Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, is out after the public revelation that he sexually abused a young girl for four years in the 1980's: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/i-was-a-12-years-old-woman-accuses-gateway-church-founder-of-molesting-her-as-a-child/

...Morris is chummy with both Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz: https://x.com/MrsAMartini/status/1802917597286969565?t=JFcQSbPuXFhQJ88EB1trcg&s=03

Texas surgeon Eithan Heim, accused of leaking the private medical records of young transgender patients at Texas Children's Hospital to Ken Paxton's office, pled not guilty to four federal charges of HIPAA violations yesterday: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/houston-doctor-accused-illegally-obtaining-child-19518067.php

A Houston man was sentenced to 33 months in prison over several violent threats he made in 2022 against California Congresswoman Maxine Waters: https://westsidetoday.com/2024/06/17/texas-man-sentenced-to-33-months-for-threatening-u-s-rep-maxine-waters/

The notoriously conservative U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has adopted a new rule to prevent civil cases from being taken out of its jurisdiction: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/texas-court-favored-by-conservatives-pause-transferring-cases-elsewhere-2024-06-17/

Lawyers with Ken Paxton's office argued yesterday in El Paso for the shutdown of Annunciation House, whom they accuse of human smuggling: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/17/texas-el-paso-migrant-shelter-hearing-annunciation-house/

...While Operation Lone Star troops have taken to firing mace-laced "pepper balls" at migrants crossing the border: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/18/texas-national-guard-border-migrants-pepper-ball-guns/

UT Austin, facing multiple political and PR crises, has laid off two dozen employees working in its communications and marketing departments: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-06-17/university-of-texas-communications-staff-pro-palestinian-campus-protests-anti-dei-law

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Young voters - those under 25 - represent a huge percentage of the electorate in Texas, large enough to make decisive differences in electoral outcomes in upcoming elections, most notably at present the one we're working towards in November. But - are we reaching them effectively? Have established progressive political entities done a good job in communicating with and activating this all-important voting bloc? That's a difficult question to answer - and to try to answer it, Progress Texas Advocacy Associate Tatum Owens and Digital Associate Haley Smith have assembled three Texas advocates who have been active in organizing and motivating their fellow young voters: we welcome Gracie Israel, Regional Program Coordinator for Texas Rising's efforts in north Houston, College Station and Prairie View, Jeffrey Clemmons, Organizing Manager for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, and Alexis Kosloski, a Dallas-based advocate who works alongside multiple voter outreach organizations.

Learn more about Texas Rising at https://txrising.org/.

Learn more about Planned Parenthood Texas Votes at https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-texas-votes/elections.

Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Austin gun store owner Michael Cargill's lawsuit opposing the federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to be fired like machine guns succeeds, putting those devices back on the market: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-backs-challenge-federal-ban-gun-bump-stocks-2024-06-14/

Abortion opponents will NOT rest following SCOTUS's call last week not to rule on a challenge to the FDA's approval of the abortion drug mifepristone: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/15/politics/abortion-judge-matthew-kacsmaryk-supreme-court-mifepristone/index.html

Longtime Republican activist, Southern Baptist leader, and accused sexual predator Paul Pressler has died at 94: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/15/paul-pressler-dead-southern-baptist-convention/

A federal judge has blocked the liquidation of the Austin-based parent company of Alex Jones' Infowars network, potentially allowing it to keep operating while a $1.5 billion judgement against Jones in the Sandy Hook case is pursued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-jones-infowars-assets-bankruptcy-sandy-hook-conspiracy/

Efforts to set up a separate stock exchange in Texas come with warnings to potential investors that our state has become known for interfering in business over political matters: https://www.ft.com/content/191394f1-ef8e-423e-b2b3-b8db6b620d05

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

A lawsuit against the FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, having found favor in the courtroom of Amarillo anti-abortion federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, has failed at the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/13/supreme-court-texas-mifepristone-ruling-abortion/

...Meanwhile, Kacsmaryk is staying busy - he's temporarily blocked that new ATF rule requiring background checks on gun transactions at gun shows and online: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/06/13/judge-blocks-atf-rule-on-expanded-firearms-background-checks

