We're all recovering from the time change -- personally I love falling back -- so while there are Tweets aplenty I'll touch lightly today and hopefully have shorter and more frequent posts here this week.
The calamity at AstroWorldFest dominated the weekend's local, state, and national news. And now the subsequent investigations and lawsuits are taking over.
Astroworld had a plan for all sorts of emergencies. It designated who could stop a performance and how. It included a script announcing an evacuation. And it detailed how to handle a mass casualty event.
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) November 8, 2021
Whether promoters followed it Friday is unclear. https://t.co/wxtAMZCtA1
The suit claims the "defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner." The lawyers also called the incident a "predictable and preventable tragedy."
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) November 8, 2021
https://t.co/ZoZdhQUyxk #khou11 #AstroworldFestival
As the filing period for the March primaries and November elections prepares to begin, a scrum has developed among Democrats for the open TX-35 seat in Central Texas. Austin council member Greg Casar and statehouse Rep. Eddie Rodriguez III will join David L. Anderson Jr., Claudia Zapata, Danielle Fewings, and Sass, all of whom previously declared. Zapata has been outspoken about having been overlooked since she entered the race when Lloyd Doggett was still running for re-election. (Doggett has shifted to TX-37, hoping to avoid a Latino/a challenge.)
Following the recent TexTrib polling that showed K-Pax comfortably leading the crowded GOP AG primary, Pee Bush put on his Captain Obvious costume.
George P. Bush: Democrat will be elected Texas attorney general if Paxton is GOP candidate https://t.co/ekIz8FM0O0 pic.twitter.com/5XVkEJHUiX
— The Hill (@thehill) November 8, 2021
Over on the left, the Democrats picked up a new contestant, Rochelle Garza, who should split the identity vote quite nicely with Joe Jaworski and Lee Merritt. Beyond her announcement and Stace's slobber, I've seen nothing about her campaign. Merritt OTOH is getting a ton of publicity.
Let's talk about Texas, school books, and the Attorney General's race....
— Beau of The Fifth Column (@BeauTFC) November 5, 2021
Also @MerrittForTexas https://t.co/Pqd2L6j9e6
Civil rights lawyer @MerrittForTexas has represented the families of George Floyd, and many others whose loved ones were killed by law enforcement. Now, he's challenging indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022.
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) November 2, 2021
Interview by @michaelsbarajas: https://t.co/gueB9FI8oQ
Scoop: Sara Stapleton Barrera, the 2020 primary challenger who forced @SenatorLucio into a runoff, is running for his newly open seat. https://t.co/vb0BPe7Qs7 #SD27 #txlege
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 6, 2021
By the way, here's those Biden polling numbers Kuffner was looking for last week. He's going to need his scuba diving gear to see them.
Let's move on to some climate updates. I still have a rather long post planned for COP26; for now, a few state items.
Texans face greater risk of heat, drought and hurricanes, but Abbott administration has no plan to tackle future threats of climate change https://t.co/rlMxMSb3gW
— KVUE News (@KVUE) November 8, 2021
Texas faces ‘generational’ energy problems that it doesn’t know how to fix https://t.co/0XAOfqSztc
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) November 7, 2021
Austin Energy says it will keep running the Fayette coal power plant, missing a key climate goal. https://t.co/uGzxqgNQb6
— KUT Austin (@KUT) November 2, 2021
Sorry, Evan Mintz. Time has run out on the Ike Dike.
It’s *the* question. A very attractive alternative to building the Ike Dike by 2030 is decarbonizing by 2030 and rewilding the obsolete petrochemical complexes.
— Allyn West (@allynwest) November 5, 2021
It's Houston. Bayport. Port Neches.
— One Breath Partnership (@OneBreathHOU) November 2, 2021
"Cancer Alley."
