The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 26, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Friday, April 26th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. Police and pro-Palestine protesters clashed on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday, which continued into Thursday with more scheduled for next week. The Wednesday protests, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, planned to, quote, occupy the South Lawn at the UT Austin campus. Campus law enforcement and Texas Department of Public Safety officers were positioned to prevent further escalation of tensions.

Starting point is 00:00:50 As the protest proceeded, many confrontations between law enforcement and protesters resulted in arrests. Various media outlets have reported more than 50 arrests took place, while Texas DPS reported 34 arrests had been made at the conclusion of Wednesday's protests. Some have been released with their charges dropped or rejected, according to reports. During a press conference in Houston on Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced that the Texas Office of the Attorney General will assume jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of County Judge Lena Hidalgo's staff in relation to alleged bid rigging in an $11 million COVID-19 outreach contract. Ogg noted that the Democratic nominee to replace her as district attorney, Sean Teer, has called the indictments of Hidalgo's staff, quote, nothing more than political prosecution, end quote. Chief of the OAG's Criminal Prosecutions Division, Shane Attaway,

Starting point is 00:01:41 said his office regularly provides investigative and prosecutorial assistance to jurisdictions across the state. He said, quote, When the time is appropriate, our investigators and prosecutors will present evidence to a Harris County jury. The Republican Party of Texas will evaluate non-legislative methods of closing its primary ahead of its 2024 convention, after taking an initial step two years ago at its last convention. A working group of five-party activists will consider methods outside of the legislative process for the Texas GOP to close its primary to non-Republican voters. Texas' primary system is open, meaning voters do not register with a specific party. Voters may cast ballots in either major party primary each

Starting point is 00:02:25 cycle. The only restriction is that a voter in one party's primary may not cross over and vote in the opposite party's primary runoff election. The five members of the working group are former state Republican Executive Committee member Mark Ramsey, current SREC members Matt Patrick and Jim Pickle, Texas Homeschool Coalition President Tim Lambert, and the party's general counsel, Rachel Hooper. The issue gained a new gust of momentum following the March 5th primary, as voters with some or significant Democratic voting history joined the contentious GOP primaries fray. It happened across the state, as it always does, particularly in districts that are heavily GOP favorable.

Starting point is 00:03:06 In many legislative districts, the Republican primary serves as the election that'll decide who holds the given seat. The Tarrant Appraisal District Board of Directors is continuing to approve expenditures to secure the district's website and confidential information from cybersecurity threats and attacks. On March 14th, the appraisal district was the subject of a ransomware attack by the hacker group Medusa, which demanded a $700,000 ransom. TAD did not pay the ransom, according to reporting by WFAA. In an update on its website, TAD said its investigation revealed that, quote, the legally protected personal information of less than 300 individuals was impacted by the incident, end quote. According to TAD, it notified the affected individuals via U.S. first-class mail and provided them with information and resources to assist them in protecting their information. Texas prison's community advocates joined forces with state

Starting point is 00:04:03 representative Carl Sherman in a press conference on Monday concerning the bipartisan effort to sue the state of Texas for, quote, inhumane temperatures in state prisons. Sherman introduced House Bill 1355 in January 2023, which mandates that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice ensure indoor prison facility temperatures are maintained between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit in accordance with a 1994 Texas Administrative Code requirement. Co-sponsors of HB 1355 included bipartisan support from Representatives Alma Allen, Greg Bonin, Terry Canales, and Jeff Leach. However, the bill died in the Calendars Committee without being referred to the House

Starting point is 00:04:45 floor. Seven months later, 65-year-old convicted felon Bernard Teed II filed a lawsuit against the TDCJ due to suffering acute emergency stroke symptoms in his cell, where triple-digit temperatures had been previously recorded. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit the texan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 26, 2024

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