Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: That deadline imposed by the federal government to allow full Border Patrol access to Shelby Park arrives tomorrow: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/texas-continues-block-federal-officials-border-park/ ...While Governor Greg Abbott reiterates Texas' "right to defend itself against invasion": https://www.khou.com/article/news/lo...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: So far, the order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol full access has been defied by Governor Abbott, as the feds issue a new Friday deadline: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/us/us-mexico-border-texas-migrants/index.html ...Conservatives recklessly encouraging Abbott's defiance: Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn: ht...

Opportunities abound for progressive Texans this election year. From the chance to send Ted Cruz packing, to the possibility of virtually guaranteeing a second Joe Biden term with our 40 electoral votes, a massive show of force in the Lone Star State would be a truly historic moment - and it's up to US to bring that moment into reality. Top of mind nationally for progressive folks is abortion...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed federal Border Patrol agents to cut or move razor wire placed on the Texas border by Operation Lone Star: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immigration-texas-razor-wire-9daef6bd316211b6633ece718e505187 ...Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton vow to keep on fighting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/poli...

A new poll shows that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is in a dead heat with BOTH Dallas U.S. Representative Colin Allred and San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-poll-raises-alarm-bells-texas-election-1862204 ...That same poll finds Allred well ahead of all Democratic challengers, but with a plurality of Texas Democratic primary voters still undecided: https://emers...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A U.S. Department of Justice report on the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary calls law enforcement response a series of "cascading failures": https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-justice-department-report-police-16b59efa5c5015d685d917c3f0f26256 ...Other findings include a lack of courageous leadership and a...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: U.S. Representative Colin Allred voted along with over a dozen other House Democrats in support of a Republican rebuke of President Biden over border policy: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4414955-democrats-gop-resolution-denouncing-biden-open-border-policies/ ...While hitting another huge fundraising benchmark: https://www.texastribu...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Record low temperatures have been recorded across Texas: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/weather/article/texas-cold-front-18611255.php ...Including in normally-balmy Houston - but this was no Uri: https://www.chron.com/weather/article/houston-freeze-texas-18610377.php Two attorneys have sought clarification on abortion restriction excep...

Over the last few years, San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez has become a familiar voice to Progress Texas podcast listeners, mostly related to his steadfast support of and advocacy for the families of the victims of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, which is in his district. This time, as he's running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Ted Cruz for Texas' junior seat in...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Shamefully, it's of national note that the Texas power grid has mostly stayed functional amidst the current winter blast: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/good-news-texas-power-grid-holding-up/ ...ERCOT's most recent plea to conserve power is in effect as we publish this morning: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-winter-wea...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The winter blast inbound for MLK weekend is thought NOT to be on par with conditions we saw during Winter Storm Uri: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/01/worried-about-the-texas-power-grid-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-incoming-arctic-blast/ ...Should be mostly dry, with possible exceptions in northeast Texas: https://www.houston...

This week, what appeared to be a ham-fisted silencing of a large group of journalists and left-leaning activists on Elon Musk's X - the platform that we, frankly, generally still call Twitter - was shrugged off by Musk as a side effect of routine housecleaning of bots and fake accounts. Our friend and regular contributor Steven Monacelli, investigative reporter for the Texas Observer, was one...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The incoming winter weather should fall short of "historic" measure: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/forecasts/canadian-deep-freeze-steaming-towards-texas-is-it-historical ...While ERCOT issues a fresh weather watch: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/ercot-issues-weather-watch-ahead-of-arctic-blast/3...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Despite an early warning of possible operational issues, ERCOT officials remain bullish on the power staying on through the upcoming winter freeze: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/defenders/ercot-operating-condition-notice-texas-power-grid/269-ba1f0642-92fd-4f5f-ad1f-cfe45fbcca9f ...Go-to energy expert Doug Lewin thinks w...

Joe Biden made his first visit as President to Dallas last night to attend the wake of late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/president-biden-members-congressional-black-caucus-bid-farewell-late-congresswoman-eddie-bernice-johnson-monday-wake/287-1198c86e-95ba-4783-b0e6-7e7dbd26d6c1 ...After a disturbance at Love Field by pro-Palestin...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Scott Braddock at Quorum Report predicts that retribution efforts by both Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, the fight to unseat Ted Cruz, the border and, most importantly, abortion rights will be central to this huge election year: https://news.yahoo.com/texas-politics-2024-biggest-stories-005524497.html ...While Gover...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The family of longtime Texas U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, who died at 89 on New Year's Eve, alleges that she was neglected under the care of Baylor Scott and White's rehabilitation center: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/04/texas-eddie-bernice-johnson-lawsuit/ ...We also have a correction on misreported details...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Health officials in the D/FW area are watching a spike in both COVID and flu-related hospitalizations - a good time to be sure vaccinations are up to date: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/flu-and-covid-19-cases-continue-to-increase-across-texas/3424962/ The Biden Department of Justice has sued the state of Texas over SB-4: https://www.r...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that federal guidance does not compel doctors in Texas to provide abortion care, even if that care is the best treatment for a problematic pregnancy: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/us/texas-emergency-abortion-ban-appeal.html ...While the Biden administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to int...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The closed-door meeting with top Mexican officials and representatives of the Biden administration is said to have been productive: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-leader-urges-us-invest-people-not-walls-ahead-blinken-meeting-2023-12-27/ ...While the mayors of several Democratically-led U.S. cities plead with the federal gov...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A team of U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken are scheduled to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on border and immigration issues: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/us/politics/blinken-mexico-migrant-caravan.html ...While a scary interaction with Operation Lone Star agents experienced by an El Pa...

As we shut down what's been a year brimming with crazy in Texas politics - and steel ourselves for a 2024 likely to take the cake - we present the holiday wishes of our guests at our two 2023 holiday parties in Austin and Dallas! As progressives in Texas, what would we like to receive as gifts this holiday? We firmly believe that if we stay the course and persist, all of our dreams will come t...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Officials expected to enforce SB-4 and their observers see it as not only impossible, but rife with ethical and justice-related hazards: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-sb-4-immigration-18568738.php SB-4 is a "middle finger" to the United States and its Constitution: https://newrepublic.com/article/177725/t...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Local law enforcement, especially in border communities, are not prepared to enforce SB-4 when it lands in March: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sb4-texas-immigration-law-enforcement-migrant-crisis/ ...While Governor Abbott takes to the skies in his ever-expanding theater of migrant cruelty: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/21/texas-governor-c...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The ACLU, alongside El Paso officials, have sued the state over Governor Abbott's signing of SB-4: https://newrepublic.com/post/177674/texas-just-passed-one-countrys-racist-immigration-laws ...El Paso's district attorney is one of the lawsuit's targets - though Bill Hicks' office has said they won't pursue SB-4 cases:...