As regular Brainers know, I usually post these on Monday morning, but I had a lengthy one up on Saturday evening, so there jut wasn't enough to run yesterday. Grab yourself some la comida Mexicana and get ready to read the latest -- as in 49 days away from Election Day-- updates on the Great State's ballot issues, contested races heating up, and much more.
Here’s your Texas 2020 November ballot https://t.co/wEyjTnHhPX via @TexasTribune
— Alexandra Samuels (@AlexSamuelsx5) September 15, 2020
Opening with this, about the state's mishandling of the pandemic.
The daunting task of reporting coronavirus cases and deaths in real time has strained public health departments across the country. But none have shown more repeated cracks than Texas https://t.co/mQKNox7pU1
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) September 13, 2020
More Covid is down-post. Let's get to the latest on the election season.
The long-dominant Texas GOP has been forced into a defensive posture this election cycle. The prospect of Trump’s coattails dragging—instead of lifting—GOP prospects down the ballot are very real.https://t.co/e5eOiWtiKD
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) September 14, 2020
.@rossramsey: “With voters making their decisions about what to do when the polls open in October — just a month from now — politicians aren’t talking about solving problems. They’re all about their disagreements.” https://t.co/VzIWjj49RI
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) September 14, 2020
OK, so you can't vote by mail. Mask up. America's calling.https://t.co/O0wF5GEd4O
— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) September 15, 2020
Kuff was on top of the vote by mail rulings, good and bad. Socratic Gadfly says that the wingnuttery was thick at an SD30 special election GOP candidate forum.
For a smattering of Trump v. Biden news:
Race for the White House Update: Widespread Non-Panic https://t.co/D7FhisCnE5 #NeverForget #TrumpLies #Bidentherapist #FridayThoughts #AmericanNeedsBiden to step down because #BernieBeatsTrump #AllBuildingsMatter #911Remembered as the day #Islamophobia took over America pic.twitter.com/9a5AC5k08a
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) September 11, 2020
New: @JoeBiden campaign expands Texas staff https://t.co/DsyuOsPsSi
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) September 14, 2020
Polling analyst explains why Biden actually has a shot at winning Texas https://t.co/y1B1Cn5Sdd #TX2020
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) September 14, 2020
Unfortunately Tr*mp supporters will be getting media attention in #laredo but please don’t forget we stand united with our vets, community and environment to stop the wall. #DumpTrump2020 #FBsawitfirst pic.twitter.com/jtzrg38T18
— BrattyV (@tsunderebebita) September 12, 2020
Rick Perry and his staff at the Energy Department worked to advance energy deals that were potentially worth billions of dollars to Perry’s friends and political donors, a six-month investigation by reporters from Time, WNYC and ProPublica shows. https://t.co/wH063bpJ46
— ProPublica (@propublica) September 13, 2020
Greg Abbott and The Law have had a long, strong relationship, and Texans are finally beginning to understand how bad that has been for many of them.
NEW - Our @JeremiSuri chastises Gov. @GovAbbott's “Back the Blue” manifesto as straight out of the Jim Crow playbook and calls upon him to make our police better, with protection and dignity for all of our diverse citizens.https://t.co/qiIFpA10fp
— urbānitūs (@UrbanitusAustin) September 10, 2020
Dos Centavos posted about the long-awaited video release of the HPD killing of Nicolas Chavez and the firing of those involved, wondering what comes next. Grits for Breakfast tried to make sense out of Greg Abbott's muddled messages on police funding. Chris Hooks at Texas Monthly makes the same effort, with the same result.
Governor Abbott should be holding Texas police forces accountable. No police violence should go without direct and swift consequences- including defunding their police departments and reallocating those funds to sorely needed social services. #TXLegehttps://t.co/IkQXW02Zf5
— Planned Parenthood Texas Votes (@PPTXVotes) September 11, 2020
Bud Kennedy at the Startlegram thinks Abbott's 'Back the Blue' pandering should be a winner in the 'burbs with the moms. ShellSeas at Living Blue in TX blogs about Abbott's long history of supporting racial injustice by using the cops as his tool. And following up on Dallas police chief Renee Hall's resignation and Mayor Eric Johnson's squabbling with city council ...
#NEW @ChiefHallDPD seeks to reassure residents after @GovAbbott ripped @CityOfDallas council members for cutting @DallasPD overtime budget by $7 million. https://t.co/bqdxo22nmM @CBSDFW
— Jack Fink (@cbs11jack) September 15, 2020
The Dallas City Council isn't defunding the police department—far from it. It's also not voting with the mayor as he attempts to pressure his colleagues into supporting cuts to city staff salaries. He's 0-2. Will he go for 3? https://t.co/F0M216VT3H
— D Magazine (@DMagazine) September 10, 2020
Grits seems more than a little perplexed about why Hall is out while Austin's Brian Manley is still employed. I have still more "Cops Behaving Badly".
