any attention to this issue, which means that the problem will likely be worse and in a tougher spot to start addressing by the time we get control back. And in the meantime, Miles will get to decide about which schools should be closed or consolidated to accommodate declining attendance. So yeah, not great.

Posted in School days | Tagged Board of Managers, demography, Fort Worth, HISD, HISD Board of Trustees, Houston, Mike Miles, San Antonio, school finance, schools, Texas, Texas Education Agency, The Lege | 1 Comment

DPS ordered again to release Uvalde public records

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good, though I’m a bit confused about the timing.

A Travis County state district judge has ordered the Department of Public safety to release law enforcement records related to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, more than a year after a consortium of news organizations sued for access.

261st Civil District Court Judge Daniela Deseta Lyttle ordered DPS to fulfill 28 records requests filed by the news organizations, which include The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, subject to redactions such as personal information of police officers and blurring the faces of minor victims in crime scene photographs.

The files would shed light on the disastrous police response that day, in which officers waited more than an hour to confront the shooter after learning he had an AR-15 style rifle.

Lyttle issued a preliminary order in June; the one issued Tuesday is the final judgment. It requires DPS to provide the records sought within 20 days, unless the state police agency appeals the ruling.

“DPS promised to disclose the results of this investigation once it was completed,” said Laura Prather, a media law attorney with Haynes Boone who represents the news organizations. “It was completed in February and they still haven’t provided any answers to these families.”

DPS did not return a request for comment on Thursday.

Prather said an appeal would likely limit the ability of victims’ families to file federal lawsuits alleging that police had committed civil rights violations. The statute of limitations on those complaints, formally called Section 1983 claims, is two years.

“It prevents (families) from having the evidence they need,” Prather said.

The state police agency had previously argued that releasing records could interfere with ongoing investigations into the shooting, though DPS said it had completed its initial report on the shooting and provided it to the Uvalde County district attorney.

See here for the background. I guess I don’t understand why the preliminary order wasn’t sufficient to either force the release of the documents or force DPS to file an appeal at that time. It would have been nice for the final judgment to come out more quickly than this did, but I can understand why the judge wanted to take the time with it. But then that gets back to my original question. It boggles my mind that DPS has been able to stonewall like this for so long, but here we are.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Christina Busbee, DPS, lawsuit, Steve McCraw, Texas, Texas Public Information Act, Texas Rangers, Uvalde | Comments Off

Precinct analysis: 2023 Controller’s race

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

PREVIOUSLY:

Mayor’s race

I got in a groove and took what I learned from mucking around with the Mayor’s race data and was able to clean up the same for the Controller’s race in relatively short order. As you’ll see, the story the data tells is as least as straightforward.


Dist  Hollins  Sanchez   Martin   Nobles
========================================
A       6,525    6,288    2,628    2,039
B       9,225    1,927    1,157    3,401
C      20,856    9,753    4,948    4,580
D      13,316    3,288    1,765    3,575
E       6,920    5,611   11,638    2,331
F       3,452    2,653    1,415    1,285
G      10,460   13,046    4,459    2,514
H       7,232    5,571    1,683    1,967
I       6,313    4,571    1,326    1,694
J       3,019    2,505    1,033      857
K       9,993    3,915    1,665	   2,407


Dist  Hollins  Sanchez   Martin   Nobles
========================================
A      37.33%   35.97%   15.03%   11.66%
B      58.72%   12.27%    7.36%   21.65%
C      51.96%   24.30%   12.33%   11.41%
D      60.68%   14.98%    8.04%   16.29%
E      26.11%   21.17%   43.92%    8.80%
F      39.20%   30.13%   16.07%   14.59%
G      34.32%   42.80%   14.63%    8.25%
H      43.96%   33.86%   10.23%   11.96%
I      45.40%   32.88%    9.54%   12.18%
J      40.72%   33.79%   13.93%   11.56%
K      55.58%   21.77%    9.26%   13.39%

Chris Hollins came close to hitting fifty percent on Election Day, ultimately landing just above 45% and leading Orlando Sanchez by eighteen points. That makes his task much easier than either Mayoral contender, and it’s not hard to see most of Shannan Nobles’ voters shifting to him for the runoff. Hollins already did pretty well in Districts B, D, and K, especially given that he was splitting the Black vote with Nobles. He has room to grow, and he already started with a strong lead.

You know how the Chronicle runs “What Houston looked like 30 years ago” stories on its homepage? I feel like we could start seeing old Orlando Sanchez campaign signs in the photos accompanying those stories. Dude’s been around forever, and there’s no question that helps him in these elections. The problem from a runoff perspective is that outside of Dave Martin’s District E, he already mostly dominated the Republican vote in November. Martin did get about 7K more votes than Nobles, so as far as that goes if his voters mostly transfer over that will be a net positive for Sanchez. The problem is that Hollins led by 40K votes in November. It’s going to take a lot more than that.

It’s not always easy to tell what is cause and what is effect in runoff situations. While I believe that Mayoral races drive turnout, we know that some people will show up primarily because of some other candidate, and from there they may affect the other runoffs. We can say that having Hollins on the ballot will help Sheila Jackson Lee, but we can also say that having both John Whitmire and SJL on the ballot will help Hollins. However you look at it, Hollins is in a solid position.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged Chris Hollins, Dave Martin, Election 2023, Houston, Houston City Controller, Orlando Sanchez, precinct analysis, runoff, Shannan Nobles | 2 Comments

Cruise and Houston

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An interesting overview of the currently-on-pause driverless taxi service in our town.

A driverless Cruise car sits in traffic on Austin Street in downtown Houston on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Photo: Jay R. Jordan/Axios

The nationwide pause included Houston and Austin. However, no Texas or local entity required Cruise to take its vehicles off the road because they legally could not.

Senate Bill 2205, passed in 2017, allows only the Texas Department of Public Safety to regulate autonomous vehicles, or AVs. It explicitly bars other state agencies and subdivisions of the state from making regulations specific to autonomous vehicles.

That means Houston, one of America’s most automobile-dependent cities, has no means of regulating the rollout of AVs on its streets.

“We know that this is going to be led by industry,” said Jesse Bounds, the mayor’s director of Innovation. “We are going to adapt to whatever private operators do in this case.”

[…]

Before Cruise, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County launched its own autonomous vehicles project in 2019 on Texas Southern University’s campus. That was the first phase of a plan to bring driverless service, with future plans that include an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant “Shuttle of the Future.”

While METRO’s plans hit a snag during the pandemic, its board recently modified and approved contracts with autonomous car technology companies to get back on track.

“Should automated vehicles have to adapt to our world? Or should we have to adapt to their world?”

University of South Carolina law professor Bryant Walker Smith, who has worked around AV issues, proposed that question as a key point of policy around autonomous vehicles.

“Like any new technology, automated driving is going to solve some problems and create new problems,” Smith said.

Nuro and Cruise point to traffic safety and reduced emissions as primary motivators for their work. In a city with a high number of traffic deaths like Houston, that proposition was appealing.

The state law played a part, too. In an email, Stevens said SB 2205 “provided a clear regulatory framework” around AVs.

“That leadership signaled the state’s commitment to innovation, like AV goods delivery, and its potential to improve safety on Texas roads and support the state and region’s economic growth,” Stevens wrote.

For Bounds and the city of Houston, autonomous vehicles should fit into Houston rather than the city accommodating AVs. For example, Cruise initially did not want anyone from the city entering their vehicles and switching them into manual mode. After an incident in San Francisco, however, Cruise was willing to change that policy to allow first responders emergency access to move the vehicle, and generally has been receptive to feedback and questions about protocol.

“So, you know, they’ve been good partners in that regard,” [Jesse Bounds, the mayor’s director of Innovation] said.

He is aware the city has limited regulatory power under state law, and would have to work through state and federal channels. Bounds pointed again to San Francisco. In response to incidents involving Cruise vehicles, the city modified its comments to the NHTSA to be more critical of the company.

“We’ve got the infrastructure set up, the policies and procedures set up to where we can, if it becomes a problem, we can quantify it and then work through the appropriate channels to rectify it,” Bounds said.

At the state level, the appropriate channel would be the Texas Department of Public Safety. The agency did not respond to multiple requests for interviews.

See here and here for some background on the pause, and here for more on the first days of Cruise in Houston, including that Montrose incident. The story goes into how HPD is dealing with the likes of Cruise, the current state of that Metro/TSU shuttle that I had totally forgotten about, and more. A lot of things will be back in action once those cars are.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Austin, California, Cruise, driverless cars, General Motors, Houston, HPD, Metro, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Nuro, pedestrians, San Francisco, Texas, The Lege, TSU, TxDOT | Comments Off

Crime continues to decline in Houston

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. Don’t let it get in the way of any campaigns.

Houston was part of a nationwide decline in most crime statistics in major cities, leading one crime data analyst to say the trend shows that it is nearly impossible to conclude whether one department is doing better at law enforcement than another.

A new report released Friday from the Major Cities Chiefs Association reinforces crime data from the Houston Police Department. Between 2022 and 2023, reported homicides have declined in Houston from 331 to 268; robberies from 5,512 to 4,970 and aggravated assaults from 13,626 to 12,523, according to the report. The comparison is from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 of both years.

The city’s numbers mirror a nationwide decrease across the board, according to data from the report. Across the country, homicides declined from 6,635 to 5,927; robberies from 79,591 to 77,603; and aggravated assaults from 218,906 to 211,380, according to data from 69 responding agencies.

“This likely reflects larger national trends that are evident in the 2022 Uniform Crime Report data, that have continued to accelerate in 2023,” said Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based criminologist and cofounder of AH Datalytics.

Police Chief Troy Finner in October told the city council that violent and nonviolent crimes were down across Houston, crediting an increase in federal prosecution for gang violence had helped cause some of the decline. Mayor Sylvester Turner in that meeting said he was frustrated at Houston’s crime-related perception, given the decline.

Asher said it’s tough to prove that a single program or new strategy deserves credit for a big drop.

One could say the same about the increase that preceded it. This is not to say that there aren’t smart strategies for dealing with crime, and less-smart strategies. Just that what we often get is a lot of blunt force rhetoric that responds to how people feel about crime, which usually doesn’t lead to anything productive. I’m just noting this for context when the next taking credit/casting blame cycle about crime begins.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged crime, Houston, HPD, Major Cities Chiefs Association, murder, Sylvester Turner, Texas, Troy Finner | 1 Comment

Texas blog roundup for the week of November 27

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone has recovered from their tryptophan naps as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged blog roundup, TPA | Comments Off

SCOTx has its abortion case hearing

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go.

The Supreme Court of Texas heard arguments Tuesday in a landmark case that could impact how the state’s abortion laws apply to medically complicated pregnancies.

In August, state District Judge Jessica Mangrum ruled that the near-total abortion ban cannot be enforced in cases involving complicated pregnancies, including lethal fetal diagnoses. The state immediately appealed that ruling, putting it on hold.

Texas law allows abortions only when it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant patient. But this lawsuit, filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights in March, claims that doctors are unsure when the medical exception applies, resulting in delayed or denied care.

