Tag Archives: Tarrant County

Solar For All grants caught in a trap

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They can’t get out, at least not at this time. More than $400 million in federal funding for Texas-based organizations to implement clean energy programs remains frozen, jeopardizing efforts to expand access to rooftop solar panels and battery storage systems in … Continue reading →

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Assessing North Texas’ wildfire risk

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting stuff. North Texas terrain and climate differ significantly from Southern California’s, but the possibility of wildfires in the Tarrant County area that are as destructive as those in Los Angeles cannot be ruled out, according to Luke Kanclerz, head … Continue reading →

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My quadrennial warning to be careful with charts and percentages

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From City of Yes: The sun came up Wednesday morning, but for many, no doubt, our proverbial American “shining city on a hill” had lost some of its luster. While the presidential election results have disappointed many city dwellers, the … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, November 8 edition

Posted on November 8, 2024 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, election results, and only election results, because we’re all dealing with our grief right now. Next week … Continue reading →

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A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

In no particular order… 1. I don’t expect Democrats to win statewide in Texas. It would be great, it would do a world of good, but I’d be setting myself up for disappointment if I start there. What I want … Continue reading →

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Is this the year Tarrant County finally goes blue?

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. “Tarrant County is the 15th-largest county in the country, so it should get a lot of attention. And it’s the third-largest county in Texas, so it makes sense that there would be a lot of focus there,” said Mark … Continue reading →

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November 2024 early voting Day Two: On average

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Reading this story gave me an idea for how to talk about early voting so far compared to 2020. The first day of early voting for El Paso County’s general election drew 31% fewer voters than the record-setting 2020 race. … Continue reading →

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CCA to take up Crystal Mason appeal

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I guess we’re doing this. Texas’ highest criminal court will hear the case of Crystal Mason, a Tarrant County woman whose voter fraud conviction was previously overturned. Mason, 49, has been a focal point in Texas’ tough-on-voter-fraud election laws. She … Continue reading →

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Some further special election stuff

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We begin with this from the inbox. The Harris County Clerk’s Office posted the unofficial May 4 Uniform and Special Elections results on the Harris Votes website early Sunday morning, with 56,612 ballots cast in total. About 2% of Harris … Continue reading →

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Mutinous nuns file and then withdraw a restraining order motion

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This happened last week. Legal and ecclesiastical tensions escalated between the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth after a group of sisters filed for a temporary restraining order on Monday against Bishop Michael Olson … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County DA still wants to prosecute Crystal Mason

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What an asshole. Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells wants Crystal Mason’s illegal voting conviction reinstated, his office announced Thursday. Mason, a Tarrant County resident, was acquitted of an illegal voting charge last month. Sorrells’ office is now asking the … Continue reading →

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Harris County gets “Solar for All” grant

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Harris County will receive part of a $7 billion federal grant toward installing solar panels and battery systems in low-income and disadvantaged communities across Texas, part of President Joe Biden’s plan to expand access to solar energy nationwide. The … Continue reading →

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Arlington nun mutiny update

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Things remain wild in Arlington, that’s all I can say. The story starts on Thursday with the Vatican attempting to impose its order on the situation. A Carmelite monastery that has engaged in a yearlong feud with Diocese of Fort … Continue reading →

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Good luck finding any info about those county appraisal board elections

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I’ve written a bunch about the HCAD Board elections, including doing interviews with four of the candidates, so that you my readers and anyone else who stumbles across this page can hopefully know a little something about … Continue reading →

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Some Tarrant Appraisal District drama

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. A candidate for the Tarrant Appraisal District board alleges County Judge Tim O’Hare tried to pressure him into dropping out of the race. Colleyville City Council member Chuck Kelley, who is running for Place 3, said O’Hare first … Continue reading →

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Crystal Mason’s conviction for illegal voting overturned

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Justice at last. A Texas appeals court on Thursday overturned the illegal voting conviction of Crystal Mason, who was given a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election while on supervised release for federal tax … Continue reading →

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Nikki Haley’s best counties

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Both Stace and I have noted the handful of counties in which President Biden underperformed in the primary election. That led me to wonder what the analogous situation was like on the Republican side. Where did Nikki Haley overperform her … Continue reading →

