A closer look at the Planned Parenthood lawsuit shows that an anonymous whistleblower working with Ken Paxton stands to take home 20% of any judgement: https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/08/15/what-to-know-about-texas-lawsuit-that-could-cost-planned-parenthood-18-billion/?sh=67fec23f4ae3

...And that Amarillo, where the case is being heard, itself has no Planned Parenthood clinics: https://apnews.com/article/planned-parenthood-texas-medicaid-6c016b80c0cf76e3b8f9577ad6ea8e69

A lawsuit to block Texas' ban on care for transgender youth has its first day in court: https://www.kut.org/health/2023-08-15/lawsuit-to-block-texas-ban-on-care-for-transgender-youth-has-its-first-day-in-court

...While a school board meeting in deep East Texas over a trans elementary school teacher goes as one might expect: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/teacher-gender-controversy-divides-kirbyville/502-5d6a01e8-4b5b-40f5-a43d-b4ac2e23444b

On the Border: whoda thunk that Greg Abbott would put his deadly border barrier up on the Mexican side? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-floating-border-barrier-technically-in-mexico-survey-finds/

...While Operation Lone Star-related high-speed DPS chases and crashes are WAY up in El Paso: https://www.ktep.org/ktep-news/2023-08-14/operation-lone-star-leads-to-more-dps-troopers-in-high-speed-pursuits-resulting-in-collisions-in-el-paso

...and Hispanic U.S. Congressmen rally the Biden Administration to stop the separation of migrant fathers from their families: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/hispanic-democrats-send-letter-urging-biden-administration-to-investigate-texas-separation-of-migrant-fathers

A new state law interfering in Harris County elections is found unconstitutional - and is immediately appealed: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-calls-new-texas-election-law-unconstitutional-state-102296644

A recent Miss Texas winner is running for the Texas House: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/miss-texas-house-campaign-18296949.php

Dallas attorney Sidney Powell is up on RICO charges in Georgia - but continues hawking her merch: https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-indictment-georgia-election-conspiracy-theories-defiant-2023-8

Illinois carpetbagger and unconvicted double murderer Kyle Rittenhouse has a new gun-nut org based in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/kyle-rittenhouse-texas-foundation/

And there's a fundraiser this weekend for victims of the wildfires in Maui in Bedford: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/native-hawaiians-north-texas-fundraiser-maui-residents-hawaii-wildfires/

Thanks as always for listening! Learn more about what we do at Progress Texas and how you can help at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Texas launches a lawsuit designed to destroy Planned Parenthood: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-planned-parenthood-repay-millions-dollars-102273480

Women forced to carry medically hopeless pregnancies to term under SB-8 continue to tell their stories: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-abortion-plaintiff-hopes-daughters-death-can-ultimately-help-others/3316090/

The Biden Administration calls on U.S. Supreme Court to take up controversial Texas social media law: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/14/biden-supreme-court-social-media-texas-florida/

TCEQ sues Shell (for a pittance) over fire at its Deer Park facility: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/shell-fire-lawsuit-texas-environment-18294678.php

Christian Nationalist darling Matt Schaefer will not run for re-election to the Texas House - but is eyeballing a Senate seat: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/shell-fire-lawsuit-texas-environment-18294678.php

Brad Pascale, digital disinformation master for Donald Trump, has returned to his native Texas: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/san-antonio-tech-bro-turned-trump-insider-brad-parscale-has-moved-back-to-texas-32408210

Illinois Superintendent of Education makes a strong pitch for Texas teachers to head north: https://www.the74million.org/article/open-invitation-to-florida-and-texas-teachers-come-to-illinois-we-trust-you/

Thanks for listening! Find out more about Progress Texas, what we do, and how you can join in at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

As a migrant child dies on a Greg Abbott bus to Chicago, California Governor Gavin Newsom calls our Governor's care for human life "absolutely appalling": https://www.ktvu.com/news/newsom-calls-out-texas-gov-after-3-year-old-migrant-dies-on-bus-to-chicago

Also appalling - someone is stealing water barrels intended to save the lives of migrants in the Texas desert: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/12/1193621286/texas-migrants-drinking-water-barrels-disappeared

Texas AG's office reverses itself on status of unborn fetuses - are they people, or not? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/12/texas-fetus-rights-prison-guard-lawsuit-abortion

Austin attorney Mindy Montford - a Democrat - will play a role in the Ken Paxton impeachment trial: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/08/14/texas-impeachment-austin-lawyer-could-be-key-witness-in-paxton-trial/70570511007/

Dallas attorney Sidney Powell - definitely not a Democrat - is thought likely to be the target of impending criminal charges in the Trump investigation: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/donald-trump-jack-smith-sidney-powell-indictment-1234804906/

