Today in Texas History – May 11

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From the Annals of Bass Fishing –  In 1964, construction began to create what would become the largest reservoir in Texas.  The building of the Toledo Bend Dam on the Sabine River eighty miles north of Beaumont would ultimately create the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The reservoir takes in parts of four Texas Counties (Newton, Sabine, Panola, and Shelby) and two Louisiana Parishes (Sabine and De Soto). The lake is the largest in the South, and the fifth largest by surface area in the United States  The dam was built Texas and Louisiana, without any assistance from the federal government.  When completed in 1969, the Toledo Bend Reservoir provides water for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes, as well as hydroelectric power and flood control for the lower Sabine.  The lake is most famous for its bass fishing opportunities and hosts numerous tournaments.

Blue Bell Bombshell – It’s Gonna Be a Long Hot Summer

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In the wake of news that Blue Bell was aware of listeria contamination in its ice cream plants, the Brenham-based company has indicated that it will be months before its products return to the shelves.  KTRK reports that the problems at Blue Bell started well before the reported listeria outbreaks this year.

Blue Bell ice cream had evidence of listeria bacteria in its Oklahoma manufacturing plant as far back as March 2013, a government investigation found. The Texas-based company continued to ship ice cream produced in that plant after what the Food and Drug Administration says was inadequate cleaning.

The FDA on Thursday released results of its investigations into Blue Bell’s plants in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama after a Freedom of Information request by The Associated Press. The most extensive violations were found in Oklahoma, where the FDA listed 17 separate positive tests for listeria on equipment from March 2013 through February 2015.

The FDA would not say who conducted the tests, but it noted that Blue Bell sent “presumptive positive” listeria samples to a third party for confirmation on at least two occasions in 2014. The auditors re-tested the samples and came back with the same results.

Blue Bell continued to have presumptive positive listeria results in the Oklahoma plant even after the daily cleaning and sanitizing treatments of equipment and facilities, the FDA wrote Blue Bell in the report. Neither Blue Bell nor the FDA has said why the Oklahoma plant was not closed after repeated findings of listeria. FDA officials have so far declined to discuss the report or the history of the testing.

After the test results were made public, Blue Bell CEO Paul Kruse said in a statement it would be “several months at a minimum” before its ice cream is back in stores. The company had said earlier that it expected to be back up and running this month.

Blue Bell spokesman Joe Robertson said today the company was aware of the findings. “We thought our practices were proper. In hindsight they were not.”

Well, duh!

ISIS Crisis in Texas, Cont. – Sort of

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Virginia Congressman and Tea Party Wannabe Rep. David Brat is claiming that ISIS has set up shop in Texas and that the worst is yet to come.  According to the Houston Chronicle, Brat has been speculating about goings on in the Lone Star State.

U.S. Rep. David Brat (R-Virginia) told conservative talk radio host Rusty Humphries that a Middle Eastern militia had already raised its black flag in the Lone Star State.

“In our country it looks like we have an ISIS center in Texas now, that’s been reported last week,” he said. “You can’t make up what a terrible problem this is.”

OMG, get your guns and run for the hills.  Life as we know it is over.  But make sure our law enforcement officials know what is going on before we get the hell out of Dallas.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said, “There is absolutely nothing to substantiate such a claim.”

Well apparently you can make it up.

Texas Tea Partisans Would Rather Lose Billions than Cave on Obamacare

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Texas health care providers are urging Texas lawmakers to expand Medicaid in order to receive billions to help the working poor obtain health coverage.  Texas still has the largest percentage of residents without primary health care coverage in the nation.  Is the Texas Tea Party likely to do anything about that?  Probably not, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

With billions of dollars in hospital aid at stake, health care officials are anxious for state leaders to resolve the federal government’s concerns about extending a program that helps cover the staggering cost of caring for uninsured and needy Texans.

The federal government wants Texas and other states to expand Medicaid to cover more residents — rather than relying on federal matching money to pay hospitals back for taking care of uninsured patients. Texas officials have refused, and now many are worried the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, might end the hospital payments when the current program expires Sept. 30, 2016.

