Good morning from Austin.
In 364 days I will turn 35.It’s a big day in Texas, with what is being described as the biggest game in A&M’s history in College Station (#1 Alabama at #6 Texas A&M) and ESPN’s “College Gameday” on campus and UT hosting SEC foe #25 Ole Miss at 7pm.
My predictions:
UT 21, Ole Miss 20 (low confidence) line is UT -3
Alabama 24, A&M 17 (medium confidence) line is Alabama -9
Here’s the brief:
PERRY COMMS DIR CASTLE TO TDI
TT’s Edgar Walters reports:
Allison Castle, Gov. Rick Perry’s communications director, is leaving to take a new position at the Texas Department of Insurance on Oct. 1.
Castle will be TDI’s deputy commissioner for public affairs, the agency announced Friday. TDI regulates insurance companies statewide, oversees the state fire marshal and manages workers’ compensation claims. Castle previously worked as press secretary and special adviser in the governor’s office.
She also currently serves on the board of the Texas Disaster Relief Fund.
CHANGES AT BOR: MUSSELMAN LEAVING, HAENSCHEN TO EDITOR/PUBLISHER
Yesterday’s announcement at Burnt Orange Report:
During the past few months, Burnt Orange Report has reached a series of milestones. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in April, welcomed eight new staff members in July, and had our 13 millionth page view in August.
During this time, Burnt Orange Report has also been preparing for a major transition in site leadership.
After 10 years, Karl-Thomas Musselman is stepping down from Burnt Orange Report as a staff member to pursue new professional opportunities. KT is by far this site’s longest-term staff member and his own history in Texas politics is intertwined with that of this site. He has served as a writer almost since the site’s beginning, and has owned the site for much of its history. A prolific blogger, KT has posted about a wide array of topics during his tenure, publishing over 2,000 posts in his time on the site.
Katherine Haenschen will now serve as Editor and Publisher of the Burnt Orange Report. Katherine joined BOR in 2008 after the presidential election, and has been a long-time member of the national progressive Netroots community. She became the editor in the summer of 2011 and has been leading our ever-expanding team of writers ever since.
The Burnt Orange Report community owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to KT for his years of commitment to keeping the site going. While many other state blogs have shut down because the staff moved on to other things, KT has managed to keep the lights on. That is no small feat, and all Texas progressives owe him a great debt of gratitude for his commitment to BOR over the years.
Additionally, two of our writers are being promoted to Senior Staff Writer. Read more below the jump.
We’re also excited to announce that Ben Sherman and Joe Deshotel have both been promoted to Senior Staff Writer.
Since joining the team at BOR in 2011, Ben Sherman has been one of our most prolific writers, and has broken several national news stories. He anchored our coverage of Perry’s presidential campaign in his “On Perry’s Trail” series, and also provides extensive commentary of Ted Cruz. A senior at the University of Texas, Ben previously worked on the Bill White campaign.
Joe Deshotel joined the team in 2012 and has covered a broad array of topics for BOR. He provided on-the-ground coverage of events during this summer’s special sessions, and also writes extensively about southeast Texas and his native Beaumont. Joe also draws a national audience to BOR through his coverage of stories with an appeal beyond our Texas borders. Outside of BOR, Joe provides digital media and communications services for a variety of progressive entities, and is in a band.
Please join us in wishing KT all the best as he moves into a new phase of his professional life.
KT will always be a member of the Burnt Orange Report community. We will miss his unique perspective on Texas politics, passion for municipal issues, and commitment to providing an alternative media space here in Texas. We wish him all the best with his future endeavors and know that he will never take his eyes off Texas politics.
MONDAY IN AUSTIN: EVAN SMITH INTERVIEWS TOM PAUKEN
Texas Tribune CEO and editor-in-chief Evan Smith will interview Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Pauken on Monday morning at the Austin Club at 8am as part of their excellent TribLive series.
Open to the public but you must register.
Register here.
CRUZ TO SPEAK IN MIDLAND TONIGHT
From a media advisory issued by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) office:
U.S. Senator Cruz (R-TX) will travel to Midland, Texas, to speak at the Despierta Tu Vos (Wake up Your Voice) Rally.
Saturday, September 14 – Midland, TX
Despierta Tu Voz (Wake up Your Voice) Rally
5:00 pm CT – 10:00 pm CT
*Sen. Ted Cruz speaks around 8:20 pm CT
Centennial Plaza
105 N. Main Street,
Midland, TX 79701
#txlege
– AAS’ Chuck Lindell reports (behind paywall) on uncertainty surrounding the state’s new abortion law.
– The AAS editorial board is calling on (behind paywall) the impeachment proceedings for UT Regent Wallace Hall to be open. (Note: Michael Quinn Sullivan finally has an AAS editorial that he likes!)
– Texas DPS is extending hours for processing free Voter ID cards.
– State Sen. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) has a guest op ed (behind paywall) in today’s SAEN on how the state can fix its foster care system.
2013 / 2014 / 2016:
– SAEN / Chron columnist Rick Casey follows (behind paywall) the opposition to the San Antonio non-discrimination ordinance from gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Greg Abbott (R-TX) and his would-be successors.
– The SAEN editorial board weighs in (behind paywall) on last week’s redistricting ruling and how it may impact the 2014 election.
Other stories of interest:
– Bloomberg News reports that many Texans are in the dark as Obamacare enrollment nears on Oct. 1.
– The LA Times reports on Sen. Cruz’s efforts to defund Obamacare.
