Austin, TX
Paxton files nearly a dozen lawsuits over past month
AUSTIN, Texas — The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, praised a judge’s decision to deem parts of a 2021 Texas elections law unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez said wording that made it a felony to be compensated for helping voters with their mail-in ballots was too vague.
“It would criminalize almost every activity that was being undertaken by LULAC volunteers to help people, voters with their vote, to get the vote out,” said Gloria Leal, general counsel for LULAC.
In late August, Paxton authorized multiple home raids of LULAC volunteers based on the law. He said the ruling is deeply troubling and “risks undermining public trust in our political process.” LULAC officials hope the ruling will put an end to what they say is the targeting of Latino voters in Texas. But they expect an appeal from the AG, who vowed to do so.
“The fight will continue because this was just a ruling on one issue,” said Leal.
The judgment also marks the second loss in a week for Paxton. The Texas Supreme Court sided with the City of Dallas in Paxton’s lawsuit to stop the State Fair of Texas from enacting its gun ban policy.
Paxton reacted by stating, “While Texas clearly prohibits this type of gun ban, I will be working with the Legislature this session to protect law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights on public property.”
Including the lawsuit against the City of Dallas, Paxton has filed 10 lawsuits since the end of August.
“It’s not typical, but it speaks to the increasing partisan divisions and the kind of hard ideological edge that Paxton has brought to the attorney general position,” said Matthew Wilson, a professor of political sciences at Southern Methodist University.
Four of Paxton’s lawsuits are against the Biden administration while six are against local governments. Those includes a lawsuit against Harris County over a program to give low-income residents $500 a month. He sued Bexar County and Travis County over voter registration efforts and targeted the City of Austin for using tax dollars to help women access out-of-state abortions.
Paxton also sued Travis County on Monday for alleged violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
“Texas state government is dominated by Republicans, but the biggest cities in Texas are all controlled by Democrats,” said Wilson.
The ACLU of Texas says it sees a negative trend from the attorney general’s actions with just five weeks to the general election.
“Attempting to prevent people from voting, to remove them from voter rolls, and also just to make people feel uncomfortable exercising their right to vote and instilling a sense of fear for eligible voters,” said Ashley Harris, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas.
But voters may be none the wiser.
“This is much more an attempt to, if anything, scare the cities,” said Wilson.
![‘[I’m] proud of how we fought’: Broncos close out two-week road trip with second consecutive victory](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/t_editorial_landscape_12_desktop/broncos/jsb31vnpyqwme9wzipjx "‘[I’m] proud of how we fought’: Broncos close out two-week road trip with second consecutive victory")
Everything is bigger in Texas — even the tacos. Searching for a new taco spot, I stumbled upon an Austin staple. It was the sign they had out front that enticed me to walk in.
Casa Moreno’s is home to the suicide burrito. Now what exactly is a suicide burrito … naturally my curiosity took over, so I made my way into Casa Moreno’s to find out.
“Home of the suicide burrito” in front of Casa Moreno’s.Taylor Ugrinow
I walked in and was immediately seated. The restaurant was quiet and empty for a Wednesday morning.
I looked over the menu and realized that Casa Moreno’s didn’t serve your simple tacos but super-sized ones. Every taco is made with a 12-inch homemade flour tortilla.
The taco menu at Casa Moreno’s.Taylor Ugrinow
Since they are “home of the suicide burrito,” it only made sense for me to order the suicide taco. The suicide taco is burrito-sized and filled with bacon, egg, potatoes, beans, and cheese for $6.99.
Casa Moreno’s also serves carne guisada, barbacoa, fajitas, al pastor, migas, machacado and picadillo super-sized tacos.
I decided that one super-sized taco wasn’t enough, so I ordered the al pastor taco as well for $4.99.
Let’s just say that Casa Moreno’s deserves a round of applause. The tortillas undoubtedly are the best I have had in Austin.
The suicide taco was massive. Large potato chunks fell out of the taco with every bite. The cheese was perfectly melted on the eggs and bacon, making for an award-winning breakfast taco.
The suicide taco from Casa Moreno’s.Taylor Ugrinow
The al pastor taco was delicious, although I will say they could have added more meat to it since the tortilla is so big.
The al pastor taco from Casa Moreno’s.Taylor Ugrinow
Casa Moreno’s is located at 5001 E. Ben White Blvd. in Austin, Texas.
Casa Moreno’s is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and is closed on Sunday. They also have a lunch buffet Monday through Friday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and happy hour Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Items I want to try on my next visit:
- Richard’s Plate – breakfast sausage grilled with potatoes, pico, yellow corn, topped with two eggs
- Machacado Taco – barbacoa mixed with eggs and pico
- Chori Queso Fries – french fries topped with chili con queso and chorizo
Despite reining in its initial proposal, Texas Gas Service has still failed to win over City Council in its endeavor to raise prices for Austin ratepayers.
