Williamson County Sheriff Chody Sues, Alleging Voter Fraud In Nov. Election Loss

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Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody is suing Sheriff-elect Mike Gleason, his opponent in November’s election, claiming Gleason’s victory was influenced by fraudulent votes and irregularities, reports KXAN TV.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 15, claims election officers counted illegal votes, failed to count legal votes and made mistakes and/or engaged in illegal conduct.

Gleason received 56% of the Nov. 3 vote.

Chody, a Republican, greatly outspent his challenger in the November election.

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Gov. Abbott Tells Austin's Mayor His New Year's Curfew Is Illegal

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Gov. Greg Abbott has a message for Austin mayor Steve Adler: your New Year's Eve curfew is not allowed.

Adler ordered all businesses in Austin to close over the New Year's holiday tomorrow night, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. January 3rd. The order closes bars and restaurants during one of their busiest holidays of the year.

A news release published on the city's official website explained:

"Venues serving food and drink may still operate between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. using drive-thru, curbside pick-up, take-out, or delivery service. This change applies to any venue serving food or drink from an onsite kitchen, food truck, or catering service. Between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., venues are permitted to continue dine-in operations."

County Health officials in Travis County also went along with the curfew order.

In the official City resolution, issued Tuesday, Adler cited the governor's previous order (GA-32) allowing reopenings if counties exceeded certain hospital admission standards.

His resolution ordering the closures, issued Tuesday, notes, "Travis County has experienced 48,951 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 542 deaths as a result ofthe disease." 

But Gov. Abbott was not having any of it. He took to Twitter almost immediately, tweeting late Tuesday night:

"This shutdown order by Austin isn't allowed. Period. My executive order stops cities like Austin from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. The city has a responsibility to enforce existing orders, not make new ones."

KVUE TV reported that the Texas Attorney General's Office also weighed in on Twitter, noting that the city's orders, "violate @GovAbbott’s Exec Order GA-32. They must rescind or modify their local orders immediately."

At risk are potentially hundreds of jobs in tens of thousands of dollars in earnings over the New Year's holiday, which brings to a close a year in which hundreds of thousands of lost their jobs in the restaurant and bar industries throughout the state.

Is unclear whether habit or the Attorney general's office would seek an injunction Wednesday to override the order, or whether businesses in Austin and Travis County would simply ignore it, risking fines.

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Houston Could Host Axiom, Company Will Build Commercial Space Station

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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a planned partnership between Houston and Axiom, a company that plans to build the first commercial space station, reports Community Impact newspapers (Houston/Bay Area.)

Under the agreement, which will go before Houston City Council in a few weeks, Axiom would build a 386,000-square-foot facility on a 14-acre plot of land in the Phase 1 area of the Houston Spaceport at the Ellington Airport.

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Former GOP State Senate Candidate Bound, Gagged, Beaten In Hotel Attack

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Three people have been charged in connection to a brutal beating of a former Republican State Senate candidate on Christmas Eve.

Vanessa Tijerina told KVEO she was lured to a Texas Inn, on Frontage road, by a woman in a “black bra.”

The woman said she needed to tell the former candidate “something very important regarding her safety.” 

Three people then proceeded to beat her, according to Tijerina.

Police said Amanda Salinas, Ariel Vera and Raymond Santana were arrested. Police are still looking for a fourth, who was on the phone giving orders to the others.

Tijerina ran for the Texas State Senate in 2020 to represent District 27. She garnered 35% of the vote in the general election against incumbent Eddie Lucio, who has served in the Senate since 1991.

She also was a 2016 Green Party candidate for the U.S. House to represent the 15th Congressional District of Texas.

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Legislation Filed To Expand Medical Marijuana

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Three House bills, two House joint resolutions, and two Senate Bills have been filed for the January, 2021 legislative session which would expand the Compassionate Use Program for medical marijuana use, reports CBS Austin.

Texas began the program in 2015 under Senate Bill 339, but allowed only people with intractable epilepsy to be eligible for medical cannabis. In 2019, state lawmakers passed House Bill 3703, which expanded the covered conditions to include all forms of epilepsy and seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, and autism.

Under the Compassionate Use Program, the THC content of prescribed medical cannabis cannot exceed 0.5 percent.

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Galveston Mayor Pro Tem Brown Wins Runoff To Become Mayor

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Mayor Pro Tem Craig Brown defeated former Mayor Roger “Bo” Quiroga, 3,726 to 3,182 votes in last week's heated Galveston runoff election, reports the Galveston Daily News.

