The City of La Marque has taken over the unfortunate side show of League City. I don’t believe any of the members of the city council are contributing to this show unlike what happened in League City with the book banning and other issues but they have to deal with it. The video of last nights meeting to address a censure of City Councilman Joseph Lowry wasn’t pretty. The segment starts at 1:51:48 and lasts for about an hour.
In public comments a couple of citizens made complaints concerning Lowry and his acceptance of $50,000 in COVID relief funds, his history of bullying citizens, and the recall petition filed last week. That segment starts at 21:43.
At the end of the meeting a censure resolution was discussed at 1:55:07 with Councilman James Ross taking the floor. This censure has something to do with an email sent by Lowry making accusations and disparaging remarks towards members of Council. The email was enough for Ross to file a complaint. At one point the legal advisor asked that the censure be tabled in order to address the legal implications of the email and the possible exposure of the city to legal action.
During his rebuttal Lowry made an accusation towards another member concerning his proposed Lego store. (I believe he is trying to open a legos store in an unused mall) He made a reference to children which prompted the member to stand from his chair and the Mayor to stop the discussion. You can watch that at 1:57:58.
In the end Lowry made a motion to censure himself for “exercising his first amendment rights”. It failed. The next censure item was tabled at the request of legal counsel. For the most part the council meeting was cordial and professional except for the discussion concerning Lowry.
FILE PHOTO: ear gas is released into a crowd of protesters, with one wielding a Confederate battle flag that reads “Come and Take It,” during clashes with Capitol police at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
No Place but Texas. And Alvin.
The Bay Area chapter of True Texas Project is holding their next meeting at a private school in Alvin, Apogee Gulf Coast. (Kind of far away from the Bay Area, more on that later) Their host for the evening is convicted Jan 6 rioter Treniss Evans who was sentenced to 3 years probation. You can read the entire indictment here. In conclusion the indictment states:
Evans knowingly and voluntarily admits to all the elements of Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1). Specifically, Evans admits that he knowingly entered and remained in a restricted building and grounds, that is, any posted, cordoned-off, and otherwise restricted area within the United States Capitol and its grounds, where the Vice President and Vice President-elect were temporarily visiting, without lawful authority to do so.
Treniss is now the founder of Condemned USA, an organization claiming to provide legal assistance to those affected by the”government overreach” such as the Jan 6 insurrectionists. He is making the tour of republican clubs and organizations. When asked about this meeting, Apogee Gulf Coast claims they are not a political organization. That may be true but they might want to research the far white political groups they are catering to.
Who is True Texas Project? The Southern Poverty Law Center has added the True Texas Project to their list of extremist organizations categorized as a general anti-government organization. The Bay Area local chapter was banned from holding meetings at the Webster Presbyterian Church after the elders learned of their background. They moved to the Holiday Inn for a number of months but are now at Apogee.
The local group has attempted to enter the League City elections by holding a forum for the candidates. Only one candidate accepted the invitation. TTP is considered so extreme even the extremists of the Republican Party refused to participate in their birthday celebration. The venue, The Fort Worth Botanic Garden stated the event would not be held there, and that it “rejects all forms of hate speech, discrimination, or bigotry.” According to The Texas Tribune:
Billed as the 15th anniversary celebration for True Texas Project, the conference agenda claims that there is a “war on white America,” and urges attendees to embrace once-fringe ideologies such as Christian nationalism or the Great Replacement Theory, which claims that there is an intentional, often Jewish-driven, effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage or the LGBTQ+ community.
Local politicians support Our local elected officials State Representative Dennis Paul and CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen have been guest speakers to the organization. Paul is now running for the Senate and Bowen is running for State Representative.
Funding TTP has been funded by the Scott Bowen’s billionaire buddies, Timothy Dunn and Farris Wilks, with $40,0000 coming from their new PAC Texans for a Conservative Majority. Their former PAC, Defend Texas Liberty, was disbanded after The Texas Tribune exposed them for meeting with Nick Fuentes, a known white supremacist.
Apogee might want to reconsider who they associate with.