The utility faced backlash this summer with news of its plans to aggressively hike fixed monthly fees, prompting Austin and 16 other cities in its service area to join forces in campaigning for a compromise. Though the coalition has reached a settlement, Council voted last Thursday to reject the new proposal, claiming the utility’s concessions were not enough to seal the deal.
TGS’s initial proposal would have seen its $16 monthly service fee rise to $25.50 and $39 for new classes of small and large residential customers, a hike amounting to a 14 percent increase for the average consumer’s bill. Similarly, “small” and “large” commercial customers would have seen their $53.33 fee rise to $85 and $100, respectively, though new rate designs would have ultimately meant bill decreases for the average commercial consumer.
Now, the utility is offering a scaled-back plan, proposing an increase to $18 and $30 in monthly service fees for small and large residential customers, and $60 and $75 for commercial customers. Still, watchdogs at City Council, Austin’s Resource Management Commission and organizations like Public Citizen, Environment Texas and Sierra Club are dissatisfied with the concessions.
“If the gas company wins its proposal, it will have increased residential rates by 105 percent since 2019,” Resource Management Commissioner Paul Robbins said at last week’s City Council meeting. “Austin should not have to deal with this constant onslaught of price gouging. … San Antonio’s municipal gas utility only 70 miles to the south charges just half of these rates.”
While TGS says the increases are necessary to cover rising gas prices and the demand to expand infrastructure, critics argue that the cost is being unfairly shouldered by existing ratepayers. In contrast, Austin’s municipally owned water and electric utilities recover 100 percent of the cost to expand services through premiums charged to new customers.
Additionally, critics say the utility’s proposal is out of line with Austin’s equity and environmental values, with a regressive rate structure that disproportionately burdens low-income customers and fails to send price signals encouraging conservation.
Despite their objections, Council shares jurisdiction in the matter with Texas’ Railroad Commission, which is set to review the case in coming weeks. While there is reason to doubt the industry-friendly body will share its concerns, the review process will provide an opportunity to appeal to the state’s Office of Public Utility Counsel, which could help to further challenge the case.
In the meantime, exasperated critics are looking ahead to 2026, when the city’s franchise agreement with the utility is set to expire.
“We are reaching a crisis of affordability where municipalization needs to be considered,” Robbins said.
“It seems that the city needs to get serious about finding a way out of this situation,” Resource Management Commissioner Rafael Schwartz added. “Whether that’s municipalization or some other outcome, one initial action Council can take is to adjust the Resource Management Commission’s purview to include gas utility issues, as has been previously asked.”
Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.
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Texas Stock Exchange announced by state leaders
As the Texas economy continues to grow, state leaders announced the launch of the Texas Stock Exchange.
TEXAS – As the Texas economy continues to grow, state leaders announced the launch of the Texas Stock Exchange.
“Today’s announcement is the next logical step in the trajectory of business in Texas,” said Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott says the Texas Stock Exchange, or TXSE, is well on its way to becoming a reality, set to go live in 2025.
“Pending approval, we will execute our first trades at the end of next year and launch listings in early 2026,” said TXSE founder and CEO Jim Lee.
TXSE will operate electronically from Dallas as a national stock exchange with companies from around the world able to trade and list their shares.
“That expands the financial might of Texas in the United States and cements our economic power on the global stage,” said Abbott.
TXSE has already raised more than $135 million, and Lee says it was a no-brainer given the size of the Texas economy.
Gov Abbott talks voter roll cleanup
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced over one million ineligible voters were removed from the state’s voter rolls, which prompted accusations of voter suppression from Democrats. Abbott spoke with FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski in this “Texas: The Issue Is”.
“With a GDP of $10.6 trillion, Texas is now the eighth-largest economy in the world,” said Lee.
Texas currently leads the nation in economic development projects, and is already home to energy companies like Chevron, tech companies like Dell and AT&T, and innovators like Tesla and SpaceX. Abbott believes with the addition of TXSE, that growth will continue.
“What that does is going to bring even more businesses to the state of Texas. And in doing so, that means many more good, high-paying jobs for our state,” said Abbott.
The Texas Stock Exchange is even setting its sights on being a serious competitor to Wall Street, with TXSE leaders suggesting it will be more business-friendly than its New York counterpart.
“We make it as easy as possible to do business in the state of Texas. The same thing goes with the Texas Stock Exchange,” said Abbott.
The Texas Stock Exchange still has to get federal approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we’re told will likely happen in the coming months.
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