Progress Texas Podcasts

After a 9-0 unanimous loss at SCOTUS in a property rights dispute for Texas, Ken Paxton curiously claims it was actually a win: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4600506-lawyers-for-texas-rancher-blast-paxtons-claim-of-supreme-court-win/

Recent Biden administration expansion of debt cancellation will benefit almost 217,000 Texans to the tune of $9.5 billion (with a B): https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Texas-4.12.pdf

...While Harris County officials announce a multi-million dollar investment in new job apprenticeships in a win for local and state unions: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-county-follows-biden%E2%80%99s-bold-investment-union-apprenticeships

49 Texas water utilities have been found short of new standards for "forever chemicals" from the EPA: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-public-water-systems-epa-limit/

...While little old Muleshoe, Texas comes under suspected Russian cyber attack upon its water system: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/russia-hacking-group-suspected-texas-water-cyberattack/index.html

Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic on Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

A new poll shows Ted Cruz leading Colin Allred by less than the percentage of undecided voters: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-poll-cruz-allred-trump-biden-race/285-bcc3a200-0d18-448d-ba7a-90e8fa4996dd

Texas Republican Congressmen Michael McCaul and August Pfluger are among the GOP gang who delivered the futile and stupid impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/michael-mccaul-august-pfluger-mayorkas-impeachment/

Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare told Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Black woman, to "sit there and be quiet" during a partisan exchange at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court yesterday: https://www.keranews.org/government/2024-04-16/you-sit-there-and-be-quiet-tarrant-commissioners-argue-over-county-judges-contract-employee

Increasing heat is coupling with ever-building energy demand to erase the springtime power draw lulls that ERCOT still unrealistically wants to use for grid maintenence: https://www.marketplace.org/2024/04/16/texas-electric-grid-is-feeling-the-strain-and-its-not-even-all-that-hot-yet/

Freeport LNG is levied an embarrassingly small fine for years of emissions violations at its Quintana plant: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-regulators-fine-freeport-lng-environmental-breaches-2024-04-17/

Early voting in the municipal elections of new oversight positions with county tax apprasial districts starts Monday! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections

Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that protest organizers are liable for the actions of attendees, undermining the First Amendment right of gathering and demonstration: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-right-to-protest-19403818.php

...While video of the death of another unarmed Black man while being restrained by police in Texas is released: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/kenneth-knotts-body-cam-footage-19395426.php

The Texas Health And Human Services Commission is found to be in contempt of federal court over its failure to follow up on claims of abuse and neglect by children in our foster care system: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/15/texas-foster-care-federal-judge-fine-contempt/

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is hoping the Republican "Contract On Texas" will pave the way for the elimination of property taxes (and the destruction of public schools) in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-property-tax-elimination-schools-19399995.php

Colin Allred is now outpacing even Beto O'Rourke's impressive fundraising numbers from 2018: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/15/colin-allred-beto-orourke-ted-cruz-fundraising/

Those billions of federal dollars coming to Texas via a massive investment in Samsung, explained: https://thehill.com/business/4594523-biden-administration-samsung-texas-chips-act/?email=467cb6399cb7df64551775e431052b43a775c749&emaila=12a6d4d069cd56cfddaa391c24eb7042&emailb=054528e7403871c79f668e49dd3c44b1ec00c7f611bf9388f76bb2324d6ca5f3&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04.15.24%20Tech

Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Not only is it Tax Day here in mid-April, but we've also already started getting warnings of power failures from ERCOT: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-12/texas-warns-of-possible-power-emergency-next-week

Hard right GOP Texas House lawmakers have written up a Contract On Texas, which would allow them to push through their most radical agenda items with little resistance: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-contract-with-texas-aims-to-push-house-further-right/

...Part of which is threatening people who seek abortion care with the death penalty: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-gop-preach-morals-abortion-142543561.html

Red states across America are hard at work putting together copycat anti-migrant laws based upon SB-4: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/14/us/texas-immigration-law-iowa-other-us-states-cec/index.html

...Could the collective harrassment threatened by SB-4 build voting unity among Texas Latinos? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/texas-immigration-law-latino-voters/678063/

...Louisiana soldiers sent in to help with Operation Lone Star have largely been sitting around doing nothing: https://www.nola.com/news/politics/national_politics/louisiana-soldiers-on-mexico-border/article_a0122d24-f930-11ee-86dd-47dfc542a907.html

Ken Paxton's effort to crack down on Media Matters for negative reporting on Elon Musk's X has been defeated in court: https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-deals-blow-to-texas-ags-retaliatory-probe-of-media-matters-for-america

GOP slimeballs Jonathan Stickland and Matt Rinaldi have formed a new right-wing action group called "Ratmaster Holdings LLC": https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/12/jonathan-stickland-matt-rinaldi-white-supremacy-scandal/

Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Learn more about this new rule here: https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/04/13/bidens-bulls-eye-on-gun-loophole-background-checks-are-needed-on-every-weapon-sale/

Learn more about Texas Gun Sense (and RSVP for the April 20th picnic in Austin!): https://txgunsense.org/

Thanks for listening! Learn more about what Progress Texas does, and how you can join the fight too, at https://progresstexas.org/.

Those "I'm In Control" pro-adoption billboards are not only misleading about the realities of adoption as an abortion alternative - they're also being paid for by YOUR tax dollars: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/misleading-ads-no-remedy-cruelty-texas-abortion-19324750.php

...While San Antonio officials argue over whether to use their Reproductive Justice Fund to pay for out-of-state travel for abortion care seekers: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-04-11/majority-of-san-antonio-city-council-supports-using-tax-dollars-for-out-of-state-abortion-travel

...And the Black reproductive health non-profit the Afiya Center highlights Colorado as its top choice for abortion care travel, due to that state's high standards of safety: https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/texas-nonprofit-calls-colorados-abortion-access-lifesaving/73-427eac86-3103-495f-8e93-ba260aa64ca0

So, is Ted Cruz's clandestine payoff from his podcast illegal? https://www.texasobserver.org/ted-cruz-podcast-payoff-fec-complaint/

...Don't count on the Federal Elections Commission to be much of a problem for Cruz, as its current Trump-appointed chair is a MAGA diehard: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/head-of-commission-hearing-complaint-against-ted-cruz-once-worked-for-the-senator-34271983

Senator John Cornyn, having learned his lesson after crossing Texas gun nuts after the Uvalde shooting, is pledging to block new Biden admistration regulations on the "gun show loophole": https://www.chron.com/politics/article/john-cornyn-gun-reform-texas-19397377.php

Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Learn more about Dick Lavine at https://www.dicklavinefortcad.com/, and learn more about Kendall Scudder at https://www.kendallscudder.com/.

Thanks for listening! Learn about all the groovy ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.

Two advocacy groups have asked the Federal Election Commission to look into Ted Cruz's podcast income, which may have been sent to a PAC supporting his re-election illegally: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/ted-cruz-podcast-campaign-finance-complaint/

The Texas Education Agency is planning to replace up to $20 million in human labor in STAAR Test scoring with AI: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/09/staar-artificial-intelligence-computer-grading-texas/

TODAY AT 11AM - Join Progress Texas and the Trade Justice Education Fund to rally against an oil polluter who is challenging a decision made in Quebec, Canada against a new LNG terminal: https://tradejusticeedfund.org/events/texas-rally-against-ruby-rivers-isds-attack-on-climate-action/

A lawsuit by three Black Texas DPS troopers, accusing the agency of racial discrimination, can move forward this summer: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/black-troopers-discrimination-lawsuit-19396537.php

A Louisiana gun company, hired by multiple North Texas law enforcement agencies to destroy unwanted guns, has instead been stripping them for parts, which are then sold online: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/i-team-guns-sent-off-by-texas-police-departments-to-be-destroyed-were-stripped-of-parts-and-sold-online/

Solar energy deployment in Texas continues to lead the nation and is now closing in on natural gas as the most sensible source and solution: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/04/09/solar-is-beginning-to-sunset-natural-gas-use-in-texas/

