The Weekend Wrangle

Beginning the round-up of the best of the left of Texas from the past week -- or at least since Wednesday -- with your options if you're not voting next month.

Luckily you don't have to register as a party-affiliate in TX. You're then free to vote for @DelilahforTexas & other Independent/3rd party candidates.
Better yet, run for office as either! https://t.co/pWUKlUAMq7

— Ironic Icons Art (@Ironic_IconsArt) January 24, 2022

Texas state trial court keeps injunction against filing fees for minor parties in place https://t.co/KM2RgRuOhM #TXLege #TX2022 @TXGreens @LPTexas pic.twitter.com/vTpFGZ2PmN

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 26, 2022

Frequent BAN contributor Jim Riley sends along a link to the court order and also speculates about where the case might go from here.  Nothing in the state's legacy media that I have found about this story yet (as usual).

So it's on to the usual bad-behaving suspects in the duopoly.

Is Gov. Abbott pitting Texas parents against teachers? Education will be the wedge issue this election cycle #txlege #txed #TellEWA https://t.co/dlMjtrI9OZ

— Eva-Marie Ayala (@EvaMarieAyala) January 26, 2022

A reminder that @GovAbbott didn’t do jack shit after 10 students and educators were shot and killed inside Santa Fe, Texas, high school, and 13 more were wounded, in 2018. In fact, he’s only further weakened gun laws. #txlege pic.twitter.com/Cn7hnUGZ8s

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 26, 2022

.@GovAbbott "seems to be hedging his re-election and potential presidential aspirations on his far-right-wing base and their concerns about “critical race theory”, school library books, and hopes of vouchers in Texas," writes @Coalition4TxEd. #txlege #txedhttps://t.co/1Lr7j40W8m

— RA News (@RANewsTX) January 26, 2022

Like many Republican politicians in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott loves taking shots at California for its regulations, high taxes and liberal politics. But he’s got no problem taking their money for his re-election campaign. https://t.co/9AkkpA0kJW

— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) January 28, 2022

Texas's lieutenant governor is totally unhinged pic.twitter.com/qtIdGagn8j

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 26, 2022

AG Paxton is angry the Court of Criminal Appeals voided a law that let his agency unilaterally prosecute election crimes ... but did he cross an ethical line when he urged supporters to pressure the judges to rule in his favor as the case proceeds? 1/10 https://t.co/KGl6sd3JW7

— Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) January 26, 2022

"some of the calls were spurred by an automated phone message from Houston activist Dr. Steven Hotze that were sent to tens of thousands of Republicans statewide by his political action committee..." via @taygoldenstein https://t.co/C0diMIbj2A via @houstonchron #txlege #tx2022

— Jim Henson (@jamesrhenson) January 26, 2022

Lone Star politics in “Bob’s Breakdown:” East Texas rumble in attorney general’s race just one of AG Ken Paxton’s challenges in March primary, ⁦@RobertTGarrett⁩ writes. #txlege #Campaign2022 #2022Election #TexasPrimary #KenPaxton #LouieGohmert #Texashttps://t.co/ZQmq5HjhIB pic.twitter.com/oeMdwJmHnI

— John Gravois (@Grav1) January 27, 2022

So @MillerForTexas thinks assistance for AA farmers is prejudice….

What a moron pic.twitter.com/pa28pZn7qz

— BurtFromEulogy (@txmilligan) January 24, 2022

The retiring senator said in a sworn declaration that the redrawing of District 10 violated the Voting Rights Act, thereby weakening Black and Hispanic voting power. https://t.co/XPvbtCz2Xn

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@startelegram) January 27, 2022

.@kseliger on whether he didn't run for re-election based on the @BakerInstitute at @RiceUniversity's rankings of conservative to liberal legislators:
"I wouldn't compose a grocery list based upon what Rice University thinks." #txlege #txed #redistricting pic.twitter.com/DWcky5zBWT

— RA News (@RANewsTX) January 27, 2022

Seliger is a previously-undisclosed member of the large, bipartisan caucus which looks askance at the work of Dr. Mark Jones.

#TrumpRally in Conroe Saturday includes several @TexasGOP candidates https://t.co/p1PJHMn05u via @chron #HouNews #TXLege #TX2022 #LockThemAllUp

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 27, 2022

*Whew* the stench.  And the fallout from the Lege is claiming victims.