The EPA trashes Texas coal cleanup as "do-nothing policy", demands drastic reduction of emissions that are affecting national parks: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13082023/epa-texas-disagree-haze-rules-national-parks/

And here we go again: COVID-related hospitalizations are spiking in Texas, just as the kids go back to school: https://www.ktsm.com/news/texas-covid-hospitalizations-jump-again-maps-show-where-its-worst/

Thanks as always for listening! Find our more about Progress Texas and how you can join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Operation Lone Star claims Noah's Ark as their excuse to place deadly barriers in the Rio Grande: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-buoys-noahs-ark-18289332.php

Chip Roy leads charge to defund the Border Patrol: https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/08-10-2023/roy-approps-demands/

Federal grand jury calls witnesses connected to Ken Paxton: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/10/ken-paxton-grand-jury/

As predicted, DPS officers patrolling Austin are targeting Black and Latino Texans: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/10/texas-austin-dps-state-troopers-police-communities-color/

Texas public schools, soon required by law to post armed guards, can't find or afford to hire them: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/school-security-new-law-hb3-18285762.php

Texas judge says outcome of Harris County election challenges by GOP will take time to complete: https://news.yahoo.com/texas-judge-says-no-quick-211601128.html

Yet another all-time ERCOT power demand record yesterday (the third just this week): https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-power-use-hits-record-third-time-this-week-amid-heat-wave-2023-08-10/

...While extreme heat can mess you up faster than you think: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/10/well/live/heat-body-dehydration-health.html

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! Learn more about Progress Texas, including how you can support our ongoing and important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following today at Progress Texas:

The McCombs Business School at UT Austin has been hosting a radical white supremacist scholar: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-09/new-report-reveals-ut-austin-scholar-wrote-for-white-supremacist-publications/

Houston City Council invites 2028 Republican National Convention to town in near-unanimous vote: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-republican-convention-city-council-votes-18287278.php

Yet another record single-day energy demand met by ERCOT yesterday, made possible by renewable energy providers: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-power-use-hits-record-again-amid-heat-wave-2023-08-09/

Democratic lawmakers press USPS on hot weather care for its letter carriers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/09/texas-congressmen-push-usps-to-give-mail-carriers-bottled-water-breaks-from-extreme-heat/

Texas wildfire danger reaches its second-to-highest risk level: https://www.kvue.com/article/weather/texas-drought/wildfire-preparedness-level-texas/269-94ec2f71-b237-4f96-a932-67dbcbe9227f

...While Texas actually remains behind wildfire stats for mid-August (knocks on wood): https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/09/texas-wildfires-2023-heat-wave/

Texas Republicans estimate a 0.1% chance of a conviction in Ken Paxton impeachment trial: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-trial-senate-conviction-chances/

Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how YOU can join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.

During the 2022 election, Mothers Against Greg Abbott grabbed the attention of voters across Texas with their eye-popping and sometimes heartbreaking video content directed at pushing forward progressive candidates. As a new election looms with the stakes even higher, we've invited founder Nancy Thompson to join us to share her story of activism, her thoughts on our best strategies for 2024, and what her terrific organization has in store.

Enjoy the terrific content of Mothers Against Greg Abbott at https://www.youtube.com/@mothersagainstgregabbott/videos, and learn more about their work at https://mothersagainstgregabbott.com/.

As always, we appreciate your attention and support! Learn more about our ongoing mission, and how YOU can be part of it, at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Orange river buoys deployed by Governor Abbott and Operation Lone Star are modified with razor-sharp circular saw blades: https://theweek.com/greg-abbott/1025651/circular-saw-blades-divide-controversial-rio-grande-buoys-installed-by-texas

Texas officials at the border have defied warnings about breaking international and Federal law for months: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/08/docs-show-rio-grande-agency-warned-texas-for-months-on-border-buoys-before-turning-to-doj/

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro isn't buying DPS claims of "working well" with U.S. Border Patrol: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-eagle-pass-democrats-18284715.php

A Texas A&M professor says all this cruelty at the border won't work anyway: https://theeagle.com/opinion/column/abbotts-barrels-wire-fences-wont-work/article_d9a953be-34c3-11ee-ab39-17dc6a41f352.html

Texas gets another national black eye, this time from Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/texas-abortion-bounty-law-ruling-1234802301

Texas abortion ban, lifted for a few hours last week, now heads on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192750247/what-just-happened-when-texas-abortion-bans-briefly-lifted-and-what-comes-next

Watch Ted Cruz squirm as he explains voting against a wave of funding for Dallas-area microchip manufacturing: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/texas-politics/sen-ted-cruz-explains-vote-against-chips-act-after-tour-of-dallas-county-inland-port/3312776/