The Bay Area has the highest premiums in the entire state. Someone needs to address and solve the problem but nothing will happen unless we ourselves take action.
The rising cost of insurance is not a political issue since it affects everyone no matter what side of the aisle you are on but it is a political issue because only the politicians in Austin can fix it and they haven’t. This past legislation session has been a complete dud for homeowners. (Read the Houston Chronicle article Texas lawmakers push off big home insurance relief: ‘Nothing was done’. Not one significant bill was passed to address the issue but as the Chair of the House Insurance Committee stated “We are going to, as a body, find ways to lower the cost of insurance.” He was stating that the issue must be addressed in the next two years.
So what do we do? Here are some suggestions:
Join your neighbors. Join your neighbors and stay informed. Signup for the newsletter at tinyurl.com/BayAreaHouston You will receive a periodic email to keep you informed of important meetings.
Vote. The only people who can fix this issue is our elected officials. Our State Representative Dennis Paul has been in office for 10 years and sat (literally) on the Insurance Committee for 10 full years. He is now running for State Senator. You might want to send a message to him. Our State Senator Mayes Middleton sat on the Business and Commerce Committee responsible for insurance issues. He is now running for Texas Attorney General.
Contact your elected officials. Contact both Paul and Middleton. Ask them to hold a town hall meeting to address this issue. (Note: Neither of them has ever addressed the community while in office on any issue) Call Senator Middleton at 512-463-0111. Ask for Matt Patterson. Also email Matt at Matt.patterson@senate.texas.gov. Call Representative Paul at 512) 463-0734 ask for Greg Bentch. Email greg at Greg.Bentch@house.texas.gov
I bet these two West Texas billionaires will be financing Bowen’s run for State Representative.
The two Texas billionaires who created the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn, are distributing false information about the Irving Fire Fighter Association claiming they are involved in human trafficking. This is what can happen when you have unlimited money to spend and spread lies with paid block walkers. The Association has issued a press release below. They are not happy and are threatening legal action.
These are Scott Bowen’s buddies. Defend Texas Liberty eventually was disbanded after their leader was caught by the Texas Tribune meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes. During the past couple of CCISD races Bowen recruited candidates and solicited funds from DTL. Luckily all of his candidates lost but the stench of out of district money continues to follow Bowen into the race to replace Dennis Paul.
Wilks and Dunn have since created a new PAC, Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC. Same people. Different name. Over the last year TUCM (Tuck-em) raised $9,606,725 with $7,065,000 coming from Dunn, and $1,290,000 from Wilks.
Bowen’s relationship to DTL is well documented here.
Every elected official in the NASA/JSC area including Senator Cornyn and Cruz, Congressman Babin and Weber, State Senator Mayes Middleton and Representative Dennis Paul, are supporting these massive cuts to NASA/JSC.
The Hill has a great article titled “Trump’s NASA Cuts: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.” If you are supporting NASA in any way, shape or form, you might want to take time to see how your particular project is going to be affected. The major cuts will devastate the JSC community. Here is a quick list of cuts affecting the area:
Gateway Program. CANCELLED. Gateway is a space station around the Moon. Components have already been delivered.
Orion. CANCELLED. Orion is the capsule that will take astronauts to the Moon and Mars. It has been completed with the 3rd flight scheduled this year.
Space Launch System. CANCELLED. SLS is the heavy lift vehicle that will take Orion to the Moon and Mars. It has been completed and has flown.
The Republican budget will cut 24% of NASA’s budget but claims to be adding $7 Billion for Moon and Mars exploration which doesn’t make sense since they are cutting the very vehicles designed and built to travel to the Moon and Mars. As some wise ass said to the Houston Chronicle “They are feeding us goat turds and telling us they are tater tots.”
According to the article the $7 Billion will go to the NAZI Sympathizer and SpaceX, and Blue Origin. SpaceX has had multiple failures, or “Rapid Unscheduled Fuck Ups” (RUFUS) and Blue Origin’s claim to fame is sending Katy Perry into space. NASA and their contractors have been working on Orion and SLS since George W Bush was in office, almost 20 years ago and they are now flying.