...It's already a major component of the overall electical supply during daylight hours: https://cleantechnica.com/2024/04/09/texas-solar-power-growth-changing-the-shape-of-daily-electricity-supply-in-ercot/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

With new developments in Arizona against reproductive freedom, now's the time for Texas abortion rights advocates to redouble our efforts: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/immigration-abortion-texas-greg-abbott-migrant-border-crisis-stunts.html

H-E-B stores are stocking a new over-the-counter birth control medication: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/opill-birth-control-heb-19381763.php

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is calling for more pastors to run for elected office in Texas: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/dan-patrick-ed-young-19392259.php

A new book examines the outsized political influence of angry White rural voters: https://www.alternet.org/angry-white-rage/

Younger Texans are still not being engaged to vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/10/texas-high-school-voter-registration/

Progress Texas joins the Texas Muslim community in celebrating Eid al-fitr: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-unity-embracing-eid

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Yesterday's historic eclipse reminds us how far solar power infrastructure has come in Texas: https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/eclipse-overshadows-texas-solar-power-strength-2024-04-08/

A group of nine Houston-area state lawmakers are calling for a public hearing about potential violations of state law by Houstpn ISD, still under TEA control: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/texas-hisd-violations-19391789.php

Hundreds of Texas seniors have recently been overcharged on their Social Security checks by a Texas Health and Human Services Commission clerical error: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-seniors-error-medicare-coverage-benefits-1888195

Texas mom Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died due to the denial of essential abortion care by state law, is featured in a new Biden campaign ad: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4582134-new-biden-campaign-ad-blames-trump-for-near-death-of-texas-woman-who-was-denied-abortion/

...While the Biden administration dedicates another $6 billion to Samsung for microchip plant development in Taylor, Texas: https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-get-6-7-billion-chip-subsidy-next-week-texas-expansion-sources-say-2024-04-08/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Eagle Pass is missing out on a huge, rare windfall with Operation Lone Star occupying Shelby Park, where a big eclipse festival had been planned: https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-already-managed-to-screw-up-the-eclipse

A video of Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine went viral over the weekend in which he pushes election fraud misinformation: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/05/texas-supreme-court-justice-john-devine-2024-election/

...A great moment to revisit Find Out PAC, who are looking to unseat Devine and two other justices this fall: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abortion-texas-supreme-court-19385442.php

...We featured Find Out PAC on the Progress Texas Happy Hour earlier this year: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-144-find-out-pac-targets-texas-supreme-courts-jimmy-john-and-jane

A university professors association has protested the firing of 60 University of Texas employees who had worked for UT's DEI programs: https://apnews.com/article/university-texas-diversity-equity-inclusion-ban-6535e157c65555c8fca08a878566c151

A Republican group backing American support of Ukraine has published a scorecard that reveals a large group of Texas lawmakers who score an F in opposing Vladimir Putin: https://gopforukraine.com/ukraine-report-card/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

At a speaking event at the University of Texas yesterday, Republican and former House Speaker Joe Straus confirms that oil billionaire Tim Dunn told him during a 2010 meeting of his opinion that only Christians should hold positions of leadership in the Texas Legislature: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/04/tim-dunn-joe-straus-christian-texas/

...New details of UT's mass-firing of former DEI employees this week: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/05/dei-ban-university-of-texas-sb-17/73206765007/

...Signs of discontent among the UT student body are literally popping up: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/not-our-texas-notes-placed-near-ut-campus-appear-to-protest-dei-law-firings/

...Link to the "Not Our Texas" Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/notourtexas/?img_index=1

Ken Paxton insists that the press got Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielsen's view that Texas may have "gone too far" on SB-4: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ken-paxton-sb4-immigration-19385168.php

The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation has dodged paying property taxes on its luxury Capitol-area digs for the last decade: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-public-policy-foundation-property-taxes/

Austin listeners: mark April 20th for the first Advocate Spring Picnic to be hosted by Texas Gun Sense in central Austin: https://tinyurl.com/yc6jsacj

Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Follow the adventures of Lauren Ashley Simmons at https://www.laurenashleysimmons.com/.

Thanks for listening! Learn more about all the great stuff Progress Texas does and how to support our work in this all-important election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Colin Allred on The Daily Show this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtnYzqWtIKE

After yesterday's hearing at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, SB-4 remains blocked for now: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/crime/texas-controversial-immigration-law-remains-on-hold-shelved-by-3-judge-panel/ar-BB1l1WlU

...Meanwhile a Texas National Guard soldier has been arrested on human trafficking charges: https://abc13.com/texas-national-guard-soldier-arrested-savion-johnson-human-smuggling-us-mexico-border/14613422/

A pair of Denton ISD administrators have been indicted on charges of illegal electioneering: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/texas-school-district-employees-indicted-in-alleged-illegal-electioneering-scheme-denton-isd-attorney-general-ken-paxton-jesus-and-lindsay-lujan-republican-primary-gop-voting-elections-crisis-in-the-classroom

Uvalde's brand new mayor has quit, just ahead of a planned City Council vote on a new report clearing the officers who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting of wrongdoing: https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/uvalde-mayor-cody-smith-resigns-rcna146088

...The author of that report, a former Austin Police Department detective, himself has no active shooter training: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lead-investigator-in-uvalde-police-probe-had-no-active-shooter-training-report_n_660d68dfe4b083254eaa817c

GOP subcommitte chairs have announced a "field hearing" in Port Arthur next week that will likely amount to a MAGA rally for oil and gas interests: https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairs-rodgers-and-duncan-announce-field-hearing-in-port-arthur-on-biden-s-lng-export-ban

Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

SB-4 will see a hearing at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today, with a focus on its constitutionality: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1242451969/a-controversial-immigration-law-will-be-back-in-court-in-texas

...While the Southern Poverty Law Center discovers that Operation Lone Star has been paying a Texas hate group millions of dollars to bus migrants northward in terrible conditions: https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/04/02/texas-company-paid-extremist-group-20-million-operation-lone-star-busing

...A Dallas education reformer (and Republican primary voter) points out inconsistencies between conservative hate for migrants and the vital role they play in our economy: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/04/03/we-need-texas-republicans-to-rescue-our-workforce/

...Bloomberg has published a solid video essay on the Texas border drama and where it's headed next: https://youtu.be/S7ewfWcFHpU?si=JCRjaXhvxCj9lMfE

The University of Texas at Austin has drastically stepped up its DEI dismantling efforts, suddenly firing about 60 related employees: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-04-02/ut-austin-dei-diversity-law-sb-17

...UT students are pissed and organizing: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/texas-employees-fired-dei-ban-at-ut-austin/269-fc37c6cc-79fe-43d2-81fd-5daab6baa27f

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will be in the Dallas area tomorrow to celebrate infrastructure improvements designed to erase prior cultural and community barriers: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/pete-buttigieg-visit-dallas-thursday-highlight-north-texas-highway-projects/287-20e721ec-51da-4ea8-93ea-9ab849cae674

Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Colin Allred trails Ted Cruz in some polls, but has beaten the odds against established Republicans before: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2024/03/qa-senate-hopeful-colin-allred-says-november-election-is-larger-than-our-own-problems/

...Allred highlights Ted Cruz's lockstep support for Texas' abortion ban and the potential for a national ban: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/-that-s-not-freedom-allred-hits-ted-cruz-s-extreme-abortion-record-208121413883

...Watchdog groups are noticing a potentially over-cozy relationship with iHeartMedia, a registered lobbyist: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ted-cruz-podcast-payment/

PT's Hiba Faruqi writes on the current and future state of Texas' intense climate crisis: https://progresstexas.org/texas-climate-crisis-rising-temperatures-threaten-homes-and-health

..While future monster hurricanes are already driving homeowner insurance rates skyward: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/hurricane-texas-climate-economy-insurance-19371487.php

That bird flu case in Texas? There's good news and bad news: https://www.vox.com/health/24118152/explain-it-to-me-bird-flu-human-case-texas-chickens-cows-animal-agriculture

