Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Day 5 of the Ken Paxton impeachment sees the most extensive discussion yet of his extramarital affair: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/11/ken-paxton-affair-impeachment-trial/ ...While a former deputy reveals the AG's general mistrust of law enforcement: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/11/ken-paxton-mark-penley-impeachment-trial/ ...And a former Travis County assistant DA reveals prior investigations of Paxton's involvement with Na...
Sep 12, 2023•7 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Friday saw testimony from legendary Texas Ranger David Maxwell: https://news.yahoo.com/former-texas-lawman-says-warned-210156665.html ...While prominent voices on the right continue to support the justification for the proceedings - some more surprising than others: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-republicans-weigh-in-on-paxton-impeachment-after-week-one-of-trial/ ...And the Texas Tribune has a good first-week summary, and a ...
Sep 11, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Paxton aides say they turned him in to the FBI when it became clear he had been compromised: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/07/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-3/ ...While Senator John Cornyn finds the whole mess "very deeply disturbing": https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/07/john-cornyn-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-disturbing/ ...And deeper rifts within the GOP are laid bare,...
Sep 08, 2023•9 min
In Texas, for ANY progressive, it takes serious guts and commitment to run for office - it also helps to have a keen mind for politics, a strong heart for service, and buckets of class and charisma - former Miss Texas and SMU Law graduate Averie Bishop, by those standards, fits the bill pretty nicely! Bishop is running to unseat longtime TX-112 Rep. Angie Chen Button, a Republican representing a district that has been recently re-drawn to entrench GOP control - does this young, first-time candid...
Sep 07, 2023•33 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Former second-in-command Jeff Mateer recounts Paxton's erratic push for Nate Paul: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/06/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-2/ ...Bringing up Paxton's adulterous affair for the first time, in front of Senator Angela Paxton: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-mateer/ ...NPR's Politics Podcast brings in Texas reporters to talk about national implications o...
Sep 07, 2023•11 min
The impeachment of Ken Paxton rolls into Day 2, after a dramatic launch yesterday: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197811021/paxton-impeachment-trial-texas-attorney-general-ag-conspiracy-bribery ...While the state's well-funded far-right's campaign to pressure Senators to dismiss fails: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4188298-texas-gop-ken-paxton-impeachment-critics-primary-threats/ ...Paxton himself couldn't be bothered to stick around: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/...
Sep 06, 2023•9 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The historic impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is underway this morning at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-texas-attorney-general/ ...With big conservative money doing all it can to prevent his removal: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/us/ken-paxton-impeachment-conservative-lobbying.html ...And voters split on opinion, largely along party lines: https://www.hppr.org/h...
Sep 05, 2023•11 min
The Instagram account of the AI-assisted artists RuPublicans has been a rallying point for the Texas LGBTQ+ community and its allies, just as several new laws perscuting their community have been enacted in the Lone Star State. We're proud to be joined by Craig, one half of the couple behind the RuPublicans effort, as well as representatives of two Texas orgs that have benefitted from the terrific work of RuPublicans: Brad Pritchett is Field Director for Equality Texas, and Jaryn Holbrook Janewa...
Sep 02, 2023•43 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A judge temporarily blocks a new Texas law limiting drag shows: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/us/drag-show-ruling-texas.html The Texas Supreme Court allows a new law banning gender-affirming care for minors in Texas to take effect while it's under consideration: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-top-court-lets-ban-gender-treatments-minors-take-effect-2023-08-31/ A judge has blocked enforcement of a new law requiring publishers to ...
Sep 01, 2023•11 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The "Death Star" law, designed for state pre-emption of a wide range of local ordinances in Texas cities and set to take effect tomorrow, has been ruled unconsitutional by a judge in Austin: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-30/texas-death-star-law-ruled-unconstitutional-two-days-before-taking-effect/ New details of Ken Paxton's lavish lifestyle as Texas Attorney General come to light in advance of his impeachment: https://...
Aug 31, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A whistleblower report accuses intelligence officers with Operation Lone Star of conducting illegal spying operations: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-national-guard-whatsapp-spying-border-iraq-watchdog-2023-8 Texas Senators were at the Capitol yesterday in closed-door preparation for next week's impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/29/senate-prepping-for-texas-attorney-...
Aug 30, 2023•9 min
Governor Greg Abbott makes highly arguable statements about Texas' "sovereignty" in a national op-ed: https://nypost.com/2023/08/28/texas-gov-abbott-we-will-take-biden-to-supreme-court-to-protect-border/ ...While an Operation Lone Star soldier shoots a man across the border on the other side of the Rio Grande in Juarez: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-texas-national-guard-soldier-shot-man-juarez-from-el-paso-across-rio-grande-20230829-mu7rzysgrnf4xnnfmvzvcqkg54-story.html ...And a Chri...