Brown went from councilman, to mayor pro tem, to acting mayor, to now Mayor. Incumbents held onto their positions in Districts 3 and 5.

It was a heated race in which accusations flew between the candidates, and the county Republican Party had taken the rate position of publicly taking sides in a non-partisan race, supporting Quiroga in his ill-fated comeback attempt.

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Cornyn Skewered On Twitter After Posting Strange Brisket Photo

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Sometimes you just can't win on Twitter. That's what U.S. Senator John Cornyn discovered when he posted what he claimed was brisket on Twitter on Christmas Eve.

"Christmas Family tradition," the congressman wrote. But Twitter users were having none of it. It had received over 7,800 comments and more than 5,400 retweets as of late Christmas morning, (UPDATE: 7,950 retweets and 12,500 comments as of 4 pm Dec. 26th) many eviscerating him for calling the meat, which he baked in a glass dish, "brisket" at all.

"Are you sure you’re from Texas?," wrote @robisraelart.

"This is absolutely horrifying, wtf is wrong with you My children use this website are you kidding me right now?" said @RespectableLaw

@Bird_Nerd92, like many others, critiqued his baking skills.

"It looks like they bought it somewhere & dumped it in that baking dish that is way too clean. Besides you don’t bake brisket, anyway. No idea what the congealed red paste is on top."

@BenWessel showed off his brisket he prepared Christmas Eve.

'I literally just salted and peppered this brisket in preparation for roasting tomorrow and it already looks more appetizing than whatever this godforsaken disaster is."

"I’ve never seen someone willingly post a photo of brisket this bad" said. @heyyyscott

"I'm a native Texan, both of my parents are native Texans, and I've never seen anything that looks like that," says @JediCounelor

@Aiden_smx thought Cornyn was "Eating meat past its expiration date with ketchup on top to own the libs."

@Schottey asked, "Isn't this a felony in Texas?"

Many took the opportunity to jab him for the paltry Covid-19 relief checks Congress included in the relief bill.

@DanielleCandela was one of them.

"How many of your constituents are cold, hungry and homeless? How many of your constituents have no family to celebrate a family tradition with this year because you failed them with your response to the pandemic? How many of your constituents have empty chairs and hearts?"

"That oven costs more than you approved as covid relief for ten people. And that's not a well-prepared brisket. But do you I suppose 🤷‍♂️" wrote @dh_bball.

@vornietom summed it up by tweeting that Cornyn was "Getting burned harder than you burned that meat."

For his part, Cornyn himself weighed in on the controversy late Christmas Day with this tweet:

"Brisket is serious business in Texas.  Actually, it is Sandy Cornyn’s family recipe. Best I have ever had."

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Christmas Greetings!

[#TexasPolitics365] 

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM #TEXASPOLITICS365!

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Edinburg Republican To Contest November Congressional Election Loss

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Monica De La Cruz believes she won the Nov. 2020 election for the 15th Congressional District.

She has filed an official complaint alleging voting discrepancies in the race, which was officially declared for her opponent, Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, a McAllen attorney, reports everythinglubbock.com

De La Cruz, an Edinburg Republican, lost to Gonzalez, the incumbent, by approximately 6,500 votes, 47.6% to 50.5%.

“I am calling into question this vote difference and the validity of the Gonzalez win,” said De La Cruz.

The 15th Congressional District includes Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Karnes, and Live Oak counties and parts of Guadalupe, Hidalgo and Wilson counties.

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Gov. Abbott Says: "No More Shutdowns" As Vaccine Distribution Begins

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Gov. Greg Abbott said with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine last week, "it is time to put shutdowns behind us." 

According to KFAA TV, Dallas, Abbott said Thursday that more than 200,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed across Texas by the end of the week. 

At the same time, the Republican governor was firm that no businesses will be forced to close. 

"No more shutdowns," the governor said. "We will not have any more shutdowns in Texas." 

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Governor, Lt. Governor, House Speaker Agree To Reopen Capitol Jan. 4

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The Texas Capitol building will open back up to the public on January 4.  The move was announced by the office of Gov. Greg Abbott, L. Gov. Dan Patrick, and outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen Monday afternoon in a news release.

Legislators had argued that it was a violation of the state constitution and the principle of open government up keep it closed during a legislative session.

Rep. Terry Wilson said at an event recently he would fight closing the Capitol building to visitors.

"The Texas House should not be closed," he said.

Rep. Mayes Middleton, who argued for the reopening, wrote on Facebook that he was pleased with the decision.

"The Capitol belongs to all 29 million Texans, glad it will finally be open to its true owners, everyone deserves the right to make their voice heard in person!"

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