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The Texas Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the state’s child welfare agency can resume investigations into parents who provide gender-affirming care for their children. However, the court said a hold on the probe of a family now suing to stop the policy can remain in place. While the ruling is a blow for LGBTQ+ advocates, the court also said Gov. Greg Abbott has no authority to order the state child welfare officials to conduct such investigations.
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The U.S. Treasury Department has launched a probe into Gov. Greg Abbott’s use of federal COVID-19 relief money to fund his border crackdown. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has already cost Texas $4 billion, a quarter of which was CARES Act money intended for the state’s pandemic response. Treasury Department officials said the agency hasn’t ruled out clawing back the funds.
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The U.S. set a record for antisemitic incidents last year, and Texas was a significant reason why. The Anti-Defamation League documented 2,717 reports of antisemitic incidents in the country last year — a 34% increase over 2020 and the highest number since the organization started tracking incidents in 1979. New York, New Jersey and California had the highest number of incidents, followed by the Lone Star State and Michigan, which were tied. . Legendary Market Square restaurant Mi Tierra has unveiled an altar to street entertainer Hispanic Elvis. The performer, whose real name was John Cisneros, was a regular at the iconic eatery until he fell ill earlier this year with COVID-19 and an esophagus infection. He died in March. The altar, which joins memorials to Selena and former Mi Tierra workers, will be up for two weeks. Plans for a permanent memorial are in the works. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“We are out here today because we are the majority. They’re not the majority.Weare the majority.” — Mara Posada
Planned Parenthood South Texas Public Affairs Director Mara Posada at San Antonio’s Bans Off Our Bodies rally.
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Gov. Greg Abbott’s deafening whistle Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark. If case anyone’s still unclear on just how much lower Gov. Greg Abbott is prepared to go in his pursuit of a third term, it should be apparent by now that there is no bottom. Need more proof? Abbott’s rhetorical response last week to the infant formula shortage gripping the United States was not to urge calm, explain what he was doing to shore up supplies or unveil a plan for needy Texans to gain access. Instead, the Republican governor issued a statement with National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd accusing the Biden Administration of turning a “blind eye to parents across America” by feeding “critical supplies to illegal immigrants before the very people he took an oath to serve.” Abbott was not alone in sharing his outrage that the federal government had the gall to supply formula to infants in immigration detention centers rather than letting them succumb to malnutrition so that red-blooded American babies could be prioritized. GOP fringe players including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have also worked themselves into a tizzy over the past few days over the notion that immigrant babies are less worthy of being kept alive. Speaking of fringe players, it bears mentioning that Judd, who co-issued the statement with Abbott, was outed in a recent USA Today report for espousing the great replacement theory
San Antonio City Council voted 8-3 last week to approve a new five-year contract with the city’s police union, dismissing concerns that the contract doesn’t provide for enough civilian oversight of police. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the pact includes improved accountability and transparency measures while significantly boosting pay. Three council members disagreed, noting that San Antonio remains the only major city in Texas without an independent citizen review board into police misconduct. The baby formula shortage that’s affected families across the nation has been particularly acute in San Antonio. Data from the retail software firm Datasembly used in a New York Times report shows that San Antonio is experiencing the highest rate of shortages of formula of any city in the country — over half of SA’s regular supply of baby formula was depleted as of May 10. Congress turned its attention to the issue last week, but experts say a quick resolution appears unlikely.
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That Rocks/That Sucks
Instagram / @GovernorAbbott
— you know, the white supremacist belief that lefties promote immigration because they want to undermine Western civilization by letting in people of color. Like much of Abbott’s recent actions around immigration, the governor’s inference that immigrant children are less worthy of formula goes beyond dog-whistle racism. It’s a shrill, deafening police whistle blown at top volume. Texas’ electorate ignores this assclown’s pandering to white supremacists at its own peril. — Sanford Nowlin
San Antonio’s new Ready to Work job training program has begun taking applications. The initiative, funded to the tune of $189 million by a 2020 vote, is expected to train up to 16,000 residents by its 2025 completion. Some 800 people were already pre-enrolled prior to its official launch on Monday. To qualify for the program, residents must be 18 years of age or older and make less than $34,000 per year. — Abe Asher
James Dobbins
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