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

The chief judge of the Northern District of Texas says his court will not follow new rules from the Judicial Conference designed to curb "judge shopping": https://www.commondreams.org/news/judge-shopping-texas

A Starr County woman has sued the Starr County prosecutor's office over false murder charges they pressed upon her over a self-induced abortion in 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/30/us/texas-abortion-murder-charge-lawsuit.html

Severe emotional trauma for an East Texas family whose matriarch was forced to carry a baby with a fatal brain anomaly to term by Texas' draconian abortion limits: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/03/health/texas-abortion-law-mother-cnnphotos/

A Rockwall Southern Baptist Convention pastor is under fire over a misogynistic joke he told at Lakepointe Church recently: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-sbc-pastor-marriage-joke-19376274.php

Our state's own data shows that immigrants are less likely to commit homicide than citizens: https://www.latintimes.com/how-us-media-coverage-contributes-polarization-immigration-debate-across-country-552552

Seeking to solidify gains among Latino voters in Texas, a group of Hispanic GOP lawmakers has founded a new caucus: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-hispanic-republicans-19375625.php

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

On Good Friday, we join reminders to President Biden of his campaign pledge to end capital punishment in America: https://www.newsweek.com/president-biden-should-follow-through-ending-death-penalty-opinion-1883271

On Easter Sunday, we also observe this year's Trans Day Of Visibility, and encourage a renewal of kindness and protection for that valued segment of our Texas family: https://glaad.org/tdov/

Fort Worth grandmother Crystal Mason, sentenced to five years for voting in the 2016 election while banned from doing so, has had her five-year prison sentence thrown out: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/28/crystal-mason-texas-woman-acquitted

...The ACLU of Texas has been in Mason's corner all along: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/texas-second-court-of-appeals-reverses-crystal-masons-conviction-in-major-voting-rights-victory

...While Ken Paxton is targenting several school districts across the state for daring to encourage people to vote: https://progresstexas.org/blog/ag-ken-paxton-sues-isds-encouraged-voting

A California urologist points out the danger pregnant people in Texas face every day by refusing to travel here while pregnant: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-03-28/urologist-refuses-to-come-to-san-antonio-for-annual-conference-because-of-texas-abortion-laws

H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt is the latest relatively-conservative but also generally normal public figure targeted by Texas Republicans for being insufficiently nutty: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-gop-heb-chairman-charles-butt/

Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett is featured on the latest episode of Pod Save America: https://crooked.com/podcast/a-tale-of-two-campaigns/

Temps are expected to hit 100 about two weeks ahead of "normal" along the Rio Grande Valley over the holiday weekend: https://www.expressnews.com/san-antonio-weather/forecast/article/triple-digit-texas-early-next-week-19373899.php

Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire

Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out. https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

A Christian Nationalist group, with support from current elected officials, calls for women who have sought abortion care to be charged with murder: https://twitter.com/MrsAMartini/status/1773160427981070620?t=KYb98_RSF5BTJKpKpBe0pw&s=19

Rep, James Talarico's talk on Christian Nationalism: https://youtu.be/Blph_2RSBno?feature=shared

Governor Abbott has issued an executive order equating pro-Palestinian protest with anti-semitism, ordering Texas universities to crack down: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abbott-antisemitism-texas-colleges-19371821.php

...While students at UT find the new lack of DEI support discouraging: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/28/us/university-of-texas-austin-anti-dei-law/index.html

...And in incredible timing, a new right-wing institute has opened at UT: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-03-27/right-wing-funded-civitas-institute-is-almost-up-and-running-at-ut-austin/

In a small win for capital punishment opponents, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has re-sentenced an intellectually-disabled death row inmate to life in prison: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/27/randall-mays-death-penalty-intellectual-disability/

As Women's History Month winds down, check out a great talk with the longest-standing members of both the Texas Senate and the Texas House, both of whom are women: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-149-womens-history-month-with-sen-judith/id1552998795?i=1000650551946

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

As expected, felony securities fraud charges delayed by a decade for Ken Paxton were dropped in a deal with prosecutors yesterday - but why? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-fraud-deal-19369122.php

...But our AG's legal troubles are far from over: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/ken-paxton-legal-battles/269-ceefcfd0-3ebb-4cff-8bf5-b7e5b7030ce7

...Still, we learn yet again that justice is not equal in Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/27/this-is-ken-paxtons-texas/

...PT Advocacy Fellow Tatum Owens weighs in: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-paxton-deal-joke%E2%80%99s-texas

SCOTUS judges considering the Texas case against mifepristone seemed pretty skeptical of the argument against the abortion medication yesterday: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-03-26/supreme-court-argument-abortion-pills-justices-skeptical

...While the nation's highest court may consider a case challenging a Texas law that only allows older voters full access to voting by mail: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/supreme-court-texas-mail-in-voting-case.html

Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls of the southern Houston suburbs is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4557719-texas-republican-under-investigation-by-house-ethics-committee/

As Women's History Month winds down, check out a great talk with the longest-standing members of both the Texas Senate and the Texas House, both of whom are women: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-149-womens-history-month-with-sen-judith/id1552998795?i=1000650551946

Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Find Senator Judith Zaffirini at https://judithzaffirini.com/.

Find Representative Senfronia Thompson at https://senfroniathompson.com/.

Thanks for listening! Find our awesome web store and all the great stuff we do - and ways to help us keep doing it - at https://progresstexas.org/.

The public comment period has begun on the Texas Medical Board and their timidity on specifics regarding abortion ban exceptions in Texas - make your voice heard here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/protect-abortion-rights-provide-public-comment-texas-medical-board

More from the Center for Reproductive Rights: https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1771262245562945696

Ken Paxon appears set to sign a deal allowing him to escape prosecution on nine-year-old felony securities fraud charges today: https://abc13.com/ken-paxton-securities-fraud-texas-attorney-general-to-reach-deal-dismissing-charges/14570216/

Paxton's attempts to gain the records of PFLAG National on how they've helped transgender kids with medical care have hit a legal block, for now: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/25/texas-judge-blocks-ag-paxton-demands-gender-affirming-care-records-transgender-minors-privacy/73095581007/

President Biden is shattering fundraising records in Texas, while his opponent's support from the donor class appears to be wilting: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/biden-fundraising-haul-19367682.php

Natural water springs across Texas are going dry at an alarming rate: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/study-shows-that-texas-has-nearly-3-times-more-dry-springs-than-50-years-ago/

The Texas State Board of Education's divestment from Blackrock is dumb on multiple levels: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-schools-oil-banks-esg-law-19367323.php

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

Attorneys for Ken Paxton appear close to cutting a deal with prosecutors that would bring the nine-year-long felony securities fraud charges against him to an end: https://abc13.com/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-fraud-charges-could-be-dismissed-security-case-communnity-service-tribune/14559450/

There's a hearing on all of this set for tomorrow: https://www.fox26houston.com/video/1430473

A large march featuring dozens of social justice organizations was held in downtown Dallas yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2024/03/24/hundreds-march-through-downtown-dallas-sunday-in-protest-of-texas-senate-bill-4/

Are all those billions of dollars Governor Abbott has spent on Operation Lone Star making any difference? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/us/texas-abbott-border.html

Could Democrats in Texas end up winning over SB-4? https://thehill.com/latino/4550696-texas-democrats-see-political-opportunity-in-hardline-immigration-law/

Will Biden stand up to Abbott - with investigators and lawyers? https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/opinions/biden-texas-border-immigration-law-downes/index.html

ERCOT admits underestimating San Antonio's growth - and has left the grid exposed to failures as a result: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-admits-texas-grid-faces-risk-cascading-19363129.php

...While a new solar and battery storage facility is underway near Dallas: https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/texas-installs-another-big-solar-battery-storage-project/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

A large group of desperate migrants pushed through border fortifications at El Paso yesterday, highlighting the humanitarian crisis being created by Republican policy: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-03-21/migrants-on-texas-southern-border-breach-wire-barriers-erected-under-operation-lone-star