There are many more cuts that will affect all NASA centers identified in the article, including cuts to the STEM program which is considered “woke”. Take a moment to read it. With Musk’s recent criticizing of the bill his share of the $7 Billion is probably in jeopardy.
End of Session Summary Our State elected officials meet for about 5 months every two years. This year, the 89th Legislative session, ended on June 2 with little to show for property owners in the Bay Area. There were only a handful of bills that would have affected our insurance. Only two passed and are waiting for the Governors signature.
Our Representative’s Denial of Service Bill
Representative Dennis Paul and our Senator Mayes Middleton filed joint bills that requires an insurance company to send you a letter if they deny or cancel your policy. It also requires this data to be provided to the Insurance Commission. That’s all it does. In the end I have no idea how this bill will help us. Our premiums have skyrocketed. We were in need of help. This bill does not help.
SB1644. Passed. Relating to the use of a consumer’s credit score in the underwriting or rating of certain personal lines property and casualty insurance policies. (Does NOT prohibit the use of credit scoring)
HB2741. Failed. Relating to prohibiting the use of credit scoring in certain lines of personal insurance.
SB1082. Failed. Relating to declination and nonrenewal of residential and personal automobile insurance policies based on previous claims.
HB854. Failed. Relating to payment of the replacement cost of lost or damaged property under a homeowner’s, renter’s, or condominium owner’s insurance policy.
HB2515. Failed. Relating to prohibiting insurers from requiring the bundling of personal automobile or residential property insurance policies.
HB1576. Failed. Relating to a grant program for hurricane and windstorm loss mitigation for single-family residential property. (Fashioned like Alabama’s Fortify program)
Last year the republic party was all up in arms about Hunter Biden falsifying a government document. He didn’t check a specific box concerning drug use on an application when purchasing a firearm. Eventually he was convicted and later pardoned by President Biden. Needless to say the MAGAts lost their minds. Once they were able to get over their President’s 34 felony convictions and his pardoning of some the worst criminals in the United States they demanded justice.
It is amazing how the party of “Law and Order” has become the party of “Law and Order and Laughing.” Case in point newly elected Galveston County Sheriff Jimmy Fullen. Fullen also falsified a government document failing to admit he had a number of incidents that led to disciplinary action against him. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement voted to revoke his license stating the following:
Specifically, Respondent omitted, failed to disclose, or provided false or untruthful information related to job experience, having been disciplined at work, having been fired or asked to resign from a place of employment, having been accused of discrimination, having been the subject of a written complaint at work, having failed to make or been late on a court-ordered payment, having been part of a civil lawsuit, and failing to disclose two arrests.
You can read the entire letter from the TCOLE here. Last week Fullen and his donor and lawyer, Tony Buzbee, failed to mediate an alternate solution with the TCOLE. If the TCOLE rescinds his licenses Fullen can no longer hold the office of Sheriff. Fullen has since sued the TCOLE hoping to convince a judge (his buddy) to rule that the TCOLE does not have the authority to rescind his license, although the TCOLE has been given that exact authority. I45Now has the full story.
FILE – Commander Jared Isaacman speaks at a news conference after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center for an upcoming private human spaceflight mission in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
The cuts coming to NASA are the beginning of the end of the Agency.
Jared Isaacman was to be the next Administrator of NASA. Isaacman is another billionaire buddy of Trump and Elon Musk. He bought a couple of rides on Musk’s vehicles and conducted the first private spacewalk. (Video here) His confirmation was all but guaranteed but he was asked about his relationship with Musk and the concern about privatizing NASA with tax dollars going to Musk and SpaceX. That didn’t go well.
Isaacman spoke out against the proposed cuts to NASA and sealed his fate as the Administrator. Trump pulled his nomination just prior to a Senate vote to confirm. Isaacman made the mistake of taking his lips off of Trump’s ass and speaking out. Isaacman is out and a yes man will be nominated. According to NPR:
“After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”
The cuts are coming and Elon Musk will suck the life out of the remainder of the Agency. Here at JSC the Gateway Program will end. The Orion vehicle will end even though it has already been designed, tested, and flown. The heavy lift vehicle, SLS, will end even though it has already been designed, tested, and flown. These cuts will leave NASA/JSC with only the International Space Station up until 2030. Musk will then take over the Agency, it’s workforce, and the facilities.
