July 28, 2020

Local Groups Condemn Proposed Ban on Trans People in Homeless Shelters

Two Texas LGBTQ organizations have partnered to denounce the latest anti-transgender policy rolled out by the Trump administration—a proposed Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule change that would exclude transgender people from homeless shelters.

Equality Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to securing full equality for LGBTQ people, and Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), a trans-led, trans-focused organization, released a joint statement on July 27 condemning HUD’s plan to undermine regulations now in place that prohibit discrimination in federally funded housing.

“This proposed rule released by HUD puts thousands of Americans at risk from receiving adequate shelter and safety, and puts transgender lives at risk,” the organizations said.

First announced in a press release issued on July 1, the HUD proposal would reverse an Obama-era rule that required homeless shelters to house trans people according to their gender identity. The new rule would “better accommodate religious beliefs of shelter providers” by allowing single-gender shelters to determine admissions based on an individual’s “perceived” sex.

The proposed rule modification, which was written by HUD secretary and anti-LGBTQ activist Ben Carson, also included instructions on what a shelter can do to spot a trans person. Shelter workers may use “factors such as height, the presence (but not the absence) of facial hair, the presence of an Adam’s apple, and other physical characteristics which, when considered together, are indicative of a person’s biological sex.” The rule also states that workers may ask those seeking housing for proof of their “biological sex.”

Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2020/07/local-groups-condemn-proposed-ban-on-trans-people-in-homeless-shelters/

July 28, 2020

New UH Medical School Is Aimed At Tackling Texas' Primary Care Shortage

Before Breanna Chachere started medical school at the University of Houston, she experienced firsthand the gaps in health care access in Texas.

"I grew up in a family that had a lot of issues and prevalence of chronic diseases," said Chachere. "I definitely grew up in a medically underserved city, so that often meant we had to travel outside of Alvin, Texas to get the medical care — quality care I would call it — that we needed."

Before heading to the East Coast for graduate school, Chachere continued to see these health disparities show up while working at public schools in La Porte and Pearland. She said witnessing it in the Houston area drew her to the medical field.

"This is my community and it felt very natural for me to come home to study medicine in the place where I ultimately hope to practice," said Chachere.

Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2020/07/27/378634/new-medical-school-at-university-of-houston-tackles-primary-care-shortage/

July 28, 2020

Paxton criminal case, now 5 years old, delayed again

The criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, held up for five years by numerous challenges and appeals from both sides, was pushed farther back Monday by a state appeals court in Houston.

The 1st Court of Appeals, responding to a challenge from the appointed prosecutors in the Paxton matter, overturned a Harris County judge’s order that had returned the case to Collin County, where Paxton resides.

The case had been transferred in 2017 to state District Judge Robert Johnson in Harris County after prosecutors argued that pretrial publicity, and actions by Paxton supporters, meant they could not get a fair trial in Paxton’s backyard.

Paxton’s lawyers challenged the transfer, and on June 25, Johnson returned Paxton’s case to Collin County, ruling that a prior judge lacked the jurisdiction to transfer the matter to the Houston area. Johnson also stepped away from the case, saying he was added to a bail reform lawsuit and accepted representation from the attorney general’s office, and the Paxton case was reassigned to state District Judge Jason Luong, also of Harris County.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200727/paxton-criminal-case-now-5-years-old-delayed-again

July 28, 2020

Judge says Confederate statue will be moved after protest groups clash in Weatherford

A Parker County judge confirmed a Confederate statue will be moved from the county courthouse lawn following protests in Weatherford on Saturday, according to the county judge’s office.

The Weatherford Democrat first reported the judge’s announcement on Monday.

The statue of a Confederate soldier is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which already agreed to move the monument to another location. The relocation process was initially stalled because of confusion over whether UDC or Parker County owned the statue.

Parker County Judge Pat Deen said the statue will be moved from the lawn by the UDC as soon as UDC raises the funds to relocate it. The county cannot remove the statue because the county does not own it, the county judge’s office confirmed.

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article244525872.html

July 28, 2020

Cici's manager refused to serve customer in Black Lives Matter shirt, Texas suit says

A Cici’s Pizza manager is accused of refusing to serve a customer in a Black Lives Matter shirt and children in Texas, according to a lawsuit.

Grace Bullard went to a Cici’s location in Cedar Hill, a city about 30 miles southeast of Fort Worth, with three young relatives in July 2018, a federal lawsuit filed last week says. Before she could finish putting in her food order, a manager looked at her shirt and refused to serve the family, it says.