...U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, on a diplomatic mission to Guatemala, calls SB-4 "unconstitutional": https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-calls-texas-immigration-law-unconstitutional

...While officials in Mexico continue adamantly opposing the new law, predicting the discrimination and criminalization its citizens are likely to face: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-fears-discrimination-strained-us-relations-under-new-texas-immigration-2024-03-21/

President Joe Biden wrapped up a two-day fundraising visit to Dallas and Houston yesterday: https://www.khou.com/article/news/national/president-joe-biden-houston-texas-campaign-trail/285-e10b6875-71f5-41e6-939b-4e800c70a45e

Is the U.S. Supreme Court giving a green light to state leaders like Governor Abbott to turn their states into far-right dictatorships? https://www.salon.com/2024/03/21/grants-gov-greg-abbotts-wish-to-turn-texas-into-a-far-right-dictatorship/

Abbott says he's just two House votes short of making private school vouchers a reality in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/greg-abbott-tppf-vouchers-primary-runoff/

Ted Cruz gets schooled by a former Harvard Law classmate: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-law-school-hated_n_65fbddd0e4b0d2a3e7775421

A top executive at Blackrock implores the Texas State Board of Education to reconsider pulling over 8 billion dollars from its management, as that's not a wise move financially: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrock-dismayed-8-5-billion-194252592.html?guccounter=1

The Texas Observer publishes a poignant response to Richard Linklater's new documentary on the death penalty in Texas: https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-god-save-texas/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals was not successful in reaching a decision yesterday regarding whether to allow SB-4 to take effect while being considered by the courts: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68613083

...Texas sheriffs appear enthusiastic about SB-4 but are inconsistent about their views on enforcing it: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-migrant-arrests-texas-8e232b8a0c2979943c87c7309652ed34

...Dallas House Rep. Victoria Neave Criado calls SB-4 "extreme, terrible legislation": https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/-extreme-terrible-legislation-texas-gop-immigration-law-set-to-spark-national-controversy-207222341926

...Republican-led states, starting with Iowa, are lining up to mimic SB-4: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/us/texas-immigration-republican-states.html

...The ACLU of New Mexico is warning Hispanic travelers heading to Texas to be ready for racial profiling: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/aclu-renews-warning-for-new-mexicans-traveling-to-texas/

...A nice flyover graphic of Eagle Pass and Shelby Park by the New York Times is worth studying: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/20/us/abbott-immigration-texas-border.html

The Texas Medical Board is set to discuss possible clarification of guidelines regarding exceptions to Texas' near-complete abortion ban: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article286741925.html

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the case of a Bexar County City Council Member who claims she was arrested out of retaliation for criticizing the Castle Hills City Manager: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/supreme-court-castle-hills-sylvia-gonzalez/

President Joe Biden is in Texas for three fundraising events: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/joe-biden-texas-visit-dallas-houston/

Texas U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions is named in testimony on a group of Republicans who have worked to dig up dirt on President Biden and his family: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/20/ron-johnson-did-russias-bidding-on-biden-lev-parnas-tells-congress/73043736007/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

Find out more about Unified at https://www.joinunified.us/.

Thanks for listening! Learn more about what we do at Progress Texas and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

After yesterday's allowance of SB-4 to take effect by the U.S. Supreme Court in returning the case to the 5th Circuit of Appeals, the 5th Circuit renews the hold- as of this morning, it's blocked: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/19/us/texas-immigration-supreme-court

...Reactions within Texas border communities: https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-law-abbott-biden-migrants-mexico-f63836e590f2cdea15acd387b78ef292

...Reactions from the White House: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/mar/19/us-supreme-court-texas-migrant-law

...Reactions from the three SCOTUS liberal Justices: https://thehill.com/campaign-issues/immigration/4542757-sow-chaos-sotomayor-chastises-supreme-court-for-allowing-texas-law-to-stand/

...Reactions from Mexico: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/us/mexico-texas-border-immigration.html

The Texas Permanent School Fund has yanked over 8 billion of your tax dollars from the investment company Blackrock over that company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/20/esg-blackrock-texas-permanent-school-fund-withdraws-investment/73028870007/

A University of Houston survey finds that President Biden is lagging behind Donald Trump among Texas Latino voters: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-latinos-prefer-trump-biden-matchup-uh-poll-18642473.php

Governor Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan hung out publicly yesterday in Dallas - is that weird? https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/19/greg-abbott-dade-phelan-primary/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extends the Court's stay on SB-4 a third time, seemingly indefinitely: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68597752

...Indicating anything but an open-and-shut matter: https://www.nytimes.com/article/texas-border-law-challenge-explainer.html

The Dallas Morning News kicks Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi on his way out the door: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/19/will-texas-gop-continue-its-descent-without-matt-rinaldi-as-chair/

...Apparent successor Abraham George was recently stopped by police from confronting his wife's lover with a gun: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-gop-chair-candidate-tried-confront-wifes-alleged-lover-with-loaded-gun/287-cfd22953-0cea-443c-9cc5-cd9c0d430367

...A new review of the descent into conspiratorial madness by the Texas Republican Party: https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1239283038/how-the-texas-gop-has-grown-more-and-more-conservative

Attacks on contraceptive options for Texas teens is just another step in the conservative throttling of reproductive rights: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/18/teenager-birth-control-parental-consent-texas/

The Gillespie County GOP's primary hand-counting experiment was a failure - but other county parties are likely to repeat it: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/19/texas-republican-hand-count-election/

The historic fires recently in the Texas Panhandle are only the beginning as climate change parches the landscape and electrical transmission remains hazardous: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/epic-wildfire-texas-panhandle-just-preview

Stay tuned to this feed for two panel discussions from this year's Unified Jam in Austin: https://www.unifiedjam.com/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

More on Unified at https://www.joinunified.us/.

Thanks for listening! Find out more about how to support Progress Texas this all-important election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to issue a ruling on SB-4, Texas' new harsh and possibly unconstitutional new border security law: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/scotus-decision-on-sb-4-sweeping-texas-border-security-law-could-come-by-monday-immigration-border-security-southern-border-migrant-crisis-operation-lone-star-initiative

...While SCOTUS declines to hear a case against West Texas A&M's ban on drag shows, leaving the ban intact: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/drag-show-ban-at-texas-university-left-intact-by-supreme-court

...The new rule against "judge shopping" doesn't solve the problem of activist conservative Trump-appointed judges, who will still get to rule on important cases: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/john-roberts-matthew-kacsmaryk-nationwide-injunctions-judge-shopping.html

...Reaction from John Cornyn and other GOP lawmakers shows how fond they were of being able to shop judges: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/republican-reaction-mcconnell-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-rcna143610

A UT geologist warns that climate change will soon drive Texans indoors, into uneasy "fortresses of solitude": https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/4529404-climate-change-is-trapping-texans-in-an-arid-fortress-of-solitude-expert-says/

Texas A&M's former president wants an independent review of the University's decision to sever ties with its Qatar campus: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/16/tamu-president-qatar-decision-needs-transparency/

And be sure to remind the Trump fans in your life that, once in power, dictators don't tend to worry themselves about who voted for them or not: https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy?action=share

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

At the behest of two Texas attorneys, the Texas Medical Board is set to discuss clarification for medical exceptions to the near-complete ban on abortion care in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-medical-board-doctors-abortion-guidance/

Ken Paxton escalates his assault on Frisco ISD, whose social media posts about funding he sees as illegal electioneering: https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/frisco/education/2024/03/14/texas-attorney-general-claims-frisco-isd-violated-restraining-order-files-contempt-motion/

A shadowy Texas company that paid an FBI informant now under indictment for lying to his handlers about Hunter Biden has been connected to Donald Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/14/company-paying-fbi-informant-trump-connections

...While Republicans freak out at the suggestion by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez that Trump is kinda like Hitler: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/vicente-gonzalez-trump-jews-for-hitler/