Trump thinks he and Musk will be responsible for landing a human on Mars before the end of his reign. In reality landing on Mars will not happen for many decades, long after he is entombed in a monument on the grounds of the Vietnam Memorial.
After former League City Council Member, Justin Hicks, resigned, Seabrook was poised to take over the news concerning the chaos of League City but after 4 of the 5 Save Seabrook candidates lost, the chaos city was left in limbo. Enter the City of La Marque.
On Friday an individual has filed a recall petition concerning City Council Member Joseph Lowry. (pictured) According to the petition Lowry has been harassing council members as well as citizens. There has been a number of discussions about his alleged criminal record in Washington State as well as his legal rights to serve on the Council. All of this was put to rest at the last Council meeting. You can watch the meeting here starting at 2:21:38.
Lowry has had his share of the news. According to ABC News he is being sued for $43,000 in back taxes by the county and others. The Galveston Daily News reported he was censured, twice by City Council, for making derogatory statements about residents.
Those attacks include claims that Clint Yancy Sr. — pastor of New Vision Church, 2311 24th St. in Dickinson — has fathered children out of wedlock, which is false, Kimberley Yancy said.
“I didn’t make allegations of her husband having kids out of wedlock,” Lowry said in a statement. ”Other women have alleged that, not me.”
The GDN continues with an article about an expletive filled video by Lowry. From the GDN:
Some on city council say Councilman Joseph Lowry failed to embody the spirit of his constituents Monday night when he was caught on camera hurling insults, obscene gestures and threatening to fight a man who was recording police at a crash scene.
Lowry has a particular beef with City Council Member Kimberley Yancy as reported by The Defender:
Additionally, the person Yancy and other area elected officials identify as the “ringleader” of the harassment efforts, fellow city council member Joseph Lowry, according to her, has raised the stakes in his “assault.”
A recall election will require gathering signatures to put the recall to a vote. If successful then a special election would have to be held to replace the Council Member. Film at 11.
In 2009 I researched the spending habits of all Senators and House members. The report is called Don’t Mess With Texas Ethics. You can read that here.
According to The Texas Tribune every bill filed to address the unlimited money in Texas elections and the Texas Ethics Commission’s (TEC) ability to enforce the campaign finance laws have failed. Even the bill filed to address the Sunset Commission’s recommendations to improve the TEC failed. So Texas will continue to be the land of the lawless. The Tribune’s article is detailed. Take a moment to read it.
Our Senator “Money” Mayes Middleton was quoted in the article concerning reforming the Ethics Commission:
“It’s about prioritizing real misconduct over technical infractions, ending the weaponization of the complaint process, and shining a light where dark corners have persisted for too long.”
That is a load of crap. Middleton is the king of unlimited money in politics. He personally funded his campaign for his House seat spending millions to beat a sitting Republican in the primary. He has donated millions of his campaign money to various campaigns hidden behind advertising companies. These donations are difficult to find. Middleton did his best to kill the ethics bills.
Since running for office in 2018 Middleton has raised over $6,930,462 Million with 83%, $5,736,392, coming from his own pocket. He spent over $2 Million of his own money to win his House seat in Galveston in a campaign that required only $500,000 if it was competitive. (It wasn’t) He has spent over $7 Million on campaigns across the state including:
Some of his biggest donations include $300,000 to Louie Gohmert who unsuccessfully ran for Texas Attorney General against Ken Paxton in the Republican Primary. He donated over $60,000 to Galveston’s State Representative Terri Wilson. Wilson raised over 87% of her entire campaign donations from out of district PACs and individuals. He donated a few thousand dollars to the leader of conservative values, State Representative Tony Tinderholt, who has been married 5 times. He donated $186,000 to Carrie Isaac of Dripping Springs.
So I find it rich that Middleton would be making any comments concerning money, donations, and ethics. Middleton will be giving up his Senate seat to run for Texas Attorney General…..a race financed by his own money.