“No one knows what [the exception] means and the state won’t tell us,” Molly Duane, senior attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told the justices Tuesday.

The state argues the judge went too far in her injunction by reading exceptions into the law beyond what the Legislature intended.

“What the legislature has done is chosen to value unborn life and prohibit abortion in all circumstances, unless that life is going to conflict with the life of the mother,” said assistant attorney general Beth Klusmann. “The legislature has set the bar high, but there is nothing unconstitutional in their decision to do so.”

Justice Jimmy Blacklock questioned Duane on the “capaciousness” of the injunction, asking whether this might allow abortions as a result of common pregnancy complications like high blood pressure.

“It seems to me, looking at the case you presented and the injunction that was granted, that this very well could open the door far more widely than you’re acknowledging,” he said.

Duane said the injunction would only apply to emergent medical conditions that could become critical or life-threatening if not treated. But she acknowledged that Mangrum’s ruling is “doing more work than normal,” because “legislators don’t usually write laws that people who are regulated by those laws simply do not understand.”

[…]

At the center of Tuesday’s hearing was the question of standing, or whether the plaintiffs have the legal right to bring this suit. The state has argued that because these women are not actively seeking abortions at the moment, clarifying the law would not address their claims.

Justice Jeff Boyd seemed aghast at that argument.

“Your position is that, in order to seek the kind of clarity that these plaintiffs are seeking, you have to have a woman who is pregnant, who has some health condition that she believes places her life at risk or impairment to a major bodily function, but her doctor says, ‘I don’t think it does,’” he said. “And she has to then sue the doctor, and maybe the attorney general, at that point, and then she would have standing and sovereign immunity would be waived?”

Klusmann said that wasn’t the only situation that would generate standing, but “you would at least then know that the law is the problem, and not the doctor.”

“Some of these women appear to have fallen within these exceptions but their doctors still said no,” she said. “That’s not the fault of the law.”

“That’s what gives rise to the need for clarity,” Boyd said, exasperated.

Several of the justices asked Duane why the Center for Reproductive Rights did not bring a wider suit, challenging the law on the grounds that it is too vague to be properly enforced.

“Generally, a vagueness challenge is a facial challenge to the statute, to take down the entire statute,” Duane said after the hearing. “So if that’s what the court wants us to do, we’re happy to do it.”

See here, here, and here for some background. The Chron struck a somewhat negative note.

Several of the Texas Supreme Court’s Republican justices appeared hesitant on Tuesday to clarify an emergency exception in the state’s abortion ban despite claims from nearly two dozen women that they were forced to continue medically dangerous pregnancies.

“Our job is to decide cases, not to elaborate and expand laws in order to make them easier to understand or enforce,” Justice Brett Busby said.

[…]

Molly Duane, a Center for Reproductive Rights lawyer, said the state’s interpretation of standing would require that a woman “needs to have blood or amniotic fluid dripping down their leg before they can come to court.”

The plaintiffs include “patients who are trying to get pregnant now and pregnancy complications are likely to occur,” she said.

Justice Evan Young pushed back, comparing doctors to police officers who have to work out how to comply with the state constitution in use-of-force cases.

“Here we have a statement in the statute that describes the risk of death or the serious risk to a substantial bodily function — how is that so much more nebulous than the entire body of constitutional law that law enforcement has to apply?” Young said.

Duane said the situations are not similar at all, as police officers have qualified immunity against being sued.

Klusmann said the problem is with doctors, not the law. The ban was not written with the intention of discriminating based on sex, the state has said in filings, and abortion care “is not ordinary medical treatment” because “it involves potential life.”

“We’re just trying to identify when it’s appropriate to end the life of an unborn child, and the Legislature has set the bar high,” Klusmann said. “But there’s nothing unconstitutional about their decision to do so.”

Busby noted the cases might have made more sense as medical negligence suits against the doctors.

Duane said her clients don’t blame their doctors for acting within the constraints of the law. Many physicians and hospitals have feared immediately intervening in emergency cases even when there is a clear danger, given the state’s stiff penalties for anyone who violates the ban.

[…]

After the arguments on Tuesday, Duane told reporters she was “optimistic that the court heard us, heard them (the plaintiffs) and saw them.” But if the justices fail to intervene, Texans “will be in the exact same spot that we are today” where physicians remain constrained and patients suffer the consequences.

“While I was sitting in the courtroom, my telephone rang,” Duane said. “It was a call from another patient. This is real. It is happening every single day, and it is not going to stop until someone with accountability in this state can put a stop to it.”

Either that or we finally get a federal law that protects abortion rights. Gonna need to have some positive outcomes in 2024 for that. Might be nice to center some campaigns on that possibility. The Trib story suggests we can expect a ruling by June. CBS News and ABC News have more.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged abortion, Amanda Zurawski, Center for Reproductive Rights, Election 2024, hospitals, lawsuit, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas Medical Association, The Lege | 4 Comments

Whitmire and SJL on the HISD mess

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the Mayor has basically no direct influence on HISD, but it’s an issue people care about and the Mayor can certainly make it a point of focus. So what do our two Mayoral runoff candidates have to say about HISD?

Mayoral candidates state Sen. John Whitmire and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee have struck different tones on how to approach relations with state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles and the Board of Managers that replaced the democratically elected Board of Trustees. Both, however, said they would like to use their office to improve schools and return HISD to local control and would be willing to work with district leaders to achieve those goals.

Here’s more on what the candidates had to say on the HISD takeover and how they would use their office to impact public schools.

Whitmire, the leading vote-getter in the general mayoral election earlier this month, has offered fewer public comments about HISD since filing an eleventh-hour bill, which ultimately failed, in March to stave off the takeover. But the longtime state senator said he has been active behind the scenes, meeting separately with both Miles and Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to offer his opinions and lend his assistance.

Opening clear lines of communication between the mayor’s office and HISD would be the first step in establishing a partnership with the district, Whitmire said. If elected mayor, he said he would appoint an education adviser to brief him regularly on the school district and its impact on the city.

He characterized Mayor Sylvester Turner’s reluctance to work with Miles as unproductive and promised that he would communicate directly with school leaders rather than “shout from a distance.” Turner’s office declined to respond to that accusation.

“The bottom line is the takeover has taken place, and it’s shameful to politicize that, politicize children’s education,” Whitmire said. “Let’s support the students, support the administration that has got the children’s best interests at heart, and go forward.”

[…]

In addition to appointing an education adviser to his staff, Whitmire also said he would “assist (HISD) where possible with resources, talent and community input.”

“As HISD goes is how Houston goes. We have too many citizens that work in Houston and live in the suburbs, often driven by schools. I want people to work and live in Houston and have education choices that include strong public schools,” Whitmire said.

See here for more on the aforementioned bill; as I expected, neither it nor any of the similar bills got as much as a committee hearing. All of this is on brand for Whitmire, who has leaned into his connections and legislative record throughout the campaign, which as noted has its pros and cons as a strategy. It’s as likely to work as any other approach might, which is the polite way of restating the fact that the Mayor has basically no direct influence here. To the extent that it is viable, Whitmire is as good as it gets at giving it a go.

(I do not hold Whitmire’s vote on the original bill that led to the takeover against him. As the article notes, plenty of other Dems also voted for it, on the now obviously naive view that it wouldn’t come to this. I blame Harold Dutton, who no doubt helped sell this bill to his colleagues. Let that be a very painful lesson for a lot of people.)

Jackson Lee, given her capacity as a federal representative rather than a state legislator, was not directly involved with the takeover but has been one of its strongest critics, speaking at TEA forums and leading rallies against the takeover. In March, the congresswoman said she filed a federal complaint to halt the takeover, though it has not resulted in any action thus far. The education bureau did not respond to a request for an update on the status of the complaint. The congresswoman said it is still under review.

Jackson Lee’s outspokenness has earned her the endorsement of the Houston Federation of Teachers, which has emerged as one of Miles’ fiercest opponents since he was appointed to his post. The congresswoman said she would use the “bully pulpit” afforded to the mayor to advocate for a return to local control, higher teacher salaries and public-private partnerships for tutoring and internet access.

“In order to be an ‘education mayor,’ you have to be attentive. I think it’s important that I work with parents, collaborate with PTOs … listen to what parents are saying and find ways for the city to be collaborative,” Jackson Lee said.

[…]

Jackson Lee has also promised to hire at least one full-time staffer to handle issues related to education. She said she would use her position to lobby for philanthropic involvement in schools and improve public safety, parks and recreation and housing opportunities for public school students and their families.

Jackson Lee has criticized some aspects of Miles’ leadership, including the decision to convert libraries in dozens of schools with mostly Black and brown students into “Team Centers” used partially for discipline. But the congresswoman said she would “reserve judgment” on his performance until he has been given more time to show results.

Like Whitmire, Jackson Lee said she would be willing to work with Miles and the HISD administration if elected mayor. She has also already spoken with Miles about the direction of HISD and described the conversations as “professional.”

“I’m opposed to the takeover. I’m not opposed to the success of our children,” Jackson Lee said.

See here and here for more on the federal complaint and SJL’s actions regarding it. All this is also on brand for her. If the platonic ideal outcome of the Whitmire approach is for the Mikes Morath and Miles to see reason and dial some stuff back and give HISD stakeholders more of a direct say in what happens while the state is still in charge, the same for the SJL approach is the Mikes getting whipsawed into backing down, and a riled-up electorate voting at least some of their current enablers out of office. One’s view of the odds of success for each approach is likely correlated with one’s own view of the approach. The choices are clear enough.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged Board of Managers, Election 2023, Harold Dutton, HISD, HISD Board of Trustees, Houston, John Whitmire, Mayor, Mike Miles, Mike Morath, runoff, Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Education Agency, The Lege | 1 Comment

2023 runoff early voting Day Two totals

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s get to it:


Year    Mail     Early    Total
===============================
2015   20,233   22,964   43,197
2019    6,024   29,180   35,204
2023      946   28,113   29,059

Again, the early in person totals look normal. The mail, I have no idea. I just now noticed that early voting in 2015 started on Wednesday, and there were only seven days of it. This is going to get out of whack quickly. I may just pause the comparisons now and pick it up on Sunday. The final daily EV report from 2015 is here, the final daily EV report from 2019 is here, and the Day Two totals for 2023 are here.

If you haven’t voted yet, a reminder about the endorsed Democratic candidates in the races. Now get out there and vote.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged absentee ballots, early voting, Election 2015, Election 2019, Election 2023, Houston, John Whitmire, Mayor, runoff, Sheila Jackson Lee, turnout | 1 Comment

SurveyUSA Mayoral runoff poll: Whitmire 42, SJL 35

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We finally have a second pollster.

State Sen. John Whitmire maintains a 7 percentage point lead over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the Houston mayoral race, with a fifth of likely voters having yet to make up their minds just weeks before the December runoff, the latest poll by SurveyUSA shows.

Researchers interviewed 805 likely Houston voters from Nov. 13 to 18 and found that 42% of the respondents supported Whitmire and 35% backed Jackson Lee. These figures are nearly identical to their vote shares in the general election, where Whitmire had 42.5% and Jackson Lee 35.6%. The two advanced to the Dec. 9 runoff because neither garnered a majority of votes.