He’s 95 years old, a WW II vet, and always votes. But now he can’t get a mail ballot because Texas doesn’t have a drivers license number or SSN on file for him (when he registered it wasn’t required) & it can’t now be added retroactively to his file. https://t.co/EGr63QVeqR

— Michael Li 李之樸 (@mcpli) January 28, 2022

Books removed from the @granburyisd High School library are tagged “Krause’s List,” referring to lame-duck @RepMattKrause’s list simply inquiring about books involving sex or race. Krause is now a candidate for Tarrant County criminal district attorney. https://t.co/RtwwPWb0DB

— Bud Kennedy / #ReadLocal (@BudKennedy) January 27, 2022

'We are seeing a new level of despair': Latinas decry impact of Texas abortion law https://t.co/eihFrhIzWO #TXLege

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 26, 2022

That's my segue to the criminal, legal, and social justice updates.

Texas Supreme Court sets oral arguments for Feb. 24 on SB 8, the state's restrictive abortion law, based on question from the 5th Circuit Court on whether state officials or agencies can enforce SB 8.#txlege pic.twitter.com/0JwNXyQjtz

— Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) January 26, 2022

UPDATE: Facing boycott calls, Pepsi defends donation to Texas Republican Party https://t.co/PMpJhIxnZt #boycottpepsi

— IndependentLeft.news & Leftists.today (@IndLeftNews) January 26, 2022

On this #HolocaustRemembranceDay, I should remind you that on March 7th, 2021, @MagnoliaISD was busted sending racist and antisemitic death threats towards Blacks, LGBTQS, and Jews. #NeverAgain #WeRemember #BlackLivesMatter #Racism #Xenophobia #Texas #Education #Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/zhVUJHWtgo

— A Lefty Gamer (@A_Lefty_Gamer) January 27, 2022

A new study from Rice measured the impact of COVID deaths at the beginning of the pandemic and found that not only did Black and Brown people die at a disproportionate rate, they also bore most of the economic brunt of those deathshttps://t.co/0KUNxDG7xZ

— Sam Gonzalez Kelly (@sgonzalezkelly) January 26, 2022

.@POTUS continues to fight us in court and refuses to #EndTitle42, and keep his promise of making the US a more welcoming place for people seeking asylum.https://t.co/lZ9RJw4TNW

— RAICES (@RAICESTEXAS) January 26, 2022

A federal judge invalidated the U.S. Interior Department's November oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico for failing to properly account for its climate impact, according to court filings https://t.co/G3uLSuGmxM pic.twitter.com/ODaza1J6xZ

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 28, 2022

And there's my segue to the environmental news.

For @OneBreathHOU, I'm writing a series on how TCEQ's policies affect the lives and well being of communities in TX. First stop: Port Arthur, where a cluster of some of the largest industrial plants in the country are surrounded by only 12 air monitors. https://t.co/BPfKYe2Djr

— Amal Ahmed (@amalahmed214) January 27, 2022

BREAKING: report finds @txrrc is allowing gas well operators to poison workers, communities, and the environment by failing to enforce laws regarding deadly sour gas. Workers and communities next to operations are at risk.
More at https://t.co/z12TB9ZOCt pic.twitter.com/tse4w8y5Yh

— Earthworks (@Earthworks) January 27, 2022

While @ExxonMobil touts net-zero promise, its huge plastics complex goes online in Corpus Christi, TX https://t.co/5wzc1NQEwe via @DeSmog

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 27, 2022

#EPA will send its concerns to #TCEQ about the #UnionPacific site, where workers decades ago used creosote to treat rail ties. Creosote is considered a probable carcinogen and seeped into water & soil in #Houston’s predominantly Black #FifthWard.#HouNewshttps://t.co/9zYYDTslFL

— Anna Núñez (@nunez_anna) January 26, 2022

And a larger-than-regular collection of calm-me-downs.

Join @henrycmagowan, @SkyeWallin, @marwilliamson and @humford to discuss lessons learned from the 2020 asymmetrical campaigns of Williamson, Senator Mike Gravel, and Andrew Yang at #SXSW. https://t.co/S4CIuEBiHF pic.twitter.com/wlqr6EtWwD

— SXSW (@sxsw) January 26, 2022

How King of the Hill, in all its massive brilliance, helped an Englishman understand Texas. And, in particular, Dallas. Or, more precisely, Garlington. Sorry. https://t.co/mPB83kdUPQ

— D Magazine (@DMagazine) January 25, 2022

In his latest book, UT Austin professor Leonard Moore offers six specific steps that white Americans (and other non-Black people) can take to improve America’s racial climate. https://t.co/UGURVGCZWj

— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) January 25, 2022

Texas French Bread Bakery fundraising account tops $100K in less than 24 hours https://t.co/g0wvHCMgjt pic.twitter.com/6AXiAy4rwS

— KXAN News (@KXAN_News) January 26, 2022

The Comanche Medicine Mounds are a rare vestige of the mighty tribe that once controlled Texas.