All over the Gulf Coast, corporations are using our communities as "sacrifice zones."https://t.co/bUkU9MjDYK
Thanks to a loophole in the Clean Air Act, William Koch’s Oxbow plant in Port Arthur, Texas, puts out 10 times as much lung-damaging sulfur dioxide as its industrial neighbors. People who live nearby have asked the state for help, to no avail. https://t.co/Q0Nps7gRrj
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) November 5, 2021
For too long, this county has had a reactive posture in the face of environmental disasters. No more. Today, we are unveiling the latest technology to proactively detect & report threats to air and soil quality in Harris County: our Rapid Ambient Air Monitoring unit. pic.twitter.com/2QRoaGkqUx
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) November 4, 2021
A bit of COVID:
Opinion: Many believe the pandemic has passed, but nearly 20,000 Texans have died of COVID-19 in the last three months. https://t.co/uJvWHkVwLr
— San Antonio Report (@SAReport) November 7, 2021
Now: 5th U.S. Circuit blocks Biden COVID-19 mandate pending further court order. Government must respond by Monday. Order: pic.twitter.com/s3Jrb5MWfl
— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) November 6, 2021
And some criminal and social justice developments.
Officers in Texas jails falsified jail records to cover up facts surrounding many jail deaths, but "law enforcement" officials chose not to prosecute them. One of the most important things to know is that the ruling class only enforces some laws against some people. https://t.co/lsYCNOz8BZ
— Alec Karakatsanis (@equalityAlec) November 2, 2021
Once in a while, though ...
A Texas real estate agent who previously claimed she was "definitely not going to jail" for storming the US Capitol has been sentenced to 60 days behind bars — the harshest punishment so far for a rioter who has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense. https://t.co/R8XKKekxVx
— CNN (@CNN) November 5, 2021
https://t.co/8BJ8xlQD3E pic.twitter.com/3fRYkeb3Oq
— 🎃๔๏ﻮ 🥧 ๓คຖᵇˡᵐ 🧱🗯 (@_dog_soldier_) November 5, 2021
After they spent months in TX prisons, dozens of migrants had their cases dropped last week because the small-town prosecutor filed faulty paperwork.
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) November 4, 2021
It's the latest legal blunder under @GovAbbott's new criminal justice system for migrants.https://t.co/CQpkmKheJ6 #txlege
"Still in Texas. Worst drivers so far."
— Jay R. Jordan (@jayrjordan) November 4, 2021
This is what Kent Wosepka posted to @Strava the day before a driver crashed into a group of cyclists in Liberty County this past Saturday, killing him and severely injuring two others. My latest from @chron: https://t.co/jPnr2OrSxw pic.twitter.com/TOAkeGmD5Y
For over a year, I've connected w/women from #SanAntonio who've experienced situational/intergenerational poverty. Their stories are our stories. I find myself & my own experience of poverty in their stories. Go visit https://t.co/1nzNATpUnz & be on the lookout for more soon... pic.twitter.com/heISaSzW5p
— Coda Rayo-Garza (@CodaRGarza) November 5, 2021
KTEP and Borderzine News Director Angela Kocherga reports on border reopening #OurBorderLife https://t.co/3B4JgTbbWK
— borderzine (@borderzine) November 8, 2021
Congratulations to a couple of Texans on promotions and recognition.
Robert Santos, one of the country's leading statisticians, is set to lead the Census Bureau through 2026. He's from San Antonio | @NPR https://t.co/Jyf71eeOmO
— Texas Public Radio (@TPRNews) November 4, 2021
San Antonio Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez among The Root’s 100 most influential African-Americans https://t.co/rTWOtmrhas
— San Antonio Express-News (@ExpressNews) November 4, 2021
McKee-Rodriguez actually scored just ahaed of Beyonce', who has mostly abdicated her public community and social responsibility over the past year (or perhaps longer ... which, to be fair, is more of a 'what have you done for us lately' complaint from me more than it is anything else).
The rest of the calm-me-downs for today:
Tonight’s #Diwali celebration was a beautiful display of light, love and triumph of good over evil: from the floating diyas, to the colorful rangoli, the lively dances and the incredible lights all throughout Hemisfair and the Tower of the Americas.
— Hemisfair (@hemisfair) November 7, 2021
Until next year ✨ pic.twitter.com/ve3AzvuwYq
Mouthwatering to-go menus from restaurants around the state offer a hearty excuse to keep your oven off this Turkey Day. https://t.co/OYgMzccgYx
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) November 7, 2021
A boy tries on a pair of shoes in San Augustine, 1939. In my mind's eye the man to the left is the boy's grandfather, he's brought the boy into town to get him a some new shoes, & the boy is wearing his grandfather's hat because he wants to a grown up, too. Photo by Russell Lee. pic.twitter.com/dEr7tEZ0lU
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) November 5, 2021