Twenty-two percent of likely voters remain undecided, which is not unusual in city elections typically marked by low turnout, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor and co-author of the poll.

While the undecided electorate represents an opportunity for Jackson Lee to potentially overtake Whitmire’s lead, convincing these voters to support her could be a “Herculean task” given the limited time frame, Rottinghaus said. In past Houston mayoral contests, the first-place finisher in the general election has won every runoff since 1977.

Among all likely voters, the ones most certain to cast a ballot in the runoff lean toward Whitmire, whereas those less sure about voting in December appear to favor Jackson Lee. For the congresswoman to secure a victory, her path hinges on quickly energizing these less committed voters, according to Rottinghaus.

[…]

In line with previous survey results, the latest poll reveals Houston’s voter bases are markedly divided along demographic lines.

Whitmire is projected to have a 43 percentage point advantage among white voters (63% to 20%) and a 20-point lead among Latino voters (43% to 23%). Jackson Lee, on the other hand, holds a strong lead among Black voters (63% to 15%).

More male likely voters said they would cast their ballot for Whitmire (51% to 34%), while women voters are evenly split between the two contestants (35% to 35%).

Though Houston city elections are nonpartisan, voters’ party affiliations continue to play a notable role in the latest poll: Whitmire garnered 68% of Republican support to Jackson Lee’s 12%, while Democrats backed Jackson Lee by 55% to Whitmire’s 25%.

The polling memo and data can be found here. It was a joint effort between Houston Public Media, the Chron, and UH, and as such HPM also has a story.

Roughly two-thirds of white voters favor Whitmire, while roughly two-thirds of Black voters support Jackson Lee. But University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus noted that Black turnout in the first round of the mayoral election was down about 20% compared to eight years ago.

“For whatever reason, Black voters are not as enamored with Sheila Jackson Lee as they were with Sylvester Turner,” Rottinghaus said. “You would need to see tremendous turnout in the African American community in order for Sheila Jackson Lee to overcome the support that John Whitmire gets among older Anglos, who are much more likely to vote in municipal elections.”

UH political scientist Jeronimo Cortina said the Latino vote is likely to prove critical, and there too, Whitmire appears to have the edge.

“We’re talking about 43% versus 23%,” Cortina said. “And partially, this is because Senator Whitmire got very important endorsements during his campaign (among others, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and State Senator Carol Alvarado), and Jackson Lee, perhaps, did not get as many as those endorsements. However, she got the endorsement of (Harris) County Judge Lina Hidalgo, so that also is important.”

Whitmire also leads overwhelmingly among Republican and conservative voters. His endorsement by former Houston City Councilmember Jack Christie, who openly campaigned as a Republican in the first round, should help Whitmire pick up support among undecideds.

“Typically, those undecideds are distributed to the most Republican member of the candidates who are running. Now, that’s not perfect here, because John Whitmire is obviously a Democrat, but he seemed to be much more conservative than she is in this poll,” Rottinghaus said. “Sheila Jackson Lee is seen to be very liberal by many, and that’s something that can hurt her, especially among voters who are likely to turn out in a municipal race like this.”

Jackson Lee has the advantage among voters under 50, while Whitmire does better among those over 50. Jeronimo Cortina says that balance, too, works in Whitmire’s favor. “Older voters tend to be more reliable in getting out to vote,” Cortina said.

I said my piece about the runoff dynamics in the precinct analysis post. I think I’m more or less in alignment with the two professors here.

The thing that stood out to me about this poll was the large number of undecided respondents. I’m not sure how you can truly be a “likely” voter and not have your mind at least mostly made up. That thought, which made me question how good the sample used in this poll was, led me to take a trip through my archives to look at previous Mayoral runoff polls. Here’s what I found:

2003, Bob Stein/Richard Murray poll – Bill White 53, Orlando Sanchez 35. This post also references a SurveyUSA poll that had White leading 58-40, but I apparently didn’t have a separate post for that and the poll link is broken.

2009, KHOU/KUHF/Rice U – Annise Parker 37, Gene Locke 34.
2009, Chron/Zogby – Parker 42, Locke 36.
2009, KHOU/KUHF/Rice U – Parker 49, Locke 36.

2015, HRBC – Bill King 48, Sylvester Turner 43. Also notes an internal Turner poll that had him up 47-40.
2015, KHOU/KUHF/Rice U – Sylvester Turner 38, Bill King 38.

2019, KHOU/HPM – Sylvester Turner 56, Tony Buzbee 34.

With the exception of that first Parker/Locke poll from 2009, all of these were done in December, often right before Runoff Day, while early voting was taking place. This one as noted was conducted in mid-November, not that long after the initial election. (For years where there are multiple polls, they are in order of when they occurred, so the oldest ones are listed first.) Only the 2015 KHOU/KUHF poll, which did correctly predict the tightness of the race, had as many undecideds among them. I guess most years more people who really are going to vote have their minds made up later on in the calendar. Perhaps if there’s another poll next week we’ll see a result with more definitive answers.

One more thing from the HPM story:

The poll also examined the runoff for Houston city controller between former Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, a Democrat, and former Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez, a Republican. Jeronimo Cortina said Hollins is ahead, but Sanchez could still pull out a win.

“Chris Hollins has a little bit of a lead, 36% versus 25%,” Cortina said. “And here, the most interesting thing is that the percentage of undecided increases. It goes from 22% to 40% undecided, so there is a lot of room for either Hollins or Sanchez, to improve their numbers.”

I’d say that’s more than a little bit of a lead. The higher level of undecided voters for this race is unsurprising, given that far fewer people actually vote in Controller races versus Mayoral races. Six thousand people skipped the Mayor’s race in November, for an undervote rate of 2.36%. Forty-one thousand skipped the Controller’s race, for a 16.25% undervote rate. Whether or not you think there “should” be any undecided “likely” voters in the Mayor’s runoff, there definitely will be more of them for the Controller’s runoff.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged Annise Parker, Bill King, Bill White, Chris Hollins, Election 2003, Election 2009, Election 2015, Election 2019, Election 2023, Gene Locke, Houston, Houston City Controller, John Whitmire, Mayor, Orlando Sanchez, polls, runoff, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvester Turner, Tony Buzbee | 6 Comments

Idaho appeals EMTALA injunction to SCOTUS

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves.

Idaho asked the Supreme Court Monday to stay a lower court injunction, or to take up its case directly, as it attempts to fend off the Biden administration’s challenge of the state’s abortion ban.

The government filed suit in August 2022, arguing that Idaho’s abortion ban — which includes penalties for providers who perform abortions — runs afoul of Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra published a memo shortly after the Dobbs decision reminding hospitals that EMTALA requires them to perform abortions as part of emergency stabilizing care. Idaho’s ban prohibits abortions except when necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death.

The government has argued that the gap between those two requirements is large, and that EMTALA preempts the abortion ban in those cases. That argument won at the district court level, and a judge enjoined Idaho’s ban where it conflicts with EMTALA. A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel, composed of three Donald Trump appointees, lifted the injunction in September. The government immediately moved for emergency reconsideration by the Ninth Circuit en banc, which vacated the panel order and denied Idaho’s request to impose its ban in those emergency situations during the appeals process.

Now, Idaho is going to the Supreme Court for permission to fully enforce its ban.

In its new filing, the state rails against the Ninth Circuit’s “unreasoned order,” its “pulling the case away from a panel that had thoroughly considered the merits of Idaho’s stay application” and the federal government’s “unauthorized power grab.”

Lawyers for the state made many similar arguments to those representing Texas in a parallel case which is currently awaiting a ruling from a 5th Circuit panel that made little effort to mask its hostility to abortion in oral arguments earlier this month. Both states’ legal teams made much of EMTALA’s “silence” on abortion and the federal government’s supposed trampling of state rights.

“The district court’s injunction effectively turns EMTALA’s protection for the uninsured into a federal super-statute on the issue of abortion, one that strips Idaho of its sovereign interest in protecting innocent human life and turns emergency rooms into a federal enclave where state standards of care do not apply,” Idaho’s lawyers fumed.

See here for some background on the Idaho case, and here for the latest on the Texas case. If the Fifth Circuit does what it usually does, then there will be a circuit split and SCOTUS will have to take this up. If not, or if they just take their sweet time, SCOTUS can punt, at least for now. The prospect of another high-profile abortion case on SCOTUS’ docket, in a Presidential year, when the zealots’ argument is basically “we should be allowed to let women get as close to death as possible before we’ll grudgingly let a doctor perform an abortion on her to save her miserable life”, would sure make things spicy. We’ll see what SCOTUS does.

Oh, and just to make things more exciting, today is the day that the Texas Supreme Court has its hearing in the lawsuit to allow exemptions to Texas’ super strict anti-abortion law. As you know, a Travis County judge granted an order allowing some exemptions in an effort to clarify what the law does allow. That ruling was put on hold after it was appealed to SCOTx, and today the hearing will determine whether that injunction will remain in place during the litigation process. Another huge deal, and we’ll know more about what the landscape looks like going forward. I will of course keep an eye on it.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged abortion, Amanda Zurawski, Election 2024, emergency rooms, EMTALA, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, hospitals, Idaho, Joe Biden, Ken Paxton, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Texas, US Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra | Comments Off

2023 runoff early voting Day One totals

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the 2023 runoff elections is underway. Here’s the news you can use from Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudpseth:

As early voting begins for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth urges voters to cast their ballot before it gets too deep into the Holiday shopping season and they forget. There are 41 voting centers available to Harris County registered voters to exercise their right to vote. The voting centers will be open from November 27 through Tuesday, December 5, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; on Sunday, December 3, the voting centers will be open from noon to 7 p.m.

“Don’t procrastinate. Go vote, now!” asserted Hudspeth, the County’s chief election official.

According to Hudspeth, Houston voters will decide half of the city’s government elected positions, including Mayor, Controller, four at-large council members, and three single-member council members. Voters in Houston Council Districts D, G, and H will see seven contests on their ballot. All other Houston voters will see six. In addition, District 4 voters in Baytown will elect a council member, and Bellaire voters will elect a new Mayor.

“Voters should be aware that only citizens registered to vote within the legal boundaries of a city on the ballot may vote on the contests offered by the city,” reminded Hudspeth. “For example, a “Houston” postal address does not guarantee that a voter lives within Houston proper.”

Sample Ballots for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election are available at www.HarrisVotes.com. Information regarding the City of Houston’s runoff election candidates can be found at https://houstontx.gov/2023-runoff-election.html.

There you go. And here are the Day One numbers:


Year    Mail     Early    Total
===============================
2015   18,138   11,144   29,282
2019    2,269   19,882   22,151
2023      829   13,673   14,502

I wrote about the Day One 2015 runoff EV totals here and about the final 2015 runoff EV totals here. The final daily EV report from 2015 is here. Similarly, the Day One 2019 runoff EV totals are here, and since there was a weird extra day for before Thanksgiving, I also wrote about the Day Two 2019 runoff EV totals here. Those are the numbers I’ve used above. The final 2019 runoff EV totals are here, and the final daily EV report from 2019 is here. Last but not least, the Day One EV totals for 2023 are here.

