Free Republic

AUSTIN - Under existing Texas laws, the Secretary of State has the authority to conduct a full and comprehensive forensic audit of any election and has already begun the process in Texas’ two largest Democrat counties and two largest Republican counties—Dallas, Harris, Tarrant, and Collin—for the 2020 election. We anticipate the Legislature will provide funds for this purpose.

On April 23, 2021, at about 2:15 p.m., Russell and Myra King, a married couple, were driving to their home in Haslet, Texas. Haslet is a small community on the North edge of Tarrant County, part of the Fort Worth-Dallas metroplex. It had been cloudy with showers all day, but the sun peeked from behind the clouds in the afternoon of the 23rd.According to reports on nbcdfw.com, which includes video, Russell noticed two pickup trucks moving past him much faster than the traffic flow. One of the trucks exited the highway, the other pulled in front of him and brake-checked...

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Thursday barring social media companies from wrongfully censoring users "based on their political beliefs." The new legislation aims to hold Big Tech platforms accountable in an age when many large platforms increasingly use their status as private companies to silence conservative voices without consequence.

The Hays County Consolidated Independent School District will temporarily close one of its campuses due to COVID-19 spread. According to Hays CISD, eight of the 10 district classrooms that are currently under quarantine are housed at Tobias Elementary, triggering the closure until Monday, September 20. Previously, Hays CISD superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said that while he believes masks should be worn in schools, the district was choosing not to enforce its own mandates, as several Texas districts have done.

HUMBLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – A wife shot and killed her estranged husband after he showed up as she and their three children were heading to their first day of school on Monday, August 16, KTRK-TV in Houston reported. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the woman and the children were leaving when the father arrived unexpectedly and confronted their mother. “He showed up. We don’t know what his intention was,” said the sheriff. “It quickly escalated. She ran inside the home. He began assaulting her.” Investigators said the wife grabbed a gun and shot him. Sheriff Gonzalez said there had...

Texas Judge Says Governor Can’t Have Runaway Democrats Arrested Kevin Daley • August 9, 2021 Fugitive lawmakers fled to Washington to avoid voting on a voting rights bill

State data shows there are only 13 intensive care unit beds available in the 11-county Austin region. That means more than 98% of all ICU beds in the area are currently occupied... On Thursday, more than 6,300 new confirmed cases were reported in the state. With the increased transmissibility of the delta variant, hospitals in the area say the surge in cases is “putting extraordinary pressure on [their] hospitals, emergency departments and healthcare professionals.”

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee was arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday for engaging in civil disobedience in support of a federal voting rights bill. “Yes I engaged in civil disobedience today in front of the Hart Building in Washington, D.C., and I was arrested,” the Houston Democrat said in a video posted on Twitter. It was unclear what Jackson Lee was doing at the building to spur the arrest.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday warned Texas Governor Greg Abbott to "immediately rescind" a new executive order aimed at curbing the travel into the state of undocumented immigrants who may pose a risk of transmitting COVID-19. "The order violates federal law in numerous respects, and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the executive order against any federal official or private parties working with the United States," Garland told Abbott in a letter. He added that if Texas continues to implement the ground restrictions on migrants, then the Justice Department will "pursue all appropriate legal remedies."

LAREDO, Texas – A Houston-area man and woman are set to appear in Laredo federal court on allegations they attempted to smuggle undocumented aliens inside a stolen trailer. Marc Anthony Bane, 45, Porter, and Tara Renee Dillon, 33, Conroe, are set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Dos Santos at 3 p.m. today.

A Texas House representative announced Monday he’s introducing a bill for a forensic audit of the most populous counties’ election results.According to the text of House Bill 241, introduced by Republican state Rep. Steve Toth, forensic reviews of counties with more than 415,000 population should be carried out before Nov. 1, 2021, and they should be completed before Feb. 1, 2022.“Not later than March 1, 2022,” the bill’s text states, “the independent third party conducting the audit under this section shall submit a report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the...

Texas Democrats demanded Tuesday for the Texas House journal clerk to lock the state house voting machines, thereby denying the GOP majority a quorum needed to proceed with election integrity legislation. Chair of the Texas House Democrat Caucus and State Rep. Chris Turner (D) stated, “Minutes ago, at least 57 letters were delivered to the house journal clerk directing the [Texas] House to lock our voting machines and not unlock them until we provide express permission to do so upon our return to the [Texas] capitol.” “It takes two-thirds of the body present to constitute a quorum, so 100 members,”...

On 15 June, 2021, Governor Greg Abbott signed Texas HB 957 into law. The new law removes the Texas prohibition on firearm suppressors, commonly known as silencers or gun mufflers. From the bill: “Firearm suppressor” means any device designed, made, or adapted to muffle the report of a firearm.From the legislative history, it appears silencers, suppressors or gun mufflers were first banned in Texas in 1973. Although they were banned in Texas law, there was an affirmative defense from prosecution if the gun mufflers were legally possessed under federal law, as shown in this AmmoLand article from 2014.As you can...

The Austin Police Department revealed a brightly-colored PRIDE car Wednesday, the final day of Pride Month, and says the vehicle will join the department’s celebrations during Austin’s Pride parade in August. The department said this month it also became the first department in Texas to adopt a Pride patch for its officers and civilian staff to wear in June and during the parade. The department worked with the Lesbian and Gay Peace Officers Association and Cops for Charities to create the patch and an accompanying hat.

A vote Tuesday by Travis County Commissioners will allow county staff to fly the the LGBTQIA+ Pride Flag at any Travis County government building annually during Pride month. Travis County Judge Andy Brown, LGBTQIA+ leaders and commissioners held a Pride flag-raising ceremony at the Travis County Government Administration building in downtown Austin to commemorate the moment Tuesday.

Once again Univision shows that its liberal biases extend beyond immigration. This time, the network misrepresented Texas’ new open-carry law recently signed by Governor Greg Abbott. Watch as Univision anchor Jorge Ramos smears the new open-carry statute, by suggesting that Texans can bear arms without undergoing a background check: JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION: We now move to the increasingly problematic and defiant policies of Texas governor Greg Abbott. Today, he signed a law that would allow Texans to carry firearms without having to undergo a criminal background check. He said that it is a measure for liberty and self-defense. However, it...

With several eviction protections expiring soon, thousands of applicants are still waiting to be approved for help through Travis County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). As of June 17, 15 applications had reached the “final review” stage, and payment is currently pending for seven of those applicants, according to a Travis County spokesperson. More than 2,500 people applied through a new application portal in mid-April, after the county received $10.7 million dollars in federal funding to be used for rental assistance. Prior to the launch of this new portal, the county’s Health and Human Services division had already received thousands...

The Llano Chamber of Commerce has apologized for a Juneteenth marquee that caused controversy on Saturday. The marquee read "Happy Juneteenth," followed by, "You're free. Stand up and live like it" and a reference to the Bible verse Galatians 5:1. The verse itself reads, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Some residents were upset with the marquee. One KVUE viewer reached out, saying the marquee was "insensitive toward Black people" and "patronizing when it needs to [be] apologetic." "It's saying...

I don't think I've ever posted a thread asking to support a candidate. Not even for Rand Paul! However, this is important. Ken Paxton is facing a primary in Texas for Attorney General against George P. Bush who is seeking to climb the greasy pole and will be well funded and endorsed by lots of well known people. I would argue this is a flagship race that should be on the radar of Freepers and conservatives NATIONALLY. We cannot allow another Bush to infiltrate the system pretending to be a conservative especially after the damage done by the last one....

McAllen, Texas, is a blue city. At least it was. Yesterday, it officially flipped to red as Javier Villalobos defeated Democrat Veronica Vela Whitacre by a narrow margin in the mayoral runoff election. Despite being safely blue with a huge majority of Hispanic voters, the border town has been one of the many to experience massive human smuggling activities ever since Democrats took control in Washington DC. Illegal immigration was at the heart of the campaigns on both sides, but it’s hard for a Democrat to have credibility by opposing illegal immigration when their party is embracing open borders policies....