An incorrectly delivered postcard found in an Austin mailbox sheds light on a way liberal activists are using out-of-state volunteerism to drive turnout in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs.
It appears a stealthy postcard campaign is responsible for the misplaced mail. The effort is being conducted relatively under the radar, without a noticeable way to trace who is paying for the cards or stamps, no disclaimer on the cards, or information on who offered the manpower to process the cards.
The wayward postcard, discovered this week in a North Austin post office box without a postmark or stamp cancellation, urges a vote in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. Ossoff and Warnock are opposed by incumbent Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.
The recipient requested he remain anonymous. He suspects the card may have been dropped and returned to a random USPS mailbox by a Good Samaritan or it was written locally but was not properly processed by postal employees.
By week 2 of early voting it seemed there were enough swing voters and Republicans still waiting in the wings to radically affect any outcome. An analysis in The Federalist today indicates that Republicans are narrowly outperforming Democrats in the Lone Star State, with Democratic turnout having actually dropped by around a point-and-a-half.
A word of caution: It is incredibly important to be acquainted with these candidates as there will be no straight ticket box to select on the ballot on the 2020 general election ballot. We recommend voters visit iVoterGuide and the Travis CountyLeague of Women Voters to learn more, or click on the names where there is a link to visit the candidate's website and/or social media page.
To find out which races you're eligible to vote for visit www.VoteTravis.com to generate your sample ballot and find your nearest voting location. Early voting runs through Oct. 30. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Becky McMillian (center) gathers with volunteers this weekend.
On the heels of the creation of a new PAC to push for restoring public safety, another local political movement is already well-on its way toward bringing back the Austin City Council recall effort.
"We had 30 people attend our meet and greet on Sunday, so we could finally meet each other face to face, and we have 111 people signed up to volunteer so far who are serious about volunteering to undertake this task," said Becky McMillian, founder of Your Minute Is Up.
"With community-led efforts before, we’ve only seen 50 to 80 people show support to volunteer throughout the several-months-long process. Within one week of making this announcement we are seeing volunteers pour in at a faster rate. That just goes to show how the community is really behind this! The fire in people’s voices and outrage is amazing! They want their city back, and for the council and mayor to be out of office."
We quote the inaugural press release from Your Minute Is Up below.
AUSTIN -- [...] The recall effort that got started by Our Town Austin at the end of 2019 got crushed by COVID-19, and their petitions became invalid. Your Minute Is Up is a fresh, community-based approach to the goal of placing a recall of the current Austin City Council (those left after the November election, that is) on the May 2021 ballot, with eager Austin citizens behind it.
Central Texas supporters of President Donald Trump showed up in force today with a Labor Day weekend flotilla of around 1,300 boats on Lake Travis, just outside of Austin.
Press coverage soon turned to "reports" of multiple boat sinkings, even being repeated in the New York Times. But according to eye-witnesses and Austin-Travis County EMS, one confirmed sinking this afternoon was not associated with the parade and with no serious injuries reported.
The Democrat-controlled Travis County Sheriff's Office tweeted that it "responded to multiple calls involving boats in distress during the Trump parade on Lake Travis. Several boats did sink" (emphasis ours). Replies to the tweet were disabled. An Austin American-Statesman photographer reported at least three vessels appearing to have been "swamped" in the somewhat choppy waters following rainfall in the area over the week, but these incidents appear to have been at the onset of the event and not en route and easily mitigated.
As a precaution, organizers arranged for an aquatic towing service to provide five boats, all monitoring VHF channel 21 as an assigned frequency for inter-craft communication. Participants to whom we reached out reported seeing no sinking boats on the parade route.
The event began with a prayer and singing of the National Anthem broadcast over the radio channel. At noon five parachute jumpers, among them three combat veterans, displayed flags and trails of red, white, and blue smoke.
A "Keep Texas Great: Vote Trump 2020" banner was flown around Lake Travis throughout the event, with air cover by a vintage biplane and a World War II-era B-52 bomber piloted by members of the Commemorative Air Force.
A variety of waterborne vessels -- from small fishing boats to personal yachts (and, we believe, a pirate ship-like boat) took to the route between 12:20 and around 2 p.m. between Emerald Point and the area around Point Venture on the North Shore and back.
Despite recent polls that indicate a majority of Austinites support maintaining full funding for law enforcement, multiple sources are reporting the Austin City Council approved $150 million in cuts to the Austin Police Department.
The unanimous vote of the all-liberal Council gave a preliminary but definitive nod to a $4.2 billion city budget. The cuts came after a hearing Wednesday in which current Council member supporters and Black Lives Matter activists spoke in favor of diverting law enforcement funds to other entities or cutting them entirely.
A poll commissioned by the Greater Austin Crime Commission helps confirm that there is growing dissatisfaction with the direction the Austin City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court has taken the city.
Some takeaways from the poll:
53% responded they oppose slashing funding for the Austin Police Department
40% responded they support reducing funding for APD
47% responded city is on "wrong track"
34% responded city is going in "right direction"
84% responded they are dissatisfied with the city's homelessness policy
74% responded they are dissatisfied with how traffic is being addressed
92% responded they feel safe at home and in their neighborhoods
56% responded they feel safe downtown
80+% responded they are satisfied with Austin Fire and county EMS
Democrats are crowing about high turnout across Texas for Tuesday's (July 14, 2020) primary runoff and special election, hoping the performance will translate into victory in November 2020.
The turnout for Democrats was around 6 percent statewide. That's actually high for Democrats. They haven't seen those kinds of crowds in a runoff since 1994, back when they were the majority party in Texas.
