TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis expects 'full Super Bowl' in Florida next year
While announcing Phase 3 of Florida's COVID-19 economic reopening on Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he expects Tampa to host the Super Bowl next year, as planned.
"We're going to be able to host the Super Bowl in February. We expect to do a full Super Bowl," DeSantis insisted. "We're going to show that we're going to be able to do that."
The governor added he believes outdoor transmission has not been a "major factor" in spreading the coronavirus, even as the state reached 700,000 overall cases since March.
Florida's new cases peaked in July and have since grown by between 1,000 and 3,000 cases most days in the past week.
Read more: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/09/28/florida-gov-ron-desantis-expects-full-super-bowl-in-florida-next-year
Cross-posted in the Sports Group.
Incoming Florida House speaker and Republican state senator to oppose $15 minimum wage at Monday
Incoming Florida House speaker and Republican state senator to oppose $15 minimum wage at Monday press conferenceIncoming House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Republican from Palm Harbor, and state Republican Chairman Joe Gruters, a senator from Sarasota, are set to host an online news conference opposing Amendment 2, which voters will begin seeing on their ballots this week.
The proposed amendment would gradually raise Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. To approve it, voters must pass the measure by 60 percent or more by the Nov. 3 election day.
Also taking part in the news conference will be Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.
The "2 Hurts You" campaign claims "The middle of a pandemic is not the time for a social experiment with our spiraling economy," but proponents at the "Florida For $15" campaign say "the system is broken and has always been for too many people. And now, working families in Florida are facing overlapping crises of an economic recession, the ongoing pandemic, and systemic racism."
Read more: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/09/28/incoming-florida-house-speaker-and-republican-state-senator-to-oppose-15-minimum-wage-at-monday-press-conference
Biden campaign review lays out plan to beat Trump in Florida
On the eve of the first presidential debate, Joe Biden campaign officials insisted Monday that President Trump can be beaten in his adopted home state — perhaps by a margin as narrow as one percentage point.
Both campaigns said Monday that while they will be battling for votes through Nov. 3, Tuesday's debate will occur as a record number of early voting Floridians will have their ballots at hand, and ready to fill out as they watch. As such, this first encounter between Trump and Biden could be decisive for significant numbers of those casting ballots ahead of Election Day.
"You're going to see what the vice president does best — speak directly to the American people bringing that compassion, that sense of empathy and reinforce why he ran in the first place — to restore the soul of the nation," said Christian Ulvert, a Biden campaign strategic advisor. "The debate is going to offer the clearest contrast."
Danielle Alvarez, Trump Victory regional communications director for the southeast said she agrees voters will see a contrast, but it's a difference in favor of the president.
Read more: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/28/biden-campaign-review-lays-out-plan-beat-trump-florida/3559206001/
National Democrats add Oliver race to 'Red to Blue' program
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Julie Oliver, an Austin attorney aiming to unseat U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, to its “Red to Blue” program.
The district was already on the committee’s target list, among several GOP-held seats in Texas, but the new designation gives Oliver organizational and fundraising support, including strategic guidance and training.
The move signals Democrats’ growing hopes in flipping the 25th Congressional District.
“Texans know tough, and Julie Oliver has always beat the odds,” DCCC chairwoman Cheri Bustos said in a statement. “A homeless, pregnant teenager who dropped out of high school, Julie endured to finish high school, put herself through college and law school with a young family and build a successful career. Julie understands the everyday struggles that so many Texans face, and she’s running for Congress to make sure everyone has a fair shot.”
The 25th District includes portions of East, Central and West Austin, as well as western Travis and Hays counties and most of Fort Hood. It stretches to just south of Fort Worth.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200928/national-democrats-add-oliver-race-to-lsquored-to-bluersquo-program
Former Lakeway hospital to pay over $16 million to settle false claims allegations
The former Lakeway Regional Medical Center will pay over $16 million in two separate civil settlements to resolve allegations that it fraudulently obtained and misused government-insured loans through an investor kickback scheme, as well as submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.
The hospital agreed to pay $13,581,000 and its former managers agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act and other laws in connection with the development of the medical center.
The hospital will also pay more than $1.1 million to the United States and Texas to settle allegations that the hospital submitted false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, said U.S. Attorney John F. Bash.
The claims resolved in both settlements are allegations only, the Justice Department said in a statement, and there has been no determination of liability.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200928/former-lakeway-hospital-to-pay-over-16-million-to-settle-false-claims-allegations
Shelley Luther, railing against 'tyrant governor,' seeks Texas Senate seat Tuesday
The first question Friday night for Shelley Luther on her Facebook live campaign update was if she wins Tuesday’s special election in Senate District 30 in overwhelmingly Republican rural North Texas, “What is your plan to end (Gov. Greg) Abbott’s shutdown madness?”