Journalist W. K. Stratton visits the Big Mound as he traces the history of the Comanche with descendants of Quanah Parker. https://t.co/jiU3JNYFCP

— Texas Highways Magazine (@TexasHighways) January 27, 2022

...but in all seriousness, as the Spider Lady and her fellow arachnid advocates point out, spiders eat "400 to 800 million tons" of roaches, ants, and other pests every year, while there hasn't been a black widow fatality since 1983 https://t.co/HepgY9pWeo

— Rose (@rosecahalan) January 27, 2022

Help kick off the start of the @SanAntonioRodeo and celebrate our city's roots as a cowboy town at the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive!https://t.co/MnoPYH73d3 pic.twitter.com/gHLENR4o6y

— Visit San Antonio (@VisitSanAntonio) January 27, 2022

Another Hump Day Wrangle

Elections were conducted yesterday (besides MLB's Hall of Fame, that is) and the results were announced in a reasonably timely fashion.

Mary Nan Huffman wins District G special election https://t.co/fyOYFD7fMU via @houstonchron #HouNews #HouCouncil

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 26, 2022

José “Chito” Vela beat out six competitors Tuesday in the special election to replace Greg Casar on the Austin City Council. | @AKMcGlinchy https://t.co/lzgnnQqI7w

— KUT Austin (@KUT) January 26, 2022

In other politics news ...

A dark-money group formed by twice-failed San Antonio mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse spent money in support of Congressman Henry Cuellar, whose Laredo home & office were raided by the FBI this week

Via ⁦@ExpressNews⁩/⁦@bchasnoff⁩
https://t.co/RCwN5BlpI0

— Joshua Fechter 📝 (@JoshuaFechter) January 22, 2022

Cuellar also defiantly stated he would continue his re-election bid and said he expected to win the primary.  If he defeats his two progressive challengers, Jessica Cisneros and Tannya Benavides, he will face Ted Cruz acolyte Casandra Garcia in the fall.

.⁦@KenPaxtonTX⁩ raised a hefty $2.8 million since July. But where most of the $ came from is a mystery.

Paxton has only named who gave his campaign about $650k of the total, despite a deadline last week that required full disclosure. #txlege https://t.co/EnM4euwvoX

— Allie Morris 🌟 (@MorrisReports) January 26, 2022

"So much to talk about!" Trump says of his Saturday rally in Texas, a cause for both optimism and anxiety for GOP consultants across the state, w/ just over a month until the primary

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) January 24, 2022

If your weekend plans include Conroe, better rethink that.  Unless you're the FBI and plan on arresting some scofflaws.

The latest in Texas politics from cartoonist Ben Sargent. https://t.co/3jzW4kB23N

— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) January 24, 2022

These two images highlight perfectly how the opposition to mail balloting is really just opposition to certain people voting. pic.twitter.com/Xg0VypEjmY

— Michael Li 李之樸 (@mcpli) January 25, 2022

On more positive notes:

Looks like my candidacy for Texas Railroad Commissioner has just made the headlineshttps://t.co/42L7jpMsO6

— Hunter wayne crow (@timelordcrow) January 25, 2022

So proud of my Dad! #hounews #evictioncrisis #harriscounty https://t.co/j4x8xq3awu

— www.needabortion.org (@CarolineDuble) January 25, 2022

These are all incredibly good questions to ask John Whitmire at upcoming fora and debates. He never shows up in the most pivotal fights then says things like the stuff quoted here.#TXLege https://t.co/1p0VLrgcPl

— ((( Daniel J Cohen ))) (@mrdancohen) January 25, 2022

File this under "Things we already knew." 😏#txlege https://t.co/hJ97QAdiZj

— Texas Organizing Project (@OrganizeTexas) January 24, 2022

"Expansion plan to take world's biggest #BatteryStorage project to 3GWh capacity"

✔️For use as a substitute for #PeakerPlants
✔️To help create and maintain stable #ElectricGrid #TXLege
https://t.co/5aQnyhoMoR

— @CCLHouston (@CCLHouston) January 26, 2022

Vistra Energy, a Texas-headquartered integrated utility and power generation company, said it wants to add another 350MW/1,400MWh BESS to the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California’s Monterey Bay.

Vistra said that as Moss Landing -- itself built on the site of an existing gas power plant owned by Vistra subsidiary Dynegy -- already has development permitting in place, and has existing grid interconnection and infrastructure, it can move quickly on the proposed Phase III.

