Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed federal Border Patrol agents to cut or move razor wire placed on the Texas border by Operation Lone Star: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immigration-texas-razor-wire-9daef6bd316211b6633ece718e505187

...Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton vow to keep on fighting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/22/supreme-court-ruling-razor-wire-border-texas-greg-abbott-ken-paxton-attorney-general/72318043007/

...While we note that four SCOTUS Justices, including two of the three picked by Donald Trump, just decided AGAINST federal supremacy: https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/1/22/24047314/supreme-court-texas-homeland-security-razor-wire-eagle-pass-biden

New studies show that teen fertility rates have jumped for the first time in years since new bans on abortion went into effect in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-teen-birth-rate-sees-first-rise-15-years-18621083.php

...While President Biden blasts Texas for our abortion laws: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12993375/Biden-calls-outrageous-Texas-doctors-life-sentence-performing-abortions-rips-extreme-Supreme-Court-50th-anniversary-Roe-v-Wade.html

A coalition of LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups have petitioned the United Nations to look into the violation of international treaty by seven Texas' anti-LGBTQ laws: https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/4422306-texas-petitioned-at-united-nations-over-laws-targeting-lgbtq-communities/

...All considering that treaties ratified by the U.S. are considered federal law:

Dallas and Lockhart see new marijuana decriminalization efforts that have seen success in several other Texas cities: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-launch-signature-drive-for-local-marijuana-decriminalization-ballot-measures-in-dallas-and-lockhart/

Join Progress Texas on Saturday (1/27) for a debate series featuring candidates for the U.S. House and the Texas Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/598402/

Thanks for listening! Learn more about how to support Progress Texas' ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.

A new poll shows that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is in a dead heat with BOTH Dallas U.S. Representative Colin Allred and San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-poll-raises-alarm-bells-texas-election-1862204

...That same poll finds Allred well ahead of all Democratic challengers, but with a plurality of Texas Democratic primary voters still undecided: https://emersoncollegepolling.com/texas-2024-poll-allred-leads-democratic-senate-primary-plurality-are-undecided/

...While Cruz swallows his own considerable pride to endorse Donald Trump for a third time: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/ted-cruz-donald-trump-endorsement-2024

...And his own political future hangs on a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether the Colorado Supreme Court can find Trump ineligible for that state's ballot: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-supreme-court-14th-amendment-republicans-congress-rcna134736

...And the Houston Chronicle rebukes Cruz for his "betrayal" in Winter Storm Uri and recent jokes about it: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-rebuked-largest-texas-newspaper-betrayal-1862503

A new Biden campaign ad features a Dallas OB/GYN who found herself without needed abortion care: https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1749161319519912355?t=zNL10Ckqsp8zvWX5gP8iHA&s=03

...While a Texas A&M professor who also found her life threatened by Texas' abortion ban relates her horrific experience in Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/i-miscarried-texas-doctors-abortion-law-1861677

A Salon op-ed accuses Governor Abbott of taking Texas to a dangerous brink over the border: https://www.salon.com/2024/01/22/greg-abbott-is-pushing-texas-to-the-brink/

Water supplies are at dangerously low levels heading towards the summer of '24 in multiple sections of Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/22/texas-water-supply-reservoirs-drought/

...While the Texas Water Development Board predicts that growth will far exceed water availability in Texas by 2070: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-population-is-projected-to-surpass-50m-by-2070-do-we-have-enough-water/3439855/

ERCOT made it through the MLK freeze, but our grid remains vulnerable: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/01/22/the-texas-grid-did-its-job-during-the-freeze-but-the-jobs-not-done/

...While ERCOT's governing board, the PUC, has voted down their proposed system of fines and penalties for battery storage operators: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/battery-ercot-contested-regulations-1186-18614035.php

And Tex-Mex ascends to the top of the most popular cultural culinary motifs in America: https://www.axios.com/2023/04/14/food-trends-us-restaurant-menu-tacos

Thanks for listening! Find out how to support Progress Texas in our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A U.S. Department of Justice report on the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary calls law enforcement response a series of "cascading failures": https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-justice-department-report-police-16b59efa5c5015d685d917c3f0f26256

...Other findings include a lack of courageous leadership and a failure to properly contain the crime scene afterwards: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/us/takeaways-doj-uvalde-report/index.html

...Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke in Uvalde, calling on law enforcement nationwide to step up active shooter training: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/uvalde-school-shooting-federal-investigation-police-response/

...While the Uvalde families continue seeking consequences for the officers who failed their kids: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/uvalde-shooting-federal-investigation-families-waiting/

Tensions grow in Eagle Pass as Operation Lone Star begin SB-4 styled arrests of migrants while the standoff with federal Border Patrol agents continues: https://nypost.com/2024/01/18/news/texas-begins-arresting-illegal-migrants-in-eagle-pass/

...Abbott's defiance of the Biden administration is reminiscent of civil rights movement-era segregationist governors: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-01-18/texas-governor-greg-abbott-border-patrol-mexico-supreme-court-harry-litman

...While the U.S. Supreme Court makes things worse by slow-walking any intervention: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/supreme-court-texas-border-patrol-standoff.html

Backlash continues over a vote by Dallas U.S. Rep. Colin Allred in support of a Republican rebuke of President Biden over his border management: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/colin-allred-biden-border-roland-gutierrez/

...While the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas endorse State Senator Roland Gutierrez for the Democratic nomination to face Ted Cruz: https://www.facebook.com/DallasStonewall/?locale=fi_FI&paipv=0&eav=AfYSRYcybq7zTUF1HX_N3U5e5-qhfTctcksYrc0oMs9YxFcQ7I3Bz2B9NIWDgDJtmBA&_rdr

Two Texas U.S. Representatives attended a December 2020 meeting at the White House to discuss pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence into helping overturn the Biden election: https://www.axios.com/2022/07/12/house-republicans-jan6-white-house

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

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

U.S. Representative Colin Allred voted along with over a dozen other House Democrats in support of a Republican rebuke of President Biden over border policy: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4414955-democrats-gop-resolution-denouncing-biden-open-border-policies/

...While hitting another huge fundraising benchmark: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/17/colin-allred-us-senate-campaign/

Texas has defied a federal deadline to turn over control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-border-us-mexico-ken-paxton-attorney-general/

...While the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses itself and vacates its own ruling requiring the moving of that notorious river barrier: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/court-rules-in-reversal-texas-floating-barrier-between-us-and-mexico-can-stay-for-now/

The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin rules that Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton must turn over e-mails related to the January 6 insurrection: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-17/lawsuit-seeking-texas-attorney-generals-jan-6-emails-can-move-forward-appeals-court-rules

That over-six-million-dollar pro-voucher donation to Governor Abbott is just part of a rising tide of fundraising on both sides of that issue: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/01/18/fight-over-school-choice-puts-fundraising-for-texas-gop-primary-on-steroids/

The Texas Railroad Commission is suspected of covering up a toxic "produced water" spill in Crane County via an FAA no-fly-zone order: https://bigbendsentinel.com/2024/01/10/railroad-commission-claims-gas-leak-to-hide-produced-water-destruction/

Join us tonight in Richardson for a debate featuring candidates for U.S. Congressional District 32: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/

And - Progress Texas is seeking an Advocacy Manager and a Communications Intern! Join the team, and hit the web store at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Record low temperatures have been recorded across Texas: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/weather/article/texas-cold-front-18611255.php

...Including in normally-balmy Houston - but this was no Uri: https://www.chron.com/weather/article/houston-freeze-texas-18610377.php

Two attorneys have sought clarification on abortion restriction exceptions from the Texas Medical Board: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/16/texas-medical-board-abortion/

Governor Abbott has accepted an enormous $6 million donation from a Pennsylvania billionaire who backs private school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/16/greg-abbott-jeff-yass-camapaign-donation/

Texas has until the end of the day to turn Shelby Park in Eagle Pass back over to federal Border Patrol: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/state-of-texas-battles-federal-government-over-control-of-border-with-mexico-immigration-crisis-at-the-border

...The three drowning victims from MLK weekend are remembered: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12971181/migrant-children-drown-border-Eagle-Pass-Texas.html

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be deposed in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton against his company: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/16/meta-ceo-zuckerberg-to-be-deposed-in-texas-facial-recognition-case.html

...While Paxton himself will be required to testify under oath in the ongoing whistleblower lawsuit against him: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-01-16/texas-supreme-court-rules-against-ag-ken-paxton-greenlights-his-deposition-in-whistleblower-case

