SARose
SARose's JournalKerrville mayor says he wasn't aware of state resources that Gov. Abbott said were in place ahead of flooding
Kerrville’s mayor said he was unaware of any help sent by the state to his community ahead of the flood, a day after Gov. Greg Abbott said the state had “assets, resources and personnel” in place two days before a flood tore through the Hill Country, claiming 120 lives as of Wednesday evening.
The state was aware that there was a possible serious flooding event days in advance and pre-positioned assets and resources and personnel,” Abbott said at a Tuesday press conference. “We originally pre-positioned those assets, personnel and resources on Wednesday. Then, when greater clarity was discerned on Wednesday, we moved them closer and made sure we had adequate supplies going into Friday. We were ready.”
The Texas Division of Emergency Management “activated” state emergency response resources across West Texas and the Hill Country on July 2, according to a TDEM press release. TDEM cited “heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding” and encouraged Texans to prepare for flooded roads and monitor weather forecasts.
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Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring said during a press conference on Wednesday that he wasn’t aware of any resources or personnel sent to his area, although the TDEM had people in Kerrville after the floods struck his city.
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I cannot wait until Abbott’s remarks are played in a courtroom.
Not on my tv. Never saw anyone from Texas Dept of Emergency Management tell folks anything like this. The local meteorologists were calling for high probability of rain on the Fourth with the possibility of street flooding.
No one said anything about Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, et al receiving 4 months of rain in several hours.
If Abbott’s remarks are even 1% true - why didn’t TDEM notify the numerous camps, parks, and campgrounds in the area. Why weren’t local mayors and county commissioners notified?
Abbott remains all hat and no cattle. Pfffttt
Kerr and Kendall Counties
A little brain wiggle last night - something, something Kerrville and voting.
Aha!
BY NATALIA CONTRERAS, VOTEBEAT AND THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
OCT. 13, 2023
Responsibility for running elections in Kerr County has shifted among three different people in the past two months. The first two officials bailed on the job after a monthslong effort by one Republican county official to rid the county of electronic voting equipment and begin hand counting all ballots. The push has divided the overwhelmingly Republican county — a verdant stretch of the Hill Country split by the Guadalupe River — and will cost taxpayers around $250,000 due to the many changeovers.
So far, the effort has failed. Still, Kerr County Republican Party Chair Paul Zohlen told Votebeat the effort — led largely by Republican County Commissioner Rich Paces — has “single-handedly taken a wrecking ball to one of the finest election departments in the state.”
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Paces ran for his seat on the Kerr County Commissioners Court last year with a campaign focused on frugal spending and election integrity. An Ohio native and retired engineer, Paces and his wife moved to the Texas Hill Country in the early 2000s.
After being on the job for less than a month, he began to receive text messages from local right-wing activist Alicia Bell, who said she was at the Capitol for an “election integrity legislative briefing.” The event featured Bob Hall, a Dallas-area senator who has for years pushed to eliminate electronic voting equipment; Texas GOP Vice Chair Dana Myers, who led efforts to remove Texas from an effective voter list maintenance tool; and Russ Ramsland, a Texas businessman who is widely known to spread false election conspiracies.
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And this
The Hill Country counties have been staunchly Republican for years, and Democrats didn't bother to field a candidate in many races.
By Ricardo Delgado,
Staff writer
Updated Nov 5, 2024 9:55 p.m.
Many of the races in two Hill Country counties were effectively settled before Election Day, as Republicans run unopposed.
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Kendall County
About 30,000 people cast a ballot in Kendall County, a voter turnout of just under 76%. In 2020, the county saw a turnout of just under 79%.
The county voted overwhelmingly for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as he received 77% of the vote. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz earned about 75% of the vote in Kendall County, eclipsing Democratic challenger Colin Allred's 23%.
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Kerr County
Just over 24,000 of Kerr County's approximately 40,000 registered voters cast a ballot, a turnout of about 60%. Nearly 28,000 people voted in Kerr County in 2020, a turnout of around 74%.
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Sooo limited government, election deniers, and no Democrats running for office.
Both of these counties are majority white, median age about 49, average incomes about $53,000 median incomes over $100,000, and well educated.
Rich Paces - County Commissioner Precinct 2 Kerr County
He’s the one who wants hand counted ballots.
How do Texas Democrats even reach these folks?
I dunno…
ICE's private security company G4S
ICE office in S.F. shuts down after clash between agents, protesters
by FRANKIE SOLINSKY DURYEA
June 24, 2025, 3:41 pm
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The crowd filmed the mask-clad men — who were with ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the private security company G4S — and shouted “Fuck you Nazis!” and “Get out of our fucking city!” as the agents backed the van into the headquarters.
