Texas
National political leaders stump through Texas ahead of midterm elections
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Nationwide political leaders barnstormed by means of the Lone Star State this weekend to assist Texans from each political events make their closing plea to voters on the eve of the midterm elections.
First girl Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats, joined campaigns in Harris County whereas Republican Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy of California and nationwide celebration chair Ronna McDaniel are rallying supporters in South Texas.
The primary girl stopped in Houston church buildings to push Texans to vote. Biden appeared alongside two Texas Democrats dealing with reelection, Harris County Choose Lina Hidalgo and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston.
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“A lot is at stake on this election. And with the polls closing in simply two days, all of us have to make our voices heard,” Biden stated Sunday on the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, the place the pews had been stuffed. “We should communicate up on justice and democracy.”
Political observers had anticipated the state’s aggressive governor’s race to drive turnout just like high-watermark elections in 2018 and 2020. Nevertheless, to date, turnout has been slower, making this weekend’s push to have interaction voters extra salient.
Thirty-one % of registered voters had voted by Friday, the final day of early voting, in accordance with the Secretary of State’s web site. Extra folks vote early than on Election Day — a pattern that has been constant a minimum of for the reason that 2008 presidential election.
Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott began his closing push to energise supporters in Lubbock on Saturday.
“We’ve bought to get extra folks within the polls. Lubbock is Republican territory, and … there are a lot of individuals who haven’t but voted,” Abbott stated at a Lubbock barbecue restaurant earlier than knocking on just a few doorways, in accordance with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. It was his second marketing campaign go to to West Texas up to now two weeks.
His Democratic challenger, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke spent Saturday night block strolling in Houston.
“I believe that is going to be actually shut. It might be determined by a matter of votes, it might be determined by the votes of these doorways that you just’ll be knocking on,” O’Rourke stated to marketing campaign volunteers in Houston.
Abbott, a Republican who’s searching for his third four-year time period as governor, has promised voters to proceed pushing a conservative agenda centered on jobs and border safety. O’Rourke has criticized Abbott’s dealing with of the 2021 winter storm, mass shootings and assist for a ban on abortion, together with in instances of rape and incest.
Excessive-profile Democrats rally for down-ticket races
Vice President Kamala Harris additionally threw her assist behind Hidalgo, calling in to a digital telephone financial institution for the Harris County chief on Friday night. She recalled her interactions with Hidalgo throughout the 2021 power-grid failure and stated Hidalgo has been an “extraordinary chief throughout immense disaster.”
“You may have confirmed your self throughout a few of the most tough instances for Harris County,” the vice chairman informed Hidalgo, earlier than urging volunteers to redouble their efforts for the ultimate weekend earlier than the election. “She has been a unprecedented chief, however we will not take her with no consideration.”
4 years after unexpectedly ousting a popular Republican, Hidalgo is dealing with a tricky reelection battle in opposition to a well-funded Republican opponent, Alexandra del Ethical Mealer.
Whereas Harris didn’t point out Mealer, she did paint a distinction with Republicans, who she urged try to divide folks and wish to unwind the progress of the Biden administration. She warned they’d repeal the Inflation Discount Act and cross a nationwide abortion ban, pertaining to a difficulty — abortion rights — that Hidalgo has made central to her marketing campaign.
Mealer has centered most of her marketing campaign on the county’s excessive variety of homicides and the legal indictment of three Hidalgo staffers.
Nationwide GOP leaders concentrate on South Texas congressional races
In South Texas, GOP heavyweights McCarthy, McDaniel, and former Home Speaker Newt Gingrich are set to talk at a get-out-the-vote rally. They’ll seem alongside Congresswoman Mayra Flores, Monica De La Cruz and Cassy Garcia in an effort to safe a Republican majority within the Home.
Republicans are calling Flores, De La Cruz and Garcia a triple risk. GOP leaders are more and more bullish on a sweep of all three seats.
In 2020, Republican Monica De La Cruz got here inside 3 proportion factors of unseating Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez in Congressional District 15, a closely Hispanic border district that features McAllen. This 12 months, De La Cruz is operating for a similar seat after Gonzalez was drawn out of the district and moved over to neighboring District 34. Flores is the incumbent congresswoman after successful a particular election this 12 months to exchange Democrat Filemon Vela, who had resigned earlier than the tip of his time period. And Garcia, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, is dealing with off in Laredo-based District 28 in opposition to longtime Democrat incumbent Henry Cuellar.
The Republican marketing campaign cease in South Texas gained’t go unchecked. Former president Invoice Clinton is anticipated to stump in South Texas on Monday to assist Cuellar and Democratic Home candidate Michelle Vallejo, De La Cruz’s challenger.