Slightly under a million Texans voted in this round. In Travis County, there was roughly a 6:1 ratio between Democratic voters (123,596 ballots cast) and Republican voters (19,199). That's a big difference, especially considering countywide Republican candidates can often crack 40% with a well-funded and volunteer-filled campaign (that's about how statewide Democrats perform, by the way).
Outrageous New City of Austin Order Delaying School Reopening is Unconstitutional, Unjustified Power Grab
Order Threatens Religious and Private School, Predicts Death Rate of 1000x Current Rate
AUSTIN – Not only is the new order prohibiting in-person classes in schools within Austin rife with potential legal hurdles and probable constitutional rights violations, it also goes against the rights of parents and elected school boards, the chairman of the Travis County Republican Party said this morning.
According to a mandate issued by Dr. Mark Escott, interim health authority for the City of Austin, all schools within the city limits that offer any classroom instruction from pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade are prohibited from gathering in person until Sept. 8.
This order includes religious and private schools, not just public schools. Extracurricular activities including summer football practice, band rehearsals, and any number of other activities are also presumed to be prohibited.
Austin City Hall, located several blocks south of the Texas Capitol on Cesar Chavez Boulevard, was vandalized early Tuesday morning by three males according to surveillance video. The vandals splashed red paint on the glass entrance of the municipal headquarters and left Communist messages on a nearby outdoor seating area.
"US imperialism is the virus. Socialist revolution is the cure," one message read, accompanied by a sickle-and-hammer and other marks indicative of Marxist affiliation. Watch the video of the vandalism below:
UPDATE: Gov. Abbott's orders now supercede the city's.
Travis County issued a "Stay at Home, Safe at Work" order -- read, a shelter-in-place ordinance that requires residents to stay indoors and limit gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus/COVID-19.
Like any law, there are exceptions. And when we looked at the ordinance itself it was eye-opening just how many "essential activities" and "critical infrastructure" goods services made the cut.
See below for Travis County's list of exceptions, some of which appear in multiple categories (so forgive the many repetitions). For any attorneys reading this, no, this does not count as legal counsel, and if you want to make absolutely certain your activity is covered see the ordinance itself.
If you're in Williamson County click here, which is quite similar in scope. For some commentary on why these ordinances are similar read here.
2020 TRAVIS COUNTY REPUBLICAN PRIMARY ELECTION Primary Election Day Tuesday, March 3 (Early voting Feb. 18 through Feb. 28). NEW: Unofficial election results are in! See below for winners (indicated by ✔️) FULL RESULTS: COUNTY | STATE | NATIONAL
TEXAS HOUSE DISTRICT 51:
✔️ Robert Reynolds THIRD COURT OF APPEALS CHIEF JUSTICE:
✔️ Jeff Rose (i) JUDGE, 460th DISTRICT COURT:✔️ Geoffrey Puryear (i) DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
✔️ Martin Harry TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFF:✔️ Raul Vargas TRAVIS COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR:
✔️ Marilyn Jackson TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 1:
✔️ Solomon Arcoven TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 3:✔️ Becky Bray COUNTY REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN
✔️ Matt Mackowiak (i)
PRECINCT CHAIRMAN PRECINCT 137
✔️ William Moorhouse (i)
Sarah Saiz PRECINCT CHAIRMAN PRECINCT 359
✔️ Russell Gallahan (i)
Douglas Scherer
* * *
Primary ballot propositions:
This is an opinion poll of Republican voters and not binding referenda. These questions will appear on all Republican ballots.
✔️ 1.) Texas should not restrict or prohibit prayer in public schools. YES/NO
✔️ 2.) Texas should reject restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. YES/NO
✔️ 3.) Texas should ban the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, which allows your tax dollars to be spent on lobbyists who work against the taxpayer. YES/NO
✔️ 4.) Texas should support the construction of a physical barrier and use existing defense-grade surveillance equipment along the entire southern border of Texas. YES/NO
✔️ 5.) Texas parents or legal guardians of public school children under the age of 18 should be the sole decision makers for all their children’s healthcare decisions including, but not limited to, psychological assessment and treatment, contraception, and sex education. YES/NO
✔️ 6.) Texas should ban chemical castration, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital mutilation surgery on all minor children for transition purposes, given that Texas children as young as three (3) are being transitioned from their biological sex to the opposite sex. YES/NO
✔️ 7.) Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments, artifacts, and buildings, such as the Alamo Cenotaph and our beloved Alamo, and should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site. YES/NO
✔️ 8.) Texas election officials should heed the directives of the Office of the Governor to purge illegal voters from the voter rolls and verify that each new registered voter is a U.S. Citizen. YES/NO
✔️ 9.) Bail in Texas should be based only on a person’s danger to society and risk of flight, not that person’s ability to pay. YES/NO
✔️ 10.) Texas should limit our state legislators’ terms to 12 years. YES/NO
A Wednesday morning stabbing that led to the hospitalization of a man -- and this on top of a deadly assault last Friday -- has made Austin's 18% increase in violent crime amid a city-wide homeless crisis all the more obvious.
This morning, Texas Gov. Greg Abbottcalled for an increase in State Troopers to patrol downtown Austin, a city which has long been one of the safest urban areas in the U.S. but has recently seen an uptick in violence that has accompanied a relaxing of homeless camping bans.
"ANOTHER stabbing in downtown Austin — where both the suspect & victim are said to be homeless. How many people will be killed and injured before Austin reforms its homeless policies?" Gov. Abbott's Twitter account stated. "I will have DPS increase law enforcement around downtown & UT [University of Texas] areas."