Today in Texas History – May 8

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Palo Alto nebel.jpg

From the Annals of the Border Wars –  In 1846, U.S. forces under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated a Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto near present day Brownsville.  The battle was the first major engagement of the Mexican-American War but was fought prior to the actual declaration of war against Mexico. The movement towards war had begun when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a new state in 1845.  Mexico had refused to recognize Texas as an independent country and disputed the Rio Grande as an international boundary instead claiming sovereignty up to the Nueces.  After the Texas annexation and in a move to deliberately provoke the war, President James K. Polk ordered Taylor to defend the Rio Grande border. Taylor positioned his forces along the Rio Grande. Mexican General Mariano Arista viewed this as a hostile invasion of Mexican territory, and on April 25, 1846, he took his soldiers across the river and attacked. Polk having achieved the conflict that he desperately sought asked Congress to declare war which they did on May 13. But the real fighting had already started. In the weeks following the initial skirmish along the Rio Grande, Taylor engaged the Mexicans at the battle of Palo Alto on May 8, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma.  Taylor, nicknamed “Old Rough and Ready” by his soldiers, emerged from the war a national hero ultimately becoming President in1848.  He proved to be an unskilled politician who accomplished little before dying in office in 1850.

Who Isn’t Running for Mayor of Houston?

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It might be easier to list those who aren’t interested in running the nation’s fourth largest city. The already crowded field for the Houston Mayoral election in November just got a bit more crowded when Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia announced his resignation and candidacy yesterday.  Garcia has high name recognition and an appeal to the burgeoning (yet lightly voting) Hispanic community.  He also carries the baggage of recent exposure of negligent operation of the Harris County Jail.

The field now includes:

Adrian Garcia – former Harris County Sheriff

Chris Bell – former U.S. Rep., Houston City Councilmember and Democratic candidate for Governor

Ben Hall  – former Houston City Attorney

Sylvester Turner – current State Rep. and former mayoral candidate

Stephen Costello – current Houston City Councilmember

Bill King – former Mayor of Kemah

Joe Ferreira  – retired United Airlines executive

The list of other potential candidates is still too long to post here.

The Passing of a Texas Legend – Jim Wright

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Former Speaker of the House and longtime Texas Congressman Jim Wright has died.  Red leaves it to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to tell the incredible tale of Wright’s rise to power and fall from grace.

In 1939, one of Jim Wright’s classmates penned a prescient note in the high school yearbook, predicting that, in 1955, “Congressman Wright” would deliver “the most erudite speech heard in the Congressional Hall.”

Sixteen years later, in 1955, Mr. Wright arrived in Washington as the newly elected U.S. representative from the 12th District of Texas. It was the beginning of a 34-year congressional career that fulfilled a boyhood dream and ended with his becoming the 48th speaker of the U.S. House of

At the height of his power, he fortified his hometown with millions of dollars in government pork, from defense jobs to water projects. President John F. Kennedy once called Fort Worth “the best-represented city” in America.

 

“Speaker Jim Wright’s footprint in Fort Worth and North Texas is large,” said U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the Republican who now represents the 12th District. “He was instrumental in projects that helped build this state and particularly North Texas to the prominent place it holds today.”

Former President George H.W. Bush saluted Wright’s career. “We didn’t often agree on the issues during our time in Washington, but we did share both a deep and abiding love for this country as well as a commitment to service,” he said.

Make Marijuana Legal?

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The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has passed HB 2165 which would completely decriminalize marijuana. Three Democrats and two Republicans voted to support the bill and it passed 5-2. The bill is championed by Rep. David Simpson (TP- Longview) who has argued that marijuana comes from God and therefore shouldn’t be banned by government.  Simpson, a Tea Party mainstay champions what he calls the “Christian case” for legalization.

Simpson’s bill is now eligible for consideration on the House floor before the legislative session ends June 1, but many view that as a remote possibility. Advocates for reform of marijuana laws viewed the committee vote as “unprecedented progress” for Texas marijuana rights. The bill would have strong popular support. According to a Texas Research Institute Public Policy Polling in September of 2013 almost 60% of Texas voters support legalizing and regulating marijuana similar to alcohol. That number has surely risen in the last two years as four states (Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon) have completely decriminalized cannabis.

Today in Texas History – May 7

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From the Annals of Old Mexico –   In 1824, Mexico adopted a new constitution which created the new state of Coahuila y Tejas.  The two provinces were combined into one state – an act which foretold many of the problems which would ultimately result in the Texas revolution.  The newly created state was plagued with political turmoil as factions battled over even the location of the state capital.  The original capital was Saltillo but the government soon moved to Monclova.  At one point competing state legislatures were operating in both Saltillo and Monclova.  There was even a rump movement to relocate the capital to Bexar (San Antonio). The dictatorship of Santa Anna and the deteriorating situation of the state government led to the so-called Consultation declaring Texas a separate state in 1835 complete with the formation of a provisional government – an act which presaged the ultimate independence of Texas.