...And Paxton's lawsuit against Pfizer will be moved to federal court: https://www.kcbd.com/2024/01/17/ag-paxtons-lawsuit-against-pfizer-moved-federal-court/

Reminder about tomorrow's District 32 debate, co-hosted by Progress Texas: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/

And, Progress Texas is hiring! We're looking for an Advocacy Manager: https://progresstexas.org/blog/advocacy-manager-progress-texas-jobs

...and a Communications Intern: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-internships

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

Over the last few years, San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez has become a familiar voice to Progress Texas podcast listeners, mostly related to his steadfast support of and advocacy for the families of the victims of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, which is in his district. This time, as he's running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Ted Cruz for Texas' junior seat in that chamber, we've invited Senator Gutierrez on for a wide-ranging talk covering the issues most important to Texas progressives, to the continued prosperity of our country, and to the very survival of American democracy.

Find out more about Senator Roland Gutierrez and his campaign at https://rolandfortexas.com/.

An important note for our listeners: we have extended a similar invitation to U.S. Representative Colin Allred of Dallas, who is also running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Ted Cruz. As of publishing time, we have not heard back, but are hopeful that he'll accept and join us. Stay tuned!

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Shamefully, it's of national note that the Texas power grid has mostly stayed functional amidst the current winter blast:

...ERCOT's most recent plea to conserve power is in effect as we publish this morning:

...The cold snap arrived as inspections of power facilities remained incomplete: https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/hundreds-of-ercot-power-facility-inspections-were-not-completed-before-winter-blast/3434953/

...It's even colder in Chicago, where Governor Abbott continues sending migrants into lacking shelter: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/us/chicago-migrants-cold-weather/index.html

As the MLK weekend began, three Mexican migrants drowned in the Rio Grande in a section of Eagle Pass that "Texas Military Department" personnel have blocked from access by federal Border Patrol agents: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/us/what-we-know-about-the-drownings-of-3-migrants-in-eagle-pass-texas/index.html

...Texas officials deny neglect in these drownings: https://nypost.com/2024/01/15/news/texas-military-deny-stopping-cbp-saving-drowning-migrants/

...The Biden Administration has given Texas authorities until tomorrow to stop blocking federal access to Shelby Park: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/13/henry-cuellar-texas-border-eagle-pass/

A notorious Amarillo anti-abortion activist judge has allowed three other states to join a lawsuit alleging that mifepristone is unsafe: https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/nation-world/abortion-pill-texas-judge-grants-motion-allowing-idaho-join-lawsuit-against-fda-over-mifepristone/277-c2de6586-b4d8-4f8f-be46-bd3d161d9032

...While our Tatum Owens writes on an apparently unnecessary death of a pregnant woman in Luling: https://progresstexas.org/baby-shower-turned-funeral

Texas Republican Party Chair Matt Rinaldi is found to be on the payroll of Defend Texas Liberty founder Farris Wilks: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/farris-wilks-matt-rinaldi-defend-texas-liberty/

National Democrats' confidence in wins in Texas and Florida is growing: https://www.wvua23.com/democrats-target-gop-strongholds-texas-and-florida-with-senate-majority-on-the-line/

Ted Cruz invites freezing Texans to join him in Cancun, and curses the Dallas Cowboys to another ugly playoff loss: https://klaq.com/?p=828976

And Thursday's debate among candidates for House District 32 has been moved, and will also feature more candidates: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/

Thanks for listening! Please check out our web store and more ways to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The winter blast inbound for MLK weekend is thought NOT to be on par with conditions we saw during Winter Storm Uri: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/01/worried-about-the-texas-power-grid-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-incoming-arctic-blast/

...Should be mostly dry, with possible exceptions in northeast Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/article/how-texas-freeze-next-week-compares-february-2021-18600817.php

...A handy checklist by which to prepare for the cold: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/texas-winter-weather-checklist-how-to-prepare-ahead-of-storms-freezes/

Governor Abbott says on a radio show that the main thing keeping him from ordering the shooting of migrants is the fact that murder is illegal: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/greg-abbott-murder-charges-shooting-migrants-1234945121/

...While Operation Lone Star troopers seize a public park in Eagle Pass without permission from the city: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/migrants-eagle-pass-park-18602608.php