Kind of a blah Day One, though at least the in person totals are ahead of those for 2015. I don’t know why the 2019 totals are like that. Different times, different behaviors. Early voting runs through next Tuesday, make sure you get out there and vote. Let me know if you have any questions about this.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged absentee ballots, early voting, Election 2015, Election 2019, Election 2023, Houston, John Whitmire, Mayor, runoff, Sheila Jackson Lee, turnout | 2 Comments

Precinct analysis: 2023 Mayor’s race

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The November 2023 election has been officially canvassed and certified, and that means that there’s precinct data available for me to analyze. I’ve been working on it over the weekend, and I will tell you it’s a bit more of a slog than the even-year elections are. Part of this is because of the change in election software that the county is now using, which gives its output in a format that I’m still getting used to. The bigger issue is that the city of Houston does not play well with the established precinct boundaries within Harris County. There are lots of precincts with single digit numbers of registered voters, and a handful that are split between two Council districts. I had to do a fair amount of manual processing to get things to a point where I could do the usual Excel tricks I’ve developed for these posts. I’ve got it for the Mayor’s race, but now I have to repeat all that for the other races of interest, and that’s going to slow me down a bit. Sucks to be me, but luckily for you all you need to know is right here. Let’s dive in:


Dist    Whitm      SJL  Garcia   JackC  Kaplan    Khan   RobtG  Others
======================================================================
A      10,039    4,959   1,977   2,070     695     229     196     720
B       3,247   13,530     682     387     175     100      89     504
C      26,610   12,356   3,483   2,217   1,571     344     537   1,218
D       5,869   15,582   1,091     604     393     154     185     673
E      14,956    5,758   2,379   5,017     942     513     223   1,102
F       3,553    4,221     803     806     323     184      76     498
G      22,006    5,403   2,358   3,588   1,251     378     169     764
H       7,881    6,652   2,011     719     368     130     409     753
I       5,229    6,602   1,510     650     282     132     602     662
J       3,189    3,028     790     601     250     222      88     438
K       6,523    9,782   1,338     906     451     143     142     565

Dist    Whitm      SJL  Garcia   JackC  Kaplan    Khan   RobtG  Others
======================================================================
A      48.07%   23.74%   9.47%   9.91%   3.33%   1.10%   0.94%   3.45%
B      17.35%   72.30%   3.64%   2.07%   0.94%   0.53%   0.48%   2.69%
C      55.05%   25.56%   7.21%   4.59%   3.25%   0.71%   1.11%   2.52%
D      23.91%   63.47%   4.44%   2.46%   1.60%   0.63%   0.75%   2.74%
E      48.42%   18.64%   7.70%  16.24%   3.05%   1.66%   0.72%   3.57%
F      33.95%   40.34%   7.67%   7.70%   3.09%   1.76%   0.73%   4.76%
G      61.27%   15.04%   6.57%   9.99%   3.48%   1.05%   0.47%   2.13%
H      41.65%   35.15%  10.63%   3.80%   1.94%   0.69%   2.16%   3.98%
I      33.37%   42.13%   9.64%   4.15%   1.80%   0.84%   3.84%   4.22%
J      37.06%   35.18%   9.18%   6.98%   2.90%   2.58%   1.02%   5.09%
K      32.86%   49.28%   6.74%   4.56%   2.27%   0.72%   0.72%   2.85%

Obviously, I’m not going to include a breakdown of every no-name candidate in the race, none of whom received as many as two thousand votes total. All of them together had fewer than 8K votes, or about three precent of the total, which would have put them just ahead of Lee Kaplan. The candidates I do name are listed in the order of their finish in Harris County, except that I just realized that Robert Gallegos was ahead of MJ Khan. Sorry about that.

The good news for Sheila Jackson Lee is that her numbers in Districts B and D compare pretty well to Mayor Turner’s from 2015 and 2019. Black voters are the biggest part of her base, she needed to do well in those districts, and for the most part she did, in both of those years. She didn’t do as well in District K, but she did do better in Districts F, H, I, and J than Turner did in 2015, and came close in 2019 when Turner was running against a less formidable field. I think she has some room to grow, which obviously she’s going to need.

The problem for Jackson Lee is that unlike Turner, who got to run off against a stuffy Republican in 2015 and a weirdo in 2019, she’s facing off against a Democrat who’s not only strong in the parts of the city where the Republicans did well, he’s also much tougher in the Democratic districts. A comparison with the 2015 runoff is instructive. Look at the margins Turner ran up in B, D, and K. I think SJL will have a hard time matching those numbers, given John Whitmire’s relative strength with Black voters. Whitmire is going to do well in the Republican districts, he’s likely to surpass King’s tally in District C, and he beat SJL in District H, which Turner easily carried against King. Whatever paths you can see for SJL to prevail, Whitmire seems to have more of them.

Another way of thinking about it is where do you see the other candidates’ voters going in December? For the most part, Whitmire is fine with them staying home, but for those who do turn out I have to assume that the large majority of Christie, Kaplan, and Khan voters will go his way. The Garcia voters will be more split, and I’d expect the Gallegos voters to favor SJL, but that’s a smaller slice of the pie to begin with and will be less tilted towards SJL than the others will be towards Whitmire. Also, too, I’m still seeing plenty of Whitmire ads, thanks to his still ginormous campaign account balance, but have yet to see anything for SJL. Rule One of any election is you have to make sure people know there is an election and that they should vote for you.

Like I said, I think SJL has room to grow in the districts that favored her. The question is whether she has enough room to grow.

Beyond that, there’s nothing in the numbers that surprises me. I might have guessed that Jack Christie would have done best in District G – he’s a District G kind of guy – but the actual result is hardly shocking. Robert Gallegos did his best in his district, for whatever consolation that is. MJ Khan served in District F, but that was before redistricting, and I suspect that much of his support in District J came from his old turf. In retrospect, I have no idea what I expected from Gilbert Garcia, so sure, that he did best in District H makes some sense.

I intend to do this exercise for the other citywide races, including the two Houston propositions. As noted, it may take me a few days, so be patient. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged Bill King, Election 2015, Election 2019, Election 2023, Gilbert Garcia, Houston, Jack Christie, John Whitmire, Lee Kaplan, Mayor, MJ Khan, precinct analysis, Robert Gallegos, runoff, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sylvester Turner | 9 Comments

Musk and Paxton versus freedom of speech

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this.

It didn’t quite happen the moment court was open, as Elon Musk the billionaire owner of X/Twitter had promised, but at the end of Monday, the social media platform did file its “thermonuclear” lawsuit against media watchdog Media Matters for America.

That lawsuit involves a Media Matters report released on Nov. 16, which shows examples of neo-Nazi and white supremacist content on Musk’s social media platform being served up alongside ads from major corporations, including IBM and Apple. However, Musk’s lawsuit contends that Media Matters and the report’s author, Eric Hananoki, “knowingly and maliciously manufactured side-by-side images depicting advertisers’ posts on X Corp.’s social media platform beside Neo-Nazi and white-nationalist fringe content.”

The suit seeks “actual and consequential damages” from loss of revenue, to have Media Matters cover X Corp.’s legal expenses, and for Media Matters to pull the article from everywhere the group published it. The only problem with the suit is that not only can anyone else reproduce the report’s results with trivial effort, but the suit itself seems to confirm the findings.

Be sure to read that report. In the aftermath, just as black mold follows a flooded living room, there was this.

Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation Monday evening into Media Matters for possible fraudulent activity in response to the media watchdog group’s report last week that prompted companies to pull advertisements from X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Earlier on Monday, X CEO Elon Musk filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against Media Matters, alleging the organization manipulated information it gathered to defame the social media company.

Paxton said his office would investigate allegations that Media Matters — which he referred to as a “radical anti-free speech organization” — had violated Texas laws protecting consumers from fraud.

“We are examining the issue closely to ensure that the public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit freedom by reducing participation in the public square,” Paxton said in a statement Monday evening.

Two of Paxton’s former top lieutenants filed the lawsuit, former Solicitor General Judd Stone and former Assistant Attorney General Christopher Hilton. Stone and Hilton left the Texas Attorney General’s Office shortly after they successfully helped defend their former boss during Paxton’s impeachment trial.

I’m sure Elon Musk’s boots are nice and shiny now. This is of course all bullshit, but the power of a right-wing grievance and a friendly judge cannot be dismissed. I suggest you read Chris Geidner, Ken White, and Kathryn Tewson for a deeper dive into what it all means. One hopes that this will all go away, but one should not count on that. Thanks to Ginger for those last two links, which were in the most recent Dispatches from Dallas.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged anti-semitism, censorship, Elon Musk, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Media Matters, Texas, Twitter | 4 Comments

The Chron covers The MOB

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Obviously, I am going to make note of this.

A spectacle on the Rice Stadium football field: A college student wearing a suit and fedora hands a giant check for $0 to a man in a rubber horse helmet.

Scoffs, over in the Southern Methodist University section of the bleachers: The Mustangs forfeited nine years in TV revenue to join a Power Five athletic conference, and Rice University’s band couldn’t resist making the deal the punchline of its halftime show.

“Nothing that we couldn’t handle,” SMU graduate Ryan Alexander says after the performance. “All is fair in love and football, right?”

Members of Rice’s Marching Owl Band would tend to agree, having lampooned teams, universities and political events for decades with productions that make some cackle and others grind their teeth. The group known more affectionately as The MOB has built such a reputation in college sports that fans and rivals alike might arrive at a football game wondering more about what the people in Blues Brothers costumes might do than what might happen on the gridiron.

The MOB got attention this fall for an Austin Powers-themed sketch that painted Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles as Dr. Evil and scorched his decision to remove librarians at around 85 schools. Only at Rice — a university recognized for its academics and quirky student population — could a band blend nerdom with wit and achieve a minor brand of celebrity.

“Rice students, we love that we’re different. The MOB is part of that,” said sophomore Isabella Campos, who is not a member of the organization. “It’s rare that some undergrads have that much power in something like a schoolwide marching band.”

See here for more on that show about Mike Miles. I for one will never forget that he was all pissy about it. Be that as it may, this is a nice long article that is worth your time to read. I spoke to the reporter as well – she attended a game a few weeks ago and talked to a bunch of us – but she focused mostly on quotes from the students, which makes sense. (You can spot me in a couple of the photos, if you care to click through them.) One thing I said to her that I’ll repeat here is that the MOBsters of 2023 would have fit in just fine with the MOBsters of twenty or thirty years ago. There are just fewer of them now than there were then. We do our best to cope with that. Anyway, read and enjoy.

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Music | Tagged Houston, Mike Miles, Rice University, The MOB | Comments Off

Weekend link dump for November 26

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

RIP, Rosalynn Carter, passionate champion of mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights, former First Lady, all around excellent person.

“Companies worth billions of dollars are, without permission, training generative AI models on creators’ works, which are then being used to create new content that in many cases can compete with the original works. I don’t see how this can be acceptable in a society that has set up the economics of the creative arts such that creators rely on copyright.”

“After the ex-wife of a Trump Organization insider talked to prosecutors, she lost her children and her home. But she’s still fighting.”

