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Congress has OKed the bipartisan border deal -- President Trump will sign and also
declare a national emergency -- And the shutdown deal includes language to protect a butterfly sanctuary and other landmarks from border barrier
Elizabeth Warren, running for president, is said to have listed her race as American Indian on a registration card for the State Bar of Texas in 1986 -- but identified herself as white when she
filled out employment paperwork for teaching law at the University of Texas.
"
Austin Water performing targeted flushes to improve stinky water" -- Our favorite headline of the weekend...if you live in Austin you know what the American Statesman is talking about here
From ducky pajamas to port authority, Blake Farenthold is the poster child for toughening state and federal ethics laws -- In an editorial the Dallas Morning News is
plain "sick and tired of politicians who break the public trust, exploit ethical loopholes and still land on their feet on the taxpayer’s dime"
Texas schools are not meeting the needs of the economy, and that has to change -- Another Dallas Morning News editorial says a 40 percent college preparation rate
may not be sufficient to meet the needs of a growing Texas economy
Nine of the 10 warmest years on record since reliable data began in 1880 have occurred since 2005 -- And according to NOAA, NASA and the U.K. Met Office,
at the same time, greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels — as well as deforestation and intensive agriculture — have skyrocketed to levels not seen
in more than 800,000 years!
The Moscow stock exchange index reached a new all-time high on Tuesday as global oil prices continue to climb -- And
Russia Today says Russian stocks have also been surging since the US lifted sanctions against Russian aluminum giant Rusal.
Some Texas Democrats want Beto O'Rourke to shun presidential bid, challenge John Cornyn instead -- "It's not just can he do more as president,
but where can he win?" Meanwhile
Cornyn is bracing for a brutal Texas re-election battle, Politico says
Now, does the new Frost Bank Tower in San Antonio look like a drill bit? --
One person thinks it does, another said it reminds him of Queen Elsa’s ice palace in the movie “Frozen.”
Why this Texas Republican wants to give Trump more power to levy import taxes -- Rep. Michael Burgess of Pilot Point is co-sponsoring
legislation requested by Trump that would allow the president to match other countries' tariff rates, would put the U.S. "
on equal footing with our trading partners."
The Texas economy slowed in the fourth quarter -- Business owners pessimistic about uncertainty surrounding low oil prices, trade barriers and gridlock in Washington, D.C.,
according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
President Trump picks David Malpass to run the World Bank -- Malpass has said the World Bank has become more intrusive and needs a re-focus, leading many to believe his appointment is Trump's way of
reigning in the bank
The history that chains Cuba to Venezuela's crisis --
Venezuela is the lifeblood of Cuba, under a barter system where Cuba receives billions of dollars of crude in exchange for Cuban doctors, teachers, sports trainers, and military and intelligence advisers
Now, there are likely more horny toads left in Texas than conservative Democrats -- If Texas Democrats want to make inroads, they need to bring back the Tories,
who were as much in the bag for the big oil companies and banks as they were the farmer with a bit of hail damage on his cotton or the city resident struggling to pay utility bills
The Greater Houston Partnership is launching a $50 million fundraising campaign to help pay for an initiative to attract more business to the region -- Some companies that have considered Houston but have instead chosen other cities have remarked that Houston is behind on public transit options, has poor flood mitigation plans, and a
shortage of workers with 21st century skills not typically found in oil and gas.
Beto O'Rourke has seen his stock fall in the last month -- He's
vexed some observers, first for livestreaming a dentist appointment — a move critics panned as oversharing — and later for documenting a meandering solo road trip in a series of deeply personal blog posts
Carlos Uresti’s Helotes estate heading for foreclosure -- State senator doing time in oil-related scheme owned 8,100-square-foot mansion, featuring
six bedrooms and six full bathrooms
Dallas-Fort Worth led nation in jobs growth in 2018, topping New York and Houston --
Trade, transportation and utilities drove the most growth in D-FW for the 12-month period
San Antonio's Frost Bank still has $115 million in problem energy sector loans -- But that's
less than half what it had at the end of 2017 and a lot less than the $600 million at the oil downturn peak
Some workers' tasks in Texas cities face replacement by robots over the coming years, but energy-related jobs will likely be an exception -- A new Brookings report says
places where energy jobs are prevalent, such as Houston, will get through the automation period “relatively unscathed”
"Something wicked is happening within the U.S. oil and gas industry" -- A deceleration of the worldwide economy, fourth quarter 2018 distress in the oil and gas industries and the financial sector (among other reasons of course) lead to this --
in a Seeking Alpha sample of firms cutting dividends, all are in the oil and gas sector
The number of Chinese companies warning on earnings is turning into a flood, with no industry spared from worsening demand -- Some 440 firms disclosed on Wednesday -- the day before a deadline to do so -- that their 2018 financial results deteriorated, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Of the more than 2,400 mainland-listed firms that have announced preliminary numbers or issued guidance this season, some 373 said they’ll post a loss, the data show. About 86 percent of those were profitable in 2017
Report: 63 out of America’s largest 75 cities can’t pay their bills, acquired $330 billion in unfunded debt -- Most of the debt is due to
unfunded retiree benefits such as pension and health care costs
As negotiators meet this week to hammer out a new U.S.-China trade deal, the Trump administration’s team will be pushing to slash the U.S. trade deficit with China, now running at about $350 billion annually -- But selling more
pork, soybeans and natural gas to China is only part of the solution
After two years serving in the Trump White House, a former Texas GOP chairman is coming home -- Steve Munisteri, a longtime Texas Republican fixture, will begin work Feb. 9
as a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's burgeoning re-election campaign.