...Setting up a clash between federal Border Patrol agents and state officers: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-blocks-federal-border-agents-processing-migrants-eagle-pass-shelby-park/

A mass of wild animals are found to have been burned alive after being trapped against a border wall in a federally-protected area last summer: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/11/texas-border-wall-wildfire-trapped-wild-animals-dead

It's official: 2023 was the hottest year on record in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/11/texas-2023-hottest-year/

...And it came with a record number of heat-related deaths in the state: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/texas-heat-deaths-2023-record-climate-change/

Ken Paxton has asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow Texas' ban on drag shows to take effect: https://www.kxan.com/lgbtq/ken-paxton-appeals-texas-drag-performance-law-injunction/

...While a New Braunfels campsite refuses to allow a gay couple to hold their wedding on their property: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/new-braunfels-refuse-gay-marriage-18598901.php

With all that negativity today, a chance for a lift: a national blood shortage makes today and this weekend a great time to give blood: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/red-cross-declares-emergency-blood-shortage-urges-donations/

Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our important work - multiple ways to do so at https://progresstexas.org/.

This week, what appeared to be a ham-fisted silencing of a large group of journalists and left-leaning activists on Elon Musk's X - the platform that we, frankly, generally still call Twitter - was shrugged off by Musk as a side effect of routine housecleaning of bots and fake accounts. Our friend and regular contributor Steven Monacelli, investigative reporter for the Texas Observer, was one of those who found themselves temporarily in Twitter jail this week; he's not accepting that lame explanation, and neither are we.

As the all-important 2024 election year spins up, will Twitter/X remain a place where the truth, and those who make it their life's work to seek out the truth, can count on an equitable playing field? Or, will it be subject to the whims of its increasingly erratic and childish billionaire owner, seemingly more interested in basking in the adoration of his right-wing conspiracist following than truly supporting "free speech" as he loves to claim?

Find Steven Monacelli's great work for the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/steven-monacelli/.

Thanks for your support! Please check out our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The incoming winter weather should fall short of "historic" measure: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/forecasts/canadian-deep-freeze-steaming-towards-texas-is-it-historical

...While ERCOT issues a fresh weather watch: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/ercot-issues-weather-watch-ahead-of-arctic-blast/3430486/

...Homeowners are advised to prepare pipes, plants and pets: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-winter-weather-homeowners-plan

...And we're all reminded of the signs of hypothermia: https://www.newswest9.com/article/sports/outdoors/texas-outdoors/with-temperatures-expected-to-drop-in-west-texas-hypothermia-could-be-a-real-concern/513-76565658-b8bd-4f2c-9607-91c7de96b104

...And in an epic case of bad timing, ERCOT's former CEO testifies that Governor Abbott ordered that energy prices remain at the maximum during Winter Storm Uri in 2021: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/former-ercot-ceo-following-gov-abbott-order-prices-at-max-cap-feb-2021-winter-storm/269-fe79947a-8ed2-4817-b4d5-037b72c46443

A heartbreaking story of a young Luling woman who died in the midst of a difficult pregnancy - possibly exacerbated by Texas' abortion care restrictions: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/15/abortion-high-risk-pregnancy-yeni-glick

Special education programs at Texas public schools brace for a sudden $300 million denial of federal funding: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/special-education-funding-cut-18598018.php

Texas lawmakers in D.C. are leading the impeachment effort against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/10/texas-republicans-mayorkas-impeachment/

Ken Paxton is pleading with the Texas Supreme Court to block a lower court's order for him to testify in that ongoing whistleblower lawsuit: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/paxton-asks-texas-supreme-court-to-block-sworn-testimony-in-whistleblower-case/

...While the Texas Supreme Court declines to intervene on the behalf of a Texas secessionist group: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-10/texas-supreme-court-wont-take-up-secessionist-groups-push-to-get-texit-measure-on-gop-ball

Texas A&M president Mark Welsh addresses a crank theory that A&M has sold out its nuclear weapons research to Qatar: https://www.kagstv.com/article/news/local/texas-am-president-clears-up-misinformation/499-66e2100d-e813-45c8-a727-6a124d0950e2

Progress Texas will help host a debate between Democratic candidates for U.S. House District 32 next week: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/

Thanks for listening! Please check out the several ways in which you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.