Bryan residents will go the polls on Saturday to choose city council members. Well, choose might not be the best word. Unlike their neighbors across town in College Station, Bryan residents do not get to choose between the best of two or three candidates. Both candidates running for Bryan City Council are unopposed, which is not good for the democratic process. However, there are five propositions on the ballot that Bryan resident do get to either accept or reject. It is important to look at both of the candidates, even though they are unopposed, and the issues on the propositions.
After a four week hiatus from blogging I am returning to the blogosphere; as the newest member of the Texas Progressive Alliance and with a refocus onto the local political landscape Left of College Station is back on the air.
Tomorrow night I will be attending a meet and greet with Amy Goodman, the host of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now!, before she gives a town hall lecture in Bryan-College Station. Democracy Now! has become the leading voice of the progressive alternative media, and most recently Goodman was arrested outside the Republican National Convention while reporting on anti-war protest. Her newest book, Standing up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times, was released this month.
Goodman will be at Square One Bistro from 6:00pm - 7:00pm tomorrow night, for a meet and greet that will include light refreshments and an autographed copy of her book. The at the Neal Recreation Center from 7:30pm - 8:30pm Goodman will be appearing at a town hall lecture, and signing copies of her book afterwards. Left of College Station will be reporting on the meet and greet and the town hall lecture tomorrow night after the event; stay tuned to Left of College Station throughout the night for live mobile updates!
It is Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog round up.
The Senate this past week passed a bill to reform the state's unemployment insurance laws in a way that would allow us to accept up to $600 million in stimulus funds, despite Governor Perry's resistance. Off the Kuff has the details.
YaGottaLoveIt of South Texas Chisme says Voter ID is needed to eliminate ghost voting in the Texas House of Representatives. Why don't the Republicans try it out there first?
This week, McBlogger took some time out his busy schedule to do something unusual, criticize someone. Specifically, Karl Rove who thinks teabaggin' is just awesome and the beginning of the Republican Party's return to electoral relevance. McBlogger, as you can imagine, has a different opinion.
John Culberson nosed out Joe Barton for the first "Douchebag of the Week" award presented by Brains and Eggs. It was a close contest with Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, and the Texas House Republicans all competing fiercely for the coveted prize. Better luck next week, jerks.
BossKitty at TruthHugger sees big problems addressing the pandemic hysteria because workers cannot tolerate risk staying home sick. Because Health Insurance has become such an exclusive club any medical emergency, like a contagious outbreak, can become a pandemic crisis. FLU PANDEMIC - Stay Home or Go To Work Sick?
Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw gathers the shameful record of Republican buffoonery into a sad and funny report he calls " Texas Republican Jackasses Continue to Bring Shame to Texas ". You don't want to miss this one. With videos!
(This is a really interesting piece, worth reading the full extended entry. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
"This is not Jasper, Texas."
I have heard that phrased used more than once, in conversations referring to how Bryan and College Station are not as racist as other places. That phrase is actually ridiculous when you think about it because it is comparison based on what is well known as the location of one of the most racist events in recent history. What that phrase is really saying is that there are racist here but we have not yet dragged anyone behind a truck.
When you listen to conversations or read the comment sections on the local newspaper you will see code words. These are words that are used in place of the racial epitaphs and the racist language, and give people of privilege the plausibility deniability of saying that they are not racist. Even the names of the cities, Bryan and College Station, have themselves been turned into code words.
More than 22,000 people were purged from the Hidalgo County voter roll within the last year after the county was unable to verify their addresses.
The Hidalgo County Elections Department maintains that nearly all of the 22,634, who make up about nine percent of the county's electorate, did not try to vote in last November's general election.
Most of those purged from the list are people who didn't vote in November. But people who did vote - and failed to complete a statement of residence after changing homes - could also be affected.
As many as 21 Hidalgo County municipalities - including cities, school districts and irrigation districts - have elections scheduled for May 9. Early voting begins April 27.
In McAllen, Mayor Richard Cortez, as well as City Commissioners Scott Crane, Marcus Barrera and Hilda Salinas are up for re-election.
"Here comes some major elections in May," Ramón said. "I guarantee you ... they'll say, ‘I was registered. You didn't notify me.' But how can we?"
Many voters don't include their phone numbers on their registration cards, and mail from the county wouldn't work since the voters never received their registration cards in the first place.
"If you have not received your card and you registered, call us," Ramón said. "It's the only way we know."
Tonight the College Station City Council will vote on an amendment to a city ordinance that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants; however the amended ordinance will not affect smoking on bar patios.
Left of College Station will be live blogging during the College Station City Council meeting, and if you are unable to attend the meeting you can watch it online at the College Station Television Station, Channel 19 online.
I cannot imagine the horror and pain the residents of the residents of the shelter operated by Seed Sowers Christians in Action in Paris, Texas, felt as they fled the early morning fire which engulfed their shelter into the icy, frozen rain of the streets.
As our society retrenches with the fall of our economy we cannot forget those already living on the edge. I hope this event, coupled with the death of Jennifer Gale on the steps of the church where she slept in Austin last month, will serve as a clarion call. Jennifer was unable to find a shelter in Austin where she could be accepted as a transgendered person.
Conservationists were saddened to learn of the passing this weekend of Edward C. "Ned" Fritz. Mr. Fritz was a founder of the Texas League of Conservation Voters in 1970, and the boards of directors and staff of the League and the League's Educational Fund extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Dubbed the Father of Texas Conservation by the Nature Conservancy, Ned Fritz was a founder and leader of a variety of conservation and environmental organizations, including the Nature Conservancy in Texas and the Texas Land Conservancy. TLCV board member David Todd remarked to the Austin American Statesman, "He was a firebrand; he was so outspoken about things," who later became, "very spiritual, poetic, really, about nature."
Today, Texas lost a luminary and a fighter. Texas lost Jim Mattox.
Former Texas Attorney General James Albon "Jim" Mattox passed away last night in his sleep. He was 65.
He will be remembered as a man who fought many fights for average, working Texans, and who left an indelible mark on Texas government in politics in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Mattox will likely be remembered as one of the state's greatest attorney generals in history, along with Jim Hogg and James Allred.
