The Monday Morning Wrangle from Far Left Texas

Opening with the latest in state political news as the filing deadline for the March primaries and the November general election approaches.

Related: Shrimp 'N Stuff owner Jeff Antonelli is running for the Democratic nomination for CD-14.

— John Wayne Ferguson (@JohnWFerguson) December 2, 2021

O'Rourke is also in Beaumont this Thursday.

🤩 @SabbySabs2 hosted Green Party candidate Delilah 🎉 @DelilahforTexas
"I felt there's a need for working class representatives to show up— to be there for the community, to be a voice for them" ♥️ #RBNhttps://t.co/onggkB77pX pic.twitter.com/oNQooLTxt1

— #BlackLivesMatter 🇿🇦🌹🌻 (@lula_leftist) December 4, 2021

Electric power grid expert. In competition with @RonDeSantisFL over who can kill more people through sheer mendacity. All hat. No cattle. 0/10 @GregAbbott_TX pic.twitter.com/hTvEViL7ds

— Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom) December 6, 2021

The current chair of the Texas Democratic Party, Gilberto Hinojosa, has indicated he isn’t going anywhere.

But following a disappointing 2020 election — and ahead of a challenging 2022 election — open discussion about party leadership is heating up.https://t.co/yxL1H5ogGN

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 4, 2021

Hinojosa appears to be in a spirited tussle for his job with Col. Kim Olson.  She has released a long list of endorsements (that are not slouches).  As an ex-Democrat, I don't care which of these two wins, but the dynamics -- Olson's white women and rural and conservaDems versus Hinojosa's incumbent, establishment, South Texas and Latin@ bloc -- will be interesting to observe.  And the race could be further scrambled from an identity politics POV if Carroll Robinson throws his hat in.

The Texas Signal talked to state Rep. Michelle Beckley about her candidacy for lieutenant governor, and to Jay Kleberg on his bid for land commissioner.  Kuff did a couple more filing updates.

UPDATE: The @TexasGOP has now officially requested that Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX initiate legal action to have Talarico removed from office. #txlege https://t.co/sbNeHEL1RA

— Texas Republican Initiative (@TxRepInitiative) December 4, 2021

Bears watching, especially if Abbott calls the TXGOP's heavily-requested fourth special session.  And Comptroller (pronounced 'controller') Glenn Hegar finally managed to get some bad publicity.

One of the most infuriating things about being an investigative reporter in Texas is you uncover a problem & offer viable solutions— and sometimes the gov’t decides to ignore them & hide the records that made the reporting possible. The “no body, no murder” approach to governing. https://t.co/LG532WtY4a

— Zach Despart (@zachdespart) December 3, 2021

The Texas Observer also reported on this story earlier in the fall.  Last: a very good thread here about the influence of Steven Hotze on Houston elections, especially if you're voting in the school board runoffs taking place right now.

My parents received a mailer encouraging them to vote for @Anne4HISD for HISD board. It was incredibly cheap -- just a sheet of paper distributed by the local Democratic precinct chair.

It was perhaps the most effective mailer I've ever seen. 1/

— Evan the Maccabee (@evan7257) December 5, 2021

While we wait for the Supreme Court to strike down a woman's right to choose, here's some reading on that topic.

A good day to read this 2015 @TexasObserver story on Rosie Jimenez, who died from complications of an illegal abortion in Texas more than 44 years ago, because a safe and legal one was out of reach https://t.co/8wiCmvTLEa

— Sophie Novack (@SophieNovack) December 1, 2021

The scramble for help: Texas women who trekked to Louisiana share the stories of their journeys and experiences. @Belynnhollers and @LolaGomezC have the report. #txlege #TexasAbortion #SB8 #abortion #SupremeCourt https://t.co/OInt5CQLDg

— John Gravois (@Grav1) December 4, 2021

COVID next.

More than half of Houstonians who died from COVID had diabetes https://t.co/3Mv5YLh64G #hounews

— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) December 3, 2021

Your Local Epidemiologist is on top of the omicron situation.  Socratic Gadfly dove back into COVID with his post on the gain of function issues, along with Fauci and NIAID's apparent failure to monitor Peter Daszag.  And with medical news apart from the novel coronavirus, Texas 2036 warned that the shortage of doctors in the state is getting worse.  (Hey, remember when tort "reform" was supposed to fix that?)  Writing in the San Antonio Report, Doctors Junda Woo and Barbara Taylor urge Alamo City leaders to use the tools at its disposal to end HIV there.  And condolences poured in for Danny Jensen of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, who passed away over the weekend.