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There’s only one way forward after this primary

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The worst people you know had a very good week last week. It’s likely to get better for them after the runoffs. These headlines capture the essence of it: ‘Disastrous’: A shaken Texas House prepares for rightward shift after record … Continue reading →

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One more look at primary turnout

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Derek Ryan report on early voting in the primaries, which sent me off into a rabbit hole yesterday. Early voting is over. (Thank goodness! Early voting is always the busiest point of the entire two-year election cycle for … Continue reading →

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More on why we need a split primary

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Votebeat fills in some blanks. Some Texas election officials are running out of time before the March 5 primary to find sufficient polling locations, equipment, and election workers mandated by a new Republican-backed election law, and may not be able … Continue reading →

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We will have a joint primary this year

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This solves a problem we had only begun to realize we had. Harris County Republicans and Democrats plan to hold a joint election during the upcoming March primaries after years of the parties conducting separate contests, County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth … Continue reading →

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“Solar For All” grant

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Earlier this year, the Biden Administration announced a $7 billion national “Solar For All” grant competition via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help expand solar energy production across the country. Harris County leaders enlisted a coalition … Continue reading →

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State Rep. Craig Goldman to run for CD12

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. State Rep. Craig Goldman announced Friday he is running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, a fellow Fort Worth Republican. “My record proves I will be a conservative fighter who will prioritize border security and the American … Continue reading →

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A legal view of the Arlington nun mutiny

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Fort Worth Report talks to some legal experts about the fascinating dispute between the Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Arlington and Fort Worth Bishop Michael F. Olson. Lawrence Sager is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School … Continue reading →

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The Arlington nun mutiny

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Oh my God this story is wild. There’s a strange saga unfolding in Texas. It involves allegations and accusations of illicit sexual relationships, drug use, theft, abuse, spying, planted evidence, and plots to steal a multimillion-dollar property. The people involved … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County picks a new elections administrator

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It could have been worse Tarrant County picked a new elections administrator Friday to replace Heider Garcia, who resigned earlier this year after he said he faced political pressure from Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare. The Tarrant County Election Commission … Continue reading →

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Justice Department follows up with Tarrant County

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice have committed to meeting with Tarrant County’s top Democrats to discuss the letter they sent requesting an investigation into voting rights. The Democrats, under the lead of U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County Dems seek Justice Department investigation of voting rights issues

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Elected officials who represent Tarrant County’s minority communities have asked the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate County Judge Tim O’Hare and other county officials over concerns that their actions will diminish voting rights. The letter, signed by … Continue reading →

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“Fort Worth is the new Austin”

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Hadn’t thought of it that way. Who speaks for Fort Worth in the nation’s capital? For more than 25 years the go-to member of the Texas delegation for Tarrant County has been U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth. From securing … Continue reading →

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In support of Crystal Mason

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for the best. The same month Tarrant County officials announced the creation of an election integrity task force, a group of 14 bipartisan prosecutors threw their weight behind an effort to acquit the woman at the center of a high-profile … Continue reading →

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More on the lawsuit against Paxton’s deranged ballot access opinion

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There are actually three counties suing him, not just the one I had originally noted. At least three Texas counties — Tarrant, Williamson, and Harris — have sued Attorney General Ken Paxton and are asking a judge to strike down a legal … Continue reading →

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Yep, still no voter fraud found

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So says the official 2020 election audit. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was neither widespread voter fraud nor other serious issues in Texas’ 2020 elections, according to an audit of four of Texas’ largest counties released Monday … Continue reading →

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State and county election result relationships: Tarrant County

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In years past, Tarrant County was a pretty close bellwether for election results in the state of Texas. From 2004 through 2016, the closeness of their Presidential numbers with the statewide numbers was eerie. But since 2018 the talk has … Continue reading →

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Our property tax system is soooooooo awesome!

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

How awesome is it? So awesome you don’t even have to live here to get a tax break. Herschel Walker, the former Dallas Cowboys running back and Republican candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, is slated to … Continue reading →

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