Texas
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2:08 p.m.
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Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher calls a soon-to-be-released poll from Hill Research Consultants (HRC), a Houston-based Republican polling firm, ”a five-alarm wake-up call to the GOP”: Among its findings: Half the voters polled believe the state is on the wrong track; only 37 percent believe Texas is headed in the right direction. On nearly every measure, the Republican brand [...
Eye On Williamson County - 2:07 p.m.
And should be. You think Big Coal, the Big Three, etc., have squealed about Kyoto and post-Kyoto climate control deals, or potential deals? You ain’t heard nothing yet compared to the sounds that will come out of Big Ag if CAFOs, or whatever they’re called in western European, come under the regulatory microscope : “It’s an area that’s been largely overlooked,” said Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, head...
SocraticGadfly - 12:25 p.m.
The Houston Chronicle continues to report on the back-room preparations for the 2010 elections in Texas . As we have previously noted multiple times (among them here and here ), how the election cycle unfolds really revolves around what happens in the governor's race. There seems to be little doubt that Perry is going to try for an unprecedented third term, but there are a few things still u...
The Texas Blue - 9:08 a.m. - 6 clicks 
The Dallas Morning News reports that Dallas County has hired the Munck Carter legal firm to represent the county in the federal voting rights lawsuit brought against it by the Texas Democratic Party over the ongoing fracas in the Texas House District 105 recount. The Texas Democratic Party's suit states that all straight party votes cast on electronic voting machines should be counted for e...
The Texas Blue - 7:01 a.m.
To my readers, We've been on a much needed Thanksgiving break for the last several days. After a long election season and more intense cancer wars, we really needed the time away. I'll resume posting tomorrow Thank you for your patience. Bill...
The Collin County Observer - 7:01 a.m. - 2 clicks
Dallas has witnessed a large number of exonerated defendants based on DNA evidence, nearly all of whom were convicted because of faulty eyewitness testimony. And if you think that's not still happening, check out this tale told by Texas Lawyer about a crime victim who identified defense counsel as the perpetrator while testifying in court: On Nov. 11, George Milner Jr., a partner in Dallas' M...
Grits for Breakfast - 4:04 a.m.
The City of Austin is looking at budget cuts to public safety items , the Austin Statesman reports, including a proposed $4.7 million slashed from the police department. Predictably, police union officials "predict that response times would increase and that crime rates would surge as the result of further cuts." However, I still maintain the Austin Police Department, in particular, can save taxp...
Grits for Breakfast - 4:04 a.m. - 2 clicks
I'm on the road for most of the day today, so use this as an open thread while I'm gone to tell me what's on your mind. In particular, I'm interested to know: How, if at all, might the hot and heavy Speaker's race in the Texas House affect criminal justice policy and politics in the 2009 legislative session? Given lean budget times, how likely is the proposed half-billion dollar, 20% raise fo...
Grits for Breakfast - 4:04 a.m. - 2 clicks
Via the AAS, Democratic Party’s campaign office in Round Rock gets made permanent. Bolstered by improved showings in the November elections, the county’s Democratic Party will keep its Round Rock office open permanently. The office, at 110 N. Interstate 35, was opened for the 2008 campaign and will be used to focus on the 2010 campaign, said [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Wed 10:21 p.m. - 3 clicks
The Healthy Women, Healthy Families Coalition held its first regional community forum last night, an event designed to highlight the inadequacy of health care for women in Texas and how that affects our families and communities. The forum featured Texas Representative Donna Howard (HD 48), who spoke on women's health care and how to effectively approach those who represent you in government....
Texas Kaos - Wed 9:08 p.m.
The following is the first installment of a Left of College Station series: The Issues We Face, an in depth look at the issues that progressive activist will face in the coming year and the coming 111th Congress and 81st Texas Legislature. Reproductive rights will continue to be an important issue and the public debate may intensify in the next year, despite electing a pro-choice President, havin...
Texas Kaos - Wed 9:08 p.m.
From the Dallas Morning News : A Dallas judges civil court ruling raises questions about millions of dollars in fines collected from Texas motorists caught on camera running red lights....
WhosPlayin? - Wed 8:10 p.m. - 5 clicks
At Monday night's Lewisville City Council meeting, the council voted 3/2 to approve a resolution asking the Texas Legislature to give cities more authority to regulate some aspects of intrastate midstream gas pipelines. [Full Text of Resolution] ...