“Re-recording restrictions have gotten tougher in recent years for reasons you can probably figure out. [The labels] don’t want you to duplicate your recordings — like ever — and then they will limit the other types of recordings you can do. So, it’s gotten tougher as the labels get more concerned about artists re-recording their catalog.”

“The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware operation has taken extortion to a new level by filing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against one of their alleged victims for not complying with the four-day rule to disclose a cyberattack.” That is next level.

“Starting in December, Disney will begin testing a new version of its streaming services by combining Hulu and Disney Plus into a single app. The news (which follows Disney’s recent acquisition of Hulu) has led to a lot of questions. Is Hulu going away? What will the app experience be like? Do violent movies like Prey or No One Will Save You really fit with the Disney Plus brand? The good news is that the answer to most of those questions likely already exists outside of the US, which I know because I’ve been using it for more than two years. It’s not confusing at all. In fact, it looks a lot like traditional TV.”

“It’s almost like the post-Roe timeline is playing out at 10-times speed. First they tried a constitutional amendment to do jurisdiction stripping, which they talked about after Roe in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Then they talked about passing bans anyway. Then they moved into health regulations.”

Lock them up.

“My $200, 12-year-old Thinkpad has outlasted two high-end Macbooks”.

“How mathematics built the modern world”.

“The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that’s smarter than humans.”

“A Southern California company is showing how repurposing EV batteries for stationary storage can extend their usefulness for several years.”

RIP, Willie Hernandez, former MLB reliever who won the Cy Young and MVP awards for the Detroit Tigers in 1984.

“Once again, the message from conservatives is clear: Voters just can’t be trusted to make decisions on abortion.”

“By the numbers, of four hundred and eight articles on the front page of the Times during the period we analyzed, about half—two hundred nineteen—were about domestic politics. A generous interpretation found that just ten of those stories explained domestic public policy in any detail; only one front-page article in the lead-up to the midterms really leaned into discussion about a policy matter in Congress: Republican efforts to shrink Social Security. Of three hundred and ninety-three front-page articles in the Post, two hundred fifteen were about domestic politics; our research found only four stories that discussed any form of policy. The Post had no front-page stories in the months ahead of the midterms on policies that candidates aimed to bring to the fore or legislation they intended to pursue. Instead, articles speculated about candidates and discussed where voter bases were leaning.”

“The U.S. government just dropped a hammer on the biggest name left in cryptocurrency (as if this week wasn’t wild enough for the technology industry).”

RIP, Marty Krofft, longtime TV producer who along with his brother Sid created H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, and much more. Mark Evanier has a nice tribute to him.

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged linkdump | Comments Off

Candidate filing update

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still more than two weeks to go until the filing deadline for the 2024 primaries, so there are still a lot of people who haven’t filed or haven’t made their surprise announcement that they’re not filing yet. So if you don’t see someone you’re looking for yet, there’s still plenty of time.

A longtime correspondent reached out over the holiday to remind me that Trib reporter Patrick Svitek continues to maintain a candidate filing spreadsheet, which you can find via this pinned tweet. He’s done this every season, usually getting it going several months in advance as the earliest candidate announcements are being made, and it’s a super valuable resource.

The Secretary of State has finally added its search form for the 2024 filings that it has received. Your county party will have a more up to date list than they do – basically, they take what the counties send them on a daily basis and update as they go – but it’s a useful way to search for all filings, including those four county-level office. I looked at their federal filings list, and so far none of the Ted Cruz challengers have made it official, and Julie Johnson is the first to file in CD32. I’ll come back to this later.

And here’s the latest version of the HCDP spreadsheet. So far, Molly Cook and Todd Litton are set for SD15, Chase West will try again in HD132, Rosalind Caesar is in for HD139 (which will presumptively be open as Rep. Jarvis Johnson runs for SD15), and Rep. Hubert Vo has picked up a challenger (someone named David Romero) in HD149. Also, former City Council member Jerry Davis has thrown his hat into the ring for Tax Assessor.

I’ll keep an eye on all these and will post a more detailed look around the state shortly. For now, you have the same sources that I do.

Posted in Election 2024 | Tagged CD32, Chase West, Congress, David Romero, Democratic primary, Election 2024, filing deadline, Harris County, Harris County Tax Assessor, HD132, HD139, HD149, Hubert Vo, Jarvis Johnson, Jerry Davis, Julie Johnson, Molly Cook, primaries, Rosalind Caesar, SD15, Senate, Texas, Todd Litton | 2 Comments

Prop A gets its first customers

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First there was this:

Council Members Carolyn Evans-Shabazz (District D) and Mary Nan Huffman (District G) joined Council Member Amy Peck (District A) to submit notice to the City’s Agenda Office to place an item on the City Council Agenda.

This is the first time council members submitted an ordinance to the agenda after the historic City Charter change by voters in the last election. The item is now in the process for review by the Legal Department.

Council Members Peck, Evans-Shabazz, and Huffman prioritized water bill relief as the first item to be placed on the agenda after hearing from Houstonians who are rightfully frustrated. Houston Public Works often estimates water usage and back-bills customers after the meter is read. This proposed ordinance change would prohibit the Department from correcting bills where the error occurred over three months prior unless the correction is in the customer’s favor. The current practice of being able to look back up to two years often resulted in customers being charged thousands of dollars. Although the Department recently started adopting this new policy, the ordinance would codify this change and ensure that the policy is being applied on every bill. There has not been consistency in this practice.

“Now that council members can place items on the agenda, I intend to offer items like this that make a real difference to people,” said Council Member Peck. “People came to us with a problem, and now we have the ability to fix it. This is how government should work.”

Council Member Evans-Shabazz said, “I am deeply gratified that the first application of our new charter amendment will directly address the concerns of our residents struggling with exceptionally high water bills. This action not only aligns with the core intent of the amendment but also embodies its spirit, offering hope and relief to our community members.”

Council Member Huffman added, “This measure codifies existing policy and will provide residents with meaningful consistency as we prepare to transition to a new administration. Residents of Houston should not be penalized for the city’s error. The amendment we proposed today will cap billing overages resulting from malfunctioning city equipment and will also incentivize Houston Public Works to make sure that their meters are functioning properly.”

That was on Tuesday afternoon. It was followed a couple of hours later by this.

Please attribute the following statement to Mayor Sylvester Turner.

“Over the last few months, Houston Public Works and the City of Houston Legal Department have worked on comprehensive changes to our Municipal Code of Ordinances to address the issue of high water bills. This extensive array of regulatory and process improvements is designed to bring customer relief. My administration will present the proposed changes to City Council in the coming weeks with a target date of December 6, 2023.”

The Chron takes it from there.

High water charges have emerged as a flash point issue at City Hall as some customers have reported huge spikes in their bills, sometimes more than $1,000.

In many cases, the Houston Public Works estimates water usage and back-charges after reading residents’ meters, but that can take time.

Houston’s water meters automatically transmit household usage to the city’s server wirelessly. But aging meters and slow replacements have caused the number of malfunctioning devises in a given month to more than double from 36,800 in 2020, to 91,000 in March, according to Public Works data.

The problems led to extra charges for water customers and a flood of complaints in the departments bill dispute system.

Campos had been following this story, which involved a bit of contretemps between Mayor Turner and KPRC reporter Amy Davis, and which now goes in the books as the first Council-placed item on an agenda. If this is the norm, then Prop A (which I did ultimately vote for, despite my previously expressed reservations) will turn out well. If not, well, at least it got off to a good start.

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Amy Peck, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Department of Public Works and Engineering, Election 2023, Houston, Houston City Council, Mary Nan Huffman, Sylvester Turner, water | 1 Comment

We could get an Amtrak connection from Atlanta to Fort Worth

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Or it could all be killed by the Freedom Caucus nihilists. That’s just how these things go these days.

A passenger rail line project touted as a major connectivity and economic boost to the Fort Worth region and beyond could soon be at risk amid proposed federal budget cuts to Amtrak.

Since 2006, members of the I-20 Corridor Council have been working with Amtrak and other regional partners to connect Fort Worth to Atlanta, creating an east-west connection that could eventually be part of the transnational corridor between Los Angeles and New York City.

The passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021 — which allocated $66 billion in rail service investment — made the 815-mile long-distance route between Fort Worth and Atlanta more of a reality. However, the U.S. House proposed a 64% cut to Amtrak’s 2024 budget has rail advocates worried about its impact on major rail projects, including the Fort Worth-Atlanta line.

“Amtrak has advised us that this (project) is one of their top three priorities,” said Richard Anderson, chairman of the I-20 Corridor Council. “I would anticipate that, if there’s that draconian of a reduction, that we will see a corresponding reduction, if not elimination, of the I-20 corridor.”

Amtrak is currently working on extending two service lines out of Fort Worth. The first would connect Fort Worth to Atlanta, along Interstate 20, adding the missing link from Marshall to Meridian, Mississippi. This project would connect the current Texas Eagle line, which runs between San Antonio and Chicago, and the Crescent line, which runs from New Orleans to New York.

The second project would extend the Heartland Flyer line, which currently runs between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, up to Newton, Kansas.

A possible Amtrak line between Fort Worth and El Paso is being explored as part of the Federal Railroad Administration Long-Distance Service Study. This rail line was lost 50 years ago, said Marc Magliari, senior public relations manager at Amtrak. A report is expected in the spring or summer of 2024.

You can see a fuller map of all the existing lines that would be connected by this project on the I-20 Corridor Council page. There’s a separate project for a high speed rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth, and Amtrak recently announced a partnership with Texas Central for its Houston to Dallas line. I don’t think either of those would be affected by these shenanigans, but I don’t know that for a fact. I do know there are a couple of retiring Republicans who represent this area and who might try to exert some influence over their more frothing-at-the-mouth brethren and sistren, if they care for this. I also know I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that. Best hope – and goal to work for – is for the maniacs to flame out as they usually do and then have the Dems take over again in 2025 so we can avoid this tired bit of nonsense, at least for awhile. In the meantime, here we are.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Amtrak, Atlanta, budget, Congress, Dallas, El Paso, Election 2024, Federal Railroad Administration, Fort Worth, Georgia, I-20, I-20 Corridor Council, Kay Granger, Michael Burgess, Oklahoma City, stimulus, Texas | 1 Comment

Harris County drops its lawsuit over the law banning its Elections Administrator

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The right move at this time, though the whole thing still rankles.

Harris County dropped its lawsuit against the state on Wednesday, ending its challenge to a law that went into effect weeks ago eliminating the county’s elections office.

The county had hoped to stop the measure Texas Republicans passed earlier this year that abolished the Harris County elections administrator, an appointed position, and returned election duties to two elected officials, the county clerk and the tax assessor-collector. However, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee on Wednesday called the case “moot” since the county was already forced to comply with the law starting on Sept. 1.

Though more than half of Texas counties have an appointed elections administrator, the new law applies only to Harris County, which created the office in July 2020.

[…]

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee had argued the law violated the Texas Constitution by targeting just one county. A district judge agreed with Menefee in August, temporarily delaying the measure from going into effect and writing in her order that Harris County should not be forced to implement “an unconstitutional statute” that was designed “to deprive Harris County of a statutory right available to every other county in Texas.”