Good and bad news for the Texas grid as a major fossil fuel-fired power plant will go offline next March: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-14/texas-s-strained-power-grid-is-poised-to-lose-a-big-gas-plant

...While a Spanish renewable energy company prepares to build a huge renewable generation and battery storage facility in Texas: https://www.yahoo.com/news/battery-storage-facility-texas-continues-040000054.html

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

A new federal courts rule is aimed at preventing "judge shopping" - filing lawsuits in districts with single judges of sympathetic sensibilities - a favorite tactic of Ken Paxton's: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-court-rule-18971181.php

More artists, and now panel speakers, have been bailing on SXSW over its ties to the military and defense tech industries: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2024/03/13/dozens-of-bands-and-panelists-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-texas-heres-why/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17103752871384&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjamesfarrell%2F2024%2F03%2F13%2Fdozens-of-bands-and-panelists-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-texas-heres-why%2F

The 2021 Fair Access Law, which forbids state government from doing business with companies with environmental, social and governance policies, has made financing big ticket projects in Texas much more expensive: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/13/texas-anti-esg-law-costs-losses-of-millions-of-dollars/72947344007/

Millions also burned - literally - in recent Panhandle wildfires: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-wildfire-damages-could-exceed-1b-lawyer-says/

...While methane emissions by petroleum producers appears much more out of control than recently thought: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/13/us-gas-leaks-report-climate-change#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17104058588972&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2024%2Fmar%2F13%2Fus-gas-leaks-report-climate-change

70 percent of Texas teachers are ready to quit: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/14/nearly-70-of-texas-educators-say-theyre-ready-to-leave-profession-survey-shows/

...How can Texas support our teachers? https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/14/six-ways-texas-can-support-teachers/

...The word from one GOP State House Rep. drummed out over his resistance to Abbott's voucher scam: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/travis-clardy-school-voucher-crusade/

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is in trouble over her online shilling for a Texas dentist: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/kristi-noem-faces-lawsuit-promoting-texas-dentist-social-media-rcna143325

Will Texas ever turn blue? One crunch of the data says it's inevitable: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/will-texas-ever-turn-blue-heres-what

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed the enactment of Texas' new immigration law SB-4 until at least Monday afternoon, while a new legal challenge is launched: https://apnews.com/article/texas-immigration-law-sb4-7b74b6637dd39320dfdb447a189e745f

...While Laredo U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar spearheads a new Democratic action group on immigration: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/12/henry-cuellar-democrats-senate-border-bill/

SXSW distances itself from Governor Greg Abbott following his criticism of artists leaving the festival over its sponsorship ties to the defense industry: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sxsw-texas-greg-abbott-military-sponsorship-1234986219/

...While SXSW threatens legal action against a pro-Palestinian activist group over use of its logo: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sxsw-protests-18926378.php

Texas is doing its best to silence an advocate raising the alarm about growing maternal mortality rates: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-03-15/the-texas-task-force-that-reviews-pregnancy-related-deaths-is-losing-its-sole-advocate-position/

...While the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a Texas law eliminating confidential contraception for minors: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/12/texas-parental-consent-birth-control-fifth-circuit-title-x/

Texas, the Energy Capitol of America, suffers more power outages than any other state: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/texas-leads-nation-power-outages-18887152.php

...While the Panhandle will see perfect conditions for more wildfires today: https://www.ktsa.com/texans-should-stay-prepared-as-extreme-wildfire-danger-increases/

Ted Cruz is warning his donors that he's in for a tough fight with Colin Allred: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ted-cruz-allred-fundraising-18894530.php

Sherman ISD has suspended its Superintendent over the call to remove a trans student from a high school play last year: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-superintendent-suspended-trans-students-removal-oklahoma-rcna143017

A former Hays County Republican operative has been given a massive prison sentence for child sex abuse and pornography: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/bo-michael-dresner-sentencing/269-17fad9be-ddb4-4304-b956-fb3ba7bb7344

A new documentary on the Alex Jones Sandy Hook trial is coming to HBO: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/truth-vs-alex-jones-trailer-hbo-1235846888/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17103146639967&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Fmovies%2Fmovie-news%2Ftruth-vs-alex-jones-trailer-hbo-1235846888%2F

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

A judge in El Paso has backed Annunciation House, a large migrant shelter near the border, in refusing to turn its records over to Ken Paxton: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/03/11/el-paso-annunciation-house-ken-paxton-court-ruling/

Ted Cruz complains of regular Saturday pro-Palestinian protests in his front yard: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ted-cruz-palestine-protests-18881832.php

The Texas Health and Human Services appears to have leaked the private information of thousands of East Texas: https://www.ketk.com/news/local-news/more-than-3000-east-texans-data-leaked-in-texas-health-and-human-services-commission-breach/

Worries mount that Texas' notoriously underfunded specialized health care and special education services will collapse under increased demand as more babies are born under our abortion ban: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/11/Texas-disability-services-abortion/

Good environmental news: we're now adding solar capacity faster than sunny California: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/11/solar-power-is-now-bigger-in-texas-not-california/

...And bad environmental news, as Texas sues the EPA over new limits on methane emissions by petroleum producers: https://heatmap.news/climate/texas-epa-methane

U.S. Rep Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, a retired Navy doctor, has been lying about his rank and hiding a demotion for two years: https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2024/03/07/lawmaker-who-claims-to-be-a-retired-rear-admiral-was-actually-demoted/

Former Republican candidate Daniel Rodimer has been arrested on suspicion of homicide in Nevada: https://apnews.com/article/homicide-retired-wrestler-sought-55b6c44fde97429fab5cbe6d37e67cfe

Christian Nationalism a Go Go: watch for news on SACR, an exclusive group of wealthy and influential white Christian men who seek to establish an American theocracy: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/inside-a-secret-society-of-prominent-right-wing-christian-men-prepping-for-a-national-divorce

...Why Texas is such a hotbed for Christian Nationalist activity: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-christian-nationalism-epicenter/

...East Texas State Rep. Matt Schaefer says the quiet part out loud: https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/texas-state-rep-matt-schaefer-provides-a-case-study-in-christian-nationalism/

...And even the student paper at Baylor is alarmed about Christian Nationalism: https://baylorlariat.com/2024/03/11/beware-of-christian-nationalism-god-and-texas-should-not-mix/

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

A helicopter crash Friday at the border killed three service members: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-soldiers-border-patrol-agent-dead-helicopter-crash-texas-mexico-bord-rcna142589

A lawsuit filed by Texas against a federal program for immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela has been thrown out: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-rejects-texas-lawsuit-against-immigration-policy-biden-border-strategy/

Hundreds protested SB-4, set to take effect this week, at the Capitol over the weekend: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/protesters-rally-against-sb4-at-texas-capitol/

A judge has decided against the National Labor Relations Board, who wanted to improve conditions for franchise employees to unionize: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/federal-judge-texas-blocks-us-labor-board-rule-107998334

Colin Allred sees disarray within the Texas GOP as a good sign for his chances to beat Ted Cruz: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4522776-colin-allred-says-texas-republican-party-is-seeing-an-internal-civil-war/

...While Cruz says he's courting...Democrats? https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/03/10/texas-elections-senate-race-ted-cruz-colin-allred-win-support-of-democrats/72880265007/

Julie Johnson credits the women of her district for securing her win and prioritizes abortion rights in her first term: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/lgbtq-advocate-gives-women-credit-helping-her-win-congressional-race-outright-avoid-runoff/287-7cfa7124-2fce-4f6e-969d-908fafe06049

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has developed a reputation for defying the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/supreme-court-texas-death-penalty.html

Voting success for Abbott and Paxton's revenge tours represent a further empowerment of the radical right fringe in Texas: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-primary-election-far-right-victory/

...While out of state money, misinformation and Donald Trump were more influential on voters than vouchers or the impeachment: https://texasruralreporter.substack.com/p/zero-zilch-nada-the-border-trump?r=2dg05g&utm_medium=web