Texas Republicans fear Trump could lose the state in 2020 -- Trump only won by 9% in 2016, and with the Democratic surge in last year's election, Sen. John Cornyn is
warning Republicans they could lose their state in 2020. Cornyn is starting his re-election campaign early, perhaps just for that reason.
State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, became the first Hispanic chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation -- It’s the
first time in more than 50 years that a Rio Grande Valley representative is on the committee.
Democrats target Coppell Rep. Kenny Marchant and 4 other Texas Republicans as 2020 campaign begins --
The other Texas Republicans subject to the advertising attack by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which the DCCC said would be "geo-targeted and featured on Facebook," were Reps. John Carter of Round Rock, Michael McCaul of Austin, Pete Olson of Sugar Land and Chip Roy of Austin.
Winners and losers: When Texas House's powerful committee slots were assigned, who came out on top? -- With
new House committee assignments out, Speaker Dennis Bonnen walked a fine line to keep powerful representatives close while reapportioning committee memberships, with winners including Democrats and those who help move the balance of the House back to, as the Dallas Morning News says, the center. But among the losers are those who held out for a different speaker until the end -- "Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, was the only one to receive a chairmanship, and it was on the redistricting committee, a much less influential post than his previous role as head of the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. Republican Drew Darby of San Angelo, one of the last two holdouts with Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, lost his position as leader of two committees he held in 2017."
Spike in demand triggered natural-gas crisis? -- A
drop in pressure along an Enbridge pipeline led a service disruption in Rhode Island, leaving thousands without natural gas during a cold snap. Enbridge said the problem was too-high demand. Customers and groups such as the Conservation Law Foundation aren't buying that. The local gas delivery service, says there was a problem with a valve
SpaceX says it’ll build and test its Starship prototypes in Texas, not Los Angeles -- That's despite
a deal it struck to build a rocket factory at the Port of Los Angeles.
Liberals Outpaced Conservatives in ‘Dark Money’ Midterm Spending -- 2018 elections bucked a years-long trend of right-leaning nonprofits dominating in ad cash, report says,
so now we're watching a two-sided money "arms race"
Every $1 spent on hazard mitigation saves the US $6 in future disaster costs, yet billions are still spent on recovery efforts -- Gabrielle Canon says in the Guardian that the
US won't be prepared for the next natural disaster
China’s Annual Economic Growth Rate Is Slowest Since 1990 -- The economic downturn, which has been sharper than Beijing expected,
deepened in the last months of 2018
Legislators look to help victims of future storms --
Lawmakers have filed bills aimed at better alerting homeowners to their flood risk, lessening the damage of future storms and lowering disaster victims’ tax bills
Herman: Austin Sen. Kirk Watson may weigh life or death decisions -- From Austin mayor to Texas Senate Pro Tempore, when the Lt. Governor (or even the governor) are not around,
Watson can take charge
Progress Report: President Trump's Campaign Promises, 2 Years Later --
Texas Public Radio story notes 5 accomplishments, three "in progress," three "no action"
The 5 Corners of the Democratic Party -- As opposed to the "Republicans' Five Ring Circus,"
Nate Silver diagrams Democrats: Loyalists, the Left, Millennials and Friends, Black Voters and Hispanic Voters Sometimes In Conjunction With Asian Voters
Texas man indicted for using presidential PAC money for lap dances, travel -- 20 counts stemming from allegations of raising more than $500,000 from
fraudulent political committees for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders
Texas unions, emboldened by GOP setbacks in midterms, press aggressive agenda --
Aimed at the state legislature and independent contractors
Texas lawmakers protest President Trump's reported Harvey-funds-to-wall plan -- Abbott, Cornyn, Cruz and others are "strongly opposed" to any plan to
divert federal money from Hurricane Harvey relief to building a border wall
Democrats are rallying to turn the “Green New Deal” into a centerpiece of their Capitol Hill agenda and the party’s 2020 platform —
As soon as they decide what exactly it is.