Patriot Front finds itself on opposing ends of two lawsuits: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2023/08/08/texas-extremist-group-patriot-front-sued-over-boston-attack-of-black-man/

Texas judge orders Southwest Airlines lawyers to undergo training...by an extremist hate group: https://newrepublic.com/post/174906/texas-judge-orders-airline-lawyers-take-training-far-right-hate-group-adf

A climate change-related migration OUT of Texas may be on the horizon: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/heat-climate-change-migration-texas-south-southwest/

Before you flee, plant a tree! Free fruit trees offered in San Antonio this weekend: https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/outdoors/article/free-trees-san-antonio-parks-18285502.php

Thanks for your support! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we covered on our FIRST Progress Texas Daily Dispatch:

Gerrymandering trial starts in packed Galveston courtroom: https://www.galvnews.com/news/gerrymandering-trial-starts-in-packed-galveston-courtroom/article_f86c3afd-c325-5b95-829b-3aed69ab7452.html

Gov. Abbott holds ceremonial signing for law restricting trans athletes in the name of supporting women's sports: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/gov-abbott-holds-ceremonial-signing-for-law-restricting-transgender-athlete-participation-womens-sports/287-e18f29db-322c-4c7d-a5a4-3e331d90bb1b

...While Trump trashes U.S. Women's National Soccer Team: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/07/trump-us-womens-soccer-team-00110074

Both Cruz and Cornyn voted to confirm "Far Left" judge Trump wants removed from Jan. 6 trial In 2014: https://www.businessinsider.com/which-republican-senators-voted-tanya-chutkan-judge-trump-january-6-2023-8

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo bravely goes public about seeking mental health care: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/08/07/harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-taking-leave-of-absence-to-receive-treatment-for-clinical-depression/

Ken Paxton's lawyers, unsatisfied with 19 of 20, now want ALL impeachment articles thrown out ahead of trial: https://www.axios.com/2023/08/08/ken-paxton-impeachment-dismissed-effort

And this horrible Texas heat may be having horrible impacts on your mental health: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/heat-impact-mental-health/285-cbea6a81-f966-4b7c-86b4-dc22c1c675f0

Learn more about President Biden's new 988 suicide prevention chat and hotline: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-administration-rolls-out-new-988-suicide-and-crisis-hotline

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

A pair of scandals involving political meddling by conservatives at Texas A&M have rocked academia across the state recently - an esteemed journalism professor whose hiring was publicly celebrated found her arrangement with A&M curtailed following input from powerful Aggieland conservatives, and an adjunct professor who had dared to point out that state policies regarding fentanyl testing are exacerbating the death toll in Texas found herself in the crosshairs of none other than Lt. Governor Dan Patrick - nearly losing her job.

New laws regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies at Texas' institutions of higher learning have hit the ground fast in College Station. Should collegiate faculty across Texas now be worried about keeping their gigs - or even seeking them in such an environment to begin with? To help us understand what's at stake and what to expect next, we've invited Pat Heintzelman, President of the Texas Faculty Association, and Alex Morey, Director of Campus Rights Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression or FIRE to join us.

Learn more about the TFA at https://www.texasfacultyassociation.org/, and about FIRE at https://www.thefire.org/.

And as always, THANKS for your support! Please consider helping us continue to expand our mission for progress in Texas at https://progresstexas.org/donate.

The scene in Texas on the eve of crucial 2024 elections: defiance of Federal elections law in Galveston County. The inexplicable dumping of a solid national voter roll verification system. The monkey-wrenching of election procedures in Texas' largest county. Contradictory and confusing laws surrounding behavior at polling locations - some carrying felony-level penalties. Sensing imminent irrelevance, the Texas GOP has launched a full assault on the elections process in the Lone Star State - and we can't counter this attack unless we fully understand it. With that as our goal, we've invited two Texans in prime position to lead the fight for voting rights and election integrity in Texas: Jenna Royal is the new Voter Protection Director for the Texas Democratic Party, and Louis Bedford is a Dallas-based attorney with extensive experience in elections justice, having worked with both the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Dallas County Democratic Party on voter protection programs.

WE NEED PROGRESSIVE POLL WATCHERS. If you've wondered how YOU can stand up to bullying from the right, this is a perfect opportunity. Learn more: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedHuGsvh9bXsTWuxs623SaWODLGW8wGcC_EdsXBSwBYhIODg/viewform?usp=send_form

Thanks as always for listening - as these crucial elections approach, our work at Progress Texas is more important than ever. Please consider supporting our work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.

Note: we made an error in discussing whether poll workers, and not solely election judges in Texas, are allowed by law to carry firearms - they are not. But, it's not like Texas Republicans didn't try: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/08/nation/texas-bill-that-would-permit-poll-workers-carry-guns-moves-forward/