Criminal and social justice news:

THREAD: A catastrophe weeks in the making. Critical failures by multiple parties. A @HoustonChron investigation reveals what led up to the @astroworldfest disaster and how it unfolded.
✏️@zachdespart, @sam_kett, @JulianGi11, @stjbs
➡️https://t.co/MNAYX2fz3Q pic.twitter.com/C5IT4E8HTo

— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) December 3, 2021

If this does not prove that @MagnoliaISD is run by members of the Proud Boys and the KKK, then I don’t know what will. This is their superintendent, Dr Todd Stephens, standing idly by while a football player & a few others flash WHITE POWER HAND SIGNS. #Texas #racism #Trump pic.twitter.com/GTTUkShO4p

— A Lefty Gamer (@A_Lefty_Gamer) December 5, 2021

Sheriff Bill Waybourn needs to answer questions about his repeated failures at his main job, running the county jail. Agree with the DMN; it’s unacceptable. #txlege

21 people died in the Tarrant County jail last year. That’s unacceptable. https://t.co/7R01xoGlkX pic.twitter.com/K70ho8zTxv

— Chris Turner (@ChrisGTurner) December 5, 2021

Seriously, @TexasTribune?? You’re holding a forum to talk public safety with the APD chief and ZERO other voices to offer counterpoints? This is embarrassing. Police are not the solution to our public safety problems, they are, in fact, the cause of many of them. pic.twitter.com/qkg0wOFIrA

— Wireman for D5 (@wireman_for_D5) December 2, 2021

68-year-old man arms himself to drive, gets into car accident with a 27-year-old woman, shoots and kills her, then turns gun on himself (Laredo, Texas): #GunSense https://t.co/AdFajmr0I8

— Defensive Gun Use (@DefensiveGun) December 5, 2021

Andy Fastow of Enron fame now gives lectures on business ethics. That's all. https://t.co/E5BYWLYY7b via @business

— Wendy Benjaminson (@wbenjaminson) December 2, 2021

How about some redistricting updates?

Not so fun fact: Texas' new maps have earned an F grade by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project analysis. Even gerrymandering is bigger in Texas.https://t.co/xJrbF5rH0r

— Texas Civil Rights Project (@TXCivilRights) December 2, 2021

Three-judge panel has rejected Texas' motion for it to toss #txlege redistricting lawsuits based on state's argument that private individuals can't bring claims under Section 2 of Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discriminatory voting practices: https://t.co/3T8tQHNHnP #txlege

— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) December 3, 2021

And the latest from your local library and schoolhouse.

A Texas library showed what shelves would look like if all books with subjects 'that could offend someone' were removed 👀 pic.twitter.com/JVD4RAZ9Ox

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 4, 2021

For Texas Monthly, Ashley Hope Pérez tells what happened when a school district banned her book.

A new Texas law prohibits teacher-prompted classroom discussions on "a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs," but doesn't define what a controversial issue is. https://t.co/R2Rnal1cht

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 6, 2021

A few items about climate and the environment.

Grand Prairie, TX, has one of the most hazardous/ uncontrolled toxic waste sites in the country. It’s next to a predominantly Latino community & a school.

Why are residents unaware? Why are the health risks unknown? 🧵/1

For @keranews/@Report4America https://t.co/AgojR3gIhg

— Alejandra Martinez (@alereports) December 3, 2021

Stephen Eisenman at Counterpunch profiled the history and the dilemma of Port Arthur, and spoke to local activist Hilton Kelley there.

Remember this plume? The company responsible for it, ITC, has applied for a permit to authorize the continued operation of their other Houston-area facility located in Pasadena. A public hearing will take place Dec. 9. 🧵 #hounews https://t.co/a530pJS5z1

— Air Alliance Houston (@airallianceHOU) December 5, 2021

Flooding on Bissonet Street in Houston. 1940s. I believe this is between New Castle & the RR tracks. pic.twitter.com/G7qqz70IbY

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) December 5, 2021

I'll take that as my segue to the soothers.

Cricket on the Strand in Galveston #galvnews pic.twitter.com/KRbHGaY4nS

— John Wayne Ferguson (@JohnWFerguson) December 4, 2021

Who's ready to go to Joel Osteen's church this weekend for some treasure hunting? pic.twitter.com/7mme1TZ84n

— Russell Foster for Congress TX-4 (@RussellFosterTX) December 3, 2021

Nearly all of Texas’ most famous historical figures (Davey Crockett excluded) were in San Felipe de Austin at one time or another in the ramp-up to the Texas Revolution. https://t.co/TLOjFRBDuy

— Texas Highways Magazine (@TexasHighways) December 5, 2021