When the Texas Attorney General’s office appealed that ruling, the Texas Supreme Court decided the law could go into effect as planned and was scheduled to hear the county’s argument on Nov. 28 that the law was unconstitutional.

The county instead made a motion to dismiss the lawsuit days before that hearing.

“The Texas Supreme Court’s decision in August allowed the state to abolish the elections administrator’s office,” Menefee said in a statement Wednesday evening. “That mooted the county’s claims. I look forward to continuing to support County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth in elections moving forward.”

I mentioned the appellate hearing in this post, though at the time I thought it had already happened. I agree with the county’s decision to stop pursuing this lawsuit, as the horse is out of the barn and even if we had won it would not make any sense to change how we conduct elections again, for the umpteenth time in three years. It’s all water under the bridge, and it might be best to turn the temperature down a wee bit by conceding on an issue that isn’t of the greatest importance. I remain concerned that the precedent has now been set that the Lege can specifically target one county in a way that will forever only apply to that county, but that will have to be a fight for another day, either when it comes up in another bill or if a future Harris County government wants to go the Elections Administrator’s office route again. For now, we’ll live with this.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Christian Menefee, Election 2023, elections administrator, Harris County, Harris County Attorney, Harris County Clerk, Harris County Tax Assessor, lawsuit, Supreme Court, Teneshia Hudspeth, Texas, The Lege | 1 Comment

Anti-porn law un-blocked

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Welp.

Texas can again enforce its new law requiring people to prove they are 18 or older to access online porn.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state’s request last week to lift a temporary injunction that had blocked implementation of House Bill 1181. Signed into law in June, it requires any commercial entity that publishes or distributes pornographic content online to use age-verification methods to bar users under 18.

In August, a coalition of pornography websites and advocates, including the popular streaming platform Pornhub, sued Texas to prohibit the law from taking effect. A federal judge ruled in their favor, agreeing that the measure likely violated the First Amendment.

But on Nov. 14, a three-judge federal appeals panel on the Fifth Circuit vacated the injunction pending appeal. The panel heard oral arguments last month and said it would “issue an expedited opinion as soon as reasonably possible.”

In the meantime, the state is free to enforce HB 1181, which requires individuals attempting to access sexual material to provide digital identification, government-issued identification or transactional data (like mortgage or employment records) to prove they are not minors. The law prohibits companies from retaining any of the identifying information.

See here and here for the background. The order just lifts the injunction pending a hearing and ruling on the appeal, it does not offer any reasons for doing so. I dunno, man. The Fifth Circuit is gonna do what the Fifth Circuit is gonna do. Maybe someday we’ll have a real Court of Appeals and not a bunch of frothing ideologues over there. Today is not that day. The Current, which notes that as of Tuesday the law was not being observed by at least several leading companies, has more.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged data privacy, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Free Speech Coalition, lawsuit, pornography, social media, Texas, The Lege | Comments Off

Woolly mammoth de-extinctioning

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go.

In a historic building in Deep Ellum, a colossal effort is underway to bring some of the most famously extinct animals back to life.

The wild mission comes from a Dallas-based company called Colossal Biosciences which is working to de-extinct the woolly mammoth, lost 4,000 years ago.

Matt James is Colossal’s chief animal officer.

“We are creating technology that’s going to change tomorrow with de-extinction but what’s amazing is that those technologies are making a difference to endangered species conservation today,” said James.

Using DNA from Asian elephants and DNA recovered from woolly mammoths frozen in the arctic tundra, researchers at Colossal Biosciences are using gene editing technology to reengineer the genome of an Asian elephant until it reflects that of a woolly mammoth.

“As it turns out the woolly mammoth and Asian elephant are 99.6% gnomically similar,” said James.

And that’s just part of the project.

Inside its labs in Deep Ellum, work is underway to create artificial wombs to grow a woolly mammoth calf.

Colossal has set a due date for the year 2028.

“When I was offered this position, I was sort of considering my life choices in this amazing opportunity to work at Colossal, my little brother called me and said, ‘Do you understand you could be the first modern human to ever see a woolly mammoth? You could be the first person that’s there to take that photo with a mammoth,’ and that opportunity is not lost on me. That privilege is incredible and it’s an amazing driving force,” said James.

But there’s an even bigger driving force.

James says restoring a mammoth ecosystem can preserve permafrost, or ground that remains frozen, and slow the release of greenhouse gases.

“This is probably worth 100 different lifetimes of achievement to accomplish this goal, but we have to push as fast as we can because we are facing this imminent threat of global climate change,” said James.

See here for some background. As the story notes, Colossal Biosciences is also working on projects to revive the dodo and the Tasmanian tiger. The idea behind it all, beyond the inherent coolness, is that these animals were crucial to their local ecologies and having them back would be a boon for them. I’m not qualified to speak to that and it seems like a big bet, but that’s what they’re doing. We’ll see where they are in five years. Reform Austin has more.

Posted in Technology, science, and math, The great state of Texas | Tagged Colossal Biosciences, DNA, dodos, elephants, extinction, mammoths, Texas, tigers | 2 Comments

Paxton whistleblowers demand depositions

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As always, I am rooting for them.

A crook any way you look

Lawyers for the Ken Paxton whistleblowers are moving forward with their lawsuit in Travis County after another judge cleared the way, asking the Austin-based court to force the attorney general and his top aides to sit for depositions.

The whistleblower lawyers filed a motion Tuesday to compel the depositions, calling it a last resort after they could not reach an agreement with lawyers for the Office of the Attorney General.

“OAG’s effort to resist these straightforward depositions is nothing more than a continuation of OAG’s cynical effort to deny Plaintiffs their right to access to the justice system,” the whistleblower lawyers wrote.

The whistleblower lawyers specifically want to take depositions from Paxton; Brent Webster, the first assistant attorney general; Lesley French Henneke, chief of staff at the agency; and Michelle Smith, Paxton’s longtime political aide. The lawyers proposed a schedule where Paxton is deposed Dec. 12, Webster on Dec. 14, Henneke on Dec. 18 and Smith on Dec. 20.

[…]

In their latest filing, the whistleblowers’ lawyers say the Burnet County lawsuit was just the latest delay tactic by Paxton’s side in the 3-year-old case. The lawyers asked the Travis County court to compel the depositions so that the whistleblowers “may at long last pursue justice.”

If the whistleblowers’ motion is granted, it would be the first time Paxton would be required to answer questions under oath related to the allegations of bribery and corruption made against him. Paxton did not take the stand in his Senate trial in September.

While the Burnet County judge, Stubbs, allowed the Travis County case to restart last week, the more recent lawsuit in his court remains pending. Stubbs set a Dec. 14 hearing on a motion by the whistleblowers to change the venue to Travis County.

See here for the previous update. I have a hard time seeing what the argument is for not allowing such depositions, though I’m confident that Team Paxton will make one and that it will be deeply annoying. I’m also not sure what remains to be argued in that Burnet County lawsuit, but I guess we’ll find out on December 14. In the meantime, let’s all think up what questions we’d like to ask Ken Paxton when he is under oath and the threat of perjury hangs over his guilty little head. I’m sure there’s a very long list.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Attorney General, Blake Brickman, Brent Webster, bribery, budget, Burnet County, David Maxwell, FBI, impeachment, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Lesley Henneke, Mark Penley, Michelle SMith, Nate Paul, Ryan Vassar, Senate, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas Whistleblower Act, The Lege, Travis County | Comments Off

PragerU videos? Seriously?

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Once again I have to ask, what the hell is going on at HISD?

A Friday lesson intended to teach students at dozens of Houston ISD schools how to think objectively included a video that mocked the idea of human-caused climate change from PragerU, a Florida nonprofit criticized for pushing biased, conservative viewpoints.

Meant to help students discern fact from opinion, the seven-minute clip encouraged viewers to “do your own research,” citing examples that push back on the idea that humans have caused climate change.

PragerU, the video’s creator, describes itself as “the world’s leading conservative nonprofit that is focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.” It has published content on the supposed dangers of gender-affirming care and how slavery may have benefitted Black people. Despite the name, it is not a university.

The video was included in PowerPoint slides created by HISD for a course called the “Art of Thinking,” a feature of Superintendent Mike Miles’ new program for 85 schools. The lesson plans, obtained by the Houston Landing, means the video likely reached students at the 73 overhauled elementary and middle schools.

HISD will discontinue the use of PragerU content going forward, Chief Communication Officer Leila Walsh said Tuesday in response to questions from the Landing. The district had included the video with the intent of helping students assess the reliability of information and recognize hidden biases, using examples they may encounter in the real world, she said.

“The lesson was designed to help students think critically about the accuracy and subjectivity of information. After speaking with the curriculum team, they have decided to no longer use PragerU video content,” Walsh wrote in an email.

Parents from Pugh and Wainwright elementary schools confirmed their fifth-graders had been shown the PragerU video in class on Friday. Three teachers also supplied the district-created lesson plans to the Landing. The parents said they were disturbed by the content, but said it was the first time they were aware of a video from the conservative nonprofit appearing in a lesson.

“In a way, they’re already subliminally telling our kids to totally dismiss the whole global warming thing,” said Jessica Campos, whose daughter attends Pugh.

The video includes many short skits meant to help students understand objective thinking, several of which take aim at climate change. One example points out that temperature fluctuations occurred prior to industrialization, and another implies climate change believers think the world will end in 12 years.

“Some of it was legit and some of it seemed weird or out of place and it was all rather fixated on beating down the idea of climate change,” said Texas State Climatologist and Texas A&M Professor John Nielsen-Gammon, who reviewed the video at the request of the Landing. He said humans definitely are causing changes to the earth’s climate and the world definitely will not end in 12 years.

University of Texas at Austin College of Education Professor David DeMatthews added that, to him, it was a red flag that HISD would include any content from PragerU in a lesson.

“A lot of the material that (PragerU) provides is highly controversial, highly biased and is not really aligned with historical, or even, at times, scientific consensus around particular issues,” DeMatthews said.

Un-fucking-believable.

Let me make two points very clear. One is that in a world where the HISD Superintendent had any accountability, the elected Trustees would be well within their rights to call the Super onto the carpet and demand answers about who thought shoving propaganda down students’ throats was a good idea and why haven’t they been fired already. They would be within their rights to make it clear that the Super’s job was on the line over this as well. We do not live in that world, which is how we end up with a wishy-washy non-answer from the communications officer instead. I am incandescent with rage about this.

And two, if “parents rights” means anything, then as an HISD parent I have the right to object to this kind of “content” being shown anywhere in an HISD classroom. Which, again, if we had a functional Board that was responsive to the will of the stakeholders and which had actual oversight of the Superintendent, would result in some accountability. Again, I am angry to the point of wanting to smash things.

I don’t know what else to say. Because we have no way to effect any change at HISD right now, because there is no forum for expressing our views in a way that will be heard and taken seriously, this is just another thing that happened that Mike Miles doesn’t even have to acknowledge. And I’m supposed to accept that this guy is the savior of our schools. Un-fucking-believable.