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Bold mine.
Then I found this
G4S CONFIRMED: San Antonio court hearings end in ICE arrests. ICE continued detaining migrants outside San Antonio
What?
Plainclothes ICE agents, security contractors detain migrants in downtown San Antonio
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Plainclothes ICE agents and security personnel from G4S — a London-based multinational security company — escorted the detained migrants in front of news crews, patted them down, removed their jewelry and earrings, then led them onto a pair of charter busses parked at 800 Dolorosa Street.
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Article above from May
G4S
Enforcement and Removals (ERO) [DHS - ICE]
$16.8B Total
Since 2006 - contract employee and other services
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The link above contains tons of info including most/all of the other contractors hired by DHS-ICE.
An example
Description
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE. THIS IS A NOTICE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S INTENT TO ISSUE A SOLE SOURCE MODIFICATION TO AKIMA INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION, LLC, 70CDCR22D00000002
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), on behalf of the Enforcement & Removal Operations (ERO), intends to award a sole source modification of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract number 70CDCR22D00000002 to Akima Infrastructure Protection, LLC (AIP), located at 2553 Dulles View Dr., Suite 700, Herndon, VA 20171, for on-call stationary guard support to operate and manage the Port Isabel Detention Center (PIDC) located in Los Fresnos, TX.
Response Deadline
July 1, 2025, 9:00 a.m. EDT Due in 4 Days
Posted
June 24, 2025, 8:16 a.m. EDT
Set Aside
8(a) (8A)
NAICS
561612 - Security Guards and Patrol Services
PSC
S206 - Housekeeping- Guard
Place of Performance
Los Fresnos, TX United States
Source
SAM
Current SBA Size Standard
$29 Million
Pricing
Likely Fixed Price
Est. Level of Competition
Sole Source
Vehicle Type
Indefinite Delivery Contract
Signs of Shaping
74% of obligations for similar contracts within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement were awarded full & open.
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I can’t even…
These companies profit from human misery.
Thanks for the separate post suggestion IrishBubbaLiberal!
Let me know if the links don’t work.
I can't do this for 4 years
Watching Cheeto man’s press conference. Lies lies lies. Still saying NATO owes US millions of dollars. Money came rolling in last time.
This is insane
Plus he is holding this during Jimmy Carter’s final journey. Trumpy went on an on about Panama Canal.
Piece of shite
Appeals court blocks Texas from enforcing book rating law
Editor's note: In a split vote, the full panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined on April 16 to reconsider this case. Five judges issued a dissent saying they would have liked the court to re-hear it. The previous ruling, reported below, remains in effect.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday from enforcing a state law requiring booksellers to rate the explicitness and relevance of sexual references in materials they sell to schools.
The appellate court, one of the most conservative in the nation, sided with booksellers who sued the state after claiming House Bill 900 violated their First Amendment rights. The court affirmed a lower court’s decision to prevent TEA Commissioner Mike Morath from enforcing the 2023 law.
Wednesday’s decision was somewhat surprising since the appellate court blocked the lower court’s ruling in November. Addressing the reversal, Judge Don Willett with the 5th Circuit wrote that a “different panel of this court” had granted the state’s appeal to block that ruling.
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Son! I am socked I tell ya shocked! The little weasel loses again. 😂 So much winning.
Note to Dan Patrick: When you lose the 5th Circuit maybe time to go home and stick your ugly, fascist ideas where the sun don’t shine.
Ohhh it’s a good day!😉
Why does Texas want to kill guaranteed income, but fund school vouchers?
Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to quash Harris County’s guaranteed income program, arguing the Texas Constitution prohibits counties or cities from “granting public money or thing of value in aid of or to any individual.”
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Paxton’s lawsuit to axe Uplift Harris, which he describes as a “welfare scheme” and "socialist experiment," comes while Texas pushes for a controversial education savings account program, also known as school vouchers. These accounts use taxpayer money to help parents pay for their children's private school tuition.
So, what's the difference between these two publicly funded state programs?
According to Southern Methodist University political science professor Calvin Jillson, Paxton’s lawsuit is “clearly political."
“If it’s mostly a lottery, it's probably more difficult to defend,” Jillson told Chron. “There are all kinds of programs in which public money goes towards private individuals, and the question is whether or not those programs are structured to provide judicial scrutiny. And sometimes programs are, and other times they're struck down.”