WhosPlayin? - Wed 6:32 p.m. - 6 clicks
Texas state District Judge Craig Smith says the companies that actually monitor the red-light cameras in Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Dallas and other cities around the Metroplex, have no legal right to do so . The judge's ruling against Redflex Traffic Systems and American Traffic Solutions have led to federal class-action lawsuits against both. There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 4:50 p.m. - 7 clicks
» DMN: Poll's shocking SOS for Texas GOP (Rod Dreher) The full report, which will be released today, knocks the legs out from under two principles cherished by the party's grassroots: staunch social conservatism and hard-line immigration policies. At the state level, few voters care much about abortion, school prayer and other hot-button issues. Immigration is the only conservative sta...
Greg's Opinion - Wed 4:00 p.m. - 5 clicks
The suburbs of today sure do seem to want a whole lotta rail service . Here's the design of what local officials are hoping for. The black lines are already in operation. The rest ... well, that depends on the lege. The overall plan outline is also worth further investigation. We've been through some iteration of what might be a concern - fast-tracking residents from urban workplaces ...
Greg's Opinion - Wed 3:26 p.m. - 2 clicks
His Citi job description , to the tune of $115 million, will, in hindsight, certainly be the exact same job description as an Obama economic policy advisor. To this day, he appears unable to say what exactly he did for the $115 million that he took out of Citi. "I think I've been a very constructive part of the Citigroup environment," he recently told the Journal, in defense of his tenure. Try ...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 2:51 p.m. - 4 clicks
Unfortunately, Shrub and Laura Bush are moving to Dallas after Jan. 20. Maybe we can build Bush’s 50-foot border fence around Highland Park. If they get hungry in there, we’ll throw Uncle Fester Cheney over the wall. There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Wed 2:51 p.m. - 4 clicks
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick’s problems just keep adding up now it’s an ethics complaint, Pay for speaker’s daughter violates law. In essence Craddick is paying his dependent daughter from campaign funds, which is illegal. The key is his “dependent” daughter. A Democratic activist filed a complaint Tuesday accusing House Speaker Tom Craddick of [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Wed 2:51 p.m. - 6 clicks
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison isn't officially a candidate for the Governor's race yet, but you wouldn't know it by the tone of some of the barbs being swapped by Senator Hutchison's camp and Governor Perry's camp. Feast on this juicy exchange from the Houston Chronicle : Perry's press secretary, Mark Miner, referred to Hutchison as "Kay Bailout" in an Oct. 25 story about a poll done for the...
The Texas Blue - Wed 2:24 p.m. - 4 clicks
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured families in the nation. Texas Has Highest Rate of Uninsured Texas had the highest percentage of uninsured residents under the age of 65, with 26.3% of the population lacking health coverage... Texas leads the nation in uninsured children with 1.4 million. But Tom Craddick's 37 year old daughter isn't one of those uninsured because she gets insurance provi...
Texas Kaos - Wed 9:45 a.m. - 4 clicks
It is time to begin the process to select the Texas Progressive Alliance's Fourth Annual "TEXAN OF THE YEAR." I'd like to get ideas for TK's nominees from the community, so please feel free to chime in. Here is our timeline, which is brisk, so jump to it. December 3-December 7, 2008: Initial Nomination Period. DECEMBER 8-13: A tally of all nominations will be released December 15-19: F...
Texas Kaos - Wed 9:45 a.m. - 2 clicks
Texas Governor : The GOP primary between Incumbent Governor Mofo and Senator Perjury-is-a-Technicality is officially under way : From the Wall Street bailout bill to helping the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Ike, it seems the federal government can do nothing right in the eyes of Gov. Rick Perry. The latest shot came Tuesday, when Perry accused federal environmental protection officials o...
Brains and Eggs - Wed 9:20 a.m. - 9 clicks
Are thousands of tickets given to Texas because of red light cameras invalid because vendors weren't properly licensed? A federal judge recently said "Yes," and that should be cause for alarm for cities who're already gleefully spending red light camera income and now may have to give it back. According to KFDA-TV in Dallas , "A District Court Judge agrees with [the plaintiffs in a federal lawsu...