Posted in School days | Tagged Board of Managers, HISD, Houston, Mike Miles, New Education System, PragerU, propaganda, schools | 13 Comments

The business brief against the state abortion ban

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Would like to see a lot more co-signers on this.

Forty Texas companies and business leaders are entering the fight against Texas’ abortion ban, filing a brief with the Texas Supreme Court that argues the “ambiguity” in the law’s medical exceptions cost the state an estimated $14.5 billion in lost revenue every year.

Austin-based dating app giant Bumble is leading the effort, submitting an amicus brief ahead of the high court’s arguments in Zurawski v. Texas. Lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski is challenging the state’s abortion ban after she nearly died of sepsis due to a pregnancy complication. She says the Texas abortion ban’s medical exceptions are too vague, preventing her doctor from providing a medically necessary abortion until she had nearly died.

“We feel it’s our duty not just to provide our workforce with access to reproductive health care, but to speak out – and speak loudly – against the retrogression of women’s rights,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said. “Texas’s confusing medical exceptions increase business costs, drive away talent, and threaten workforce diversity and well-being.”

Dozens of other companies signed onto the brief, including South by Southwest, Zilker Properties, ATX Television Festival, and Central Presbyterian Church.

The brief cites research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) to arrive at their claim that Texas’ abortion ban costs the state nearly $15 billion annually. They assert that the ban translates to women earning less, taking more time off work, and leaving the workforce.

IWPR’s research estimates more than 80,000 women between 15 and 44 could enter the workforce without the abortion ban.

“An uncertain and confusing Texas regulatory environment is creating professional and personal difficulties for those who work and travel in Texas, as well as adversely impacting employee recruitment and retention, and creating obstacles for attracting new businesses, visitors and events,” law firm Reed Smith explained.

See here for the previous update, and here for that cited research. I appreciate the effort, though I’m always a bit leery of studies like this and don’t know how much impact these briefs can have. I think there’s a chance the plaintiffs can prevail in this lawsuit – not a great chance, maybe fifty-fifty at best, but a chance. Even a total victory will mean only a small loosening of the extreme anti-abortion law, so the best case here is limited. Vital, to be sure, but still a huge step back from where we once were. The only way forward, to truly get back to a better place, is at the ballot box, here and at the national level. Knocking out Ted Cruz, for example, would be massive. I care a lot about this case and will keep paying attention to it, but we’ve all got to keep our eyes on the bigger goals. We need to win more elections. There’s no other way to do it. Texas Monthly, which takes a closer look at Bumble’s angle on this, has more.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged abortion, Amanda Zurawski, Bumble, Center for Reproductive Rights, Election 2024, EMTALA, hospitals, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, lawsuit, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas Medical Association, The Lege | 1 Comment

Thanksgiving video break: It’s about Alice

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t have many traditions here but we like the ones we have.

I am as always thankful for my family and friends, my health, the fact that I still get enjoyment from things I’ve done for a long time like this blog, and for you my readers. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving however and wherever you celebrate it.

Posted in Music | Tagged Thanksgiving, videos | 7 Comments

Yet another effort to kill the Voting Rights Act

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder that the Fifth Circuit isn’the only home for terrible appellate judges.

A divided federal appellate panel took a pipe to the knees of the Voting Rights Act Monday, handing down an eyebrow-raising decision that would severely curtail the effectiveness of the landmark civil rights law.

Two of the judges on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel — one appointed by Donald Trump and one by George W. Bush — ruled that individuals can no longer bring lawsuits under the VRA. They assert that only the U.S. attorney general can bring enforcement actions under the law.

If the decision holds, VRA cases would nosedive even under Democratic administrations due to limited resources, and would likely stop completely under Republican ones. Currently, voting rights organizations usually collaborate with individual voters to bring VRA claims, one of the last tools with which to challenge gerrymandering on the federal level.

Chief Judge Lavenski Smith, another Bush appointee, dissented and would have preserved the private right of action under the VRA.

The case originated as a VRA lawsuit brought by the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and Arkansas Public Policy Panel alleging racial gerrymandering in the map dividing the districts for the Arkansas House of Representatives. It names state officials, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), as defendants.

Judges Raymond Gruender and David Stras, in changing the nature of the VRA as we know it, rejected both Supreme Court guidance on the topic as well as legislative history. The justices had discussed Section 2 — the part of the law under which vote dilution cases are brought in court — in a 1996 case over a different part of the VRA. They rested that decision on their assumption that the private right of action applied to Section 2 as well.

But that wasn’t enough for Gruender and Stras.

“Taken at face value, these statements appear to create an open-and-shut case that there must be a way to privately enforce § 2,” they wrote. “If five Justices assume it, then it must be true. The problem, however, is that these were just background assumptions — mere dicta at most.”

They also make short work of the legislative history. Both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees in 1982, when Congress amended the statute, wrote that Congress had “clearly intended” for individuals to be able to sue under Section 2 of the law.

“There are many reasons to doubt legislative history as an interpretive tool,” they shrugged, adding: “Nor is it clear how the 1982 Congress could possibly have known what a different set of legislators thought 17 years earlier.”

[…]

The case will likely reach the Supreme Court, a venue that has been particularly hostile to the VRA under John Roberts’ stewardship, but which batted back a major challenge to the law in a surprising decision last session. The VRA, even one weakened by the Supreme Court, remains so essential to this kind of litigation because the Court shut the federal courthouse doors to partisan gerrymandering cases, leaving only racial ones available.

“Until the Court rules or Congress amends the statute, I would follow existing precedent that permits citizens to seek a judicial remedy,” Smith wrote. “Rights so foundational to self government and citizenship should not depend solely on the discretion or availability of the government’s agents for protection.”

A copy of the opinion is embedded in the story. I Am Not A Lawyer, but I do know Calvinball when I see it. Sorry to ruin your Thanksgiving with this kind of news, but here we are. The Associated Press has more.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Arkansas, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Department, lawsuit, NAACP, redistricting, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

The Mike Miles effect so far

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of explainers from the Chron. First up, this one about what has actually happened so far in HISD since Mike Miles took over.

Superintendent Mike Miles has made sweeping changes in Houston ISD since he was appointed by the Texas Education Agency in June to run the largest school system in the Lone Star state.

Nearly six months into his tenure, Miles has championed systemic reforms and swiftly implemented policies, some of which have sparked great pushback and turmoil among families, teachers and school communities across the district. For his part, the new superintendent says the drastic changes are necessary to significantly improve academic achievement, especially among Black and Hispanic students, by raising expectations and providing high-quality instruction.

The Chronicle has compiled below a recap of the biggest changes so far in HISD under Miles.

Most of what’s in there is familiar, but given how fast everything has happened and how many stories there have been about what’s been going on, you’d be forgiven if there were one or two things you’d forgotten or missed the first time around. I have a hard enough time keeping up.

Two, there’s this story about the District of Innovation stuff and what the relevant laws are that the district’s DoI application are meant to do.

Texas has dozens of laws governing how school districts must operate, but districts can opt out of almost all of them through the process of becoming a “District of Innovation.”

Since the Legislature established the status in 2015, nearly every eligible school district in the state earned the DOI designation. Houston ISD has been one of a few dozen hold outs, but the district is now on the verge of becoming a DOI after the District Advisory Committee voted Tuesday in favor of the plan outlining the exemptions the district wants to seek.

The HISD Board of Managers is expected to vote on the plan during its regular meeting Dec. 14. If at least two-thirds agree, it would go into effect immediately.

The plan would exempt the district from seven state regulations, including ones regulating the school start date, the certification of teachers and teacher evaluations. Here’s why education policy experts say these regulations exist and why HISD is seeking an exemption to them:

Again, you probably know most of this already, but you might have missed a few things in your attempt to drink from the firehose. If the net effect is that you feel dizzy and a little disoriented, I don’t think that’s accidental.

Posted in School days | Tagged Board of Managers, District of Innovation, HISD, Mike Miles, New Education System, schools, Texas, Texas Education Agency | Comments Off

Dispatches from Dallas, November 22 edition

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think.

This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, it’s the 60th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination; the Bishop of Tyler gets the sack; Elon and Ken Paxton going after Media Matters in Fort Worth; voter turnout; filing news; schools and universities; assorted haters and bigots; Dallas area cybersecurity; “amortization”, environmental justice, the Lege and the Dallas City Council; the difference between D Magazine and the DMN on bribery lawsuits; and more, including a new zoo baby!

This week’s post was brought to you by Ludovico Einaudi, whose music is a good soundtrack for working.

As most people know, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated here in Dallas on November 22, 1963. This was an event that shaped the history of the city and the nation, for good and ill. In the flurry of coverage surrounding the anniversary, I found a few gems. Here’s a somewhat defensive DMN story about Dallas needing to embrace having been the City of Hate to get over the assassination. I don’t agree with everything in it; for one thing, it’s pretty clearly directed at white Dallas. But it was interesting to read from someone who was a child here in Dallas when it happened and is still in the journalism business. The Star-Telegram has a slate of stories, the most interesting piece of which, to me, anyway, was trying to figure out who Lee Harvey Oswald’s pallbearers were. Apparently the reporters on the scene did the duty, except for the DMN’s guy, who was afraid he’d get fired for supporting (in the casket) a (dead) Communist, but now they’re not sure who a couple of the men in the photos were. The Washington Post has reminiscences from a surviving Secret Service agent who has a new book out. And here’s a fascinating piece from the Guardian on the anniversary that spends a fair amount of time talking about how the conditions that surrounded the assassination are the national norm in 2023.

Meanwhile, in Tyler, the (now former) Bishop, Joseph Strickland, a notorious archconservative and complainer about the Pope, was relieved of duty on November 11. This was another story with international coverage (Guardian; NPR; Washington Post.) If you’re not Catholic or simply don’t get the intricacy of canon law, Texas Standard has a good explainer.

Since Tyler is right around the corner from Dallas, it’s gotten outsized coverage from the local news, like this reaction piece from local Catholics and this analysis piece from one of the DMN’s religion reporter. Although there was a lot of advance reporting on a march in Tyler in support of Bishop Strickland, there hasn’t been much coverage of it since (this short WFAA report was about it) and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the last news about it. While I’m not Catholic, I am a medievalist by training, and I know that grumbling about Papal rulings without following through is a pastime with a centuries-long history.