Aug 29, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A new law will provide very narrow exceptions allowing doctors to provide abortion care to Texans with problematic pregnancies: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/28/texas-limited-access-abortion-law A judge finds new transgender care bans unconstitutional - and once again, the Texas AG immediately appeals: https://www.metroweekly.com/2023/08/texas-law-banning-transgender-health-care-to-take-effect/ A San Antonio drag company holds ...
Aug 28, 2023•10 min
Various Christian religious orders in Texas have begun to merge in worrisome ways: in particular, the growing political goals of the "prosperity gospel" movement have found common cause among those following the "Seven Mountains Mandate" philosophy - one that calls for Christians to take over essentially all aspects of our lives. Diving deep into all of this has been our friend, investigative reporter Steven Monacelli, who has recently published two reports on all of this for the Texas Observer ...
Aug 26, 2023•42 min
ERCOT and the Texas power grid narrowly avoided rolling blackouts last night - what's in store for this hot weekend? https://www.tpr.org/environment/2023-08-24/strong-possibility-of-power-outages-thursday-evening-san-antonio-asks-residents-to-conserve ...Follow along with ERCOT's supply and demand dashboard, showing a thin margin of error during Friday night football games tonight: https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/supplyanddemand ...While space telescope data may finger Permian metha...
Aug 25, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A Trump-appointed judge in Victoria will hear arguments over the Biden administration's humanitarian parole program, starting today: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/biden-immigration-policy-giving-temporary-legal-status-thousands-faces-rcna101383 Whistleblowers at Texas Health and Human Services allege errors and bad management have led to thousands of pregnant Texans and children losing Medicaid health coverage: https://www.kxan.com/n...
Aug 24, 2023•9 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas journalists seeking access to an encrypted e-mail account owned by Attorney General Ken Paxton are denied by his office, claiming "attorney-client privilege": https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1694031900988317710?t=w1jWJMjxUIoAEmVUHthoQA&s=03 A federal judge in Austin rejects Governor Abbott's claims of an "invasion" at the border with Mexico: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/22/federal-judge-rejects-texas-migra...
Aug 23, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Biden administration and the government of Mexico face off against Texas in federal court today over Governor Abbott's buoys barrier: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-texas-oversize-buoy-barrier-us-mexico-river-102442113 ...While a ninth busload of migrants, including 16 children, are sent by Texas into the path of Tropical Storm Hilary: https://abc7.com/los-angeles-migrants-texas-tropical-storm-hilary/13683042/ A growing numbe...
Aug 22, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A Second Amendment group is waging a legal battle to allow the sale of a gun modification device that enables machine gun-style rapid fire: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forced-reset-triggers-illegal-machine-guns-atf-gun-102402318 A former judge who donated to a recent Ken Paxton opponent declines an invitation to participate in the upcoming impeachment trial: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/19/dan-patrick-marc-brown-paxton-impea...
Aug 21, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this Friday morning at Progress Texas: Parts of SB-1, the 2021 GOP voter suppression law, have been struck down by a federal judge: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-strikes-down-portions-of-texas-voter-suppression-law-s-b-1/ ERCOT pleads for conservation, but keeps the AC on - while energy prices spike 6,000%: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ercot-issues-voluntary-power-conservation-call-texas-heat-wave-2023-08-17/ Tesla stock price contin...
Aug 18, 2023•7 min
We've been fans of Liz Hanks, the Texas Chapter Lead for Moms Demand Action, for a long time - so, we're elated but not surprised that she's been chosen to receive that fine organization's Sue Brooks Award, honoring her as the top of 51 state leaders (including Washington, D.C.)! We invited Liz to talk about the award, the significance of it coming to Texas, what Moms Demand Action has accomplished, and the challenges it, and all of us face moving forward. Links discussed today: https://gunsense...
Aug 18, 2023•44 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas House impeachment managers respond to Paxton attempts to dismiss with more tawdry details: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/ken-paxton-impeachment-evidence-senate/ A ruling to limit the use of a safe and effective abortion medication has mostly been reversed - same judge will preside over upcoming Planned Parenthood lawsuit: https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/08/appeals-court-rules-on-abortion-pill-case-but-it-changes-nothing-...
Aug 17, 2023•8 min
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 lawsui...
Aug 16, 2023•10 min
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 ...
Aug 15, 2023•7 min
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-barre...
Aug 14, 2023•7 min
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 pre...
Aug 11, 2023•7 min
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 an...
Aug 10, 2023•7 min
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 Abbot...
Aug 09, 2023•35 min
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-...
Aug 09, 2023•7 min
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-part...
Aug 08, 2023•7 min