...And Democrats in safe blue districts need to renew efforts to back the statewide progressive cause: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/an-open-letter-to-the-democrats-in

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

President Joe Biden's performance last night at the State Of The Union was stellar: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/politics/cnn-poll-biden-sotu-speech-reaction/index.html

...But not perfect, with a gaffe involving language about undocumented people: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/state-of-the-union-joe-biden/

Pro-Palestinian protestors at Garland munitions manufacturer end up in jail: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-03-07/garland-police-arrest-23-people-protesting-weapons-manufacturer-over-israel-gaza-conflict

...Several musicians have cancelled appearances at this year's SXSW Music Festival in Austin for similar reasons: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sxsw-2024-music-protest-18705591.php

The expected rightward lurch in the Republican-dominated Texas House next year will be "disastrous": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-house-gop-18707525.php

The State Board of Education is also being yanked to the right: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-sboe-board-education-election-votes/

The "battle for Texas' soul" appears to have gone badly: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/06/if-2024-primary-was-a-battle-for-texas-soul-then-were-in-trouble/

Uvalde parents erupt in grief and anger as local police are exonerated of wrongdoing by a new investigation: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/uvalde-parents-lash-out-after-new-report-clears-city-police-of-wrongdoing-during-2022-mass-shooting

Republican resistance to Austin Rep. Greg Casar's Connect The Grid Act is expected today: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-ercot-national-grid-18709390.php

Thanks to all of our Amplify Austin Day donors! We can't do it without you: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.

Amplify Austin Day 2024 is on through 6pm Thursday night! Most solid news is behind paywalls, while misinformation and propaganda are usually free. Help us keep our solid reporting accessible with a donation of ANY amount - thank you! https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

Progress Texas endorsee Julie Johnson is set to make history by becoming the first openly LGBTQ member of the U.S. Congress, not only from Texas but from the entire South: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4510622-julie-johnson-poised-for-victory-in-texas-primary-set-to-be-first-lgbtq-congress-member-from-the-south/

Lauren Ashley Simmons goes to a runoff against embattled HD-146 Rep. Shawn Thierry - we look forward to pushing her to victory: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/shawn-thierry-houston-democrat-primary-legislature-simmons/

Congrats and thanks to all of our primary endorsees: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progressive-wins-and-losses-texas-super-tuesday-primary

Many other Democratic runoff elections set for May 28: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/primary-election-results-2024/

Many more GOP runoffs, main event being Dade Phelan vs David Covey: https://apnews.com/article/paxton-texas-primary-revenge-abbott-phelan-3d991ae09585726f98c515455b015a3e

Ted Cruz learns lessons from his near-miss with Beto O'Rourke and will come out swinging early against Colin Allred: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/06/colin-allred-ted-cruz/

Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine barely avoids a runoff and now faces Democrat Christine Weems: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/john-devine-brian-walker-texas-supreme-court-primary/

Mineral Wells GOP Rep. Glenn Rogers, run out of a job by Governor Abbott's voucher crusade, rails against Republican corruption: https://mwareanews.com/2024/03/06/glenn-rogers-pens-response-to-election-loss/

Republican turncoat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is super proud to announce he voted for Donald Trump on Tuesday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/03/06/dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-says-he-voted-for-donald-trump-for-president/

The State Of The Union Address is tonight at 8 - and you can play along with our SOTU Bingo Cards! Grab 'em here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/bingo-win-big-biden%E2%80%99s-state-union

Thanks for listening! Learn more about Women's History Month, hit our web store, and help us continue our important election year work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Complete election results coverage by the Texas Tribune: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/primary-election-results-2024/

The campaigns of retribution against members of their own party by Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton pay dividends: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-primaries-gop-incumbents-defeated/

Incumbent GOP Houston Rep. Lacey Hull survives a primary challenge by Jared Woodfill, backed by Paxton and other GOP biggies in spite of his current involvement with an ongoing sex abuse scandal and lawsuit: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-primaries-gop-incumbents-defeated/

Travis County D.A. Jose Garza cruises to victory over a challenger enjoying billionaire support, Republican crossover voting and a dark money smear campaign: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-03-06/jose-garza-wins-democratic-primary-in-contentious-district-attorney-race/

Embattled Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg goes down in flames: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/kim-ogg-harris-county-district-attorney-18702783.php

...Dramatically: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/politics/texas-voter-id-kim-ogg-houston/index.html

Progress Texas Executive Director weighs in on the GOP civil war: "The R stands for revenge": https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/what-republicans-primary-civil-war-means-for-the-future-of-texas-18754975

Progress Texas sends our condolences to the family and friends of Zeb Smith, the Fritch, Texas volunteer fire chief who died in the line of duty yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/us/texas-panhandle-fires.html

Amplify Austin Day for this year starts at 6pm tonight and continues thru the same time Thursday night! No donation is too small: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

Thanks for listening! Learn more about Women's History Month and hit our web store: https://progresstexas.org/.

Last chance for YOUR voice to be heard in the 2024 primary! Polls are open across the state until 7pm: https://progresstexas.org/

...Our Democratic primary endorsees: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-145-meet-our-progress-texas-primary-endorsees

...Wednesday at 9am, see the Texas Tribune's "Breaking Down The 2024 Texas Primary Results": https://breakingdownthe2024txprimary.splashthat.com/mar-com-email

...Which fish are YOU gonna be? Be one of the big ones: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/fraction-of-texans-vote-in-primaries/

...Texas Democrats have been particularly disinterested in the primary, for several reasons: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-primary-elections-2024-turnout-low/

...Meanwhile the Republicans have more of a sideshow to keep them interested: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-03-04/texas-house-election-abbott-paxton-races-republican-primary-endorsements-campaign-contributions

Ted Cruz is trying to maneuver himself into a "kingmaker" role at the U.S. Senate as Mitch McConnell steps down: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4502179-senate-conservatives-seek-to-expand-power-post-mcconnell/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17096117474272&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fsenate%2F4502179-senate-conservatives-seek-to-expand-power-post-mcconnell%2F

SCOTUS places a temporary pause on SB-4, Texas' controversial new immigration law, until next Wednesday the 13th: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/politics/texas-immigration-law-supreme-court-appeal/index.html

Texas-based anti-abortion activists have been meddling in local ordinances in New Mexico, drawing the ire of that state's Attorney General: https://sourcenm.com/2024/03/04/texas-activists-pushed-abortion-restrictions-in-nm-cities-and-counties-records-show/

A cause of the historic Panhandle wildfires may have been pinpointed: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2024/03/04/texas-wildfire-panhandle-lawsuit/

...While California Governor Gavin Newsom mobilizes his state's firefighting forces to help in Texas: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/04/texas-wildfire-deployment/

The 2024 Amplify Austin Day charity and non-profit fundraiser starts tomorrow night at 6! Support Progress Texas here: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

Women's History Month is here and there's lots to do to celebrate across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women

Thanks for listening! Learn all about what we do and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Poor turnout by Democrats in the early voting phase of the 2024 primary causes the overall turnout to fall well short of 2020: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/03/early-voting-turnout-2024-primaries/

...Republicans outpaced Democrats in early voting turnout three to one: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

...One high-profile Democratic item, the Travis County District Attorney's race, features a shadowy PAC smearing incumbent D.A. Jose Garza: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/03/04/jose-garza-jeremy-sylestine-travis-county

Texas lawmakers in D.C. are scrambling to claim support for in-vitro fertilization, while supporting an extreme bill that would largely outlaw it nationally as written: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/03/04/texas-republicans-face-questions-about-life-at-conception-bill-after-alabama-ivf-decision/

One Texas State lawmaker - a Republican who voted against school vouchers - now wants to abolish the Texas Education Agency: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/03/03/texas-schools-lawmaker-says-abolish-tea-education-experts-weigh-in/72499627007/

Still no word from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the state appeal of a federal judge's blocking of SB-4, which was set to take effect tomorrow: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/04/texas-sb-4-immigration-law-predictably-fails-its-first-legal-test/