Grits for Breakfast - Wed 8:28 a.m. - 3 clicks
Texans were outraged recently when death row inmates were found in possession of smuggled cell phones, chargers, and related equipment - including one used to call and threaten a prominent state senator - but it could be worse: In Kenya, they recently found a death row inmate with a contraband laptop and modem allowing internet access which he used to perpetrate "an elaborate scam" in the outsid...
Grits for Breakfast - Wed 8:28 a.m. - 6 clicks
Prof. Alexandra Natapoff argues that widespread use of confidential informants (a.k.a., "snitches") may actually increase crime overall because the tactic encourages police to tolerate crime instead of enforcing the law . That issue was raised this week by an El Paso court case in which a jury just returned RICO convictions for a half-dozen members of the Barrio Azteca gang, providing a ra...
Grits for Breakfast - Wed 8:28 a.m. - 2 clicks
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured families in the nation, but Tom Craddick's 37 year old daughter isn't one of those uninsured because she gets insurance provided by taxpayers as a dependent child of an elected official. Oh WAIT! Craddick also paid her a "salary" of $625,000 from campaign funds. If that made you go, "WTF?" don't feel alone. Read about it at Who's Playin' . Tom Craddic...
Bluedaze - Wed 8:28 a.m. - 6 clicks
The Texas Progressive Alliance (of which this blog is a member) is taking nominations for Texan of the Year for 2008. If you have any ideas, please submit a comment, or email webmaster@whosplayin.com. ...
WhosPlayin? - Wed 6:51 a.m. - 6 clicks
As we reported back in May , Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) has paid his daughter $625,000 in "salary" from his campaign account, while simultaneously claiming the 37 year old as his dependent to receive state-paid health insurance....
WhosPlayin? - Tue 9:45 p.m. - 6 clicks
» Video preview of the Trinity-Allen game, with commentary from Plano's head coach. He's not suggesting it's a dead-cinch lock, but he's liking the Trojans from the sound of it. I'm as cautiously optimistic as I think is humanly possible. » Rockwall-Heath's star RB is done for the season , it seems. Sucks to see that, but obviously my primary interest there is how long the season con...
Greg's Opinion - Tue 9:44 p.m. - 6 clicks
Two stories of note in the world of gOd today. First, a San Antonio woman claimed God told her to cause a wreck . Guess you need to go to gOd's garage for car repairs, lady. Second, Rev. George M. Docherty, responsible for "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, has died. Here's why he inflicted that on us, from a 1952 sermon. “I didn’t know that the Pledge of Allegiance was, and he recit...
SocraticGadfly - Tue 8:28 p.m. - 4 clicks
Think HYBRIDS Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Dallas Area Rapid Transit board members pushing natural gas buses as “clean” are wrong . So, too, though, are other DART board members, and Dallas City Council members who say the answer is staying with straight-up diesel buses. The correct answer? Hybrid buses , of which GM is the world’s top maker. Yes, THAT GM, the company that won’t build a...
SocraticGadfly - Tue 8:28 p.m. - 3 clicks
The AP has called the Georgia Senate race for incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss, currently standing at 59/41 with 84% of precincts reporting. Lower-than-average voter turnout in Fulton County along with comparatively strong Republican turnout across the board seems to have been the determining factor in Chambliss' victory. ...
The Texas Blue - Tue 7:43 p.m. - 5 clicks
See below (Texas as, etc.) Should have quoted the source but I suspect you already figured it out - The Amarillo Globe Republican. Liberalator ...
Panhandle Truth Squad - Tue 6:21 p.m. - 4 clicks
Last Sunday (11/30) Tom Paukin, genius former republican party chairman, quoted the Wall Street Journal which said that other states should "be more like Texas" as an economic model. I quickly pulled up a list giving Texas rankings (a little dated, but still close to accurate), and wanted to mention just a few from about thirty scores: Texas teachers' salaries, 38th of 50; high school completion ...
Panhandle Truth Squad - Tue 5:50 p.m. - 5 clicks
It comes as no surprise that at last night’s Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) board meeting the board agreed to a “financial marriage” with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), which operates the 183A toll road in Williamson County, to make a 6.2 mile stretch of 290E a toll road. Via Ben Wear, [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Tue 4:43 p.m. - 7 clicks
I stopped following the red light camera issue closely on Grits after I left ACLU of Texas, primarily because nobody was paying me to track the topic, which involves a lot of local fights and bitter back-room legislative controversies among hardball-playing, money grubbing combatants. But I've followed the issue enough in the past to be surprised when a reader sent me the link to a Houston Chroni...
