As if there were not enough challenges facing the United States right now, Americans have to be on alert for a resurgence of book-banning campaigns at their local libraries. Across the nation, groups of mostly White conservatives are demanding that books be locked up or taken off the shelves entirely. Their main targets? Books about Black and LGBTQ people.
Thumbs down — In heated conversation, an analogy invoking Hitler or the Nazis is often considered a disqualifying breach of rhetorical etiquette. These days, maybe the same should go for the word pandemic. While we all agree that the fake paper license tags proliferating around the state and the nation are a problem, we’re not sure it’s a full blown “tagdemic,” as Travis County Sgt. Jose Escribano was quoted saying this week in the Chronicle. Sure, the fake tags by latest count may end up having cost Harris County taxpayers $80 million in lost revenue over the past five years, but that doesn’t seem quite comparable to the 6.2 million people who have died in the global pandemic. Besides, ‘tag-mageddon’ rolls off the tongue much easier. The false tag problem stems from changes to the Texas DMV online system for creating temporary tags that allowed people claiming to be dealers to gain access often under fake names and addresses and harvest millions of tags. The ordeal, and the DMV’s slow response to fixing it, has angered lawmakers and already led to the ouster of longtime agency head Whitney Brewster, who Chronicle reporter Dug Begley wryly noted in a February story “will not be renewing her tag for a spot in the employee parking lot.” We imagine she left the building with a slight smile of relief, turning to bewildered subordinates and delivering those profound, parting words, ‘tag, you’re it!’
The eyes of the world were upon Texas this week, looking to see if the state would execute a woman who very well may be innocent of the crime for which she was sentenced to die. The scales of justice have weighed against Melissa Lucio since 2007.
Abortion is still legal in the U.S. and — to a more limited extent — Texas, where abortion providers continued to offer services on Tuesday to those seeking to terminate their pregnancies.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Leonard Ignelzi, whose knack for being in the right place at the right time produced breathtaking images of Hall of Fame sports figures, devastating wildfires and other major news over 37 years as photographer for The Associated Press in San Diego, has died. He was 74.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Norman Mineta, who broke racial barriers for Asian Americans serving in high-profile government posts and ordered commercial flights grounded after the 9/11 terror attacks as the nation’s federal transportation secretary, died Tuesday. He was 90.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Johnnie A.
When it comes to spending power, inflation means that things cost more and that your money becomes less valuable. When a period of high inflation hits — like right now — you may want to consider changing up the way you handle your finances to help protect the value of your cash.
NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind the TurboTax tax-filing program will pay $141 million to customers across the United States who were deceived by misleading promises of free tax-filing services, New York’s attorney general announced Wednesday.