...That same ruling says that the recent wave of migrants cannot be considered by Texas an "invasion": https://reason.com/volokh/2024/03/01/federal-court-rejects-texass-argument-that-illegal-migration-qualifies-as-invasion/

Ken Paxton's office's attempts to force a trans-friendly non-profit to hand over records of young trans kids it has supported has also been blocked: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/us/texas-paxton-transgender-records.html

Governor Abbott draws online fire for hanging out at the border with Donald Trump while historically-destructive wildfires burn in the Panhandle: https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbotts-priorities-questioned-record-wildfires-intensify-texas-1875388

...Those fires rage on, with very little containment: https://apnews.com/article/texas-wildfire-panhandle-hutchinson-united-way-donations-d61f26c6686ae62e855bd2075453651b

Women's History Month is here and there's lots to do to celebrate across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women

The annual Amplify Austin charity and non-profit fundraiser happens Wednesday thru Thursday: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

Thanks for listening! Learn all about what we do and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Upwards of 1.2 million Texans have voted so far in the primary, with only today and Super Tuesday remaining: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

New polling from UT Tyler shows Ted Cruz and Colin Allred tied at 41%: https://t.co/4LBcQuPneA

President Biden spoke in Brownsville yesterday: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/01/san-antonio-mayor-ron-nirenberg-joins-president-biden-other-south-texas-mayors-in-brownsville/

Donald Trump's simultaneous event in Eagle Pass, meanwhile, may have seen a violation of military uniform code: https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1763351232574296525?t=jhQRSFzH2g9SMCxd6IXdoQ&s=03

...Trump says Governor Abbott is on his "short list" of VP candidates: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/29/greg-abbott-donald-trump-vice-president/

...While a Trump win will mean billions in losses for Texas: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-will-lose-billions-investment-donald-trump-elected-2024-1874806

...As the Governor muses on building a wall around "Liberal Austin": https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-discusses-building-border-wall-around-liberal-austin-1874711

A federal judge blocks Tuesday's implementation of SB-4, but the state immediately appeals to the 5th Circuit: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/federal-judge-issues-preliminary-injunction-on-senate-bill-4

Amanda Zurawski is honored by USA Today: https://www.statesman.com/picture-gallery/news/2024/02/29/amanda-zurawski-usa-today-texas-women-of-the-year/72165054007/

...As Starr County's DA is penalized by the State Bar of Texas for allowing a murder charge to be filed against a woman for a self-managed abortion: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-prosecutor-fined-allowing-murder-220351899.html

That massive wildfire - the biggest in state history - is looking likely to keep growing over the weekend: https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-panhandle-wildfires-weather-forecast/story?id=107667285

Ken Paxton is suing the State Fair of Texas and two Dallas-area live music venues for refusing to allow off-duty cops inside with their guns: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-state-fair-factory-deep-ellum-texas-trust-cu-theatre-grand-prairie/287-65b07f32-49a1-48ca-92e9-5511c9038ba2

...While a trove of insider details on the Paxton impeachment is dumped by the Texas Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/ken-paxton-impeachment-witness-testimony/

Charles Butt of H.E.B. fame is donating heavily to seven of the anti-voucher lawmakers being targeted by Governor Abbott: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/heb-school-voucher-pac-18696002.php

Saturday is Texas Independence Day! Learn the REAL story of the Texas Revolution with the terrific book Forget The Alamo: https://a.co/d/f0CkIcS

And, today is the first day of Women's History Month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women

Early giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin fundraising push: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute

Thanks for listening! Hit our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Only today, tomorrow and Tuesday remain to vote in the 2024 primary: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

...Crossover voting is not the clever idea you might think it is, for several reasons: https://progresstexas.org/blog/elephant-room-crossover-voting

...While U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez may have done some meddling with his GOP opposition: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/vicente-gonzalez-mayra-flores-primary-election/

President Biden speaks in Brownsville today, as Donald Trump visits the stage set in Eagle Pass: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/vicente-gonzalez-mayra-flores-primary-election/

...While SB-4 is set to take effect on Tuesday: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2024/0228/Tough-Texas-immigration-law-nears.-Residents-have-questions

Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw testified before a Uvalde grand jury yesterday on potential charges against police officers who botched the Robb Elementary response: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/texas-uvalde-shooting-grand-jury-steve-mccraw/

With Mitch McConnell stepping down as U.S. Senate GOP Leader, John Cornyn appears set to try for the post: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/texas-john-cornyn-mitch-mcconnell/

The wildfires in the Panhandle have ballooned into the second-worst in Texas history: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/us/texas-panhandle-smokehouse-creek-fire-thursday/index.html

As Texas executes a man whose guilt was in doubt, capital punishment supporters must consider that they either have 100% faith in our justice system, or they're okay with the State occasionally killing innocent people: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/convicted-murderer-ivan-cantu-executed-in-texas/

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

Republicans continue to outdistance Democrats in primary early voting turnout: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

Progressives need to understand the threat posed by "Project 25": https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/27/trump-second-term-cpac-democracy-threat-extremism

...While Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett points out that Christian Nationalism is inconsistent with traditional Christianity: https://x.com/RepJasmine/status/1762540717140779152?t=660LLiAZJXPZv6pGh-l2wA&s=03

...And a Houston megachurch pastor goes on an anti-migrant tear: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/ed-young-anti-immigration-sermon-18692233.php

...And while most Americans reject Christian Nationalism, those numbers are weaker in Red states: https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/poll-christian-nationalism-americans-reject

At Ken Paxton's bidding, a federal judge in Lubbock undermines new protections for pregnant workers: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-judge-texas-rules-congressional-passage-2022-spending-bill-unc-rcna140829

The policies leading to Darryl George's plight at Barbers Hill ISD are based on the marginalization of non-white students: https://theconversation.com/a-texas-court-ruling-on-a-black-student-wearing-hair-in-long-locs-reflects-history-of-racism-in-schools-223250

A new produced water processing site has been approved by the Texas Railroad Commission - right next to a church camp: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/26/texas-permian-basin-oilfield-waste-ponds-baptist-camp/

The Pantex facility - the country's primary development and maintenance location for nuclear weapons - is threatened by Panhandle wildfires: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/02/28/key-nuclear-weapons-plant-forced-to-pause-operations-due-to-texas-wildfires/

Three Texas filmmakers contribute to a new HBO documentary series on Huntsville, Houston and El Paso: https://slate.com/culture/2024/02/god-save-texas-hbo-documentary-hometown-prison-richard-linklater.html

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

In the Crane County oil patch, a recent catastrophic spill of produced water, a toxic byproduct of the petroleum extraction process, has brought to the forefront the threat this stuff poses to groundwater across Texas. In this election year, it also highlights the worsening of that threat resulting from the chronic mismanagement and public obfuscation regarding produced water by the Texas Railroad Commission, the elected, three-member body supposedly in charge of keeping Texas' environment safe in the midst of our all-time high petroleum production, but in reality known as largely a rubber stamp for whatever policy and procedure our state's energy sector finds most expedient and profitable.

On this episode, we talk to Bill Burch, petroleum expert and Progress Texas-endorsed candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, as well as Alex Ortiz, Water Resources Chair of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter on the Crane County produced water spill, the ramifications this gross stuff and its management have for our environmental future, and how the Commission should be held accountable.

Learn more about Bill Burch and his campaign at https://burch4trrc.com/, and learn more about the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club at https://www.sierraclub.org/texas.

Find the Houston Chronicle's editorial endorsement of President Biden's pause of new LNG approvals at https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/biden-lng-export-trump-election-18680419.php.

Thanks for listening! Please consider becoming one of our 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive at https://progresstexas.org/donate.