A Fort Worth man has been charged with making threats to an FBI agent over the Hunter Biden case, in a repulsive expression of bloodthirsty rage: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-man-charged-threatening-federal-agent-guns/story?id=111112158

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas revises his estimates of grid capacity growth requirements over the rest of the decade, which he thinks will need to almost double from today's figures - due to demands from crypto-currency mining and AI data centers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2024/06/13/ercot-ceo-stuns-texas-officials-with-new-estimate-for-power-needs/

A new Texas Observer essay depicts in heartbreaking detail the desperation of migrants trapped between American razor wire and Mexican cartel bandits at our border: https://www.texasobserver.org/between-the-concertina-wire-and-the-cartel/

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Zurawski v Texas plaintiff Lauren Miller testified before Congress this week: https://x.com/ReproRights/status/1801008213766058022?t=PuKkGeM89NN4au_k_4eMFA&s=03

...A Ted Cruz-sponsored bill that would have withheld Medicaid funding for entire states over IVF policies has been blocked by Senate Democrats: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/12/ted-cruz-ivf-bill-democrats/

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden has announced that it will NOT host a right-wing extremist seminar announced by the True Texas Project: https://www.facebook.com/FortWorthBotanicGarden

...All of the ideas being promoted by this event have become central to Texas Republican thinking: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2024/06/12/490389/war-on-white-america-influential-texas-group-hosting-pro-christian-nationalism-conference/

...All of which are patently ridiculous and counter to fact: https://newsone.com/5300479/texas-white-nationalist-group-conference-war-on-white-america/

The ACLU, as expected, has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its recent move largely shutting down asylum for immigrants: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/12/politics/aclu-bidens-border-executive-action/index.html

...While a Fort Worth judge has also struck down the Biden administration's extending Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/bidens-title-ix-protections-lgbtq-students-struck-texas-court-rcna156784

...In better news, an Travis County judge has dismissed Ken Paxton's lawsuit against the City over its deprioritization of low level marijuana enforcement: https://www.kxan.com/news/travis-county-judge-dismisses-ag-paxton-lawsuit-over-austin-marijuana-ordinance/

Advocacy Associate Tatum Owens reviews our experience in El Paso during the Texas Democratic Convention: https://progresstexas.org/blog/5-progressive-takeaways-2024-texas-democratic-convention

...During which we were excited to meet Brigitte Bandit! https://www.chron.com/politics/article/brigitte-bandit-texas-drag-queen-19507260.php

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Ken Paxton's lawsuit today against the Biden administration is over a new rule extending Medicaid protections for LGBTQ+ and transgender Texans against discrimination under the Affordable Care Act: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/ken-paxton-sues-biden-transition-race/

Four State GOP House Reps have been censured by their own party for campaigning against fellow Republican incumbents: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/texas-house-republicans-censured/

...The four defiantly say they'd have been happy to have been expelled from the Caucus altogether: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article289182239.html

The Amarillo City Council has rejected a proposed abortion travel ban, but it's likely to end up before local voters anyway: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/amarillo-city-council-abortion-travel-ban/

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is set to host a day-long conference with the True Texas Project, a Southern Poverty Law Center-identified right-wing extremist group: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/12/true-texas-project-conference-christian-nationalism/

...Let the Fort Worth Botanic Garden know your opinion on what they've chosen to host: https://fwbg.org/about-us/staff/contact/

Best prepare yourself, as Texas ranks very low in a national ranking of disaster readiness: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/06/11/texas-named-one-of-the-worst-states-for-disaster-preparedness-lets-fix-that/

Every Texan invites you to join in their new equity project, The People's Budget: https://everytexan.org/peoples-budget/

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The Democratic National Committee has dedicated an additional $140,000 to turning our Texas Democrats in November: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/10/national-democratic-group-spends-140000-on-texas-voter-turnout-effort/

Federal authorities have launched an enforcement operation against "switches" - illegal handgun accessories that allow fully automatic fire of handguns: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/06/10/us-attorneys-office-atf-announce-joint-initiative-focused-on-machine-gun-conversion-devices-in-texas/

...Handguns fired with switches are impossible to aim properly, and are thus extra hazardous: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/06/10/texas-crack-machine-gun-converters-3d-printers/74049460007/