Texas
Harris County attorney pushes for stronger laws to protect Texas renters from negligent landlords
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s no secret that if you’re a renter in Texas, you don’t have the upper hand.
“It’s basically very friendly to landlords to be able to punish tenants, to evict tenants, and so it creates this, what I think is an overly favorable environment to landlords,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said.
When problems go without repair for months, the law says you still cannot withhold rent, and there are hoops you have to jump through to hold your landlord accountable.
Through Action 13’s Renters’ Rights, we hear about these problems often.
So, what can be done?
It’s a long process and rare for a city or county in Texas to step in and hold negligent landlords accountable.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is determined to change that. He says he knows what it’s like.
“Like many other folks in Harris County, I came up in a working-class family, and part of my upbringing was living in an apartment complex. This was a complex that had units that were routinely infested with roaches, that had cars being broken into all the time. My mother’s car was stolen multiple times from this apartment complex,” Menefee explained.
He’s seen it and wants to stop it.
“Here in the state of Texas, there just aren’t laws on the books that allow us the opportunity to go after landlords,” Menefee said.
He says that come January when the legislature reconvenes, he’ll be in Austin, pushing for a fix. “What I’d like to see is a law that allows the government to step in and immediately call these folks to account, whether that’s through an administrative procedure, through fines, through a lawsuit, anything to push them in the direction of doing the right thing,” Menefee explained.
His office found a creative way to sue a local complex earlier this year.
The Palms on Rolling Creek in north Harris County had severe sewage issues for years. Months after the lawsuit was filed, the owners did make progress in fixing it.
Menefee is putting negligent landlords on notice, and you can help.
“My ask to you is if you are living in an apartment complex that is not treating you right, or you know someone who is, have them report that to us and also reach out to your local, state representative or state senator,” Menefee said.
They need to know about the problems to help them make their case for why they believe these laws need to change.
“I understand your experience. I have lived through that myself. My family has lived through that. We hear you, and we are going to keep working on those issues,” Menefee said.
For more news updates, follow Courtney Carpenter on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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Texas
Nate Germonprez: Texas' Un-Real Breaststroker Becomes #7 Performer in History
2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
- November 20-22, 2024
- Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center — Austin, TX
- When: 10 am CT prelims/6 pm CT finals
- Participating Teams: Pitt, Stanford, Texas (host), USC, Wisconsin, BYU, Cal Poly
- Meet Info
- Live Results
- Results on Meet Mobile: “Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite”
- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals
The Texas Longhorns entered the summer with a lot of weaknesses on paper that needed to be addressed, and via the addition of high profile transfers and international recruits, they have addressed many of those.
The big question mark, though, was the breaststroke leg and whether the Longhorns had someone good enough to challenge for an NCAA title.
The group was led last season by 5th year Jake Foster, who swam 51.22 at a dual meet, and Will Scholtz, who was 52.09 at Big 12s. 52.0 is a nice time by almost any measure, but for a team hoping to climb several rungs on a ladder and challenge for an NCAA title, it wasn’t going to be enough.
The comments read things like “where are the Longhorns going to find a true breaststroker,” referencing the fact that Texas didn’t have a swimmer finish higher than 16th at NCAAs in the 100 breast last year.
But on Thursday morning, they may have found their guy as Nate Germonprez, now a sophomore, turned a corner with a 50.39.
That makes him the 7th-best performer in the history of the event with the 15th best performance ever in a flat-start 100 yard breaststroke. Every time ranked ahead of him was done at a season-ending championship, making Germonprez’s swim the best mid-season time in history.
Top 10 Performers all-Time, Men’s 100 SCY Breaststroke
- Liam Bell, Cal – 49.53 (2024 NCAAs)
- Ian Finnerty, Indiana – 49.69 (2018 NCAAs)
- Max McHugh, Minnesota – 49.90 (2022 NCAAs)
- Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 50.03 (2018 SECs)
- Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 50.04 (2014 NCAAs)
- Carsten Vissering, USC – 50.30 (2019 NCAAs)
- Nate Germonprez, Texas – 50.39 (2024 Texas Invite)
- Caspar Corbeau, Texas – 50.49 (2022 NCAAs)
- Van Mathias, Indiana – 50.57 (2023 NCAAs)
- Brian Benzig, Towson – 50.59 (2024 NCAAs)
Germonprez is a bit of a paradox as a swimmer. He was a very good breaststroker in high school, winning an NCSA title in the 100 breaststroke in 2023. But he was so versatile that his 52.59 as a high school senior was almost overlooked, when in most classes that would make him a big ‘breaststroke’ signing.