Vistra CEO Curt Morgan described Moss Landing yesterday as “a shining example of the pivot of our generation fleet toward carbon-free technologies”.

Segue-ing to the environmental takes.

Last February, the city of Dallas finally hauled away the six-story Shingle Mountain. Almost exactly a year later, industry is returning to one of the lots where it lived— next door to the homeowner who spent years fighting to get the city's attention. https://t.co/ooabcRCFYA

— D Magazine (@DMagazine) January 25, 2022

#BREAKING: A new report by @CommissionShift, 45% of @txrrc's budget is spent on plugging #TXOrphanWells. With the #oilandgas industry in decline, the #TXRRC has a never-ending cycle of bailouts for the #oilandgas industry. #txlege
Read more 👀👇https://t.co/Yjm3JYpnuF pic.twitter.com/zOP30O77aZ

— Oliver Bernstein (@oliveroliver) January 25, 2022

A couple of labor notes:

ExxonMobil has locked out @steelworkers from Local 13-243 in Beaumont for more than 8 months! Help @HoustonDSA support these workers and stop Exxon’s #UnionBusting.

Meeting tomorrow, Wed 1/26 @ 6pm #1u https://t.co/3cl2PfTCpy

— RoB (@xroblockx) January 25, 2022

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Fort Worth granted BNSF -- one of the nation's largest freight companies -- a temporary restraining order blocking nearly 17,000 employees from striking over the company's new attendance policy. https://t.co/Xk0pKEaaFM

— WFAA (@wfaa) January 26, 2022

The Gulf Coast AFL-CIO mourns the passing of Ceole Speight. She will be missed but not forgotten. pic.twitter.com/jlDVSFNKNr

— Gulf Coast AFL-CIO | Pass the PRO Act! (@gcaflcio) January 25, 2022

And the criminal and social justice updates.

Houston cop Christopher Cabrera wasn't rushing to a call or involved in a pursuit when he crashed and killed 75-year-old Charles Payne. New video released by HPD shows just how fast Cabrera was driving when he hit Payne and the aftermath that followed https://t.co/zTARDRig5l

— Jay R. Jordan (@jayrjordan) January 25, 2022

NEW: Austin officials have released a consultant's 179-page report about policing with striking assessments about APD, including that "'stop and frisk' is employed aggressively in Austin" and that officers "frequently escalated citizen encounters." More to come as we unpack this.

— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) January 25, 2022

Texas Medicaid rolls grew by more than 1 million people during the pandemic https://t.co/vH8wlqcCQJ #txlege

— James Michael Russell (@jamesfortexas) January 25, 2022

Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14 from Harlingen, is one of five women and the only Latina on Texas death row. If her execution is allowed to proceed, it will be the first time since 2014 that any woman has been put to death in Texas. https://t.co/Xb4NQIsfv5

— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) January 26, 2022

Texas

Top 1% income threshold: $594,313
Top 5% income threshold: $237,383 https://t.co/x4EVQD0NZx

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 26, 2022

Want #MedicareForAll but not sure where to start? There's movement in Harris County to build pressure on elected officials. The local @dsam4a coalition's first meeting is coming up on January 26. Read more to learn how to get involved. #hounews https://t.co/gm7AMqavWn

— Unconventional Journalist 🐙 (@samthemullet) January 23, 2022

And the news from the lighter side, not all of it good.

Sad news out of Austin this morning. Longtime bakery Texas French Bread appears to have burned down. This building once held the long-lamented Rome Inn, a spot at which icons like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rusty Weir, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and many other icons played. https://t.co/MU161385kI

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) January 25, 2022

Elton John has contracted COVID-19 and is postponing two farewell concert dates in Dallas. John, who is vaccinated and boosted, “is experiencing only mild symptoms” and is looking forward to returning to the stage “shortly," according to a statement. https://t.co/M7JJ9NApJN

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 25, 2022

Houstonians are invited to a free event celebrating Memorial Park’s Land Bridge and Prairie project on Saturday, Feb. 5 from 10 AM-3PM. Attendees will get to walk through and explore one of the four tunnels before they open to vehicular traffic. #khou11 pic.twitter.com/NNY3E3TrFh

— The Bishop (@BillBishopKHOU) January 24, 2022

Austin DSA member Alice Embree's new memoir "Voice Lessons" reflects on decades of involvement in the activist left and offers lessons for a new generation of radicals.

Read our review of "Voice Lessons" here:https://t.co/OADBAasydX pic.twitter.com/5Hu7mjxWHN

— Austin DSA (@austin_DSA) January 24, 2022

Embree still writes for the Rag Blog.