The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - December 17, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Wednesday, December 17th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans managing editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo may not be running for re-election, but as one of Texas's most prominent Democrats, she is launching another front in the ongoing civil war. between the competing factions of her party. According to limited polling, former Houston mayor Anise Parker is the likely frontrunner in the Democratic primary contest for Harris County Judge, but Hidalgo took aim at Parker in a lengthy social media post on Tuesday. She wrote, quote, I want to send a clear message to Democratic primary voters in Harris County. Anise Parker doesn't represent our values. Hidalgo specifically lambasted Parker for declining to

Starting point is 00:00:59 endorse her re-election campaign in 2022 and for supporting former Harris County District Attorney Kim Og. Hidalgo also compared Parker to current Houston Mayor John Whitmire, saying she would follow his playbook and capitulate to, quote, Donald Trump and Greg Abbott. Next, U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Congressman John Carter authored a letter to Lieutenant General Gregory D. Brady, Inspector General of the U.S. Army, calling for an investigation into what they called deeply disturbing allegations against a former U.S. Army physician in Texas. The letter was also signed by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman August Flugher. A November 10th lawsuit filed against Major Blaine McGrath, former OBGYN at Carl R. Darnal Army Medical

Starting point is 00:01:48 Center at Fort Hood, alleges sexual and professional misconduct, including filming a breast and pelvic exam of victim Jane Doe. According to the lawsuit, McGraw pretended to take a call and then placed the phone in his breast pocket, camera side out. He proceeded to record the victim during a pelvic exam and suggested a breast exam, despite the victim not requesting one. The victim later became aware of the recordings when the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division called her in for an interview. Investigators informed her that McGraw had secretly filmed multiple female patients, and she identified herself in the videos found on McGrath's cell phone. In other news, Autonomous Vehicle Company Waymo voluntarily recalled over 3,000 of its self-driving cars

Starting point is 00:02:36 due to repeated instances of illegally passing school buses in cities, including incidents identified in Austin, a hub for such technological trial runs. The company said that a fix for the faulty software was deployed before the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway traffic safety administration issued Waymo's recall report on December 10th. A total of 3,067 Waymo vehicles are reported as having the software defect. An investigation was first opened into Waymo's fifth generation automated driving system in October after a video report circulated of one of their AVs passing a stop school bus in Atlanta, first decreasing in speed, and then moving forward despite the bus's extended stop arm and flashing red lights, indicating the loading or offloading of children.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Last but not least, San Antonio Family Association, or Sappha Action, amended its previous complaint regarding a proposed bus rapid transit line and how the city intends to fund it. The city's green line, plan to run along San Pedro Avenue, is supposed to, quote, resemble the experience of a light rail. Saffa believes the plan will significant disrupt traffic flow on San Pedro Avenue by reducing traffic lanes. The lawsuit, filed in Bayar County District Court in September against the city of San Antonio, alleged that the city's decision to use transit funds for the bus rapid transit line violated the Texas Transportation Code, because it gives complete control of revenue generated by a new transit funding tax increase to via Metropolitan Transit Authority. Saffa Action also argued that the city's decision,

Starting point is 00:04:19 violated the Texas Constitution and the city's own charter, because it delegated its decision-making power over how tax revenue is used to an unelected body, VIA's board of directors. Now, Saffa Action has added the Via Metropolitan Transit Authority as a defendant also, alleging that VIA is violating the Texas Constitution and Transportation Code by accepting the tax revenue. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the Texan. Jackson. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - December 17, 2025

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