Grits for Breakfast - Tue 3:42 p.m. - 7 clicks
Wanted to pass on the info for this event at the UU Church: HOPE RISES FROM THE ASHES OF MY LAI Free Public Presentation and Video Friday December 5, 2008 First Unitarian Universalist Church at 7:00PM Who: Mike Boehm of the Madison Quakers, Inc Where: The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Lubbock 2801 42nd Street 806-799-1617 When: Friday December 5 at 7:00 PM What: [...]...
Lubbock Left - Tue 3:30 p.m. - 8 clicks
Carter is the Cowboys. Why do they have Lady Cowboys instead of Cowgirls? Bishop Lynch is the Friars. Why do they have the Lady Friars instead of, say, the Nuns? Doubly so since in Catholicism, women can’t become friars? There is no god and I am his prophet. ...
SocraticGadfly - Tue 11:10 a.m. - 3 clicks
Back in the day, many jailers in small Texas towns actually lived in the jail with their families. The Wichita Falls Times Record News has a feature about a Clay County Justice of the Peace whose family was the last to live in the jail when he was a Clay County deputy in 1971 (" Justice recalls life in 1890 jail home ," Dec. 1): [Jim] Humphrey joined the [Clay County Sheriff's] department in Octo...
Grits for Breakfast - Tue 11:09 a.m. - 2 clicks
The Brownsville Herald on Sunday ran a feature profiling Willacy County DA Juan Angel Guerra (" Guerra bucks the odds ," Nov. 30) and his much-ballyhooed prosecution of a private prison company for murder, including indictments of sitting Vice President Dick Cheney and former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Because Willacy County politics is a complete zoo, sometimes literally , I avoid th...
Grits for Breakfast - Tue 9:21 a.m. - 3 clicks
While there will be many lessons taken from this past election there was a very illuminating part, as to why the GOP’s troubles in Texas continue to mount. Paul Burka’s post yesterday, The Speaker’s Race: Shock and Awful, highlighted why the GOP has been losing seats in the Texas House. It’s Tom Craddick’s top-down, nepotistic, [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Tue 9:21 a.m. - 6 clicks
Charlie Kuffner has the numbers and Paul Burka has the gossip regarding Tom Craddick's tide seemingly going out again. Let's sample a bit from each; first Kuff: I point all this out, apparently just as the arm-twisting efforts on Craddick's behalf are being ramped up, so that the next time you hear a Craddick acolyte, like Rep. Will Hartnett or Burnet County Republican Linda Rogers, preside...
Brains and Eggs - Tue 7:05 a.m. - 4 clicks
National Geographic Come to think of it, I wonder if I've been seeing Jupiter and and Venus the last few nights in the southwest. After dark, I've seen what looked like 2 airplane lights lined up almost exactly over each other off in the distance and couldn't figure out what it was. What with all the talk of UFOS around here for the last year or two, I stared at them for awhlie to see if they ...
Somervell County Salon - Mon 7:27 p.m. - 3 clicks
I'm delighted to announce that Liberal Texan, proprietor of Left of College Station blog, is joining us on the TK Front Page staff. LT is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and currently student at Blinn College, and is active in Democratic politics as a precinct chair and as a volunteer escort for Planned Parenthood. Here's how he describes his political philosphy: I am a Liberal, I am not a progress...
Texas Kaos - Mon 7:26 p.m. - 5 clicks
Now that the turkey has been eaten and your holiday decorations are up--or at least out of the garage--it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up. The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the large donors from DFW who supported Prop 8. Over $335,000 went to California from 59 individuals. Time to consider the DFW Black List! John Coby at Bay Area Houston is giving ...
Texas Kaos - Mon 7:26 p.m. - 8 clicks
Three bills, filed by Sen. Robert Nichols (R) and Rep Brandon Creighton (R) will place tougher restrictions on class II commercial injection wells to protect our precious groundwater from toxic oil and gas drilling waste. Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe writes in her article, Bills outline gas drilling restrictions: ...Texas has nearly 78,000 injection wells, including about 50,000 of the nation's 144,000 ...