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I’m just gonna leave this here. If I comment, I will say not very nice things.
You little weasel.🤬
Colin Allred's fundraising
for U.S. Senate race surpasses O’Rourke’s early 2018 pace
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign this quarter, surpassing Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 first quarter sum of $6.7 million.
BY MATTHEW CHOI
APRIL 15, 2024
4 HOURS AGO
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in this year’s first quarter, surpassing the campaign of his rival Sen. Ted Cruz.
Notably, Allred has also raised more money than Beto O’Rourke did by this point in his own history-making run against Cruz in 2018.
O’Rourke raised over $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 against Cruz. The El Paso Democrat’s haul that quarter was the biggest of any Democratic Senate candidate in the country.
Cruz raised over $6.9 million from his official campaign this past quarter, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Still, the conservative senator remains a formidable fundraiser, bringing in over $9.7 million across his fundraising entities. That includes money he has raised for other candidates.
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Ohhhh yeahhhh! 👏
Judge Halts Texas AG's Probe Into Media Matters
BY ANDREW PEREZ
APRIL 12, 2024
A JUDGE ON Friday moved to halt an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) into the liberal watchdog journalism organization Media Matters, issuing a preliminary injunction in the case.
Calling Media Matters a “radical left-wing” and “anti-free speech organization,” Paxton claimed to be investigating “potential fraudulent activity” by the group under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act, in response to its reporting about X — the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
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D.C. District Court Judge Amit Mehta granted Media Matters’ request for a preliminary injunction in its case against Texas on Friday. “Plaintiffs’ reporting on matters of public concern are core First Amendment activities,” the judge wrote, asserting that Paxton was pursuing Media Matters with “retaliatory intent” over acts “with no apparent connection to Texas.”
Mehta issued an order blocking Paxton from enforcing his office’s original investigative demands and from issuing any additional demands relating to the investigation he announced in November.
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It’s a good day! Sit on it - you little weasel. 👍👍
'The worst flop ever':
How Texas’ MAGA governor ruined Eagle Pass’ solar eclipse weekend
Carl GibsonApril 06, 2024
The local economy of Eagle Pass, Texas was all set to rake in a huge financial windfall this weekend, when the town was expected to play host to tens of thousands of visitors eager to be the first in the US to see Monday's solar eclipse. Instead, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's ongoing border standoff with the federal government ended up scaring most tourists away.
According to the Daily Beast, Aide Castano — the municipality's marketing and tourism director — told a meeting of the local Rotary Club last year that the town of 28,000 residents could expect to see its population temporarily swell to more than 100,000 people on the first weekend of April for the eclipse boom. The city scheduled a music festival to take place dubbed the "57 South Music Festival" set to last three nights, featuring 17 bands on two separate stages.
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Meanwhile, the intimidating presence of troops and razor wire at the Rio Grande ended up scuttling the original plans for the 57 South Music Festival in Eagle Pass for the weekend of the solar eclipse. The Beast reported that the location for the festival was moved to the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, which is a 20-minute drive by car. As a result of the change, tickets for the festival dropped significantly in price. And at a March 14 town hall meeting, the town lowered their expectations for eclipse visitors from more than 100,000 to approximately 50,000.
Garcia-Grewell, the Eagle Pass resident, recalled to the Beast that she was told the city spent roughly $3.5 million on the festival, yet sold only 2,500 tickets. She further elaborated that the city would have had to sell tickets at $1,400 apiece just to break even when accounting for the total cost.
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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Ad money from Sen. Ted Cruz podcast
flows to super PAC focused on his reelection
Told of payments, BP America pulls its ads from podcasts that send revenue to political parties, campaigns or committees.
WASHINGTON — A super PAC focused on getting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz reelected has received hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to advertising revenue from Cruz’s “Verdict” podcast, an unusual campaign finance arrangement that raises legal questions.
Public scrutiny of the payments could prompt advertisers to follow BP America Inc.’s lead and redirect their business to avoid indirectly supporting the Texas Republican’s effort to win a third six-year term.
Contacted by The Dallas Morning News, BP America, based in Cruz’s hometown of Houston, said it was unaware that ad revenue from the podcast was flowing to a pro-Cruz organization.
“We purchase advertising on iHeart based on the potential audience and do not specify by podcasts,” BP America spokesperson Ross Parman said. “We were never informed that media spend was going directly to a super PAC and have instructed iHeart to remove our messages from any podcasts that direct advertising revenue to campaigns, PACs or political parties.”
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Busted! More than $630,000 from iHeart.
Oh it’s a gooooddd day!
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