In other news:

A last-minute entry in North Texas news today: as you’ve probably seen, Elon Musk is suing Media Matters in a federal district court in Fort Worth over the unsurprising news that adverts on former-Twitter are showing up next to hate speech. Alongside that, Collin County’s poster boy for Getting Away With It, AG Ken Paxton is also going investigate Media Matters. I suspect our host will have some commentary about this but for the moment I want to send you to two social media posts, if you can read them. First Ken White, aka PopeHat, has suggests that part of the venue shopping here is that the Ninth Circuit, which is where former-Twitter has its business, applies anti-SLAPP statutes. Unsurprisingly, Texas does not. And for the Explain It Like I’m 5 Crowd, Kathryn Tewson has a plain-words (literally) explainer on Bluesky about how bad this lawsuit is.
Voter turnout in north Texas was up in 2023, which was a pleasant surprise in an off-off-year election. The DMN has the numbers for Dallas County and KERA has them for Collin County. Just as an aside, it’s appalling that our voting system plans for and is funded on the assumption that most people won’t vote, even above and beyond the hassle of registration.
We’re now into the filing period for the 2024 elections and it’s time to find out who’s in and who’s out. As our host noted, Congressman Pat Fallon (CD 4), after a little flip-flopping about going back to the Texas Senate, is running for re-election. Other area incumbents also running for re-election: Ramon Romero, Democrat, HD 90; Tony Tinderholt, Republican, HD 94; Salman Bhojani, Democrat, HD 92; David Cook, Republican, HD 96. The Fort Worth Report is good for these short announcements.
On the school beat, you may remember that poor trans kid in Sherman who was about to be screwed out of his starring role in Oklahoma by local bigots. The situation was so awful that the DMN editorial board and one of the Star-Telegram’s columnnists scolded Sherman’s schools. The second piece gets to what turned out to be the heart of the matter: the school board superintendent and one of the board members turned out to be bigots with a history of mixing in reactionary politics. The board’s about-face got national coverage (NY Times) and as of last week, there’s third-party investigation of the whole shebang that may threaten the superintendent’s job. He has a history of this kind of thing: apparently he threatened to spike a Legally Blonde production over the question of gay or European. I’m glad Max got his role back but I’m also glad the superintendent’s homophobia isn’t going unchallenged.
Here’s a grab bag of other local school news:
- Keller ISD faces a $27 million budget deficit. Now they’re pushing lawmakers for funding. That’s for next year and includes the loss of COVID funds.
- These Fort Worth ISD schools could be among first considered for closures. 48 schools are less than 70% full. This is in part a demographic issue, because we’re moving into Gen Z having kids and Millennials’ kids aging out of the school system. But my inner economic historian also wants to point out that in precarious economic times, parents have fewer kids.
- Related: Plano ISD may close school buildings, restructure campuses as enrollment dips. No percentages, but the story notes that district enrollment dropped by more than 6,000 students over the past 12 years.
- Also in Plano: What Just Happened in Plano ISD?. Franklin Strong’s newsletter covering some real shenanigans among book banners in Plano ISD. Three of my niblings graduated from Plano West, so this is personal for me.
- These Are the Right-Wing Ideologues Taking Over School Boards. If you’ve been reading up on DFW right-wing types, you’ll see a lot of familiar names.
- How much does private school cost in Texas? School choice battle reignites debate on cost. Per the article, the median tuition at Texas private schools was just over $9,800 in the 21-22 school year; this school year the average cost for private schools for kids with special education needs is more than $19,000.
- In case you were curious: Fort Worth-area teachers make how much? New report details top-paying school districts. The numbers are nicely laid out in a chart.
Also we have a couple of news items about university education:
- Collin College won the lawsuit filed against it by former history professor Michael Phillips, whose contract wasn’t renewed. The school said there’s no expectation that one contract leads to another, but also this is why we have tenure, which our current state government would like to end. Pick your story: KERA; DMN; Dallas Observer.
- TCU increases tuition past $60K after $1B fundraising campaign. Cost now tops Harvard. Yikes.
From the schools, we’ll turn to the outright bigots and other nasty types in DFW. I have to admit I didn’t expect a name and shame report from the Star-Telegram (picking up the names from the Texas Observer). The Texas Tribune has a piece about Texit that, like every one of these stories, has a lot of familiar names, specifically in this case Don Huffines. And the Dallas Observer has a bittersweet piece about a real estate company helping queer families to flee Texas. A number of queer/trans friends of mine or friends with trans kids have left Texas in the last few years and I’ve kicked into some GoFundMes for people who were fleeing. I’m glad there’s someone out there who can help those folks.
Let’s turn to the internet and cybersecurity (or lack thereof) beat. Dallas City Council just agreed to spend $2.1 million on security, including hardware, software, and consulting. Meanwhile, Dallas County is looking for a new IT head, in case you know anyone who’s looking for that job. And, unsurprisingly, local mortgage servicer Mr. Cooper has reported that customer data was exposed in their recent breach. (They service our mortgage; we have not yet heard if we need additional protection.)
Here are three related stories about environmental justice in Dallas. First is the latest on the long saga of Shingle Mountain. Now that the mountain of shingles has been removed and the soil has been remediated, residents want a park, but their council member thinks that plan is premature. Meanwhile, in West Dallas, we have more on the the GAF shingle plant, where the EPA is ready to sample air, soil, water, and more to determine how much pollution is in the area. The DMN and the Dallas Free Press have more on the EPA study. Meanwhile, the city is talking about an ordinance to do away with “amortization” or forced closure, in part because in the regular session the Lege passed SB 929, which requires warning of zoning changes to affected businesses. Doesn’t sound so bad until you understand the law was written by Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) and targeted by demographics at the city of Dallas. This D Magazine piece ties it all up for you. Meanwhile Dallas council member Omar Narvaez (D6) is telling his constituents who want him to oppose the version of the ordinance that would keep citizens from filing for amortization of polluters and nuisances in their area that influencing city processes may be illegal and is against his code of ethics. If that’s really how he feels, I’m not sure why he’s on the council, since voting on what city processes will be is part of his job.
I’m bringing you two versions of the same related story about a developer whose conviction for bribing Dallas City Council members was vacated. First, from the DMN, Retrial delayed for developer caught up in Dallas City Hall bribery scandal. Second, from D Magazine, Ruel Hamilton’s Federal Bribery Trial Is Back in Court. The DMN apparently thinks Hamilton accidentally stumbled into a bribe-extraction routine instead of, you know, bribing the council members. The conviction was vacated on a technicality around the judge’s instructions around bribes vs gratuities. In related news, the crime is what’s legal.
In Dallas police news, the police association (technically not a “union”) is mad at the oversight board because the members aren’t pro-cop enough. Also through an update to that one, I found out that Mike Mata, the head of the association, is resigning to go to the private sector, which I can only think of as a good thing. Also, Chief Garcia thinks we need more cops. Part of the staffing problem is the perpetual underfunding of pensions for police and firefighters, a point which Mata makes in his interview with the DMN.
Following on our host’s recent post about abortion news, I have three local items for you. First, the DMN investigates Inside the nationwide web of activists helping Texans get abortions, which sounds like a nasty expose but I found surprisingly sympathetic to the activists doing some difficult work. Next, there’s an amicus brief in Zurawski v. Texas from businesses alleging that the ambiguity in the law, the ambiguity that means nobody knows how close a pregnant individual has to come to dying before the life of the mother is considered threatened, costs an estimated $14.5 billion in lost revenue every year. You know and I know that nobody cares about doing bidness these days as long as culture warriors can pwn the libs. Meanwhile, I commend to your attention, with appropriate warnings, this op-ed by (an anti-choice) local talk radio host in the Star-Telegram and this pro-adoption op-ed by Governor Abbott in the DMN. If the latter piece didn’t come from a reactionary misogynist hater, I might buy that there are no implications about abortion in its existence. I trust Greg Abbott on, well, anybody’s rights about as far as I can throw him, though. When you lie down with culture warriors, you get up covered in slime.
Now it’s time for Six Degrees of Clarence Thomas. As you may have heard, the Dems on the Judiciary Committee were outplayed, or let themselves be outplayed, and the vote on subpoenaing Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley II was cancelled. Meanwhile, we did get some, but not enough, forward movement in the ethics arena, in terms of a so-called ethics code, more of an ethics pledge, that the Supreme Court planned to follow, as long as nobody tries to make them. You can pick where you get your national coverage but I like Chris Geidner of Law Dork. Meanwhile, I have also read up on the Crystal Clanton case, in which a protegee of the Thomases said some racist garbage on social media, and it was OK ethically for her to be a clerk in name brand federal courts because the judges did their due diligence and didn’t believe the accusations. Due diligence in this case apparently consisted of asking people like the Thomases, who told people that Clanton wasn’t a racist.
The current state of the Fairfield Park eminent domain suit is that the judge’s appointed evaluators say it’s worth almost $420 million. Todd Interests, the current owner, bought it over the summer for about $103 million. Pick your article: DMN or Star-Telegram for more.
Speaking of other people’s land, this week I learned about the Marvin Nichols reservoir proposal, which is going to cost $4.4 billion and flood 66,000 acres of forest in northeast Texas. If you know about it and have feelings, the link will tell you how to comment for a report going to the Lege.
Now, on a lighter note, here’s the latest on the duelling Lockhart BBQ lawsuits.
I’m not sure how I feel about Spice Dr. Pepper but since it’s a limited edition only for people who collect Pepper Perks, I probably will never try it.
Blind Lemon Jefferson is the subject off several exhibits and lectures as part of Deep Ellum’s sesquicentennial.
And last but not least, cute critter news: a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle has been moved to the Children’s Aquarium in Fair Park. Poor baby had been hit by a boat, has spinal damage, and has to wear a special buoyancy backpack to swim properly. And in zoo born news, the Dallas Zoo has welcomed a Linne’s two-toed sloth pup. No name or gender for the pup yet, but they’re strong and active and eating solid foods.

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged Dallas, guest post, linkdump, Texas | 1 Comment

Texas blog roundup for the week of November 20

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance broke its calculator trying to figure out how many turkeys Jimbo Fischer could buy now as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged blog roundup, TPA | Comments Off

Runoff early voting begins Monday

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox:

Early voting for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election begins Monday, November 27, and runs through Tuesday, December 5. Vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day except Sunday, December 3, from noon to 7 p.m. On Election Day, Saturday, December 9, the vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The deadline to apply for a ballot by mail is Tuesday, November 28 (received, not postmarked).

“Harris County will open 41 vote centers during Early Voting and 450 on Election Day. Registered voters can vote in the runoff election even if they did not vote in November,” said Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth. “More than 450,000 people voted in the November 7 election out of the more than 2.5 million registered voters in Harris County.”

City of Houston races include Mayor, At-Large Position 1, At-Large Position 2, At-Large Position 3, At-Large Position 4, Controller, and three single-member districts: Council Member District D, Council Member District G, and Council Member District H.

“The number of contests in which a voter can cast a ballot vary and are dictated by the residence and political subdivision where a voter is registered to vote,” added Clerk Hudspeth. “Voters should be aware that only citizens registered to vote within the legal boundaries of the City of Houston can vote on the contests offered by the City of Houston. A “Houston” postal address does not guarantee that a voter lives within Houston proper.”

Information regarding the City of Houston candidates in the Runoff Election can be found at https://houstontx.gov/2023-runoff-election.html.

Also on the ballot are the City of Bellaire Mayor and the City of Baytown, Council Member District No. 4.

Sample Ballots for the December 9 Joint Runoff Election will be available before Thanksgiving at www.HarrisVotes.com.

For news and updates, follow us on social media at @HarrisVotes and @HarrisCoTxClerk.

A map of the voting centers for early voting is here; the interactive map is not ready yet. A fact sheet for the runoff is here. The final official election results are now up and I’ve gotten my hands on the precinct data. I’m aiming to have some numbers for you early next week.

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged early voting, Election 2023, Harris County, Harris County Clerk, Houston, runoff, Texas | Comments Off

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