A North Texas sheriff's deputy is being held on more than $1 million bond after being arrested and charged with the murder of his girlfriend. https://t.co/gehENHr7mJ pic.twitter.com/lBPv4zjxPS
— CBSDFW (@CBSDFW) September 14, 2020
A Baytown police officer has been charged with aggravated assault in the 2019 shooting death of Pamela Turner. https://t.co/Zi45uLKrzx
— Houston Public Media (@HoustonPubMedia) September 14, 2020
Arrest Affidavit: The man is accused of deleting “porn videos and pictures of his girlfriend” from his cellphone and was under investigation on “sexual misconduct allegations.” https://t.co/Wq2Qg8HUZ0
— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) September 12, 2020
Pretty remarkable to keep hearing this line from officials in a county where Black people in mental health crisis are still shot to death by deputies or allowed to waste away in the county jail https://t.co/2UL5XLH1KOhttps://t.co/UU1Y1FSYLhhttps://t.co/ikDXfL8MrZ pic.twitter.com/x2VqlLlGOv
— Michael Barajas (@michaelsbarajas) September 14, 2020
Because Ken Paxton is the top LEO in the state, he gets included.
The back and forth between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the City of San Antonio over the barring of a Chick-fil-A restaurant inside San Antonio Int'l Airport continues. https://t.co/8a7S4qk0k3 pic.twitter.com/o4FHZ0fS6L
— CBSDFW (@CBSDFW) September 14, 2020
A ruling from @TXAG allows the city of El Paso to withhold information from the public about facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks. An expert on transparency said the ruling is flawed and bad public health policy. https://t.co/9qEhGlYPca
— El Paso Matters (@elpasomatters) September 2, 2020
*whew* That's a lot of dirty pigs for one week. Let's move on; Texas schools opened, and not all of them for remote learning.
In the #Austin area, @txstateteachers said #PflugervilleISD and #AustinISD received the most complaints #Texas #TXschools #COVID19 #coronavirus https://t.co/7eJPuVyvIY
— KVUE News (@KVUE) September 15, 2020
Some 30 million Mexican public school students are now learning from home. But only 53 percent of households have internet access. So the Mexican government developed a distance-learning program through television and radio.https://t.co/0SB4obIGM6
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) September 14, 2020
Jef Rouner for the Houston Press experienced a range of emotions on the first day of school.
Some social justice stories:
Over 60% of Houston households have had serious financial problems since the start of the pandemic.
— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) September 14, 2020
It's disproportionately affecting Black and Latino residents by huge margins. Around 80% of those households said they’re struggling. https://t.co/WaNwgW3pnq
#ICYMI: Harris County declared racism a public health crisis. Now it must take action. #HOUNews https://t.co/N40HHEWXmH
— Howard Henderson (@hhendersonphd) September 12, 2020
Zyklon B was first used in El Paso, Texas, on Mexicans. A Nazi chemist published a journal about it in 1937, Hitler praised it and used the chemical weapon for his gas chambers. pic.twitter.com/qdW7qY4WPu https://t.co/x3lqa5yVOq
— 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂 (@A1icia_DeLeon) September 13, 2020
Dee Dee Watters, writing at the HouChron, insists that we include Black trans women when we say "Black Lives Matter".
Meanwhile, as we decide whether we will vote by mail or in person, here's some reporting that suggests that waiting in line during EV or on Election Day might be best:
"The data here, covering more than 28 million pieces of first-class letters tracked by SnailWorks, shows how on-time delivery declined noticeably in July after the arrival of Louis DeJoy, the Trump-aligned postmaster general" https://t.co/vDd8kgJGTF
— Mark Elliott (@markmobility) September 14, 2020
Grace Keyes at the San Antonio Report warns us to not take the US Postal Service for granted.
And let me close this out today with these.
September 15th watch the documentary! https://t.co/GQGWt26QRV
— Texas Gentleman (@txbornguy) September 11, 2020
And they're off! The Zoo, @TPWDnews and our Texas zoo partners released 155 Texas horned lizards into their native range. 100 of those hatched here! This is the first of two releases. Stay tuned, as we’re set to release a record number back into the wild in a few weeks! pic.twitter.com/XCV1sLcpoy
— Fort Worth Zoo (@FortWorthZoo) September 11, 2020