Luther said that with six candidates on the ballot — five Republicans and a Democrat — it is going to be almost impossible to avoid a runoff.
“But if I happen to win outright on Tuesday, which, oh my goodness that would be crazy and amazing,” Luther said, “the first thing that I would do is start going after Gov. Abbott’s lockdown and getting these nursing homes open, the bars and then restaurants all the way open, because I think it is absolutely ridiculous that places like Florida can open all the way today, and here we are in Texas being embarrassed that we’re still closed down, and we’re supposed to be the ones that are leading the way, the ones with personal responsibility and strong Republicans.”
Luther gained overnight political celebrity and instant conservative credibility when she was briefly jailed in early May for opening her Salon à la Mode in North Dallas before Abbott’s pandemic-related edicts allowed.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200928/shelley-luther-railing-against-lsquotyrant-governorrsquo-seeks-texas-senate-seat-tuesday
Can Texas Democrats count on the college vote during the pandemic?
During nonpandemic times, the West Mall at the University of Texas is chock-a-block with college clubs, including campus political organizations pushing would-be voters to register.
But during a recent sunny lunch hour, with students largely taking classes online and close contact a no-no, the mall was completely empty.
A similar quiet has descended on once-busy college quads across the country, with potentially big political implications.
There are now more than 16.6 million registered voters in Texas — 1.5 million more than in 2016 — but the coronavirus pandemic has dampened the rate of new voter registrations. In the first eight months of 2020, 843,160 new voters were added to the rolls, a 20% drop-off from the same period in 2016 — even as the state’s population continues to boom. That slowdown has been especially true in big urban counties, analyses by the American-Statesman have found.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200928/can-texas-democrats-count-on-college-vote-during-pandemic
SEC accuses Cedar Hill man of scamming investors out of at least $1.1 million
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing a Cedar Hill man of targeting churchgoers in a digital currency investment scam that totaled at least $1.1 million.
In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Dallas, the SEC described Clifton Curtis Sneed Jr. as a “recidivist securities law violator” and said he portrayed himself as an investment expert from 2014 through 2019 while hiding his lengthy record of securities violations.
Sneed lied to clients about his financial certifications and failed to disclose that he was receiving commissions from the companies that he recommended to clients, according to the SEC. The complaint said clients lost about $1.1 million while Sneed pocketed at least $400,000 in commissions.
Now incarcerated at a low-security federal corrections institution in Seagoville, Sneed is awaiting criminal trial over related wire and securities fraud charges.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2020/09/28/sec-accuses-cedar-hill-man-of-scamming-investors-out-of-at-least-11-million/
Williamson County sheriff charged with felony evidence tampering in Javier Ambler case
by Stacy Fernández, Texas TribuneA grand jury has indicted Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody on a felony evidence tampering charge in the case of Javier Ambler, a Black man who died in 2019 after being stunned with a Taser multiple times by deputies.
The grand jury accused Chody of destroying or concealing video and audio recordings “with the intent to impair their ability as evidence in the investigation,” according to the indictment. Jason Nassour, a county attorney, was also indicted on the same charge.
Chody said he didn't tamper with evidence at a press conference Monday afternoon.
"The Travis county District Attorney dropped the ball on the investigation, and when the video surfaced during her campaign, she had to find someone to blame for her own mistakes," Chody said during the press conference.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/28/williamson-sheriff-robert-chody-javier-ambler/
Federal appeals court temporarily blocks ruling that reinstated straight-ticket voting in Texas
by Emma Platoff, Texas TribuneA federal appeals court on Monday put a temporary hold on a lower court’s ruling last week that reinstated the practice of straight-ticket voting, again casting into uncertainty whether Texas voters will have the option in the Nov. 3 election to vote for every candidate of a political party with one punch. A final ruling is expected after the court weighs the arguments more thoroughly.
Straight-ticket voting was set to end this year in Texas, bringing the state in line with much of the rest of the country, under a law passed in 2017 by the Legislature. But on Friday, a federal judge ordered the state to reinstate the practice, writing that one-punch voting would speed up the voting process and decrease the time that in-person voters would be at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
Early voting is set to start Oct. 13, leaving election administrators little time to make major changes to voting procedures.
U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo wrote that ending straight-ticket voting would “cause important delays at polling places, place Texan voters at increased risk of catching a deadly virus, and discourage voters, particularly those most vulnerable to the disease or under significant economic pressure, from exercising their rights on election day.”
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/28/texas-straight-ticket-voting-blocks/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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