We wrote several articles and did interviews in tribute to his versatility (here and here, for example).
He didn’t even swim a breaststroke race at the Olympic Trials, instead opting for the 50 free (53rd) and 200 IM (12th). He would later swim the 100 free (49.46), 200 IM (1:58.11), and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.48) at the Austin Futures meet, winning and going best times in each. His 100 breaststroke time would have put him into the semifinals at Trials.
Is he a real breaststroker? He’s not a pure breaststroker, if that’s what we mean when we say “real,” which is understandable because for most of swimming history, breaststrokers were sort of a different breed.
But he broke the school record of Caspar Corbeau (50.49), who is most certainly primarily a breaststroker (though he can sprint a little bit too).
When Germonprez and Modglin both committed to Texas, it was fun to daydream about what that tandem of versatility could bloom into in the college ranks, and now we’re seeing it happen. As much as Texas needed guys like Chris Guiliano and Kacper Mawiuk and Hubert Kos to move back into the national title picture this quickly, they really needed a breatstroker, and now they have one.
Texas
How To Spend An Overnighter In Fort Worth, Texas
If you’ve been one of the 10.8 million annual visitors to Forth Worth, Texas, you already know it’s worth a multi-day stay. But sometimes, you don’t have that luxury, and the best you can swing is an overnighter. I’m here to tell you, that’s not a bad thing. Fort Worth, a pleasantly compact city in comparison to its sprawling neighbor, Dallas, turns an overnight stay into an opportunity to immerse yourself in Texan culture while luxuriating in the finer things in life.
Start with a semi-private flight via JSX, which operates out of its own terminal outside of Dallas-Love airport. This streamlined service provides private-flying ease and comfort at a fraction of the cost (a typical flight from Houston to Dallas costs about $500 round trip and gets you there in about an hour). After an extremely comfortable flight, you’ll touch down in Dallas, and it is a matter of minutes to deplane, collect your bag, and hail a ride. Opt for a rental car from JSX onsite provider Go Rentals or just use a ride app for the day.
The heart of Fort Worth is 40 minutes away – you’ll leave the hustle and bustle of the big city behind and find tree-lined (and impeccably clean) streets. You’ll also find the new Crescent Hotel Fort Worth, which Conde Nast Traveler recently dubbed the #1 Hotel in Texas. Service is on point – when I arrived feeling a little queasy, the staff managed to rustle up a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, and that was with the dining room temporarily reserved for a television crew shooting on the premises.
Which apparently is a thing in Fort Worth. It’s becoming an increasingly popular destination for movie and TV filming, and it’s clear why. The landscape is quite pretty, made all the prettier in the Cultural District, where Crescent Hotel is located. It features lovely museum buildings and wide streets that will beckon you outside to explore, and that exploration should include the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Texas. It boasts 23 specialty gardens, such as the Japanese Garden ideal for a serene stroll, along with sculptures, ponds, waterfalls, and a don’t miss greenhouse.
If you prefer the indoors, just across the street from the Crescent Hotel is the Kimbell Art Museum, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and features works by creative legends like Rembrandt, Picasso, and Cezanne. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a stone’s throw away, as is the Amon Carter Museum, currently featuring an exhibit entitled “Cowboy.”
And speaking of cowboys, you must set aside time to witness an authentic and historically accurate cattle drive, which takes place twice daily at 11:30 am and 4:00 pm on Exchange Street in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. Watch as wranglers outfitted in boots, chaps, and hats reminiscent of the early American days drive cattle through the town. You can learn more about Fort Worth’s cowboy culture at The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Cattle Raisers Museum.
If you haven’t noticed by now, Fort Worth is a bit of a dichotomy with its attention to ranch life every bit as important as its evolution to modern city. That’s why a day here is a study in contrasts, and one of the best ways to see – and taste – that is through the food. Start with lunch on the hacienda-style patio at Joe T. Garcia’s, a popular Tex-Mex restaurant serving up margaritas and family recipes like bean chalupas since 1935.
For dinner, dive into Waters Restaurant for a fine dining experience helmed by Chef Jon Bonnell. Appetizers like crab cakes and tomatoes topped with fried goat cheese are about as close to perfect as you can get. And foods that depend on being cooked just right, like scallops and filet, are indeed just right. Waters is located in Sundance Square, a walkable entertainment and business district that is especially lovely at night and offers live theater, shopping, an historic Chisholm Trail mural, water features, and over 30 restaurants, in case you decide to stay.
That’s the only problem with Fort Worth – one day and night will give you a taste that will have you hustling to get back. So maybe not such a problem after all.
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