Bill Clements gave Texas Republicans the road map 40 years ago -- Clements' grandson argues that state Republicans need to end divisiveness and think about what's best for Texas,
like the legendary governor and oilman did
Jeff Bezos has Texas ties -- The World's "Richest Man" -- though half his money may soon belong to his wife -- is the
son of a Texas petroleum engineer whose family lived in Houston and Coltulla
The mayor of San Antonio says forget the "border emergency," the real national emergency is climate change -- He said it at a press conference with Michael Bloomberg announcing that the city will be getting two new fulltime staffers over the next two years to
implement San Antonio's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
Texas' US Rep. Pete Sessions is among the many former Congresspeople who are 'scrambling and looking' for lobbying gigs in Washington, Politico says -- The top contenders for the jobs will be congressional leadership and the committees with jurisdiction over corporate America, such as the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Financial Services Committee -- and Sessions was chairman of the House Rules Committee
The salty brine from desalination may be causing "dead zones" in oceans -- The good news is the brine from reverse osmosis (used at many desalination plants)
could be mined for uranium and strontium
It's the pace of change that's dividing people -- One Republican strategist says the defining clash of our times is
between people who think things are changing too fast and people who think things are changing too slowly. The too-fast coalition feels like strangers in their own land. People tend to blame globalization, immigration and political correctness. The too-slow coalition is angry about failure to address climate change, income inequality and mass shootings. They feel that capitalism has failed them and they're warming to socialism. And the number of people on both the left and right who believe the system isn't working for them continues to rise, with trust in government and confidence in most institutions continuing long-term declines. To top it off, this is a global phenomenon.
National left-wing group creates fund to oust Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar from Congress -- "Justice Democrats" calls Cuellar a "fake Democrat" who votes with Rekpublicans 69% of the time. Cuellar said, “LBJ used to say: What’s the difference between a cannibal and a liberal Democrat?
Cannibals don’t eat their own.”
Former Obama housing chief Julian Castro joins 2020 campaign -- He
joined the 2020 presidential race Saturday as the rush of Democrats making early moves to challenge the incumbent accelerates
An emergency Trump administration plan to tap storm protection and Army Corp of Engineers funds to pay for a border wall was
slammed Friday by Houston lawmakers who said it could endanger the city’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey and jeopardize the region’s preparedness for future storms.
Cruz and Cornyn blame Democrats for shutdown -- “The president has said repeatedly he is more than happy to compromise, he is more than happy to work together and negotiate, but the position of the Democrats is and remains, `Hell no.′ They won’t compromise, they won’t talk,”
Sen. Ted Cruz said.
Trump’s wall needs private property. But some Texans won’t give up their land without a fight. -- Previous eminent domain attempts along the Texas border have led to more than a decade of court battles, some of which date to George W. Bush’s administration and have yet to be resolved. Many landowners, like Alvarez, are vowing to fight anew. Efrén C. Olivares, racial and economic justice program director at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said approximately 100 landowners have received new government letters seeking access to private property for the purposes of determining how — and where — the wall could be built. The letters are the first of a two-step process the government uses in cases of eminent domain, lawyers involved in the cases and experts said.
Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez -- The effort is part carrot, part stick. But it's far from clear
the anti-establishment political novice can be made to play ball.
Former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge pays tribute to Austin rescuers -- Former Exelon board member
Tom Ridge suffered cardiac arrest three times at a downtown Austin hotel in 2017
Austin population expected to pass 1 million mark next year, demographer says -- City itself will see slowdown in population boom, metro area
should continue bold increase
Federal budget shutdown also shuts down E-Verify
Bathroom bill no longer needed, Dan Patrick says -- “The truth is, the purpose of that legislation was to stop school districts from forcing boys and girls from sharing showers and locker rooms.
Well, that stopped,” he said.
Robert Allan “Bud” Shivers Jr. dies at age 72 -- Businessman, philanthropist, son of a powerful Texas governor and backer of George W. Bush
died on Tuesday
State Senator Jane Nelson, a Republican, was the first female to gavel in the Texas Legislature -- She was already the first woman to head the powerful Senate Committee on Finance in 2013
Saudi Aramco to issue bonds in second-quarter 2019, list in 2021: energy minister -- The Saudi oil giant has considered issuing bonds to help
finance its planned acquisition of a controlling stake in petrochemical maker SABIC, which has offices in Houston
GOP operatives dig for dirt against rising star O’Rourke -- Beto's past includes Congressional votes that may be more conservative than other Democrats he could run against for the 2020 nomination -- and
his possible ties to "fossil fuel interests" are also being explored
The U.S. government shutdown may prevent Justice Department attorneys from going before a Montana judge next week to ask him to lift his hold on Keystone XL oil pipeline construction -- But the federal attorneys and the Canadian company that wants to build the pipeline say
their absence shouldn't delay Monday's hearing on the matter in U.S. District Court in Great Falls.