Texas Kaos - Mon 7:26 p.m. - 5 clicks
There's a lot of good reading in this Houston Chronicle article that discusses Houston Mayor Bill White's hypothetical chances of running for Governor in 2010 and what kind of odds he would face. Overall, it's a really good rundown of the lay of the land interwoven with some conventional wisdom from both sides of the aisle. ...
The Texas Blue - Mon 5:45 p.m. - 7 clicks
The Houston Chronicle provides an interesting analysis of why Governor Rick Perry has been loudly complaining about the federal government : he's trying to preemptively weaken any gubernatorial run by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Many political observers believe Perry's harsh rhetoric is designed to position the governor in his bid for an unprecedented, third four-year term in 2010. The target ...
The Texas Blue - Mon 5:45 p.m. - 9 clicks
Three bills, filed by Sen. Robert Nichols (R) and Rep Brandon Creighton (R) will place tougher restrictions on class II commercial injection wells to protect our precious groundwater from toxic oil and gas drilling waste. Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe writes in her article, Bills outline gas drilling restrictions: …Texas has nearly 78,000 injection wells, including about 50,000 of the nation’s 144,000...
Bluedaze - Mon 5:45 p.m. - 7 clicks
While I'm focused elsewhere today, let me point readers to several stories I'd blog about in more detail if I had more time: Creative sentencing The Rockwall Herald Banner recently published a column by a local attorney on creative sentencing practices, their benefits and limits. Gone to the dogs The Houston Chronicle has a feature on dogfighting and a new PR campaign by the Houston P...
Grits for Breakfast - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 4 clicks
Not all prison gangs are created equal. Tanya Eiserer at the Dallas News had a feature yesterday (" Texas Tango Blast gang draws kids with tattoos, loose affiliation rules ," Nov. 30) focusing on the rise of the Tango Blast, an alternative to hard-core prison gangs created by Texas prisoners for self-protection which has now become well established and is much larger than traditional "security th...
Grits for Breakfast - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 7 clicks
A next-to-final note on college football this season: C-USA ... Houston will watch two teams ( nationally ranked until losing to UH ) it defeated by a combined 111-54 play for the conference championship. Big XII ... Texas will watch two teams it defeated by a combined 101-67 play for the conference championship. It's not my style to greive over T-sip hardships. But what's confounding about...
Greg's Opinion - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 4 clicks
A great column in the HChron today from Clay Robison on some interesting dynamics in the Texas Senate this session as the ambitions of the Senators and Lt. Gov play out, State politics are all about anticipation. Those are a lot of what-ifs, but take the anticipation out of politics, and you lose much of the [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 5 clicks
Now that the turkey has been eaten and your holiday decorations are up–or at least out of the garage–it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly round-up. The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the large donors from DFW who supported Prop 8. Over $335,000 went to California from 59 individuals. Time to consider [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 7 clicks
TxDOT is trying to rationalize their public relations spending amidst all the problems they are having, TxDOT spends $10.5 million to inform public. When state lawmakers expressed surprise at the size of the Texas Department of Transportation’s government relations and public affairs operation, they didn’t know the half of it. The heft of TxDOT’s Government and Public [...]...
Eye On Williamson County - Mon 1:41 p.m. - 5 clicks
The beef by the parents , who aren't listed in the Texas sex offender system, is that they believe having their license scanned and held by a private company, Raptor Systems violates their constitutional rights. The Meadowses say the computerized checks violate their constitutional rights, including freedom to associate with their children at school and freedom from unreasonabl...
Somervell County Salon - Mon 12:29 p.m. - 4 clicks
Turkey has been eaten, holiday decorations are up -- or at least out of the garage -- and it's time for the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up. The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the large donors from DFW who supported Prop 8. Over $335,000 went to California from 59 individuals. Time to consider the DFW Black List! John Coby at Bay Area Houston is giving thanks to the GOP . j...
Brains and Eggs - Mon 10:23 a.m. - 4 clicks
I've cracked wise before at the notion that Texas has labeled 2,324 separate acts "felonies" in state law, including eleven involving oysters . Tack on perhaps 3-4,000 more misdemeanors and countless municipal ordinances and county regulations and we really are living in a bizarre period characterized by a phenomenon I've labeled "overcriminalization" - using the law enforcement machinery of th...
Grits for Breakfast - Sun 7:04 p.m. - 6 clicks