A bomb threat against a monthly drag brunch and market in Austin led to the cancellation of the event on Sunday: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/austin/article/brewtorium-austin-19506648.php

Police in Flower Mound are looking for two cretins seen distributing sandwich bags full of anti-Semitic and homophobic flyers around town: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/police-investigating-bags-of-homophobic-antisemitic-flyers-flower-mound-north-texas/287-d88ea8ee-a3cb-422b-92ec-aacf533aa630

Another orphan well in the Permian oil patch has erupted with toxic produced water: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/west-texas-orphan-wells-water-bursts/

A Houston surgeon who leaked private Texas Childrens Hospital records on transgender care with right wing activists at the behest of Ken Paxton is now facing federal HIPAA charges: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2024/06/10/490080/whistleblower-faces-federal-charges-after-exposing-alleged-continuation-of-gender-affirming-care-at-texas-childrens-hospital/

Paxton's lawsuit against the City of Austin over its new local ordinace deprioritizing low-level marijuana offenses is being heard in an Austin courtroom this week: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-austin-marijuana-ordinance/269-d30c2bcf-fde8-4ad4-bed7-ddb3b9333879

D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The Texas Democratic Convention wrapped with solid messages of progressive solidarty against encroaching authoritarianism: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-06-08/texas-democratic-convention-wrapup-el-paso-democrats-cautious-optimism-dire-warnings-november-election

...The resulting platform the polar opposite of the odious Texas GOP platform that emerged from San Antonio recently: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/09/texas-democratic-platform-supports-guaranteed-right-to-abortion-opposes-school-choice/

...Including the apparent fear Republicans harbor about their future prospects: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article289094514.html

...A new group aiming to establish more permanent, year-round Democratic infrastructure was unveiled at the Convention: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/06/texas-democratic-pac-party-convention-agave/

D/FW folks: missed the Convention? Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary

Lots of great Pride events happening this weekend across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.

Right off the bat - literally, immediately after the Progress Texas team touched down in El Paso on Thursday - we hosted a special live podcast recording to help kick off this year's Texas Democratic Convention at the El Paso Convention Center! We continued our ongoing series with terrific Texas political influencers on the topic of abortion rights before a packed house! Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson moderated a stellar panel: TX-15 U.S. Congressional nominee Michelle Vallejo, former State Senator and reproductive rights icon Wendy Davis, and for the first time on our podcasts, reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski. Thanks to all of them, and to all of you who attended live!

Learn more about Amanda Zurawski and her fellow plaintiffs in their courageous lawsuit against the State of Texas at https://reproductiverights.org/zurawski-v-texas-plaintiffs-stories-remarks/.

Learn more about Michelle Vallejo's campaign for the U.S. Congress at https://www.michellefortx15.com/.

Learn more about Wendy Davis and the rest of the Planned Parenthood Texas Votes leadership team at https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-texas-votes/leadership-team.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The 2024 Texas Democratic Party Convention is underway in El Paso, where abortion rights, border concerns, public schools and gun safety are among the top topics: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-democratic-convention-2024-el-paso/

...The party is looking to unify and end its long drought in statewide electoral wins, with a focus on Dallas U.S. Rep. Colin Allred's challenge to Republican Senator Ted Cruz: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/07/texas-democrats-begin-state-convention-in-familiar-position-out-of-power-but-hopeful/

...It's hot in El Paso - but, it's also unusually hot across the Southwest. ERCOT is set to announce its risk assessment for the hottest part of the summer today: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-cps-energy-texas-shatter-peak-use-record-19496926.php

Also relative to El Paso, the narrow runoff win of Republican U.S. Rep Tony Gonzales is being called into question by his opponent, Brandon "The A.K. Guy" Herrera: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/06/texas-election-recount-brandon-herrera/

Houston-area Republican U.S. Rep Troy Nehls is being accused by his fellow conservatives and veterans of "stolen valor" as he has continued to wear a medal he did not earn: https://www.notus.org/congress/troy-nehls-combat-infantry-badge-pin-revoked

Lots of great Pride events happening this weekend across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas

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/.