Social issues could take back seat in new Texas Legislature -- A smaller Republican majority in the state legislature may mean
fewer "hot-button" social issues during the session and more pragmatic tackling of issues such as school finance and Hurricane Harvey recovery
Fast-Growing Cargo Airport Getting Amazon Boost -- The ports along the Gulf Coast are doing great, but
even the Port of Houston's fast growth doesn't compare to the "port" at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, where growth is phenomenal thanks to Amazon
Texas House leader Dennis Bonnen is aggressive, colorful - and has a lot of different people to please -- "The 109-member pledge list he presented in November is wide-ranging, including 31 Democrats and nearly all of the tea party-aligned Texas Freedom Caucus, whose interests are at
opposite ends of the political spectrum."
New Jersey energy company, after receiving nuclear plant subsidy, then tried to give "dark money" -- Politico says -- Was the money
intended as a payback to allies of a political power broker?
America's Mad Scientists Wanted to Use Nuclear Power to Create Tunnels in a Shocking Way -- During the pursuit of nuclear-powered flying machines in the 1950s, Los Alamos engineers built an
electrically-powered mockup of a prototype reactor that heated propellant to 3000 degrees centigrade -- and may have even inspired Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry
Clock runs out on federal nominations for Susan Combs, other Texans -- Combs was
caught in disputes between the administration and the Senate over environmental policy, so then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke appointed her in March as acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks
U.S. economy finishes with a flurry, adding a stellar 312K jobs in December -- The U.S. economy
added 312,000 jobs in December, smashing expectations for year-end growth
Just 15% of the oil and gas workforce is female—these women want to change that -- Pink Petro is a for-profit company funded by Shell and others in the energy industry to
focus on recruiting women
A Texas state senator accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to a University of Texas graduate student is giving up control of the chamber’s powerful Health and Human Services Committee.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that Republican Charles Schwertner wrote to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, on Friday and asked to relinquish his chairmanship.
Schwertner was re-elected in November.
A UT probe of the matter was closed in December.
How women took over the military-industrial complex --
For the first time, the nation's defense hierarchy is no longer dominated by men
Doug Johnson, legendary Houston television personality and weatherman has died -- Back in the 1960s and '70s, Johnson and his TV partner Ron Stone began their afternoon broadcasts with the only news that really mattered in Houston: The closing price of Oxy Petroleum stock
Analyst Michael Boyd has a slightly different view of the Texas Pacific Land Trust -- It's got minerals and royalties, but what about the land?
Canada’s Rig Count Plunges by More Than Half in Two Weeks -- In the final weeks of 2018, Canada’s count
dropped from 174 to just 70
U.S. warns Iran against space launches, ballistic missiles -- Secretary of State says US
will not tolerate three rocket launches Iran has announced for the coming months
The Biodiesel Sector Is Hot -- From World Energy Houston to Bakersfield and Bolivia,
a rundown of US and world biodiesel action over the past year
Fun Statistic – Texas Alone Produces More Oil Than 190 Countries --
One single state is producing more oil than 190 entire countries do individually
Coilumnist R. G. Radcliffe retires from Texas Monthly -- He certainly had
plenty to say about energy in the state and Clayton Williams and both George Bushes and Tim Dunn and...
Mining company swaps uranium for marijuana, moves to Addison -- Baton Rouge, La.-based uranium mining company
replaced its executives and is moving to Addison, Texas to operate a marijuana dispensary business in southern Oregon
Institute for Policy Studies' Wakamo: Move federal workers away from Washington -- "A new Works Progress Agency could establish offices in places like Milwaukee, where it could build a long-discussed high-speed rail line connecting the cities of the Midwest. Or in Phoenix, where it could construct more solar power plants in the desert. It could set up in places like Jackson, Mississippi, helping to build sustainable co-op farms, or on the Gulf Coast, to fight climate change."
Sen. Lindsey Graham: Trump still wants to leave Syria, but will reevaluate plan to attack ISIS -- "I think we're
slowing things down in a smart way"
If This Isn’t a Bear Market, Then What Is It? -- Some are saying it's a Zombie market, but
$4 trillion in investments have been wiped out since the high
Who’s No. 1? Austin, not Dallas, tops the charts for best places to live and start a business --
Texas is the favorite for California employers looking to flee high costs and high regulation, and Austin is easily their first choice. Inc. magazine ranks Dallas down at #19