Primary early voting turnout continues to trickle, with Republican turnout still doubling that of Texas Democrats: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

...Republicans are voting for or against notorious anti-abortion activist judge John Devine of the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/john-devine-texas-supreme-court-conservatives/

President Biden and Donald Trump will stage competing Texas border appearances on Thursday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/26/donald-trump-joe-biden-texas-border-eagle-pass/

...While the border fiasco can largely be attributed to Governor Greg Abbott's ego and ambition: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/human-toll-greg-abbott-border-war-eagle-pass-1234975140/

The Houston Chronicle's editorial board endorses President Biden's pause on LNG approvals: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/biden-lng-export-trump-election-18680419.php

...While on Sunday, over 80% of the electricity on the Texas grid came from non-carbon-emitting sources: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2024-02-26/more-than-80-of-electricity-on-the-texas-grid-was-carbon-free-at-one-point-sunday

...And our friends at Environment Texas are hiring: https://jobs.publicinterestnetwork.org/en/postings/0fca1554-3310-4154-945b-ea334b3de46b

The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to send a lawsuit over supposed censorship of conservative propaganda by social media platforms back to lower courts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/us/politics/supreme-court-social-media-takeaways.html

U.S. Rep Colin Allred has invited Dallas OB/GYN Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas mother forced to flee the state for vital abortion care, to attend the State Of The Union address as his guest: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/02/25/rep-colin-allred-invites-dallas-doctor-who-fled-state-for-abortion-to-state-of-the-union/

On the cusp of Women's History Month in March, Texas ranks very low on a new ranking of quality of life for women: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-among-top-5-worst-states-for-women-in-2024-report-finds/3471845/

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

Early voting primary turnout still skews 2-1 Republican - and over 80% voters over 50 on both sides: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/02/25/texas-primary-election-young-voters-voices-older-the-voter-the-louder-the-voice/72684410007/

Ken Paxton's crusade against three Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges isn't just about his desire to prosecute election fraud cases - it's also about the court that's likely to finally decide his own felony securities fraud case: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/podcasts/texas-take/

...Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is bullish that Governor Abbott's crusade against anti-voucher GOP lawmakers will be successful: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-voucher-dan-patrick-lieutenant-governor-thinks-pro-voucher-republicans-will-win-texas/287-622cd1df-ad72-4cc7-8a69-b0def2a004a5

...And State Board of Education races threaten to drag that body further to the right, just in time for important social studies decisions: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/state/2024/02/25/texas-primary-election-state-board-of-education-races-to-watch-district-10-11-12/72682107007/

Governor Abbott admits he knows little about in-vitro fertilization, even as that procedure is threatened by his own abortion bans: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/abbott-texas-ivf-1234975280/

...The Governor also won't pledge to protect IVF in Texas: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/politics/texas-ivf-alabama-law-abbott/index.html

...While GOP candidates are doing all they can to avoid talking about abortion: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abortion-republicans-primaries-18651768.php

...And Jim Hightower draws a parallel between anti-abortion "extraterritoriality" in Texas to laws designed to protect slavery: https://www.juancole.com/2024/02/abortion-extremists-slavery.html

Progress for renewable energy in Texas as huge amounts of battery storage are set to come online this year: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-storage/texas-will-add-more-grid-batteries-than-any-other-state-in-2024

We congratulate Salem United Methodist Church in Orange, one of the largest Black churches in Southeast Texas, as they mark their 159th anniversary: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/one-of-southeast-texas-oldest-black-churches-celebrates-159-anniversary/502-88e0f240-dbb1-4095-b9a7-d0e4168a98fb

We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month⁠⁠

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

Democratic turnout in early primary voting continues to lag, especially in Harris and Bexar counties: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

Alabama's Supreme Court ruling that embryos are to be considered children has hopeful moms like Amanda Zurawski taking pre-emptive action with their frozen embryos: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/woman-suing-texas-abortion-ban-plans-move-embryos-state-rcna140134

A Republican judge sides with Barbers Hill ISD, allowing it to continue punishing student Darryl George over his traditional hairstyle, in spite of the CROWN Act: https://newrepublic.com/post/179217/texas-judge-school-punish-black-student-hair-race

Several law enforcement officers who failed to react quickly during the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde have been called before a grand jury next week: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/us/uvalde-school-shooting-texas-police/index.html

Citing a packed schedule, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services has passed on $450 million in federal aid to help feed kids at risk of hunger during the summer: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/22/texas-federal-summer-lunch-program/

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a fight between the major social media platforms and the AG's of Texas and Florida over the platforms' right to remove misinformation: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1197962135/first-amendment-scotus-social-media

The hard-hitting Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel has blasted Governor Abbott over his "lies and half-truths" in his campaign to replace House GOP members refusing his school voucher efforts: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-newspaper-turns-greg-abbott-spewing-lies-1872430

Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has invited to the upcoming State Of The Union Address the widow of a Dallas mail carrier who died on the job during last summer's heat wave: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/02/22/widow-of-dallas-postal-worker-who-died-in-2023-heat-wave-to-attend-state-of-the-union/

We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month⁠⁠

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

Republican turnout doubled that of Democrats in Texas on the first day of early primary voting: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/

...While officials in Tarrant County end a years-long program providing free rides to the polls on Election Day: https://www.fox4news.com/news/tarrant-county-free-bus-rides-election-day

Governor Abbott and AG Paxton's campaign against GOP incumbents continues inflaming vitriol within the party: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/21/glenn-rogers-texas-gop-primary/

...Donald Trump continues meddling as well: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/trumps-join-paxtons-push-to-defeat-some-of-texas-top-conservative-judges/

A trial on the school suspension of Darryl George over his cultural hairstyle, seemingly in defiance of the CROWN Act, is scheduled for today: https://apnews.com/article/hair-discrimination-school-locs-texas-trial-4a1c3ec2ff85da27ffb2118f9fc55007

...Protestors demonstrated in favor of George near the home of Barbers Hill ISD's superintendent in Baytown yesterday: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/protesters-gather-texas-superintendent-darryl-george-hair-trial-rcna139640

Another gun incident in a Texas school sees police fire off 19 rounds, but luckily no deaths: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2024/02/20/officers-fired-19-shots-at-student-who-brought-gun-to-mesquite-school-student-didnt-fire/?sailthru_id=62680c814f757f64bada988b&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BreakingAlert_02202024&utm_term=Breaking%20News

Austin Congressman Greg Casar was in Austin yesterday touting his Connect The Grid Act: https://progresstexas.org/blog/power-people-connecting-texas-grid

Bell County declares an emergency in advance of huge crowds expected for April's eclipse: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-county-issues-state-of-emergency-over-solar-eclipse/

We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month⁠⁠

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate

As primary voting begins, a review for progressives of why gun safety reform is so bogged down in Texas: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/mass-shootings-in-texas-have-shaped-the-democratic-primaries-18642421

In the Republican primary, Collin County will serve as a test of Ken Paxton's ability to sway voters: https://www.nbcdfw.com/decision-2024/collin-county-is-frontline-for-emotional-texas-house-primary-elections/3467634/

...That said, Governor Abbott is backing incumbents Paxton has targeted: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/in-n-texas-governor-abbott-ag-paxton-back-different-candidates-in-gop-primaries/

...And Donald Trump has his greasy hands in the soup too: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/02/20/trump-throws-weight-behind-rivals-of-four-texas-republicans-who-crossed-abbott-and-paxton/

...The picture of an even-more-radical GOP House majority is none too pretty: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-house-radical-republican/

...While a majority of Texas voters expect a violent election outcome this fall: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-20/most-texas-voters-think-violence-will-erupt-after-2024-election

Ken Paxton has targeted an NGO that has operated migrant shelters in El Paso for decades: https://kvia.com/news/border/2024/02/20/texas-attorney-general-sues-el-pasos-annunciation-house-for-efforts-to-facilitate-illegal-immigration/

...While the private prison industry is booming amidst a new crackdown on migrants: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-border-immigration-surge-geo-group-profits-detention-ethics-reform-bill-opposition-1871731

Texas anti-abortion activists, apparently bored, are targeting a new art installation at the University of Houston: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/university-houston-satanic-statue-18677691.php

We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month⁠⁠

Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate