Plus: Learn about the "Smudge"
Santa Fe Ten Memorial Foundation |
If you read one thing: Nearly five years after a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, a proposal to build a permanent memorial on the school grounds was voted down by the Santa Fe ISD board of trustees, sparking outrage among the victims' families. Why did they vote it down? The Santa Fe ISD board of trustees voted unanimously this week to pursue a different location for the memorial, despite vocal support in favor of building the memorial at the school where eight children and two teachers were killed by a 17-year-old gunman. The president of the school board told the Chronicle that the district does not want a memorial in front of the high school, citing concerns about security, traffic and emotional distress to students and staff. The board also had concerns about spending taxpayer money to maintain or fund the memorial. What will they do instead? The board opted to pursue a different route. The district owns 4 acres of land near a park and across the street from an elementary school and could sell the land to the City of Santa Fe to build the memorial there. The board's decision came after nine public speakers, including mothers of children killed in the shooting, who implored the board to build the memorial at the site of the massacre. Members of the Santa Fe Ten Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit formed to design and build a memorial for the victims, said they felt blindsided by the decision.
Last thoughts: The school board president said the district did not agree to a specific location for the memorial when it approved the concept. He said the decision, "is not something that's being taken lightly. It is extremely stressful, it is extremely emotional," he said.
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Marie D. De Jesús/Staff photographer |
Mel Bochner doesn't care what Houstonians will think of his "Smudge", the fourth installment of Menil Drawing Institute's wall drawing series. He just wants people to think about it. Bochner caught up with the Chronicle's Arts & Society Writer Amber Elliot to talk about "Smudge", which is on display through September at the Menil Drawing Institute. Bochner said he wants the audience to have a conversation in their head: "Why's it blue? Why's it on the wall?" Read more about it here. |
Massive disenfranchisement |
Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer |
If you read one thing: Voters of color were 50 percent more likely than white voters to have mail ballots rejected under a new Texas law, according to a new study. What is the law? Texas' S.B. 1 was passed by Texas Republicans in 2021 in the name of election integrity, requiring absentee voters to include either a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on the ballot. What's the problem? Advocates say that many voters forget which number is on file or overlook it on their ballots. An analysis found Latino, Asian and Black voters were significantly more likely to have applications and ballots rejected under the new requirement. The requirement caused nearly 25,000 ballots and 12,000 applications to be rejected in the March primaries. How big are the racial disparities? Voters of color were at least 47 percent more likely than white voters to have their ballots rejected. Asian-American and Latino voters were each more than 50 percent more likely to have a ballot rejected than white voters. Texas has among the strictest mail voting laws in the nation and is one of just 15 states that requires an excuse to vote by mail. |
Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle |
⚠️ Rocks: Texas Parks and Wildlife officials want visitors to enjoy the state's parks but stop stacking rocks as it disturbs sensitive and critical wildlife habitats. (Houston Chronicle) 🔒 Privacy: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Google on Thursday, alleging it violated privacy laws by illegally capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texans without their informed consent for almost a decade. (Houston Chronicle) 💰 Cornyn: Texas Senator John Cornyn has put together a $20 million fundraising operation to help the GOP take back the Senate this November and doubled down on his support for Republican Herschel Walker of Georgia. (Texas Tribune) 🗳️ Election Monitors: Houston and Harris County officials are asking the federal government to send monitors to assist in the upcoming November election in response to a letter the county received from the Texas secretary of state's office this week informing it that state election observers would be monitoring Harris County's voting tally. (Houston Chronicle)
🚚 IKEA: Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has begun piloting autonomous trucks to transport its products across Texas highways. (Houston Chronicle)
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Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle |
Today we're talking with politics reporter Jeremy Wallace about his most recent profile of Beto O'Rourke and how his previous presidential campaign affects his campaign for Texas governor. You've covered O'Rourke a lot through your career. Did you learn anything new or did anything surprise you when writing this profile? I think many readers will be surprised at how O'Rourke grew up in such a political household with his hard-charging father working on Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign that it kind of turned him off of politics. It wasn't until he became a part of the business community that he started thinking of politics as something positive. In your profile, O'Rourke says that the public sees him differently than they did before his presidential campaign. Is there evidence to support this? Public polling shows independent voters have really changed their views on O'Rourke. I cite a couple of polls that show where these voters were once a strength of his campaign, they now are a potential danger for him as he tries to win them back. You quoted UH political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus who said that O'Rourke's campaign has "lost the middle." Are independent voters key to O'Rourke's success? With Republicans outnumbering Democrats generally in Texas, the path to victory for any Democrat has to be bringing over independents and moderate Republicans. The good news for O'Rourke is he did well with these voters in the past. But, his run for the White House has damaged him with some of those voters. |
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It's truly a great time to be a sports fan with baseball, football, basketball, and hockey on all at once. And plus, the weather is finally not too bad. Enjoy your weekend! Ryan Nickerson ryan.nickerson@houstonchronicle.com |
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