The manager called police on Bullard when she asked to speak with the company’s corporate office, according to the lawsuit.

“The three children with (Bullard) were ages 8, 5, and 4 years and were scared and upset to see the police arrive,” the lawsuit says. (She) was never disorderly during the entire incident.”

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article244524782.html

Considering that according to the 2010 census Cedar Hill is 51% Black, this probably wasn't a good business decision.

July 28, 2020

Joe Rogan moving from California to Texas for 'more freedom'

Joe Rogan is moving to Texas in search of "a little bit more freedom."

Rogan announced the news of his relocation from Los Angeles to Texas Friday on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.

The move likely comes as little surprise to Rogan's fans, given that the popular comedian and commentator has previously hinted at relocating to the Lone Star State, according to The Hill.

Rogan cited overpopulation, traffic, economic despair and his need for "a little bit more freedom" among the reasons for his decision.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/life/article/Joe-Rogan-announces-move-from-15437508.php

July 28, 2020

This Texas man refuses to wear a mask, but will gladly sell you one from his Trump trailer

For just $10, you can wear a face mask with Trump's 2020 campaign slogan on it, one with the coiled rattlesnake from the Gadsden flag and the words “Don’t cough on me" or one that shows Trump as a machine-gun-clutching Rambo (whatever that is).

Don Caple will happily sell you one of those masks, the Los Angeles Times reported, but he refuses to wear one himself.

“They’re a hot-ticket-selling item,” Caple told the Times. “I don’t agree with it. But if they want to buy them, I’m not gonna argue.”

He sells the masks from a Trump-themed trailer in Amarillo, which is about a nine-hour drive from Houston.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/coronavirus/article/This-Texas-biz-owner-refuses-to-wear-a-mask-but-15436720.php

Considering who his intended clientele is, the guy probably is going broke.


Don Caple sells face masks from the Trump Trailer outside Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, on July 18, 2020. (Mark Potts/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

July 27, 2020

Thousands of Texans remain without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Hanna

by Reese Oxner, Texas Tribune


Two days after Hurricane Hanna touched down in South Texas, thousands remained without power and communities were grappling with how to deal with the damage caused by flooding and strong winds.

The storm, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday evening at Padre Island, packed sustained winds as high as 90 mph before weakening into a tropical storm early Sunday and moving into northern Mexico. It was the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

Hanna unleashed more than 15 inches of rain in parts of South Texas, resulting in serious flash flooding, according to The Washington Post.

Gov. Greg Abbott warned Texans on Sunday that there are continued threats of flash flooding even as rainfall slows, due to overflowing rivers.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/27/hurricane-hanna-aftermath-texas-power/

July 27, 2020

Texas biotech facility in College Station tapped to mass-produce potential COVID-19 vaccine

Source: Texas Tribune

A biotech production facility in College Station could begin manufacturing hundreds of millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine as early as next year.

As part of a $265 million contract with the federal government, the Texas A&M University System Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing — which is owned and operated by Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies — has been tapped to mass-manufacture a vaccine candidate that is still undergoing testing. That vaccine, which is being developed by the little-known Maryland company Novavax, is one of six candidates the federal government has put billions of dollars behind as part of its Operation Warp Speed, which is pursuing an aggressive timeline for mass-distributing a coronavirus vaccine.

President Donald Trump, appearing Monday afternoon at a North Carolina Fujifilm facility where the vaccine candidate is being developed for clinical trials, praised the progress of the Novavax vaccine and of other therapeutics.

“We will have it delivered in record time,” he said.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/27/novavax-coronavirus-vaccine-texas/

July 27, 2020

Video shows Texas civil rights lawyer attacked for trying to help asylum seekers

A lawyer with the Texas Civil Rights Project said he was injured on Thursday after security guards violently removed him from a hotel in McAllen where asylum seekers, including children, are being held without due process rights.

Footage of the incident shows three men approach attorney Andy Udelsman after he enters a floor of the Hampton hotel where the children are being held. When Udelsman asks them who they are, the men ignore him and refuse to let him pass.

Unable to move any further, Udelsman begins trying to talk to the asylum seekers being held in the individual rooms. “I’m an attorney here to help,” he shouts in Spanish. “If you need help tell me your name!”

After he begins trying to speak to the asylum seekers, one of the men pushes Udelsman down the hallway and slams him into the elevator.

https://twitter.com/TXCivilRights/status/1286445319056654336

Read more: https://texassignal.com/video-shows-texas-civil-rights-lawyer-attacked-for-trying-to-help-asylum-seekers/