Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Texas Hospitalizations: +248 from yesterday. Is this about to explode again?
  
  
  
• I've got a buddy who keeps track of all Texas ISDs which have announced the end of online learning. The number increased yesterday to 31 districts.
• It was announced yesterday afternoon that 28 Baylor football players have the COVID.
  
  
  
• Denton Guyer and Southlake were to play on Friday and be broadcast on ESPN2. It's been cancelled. 
• Bridgeport ISD had a (kind of) lively school board meeting with some parents criticizing the athletic program.  One parent said the "had 11 freshman come out for football." Is that true? Back in the day, I could have been a star!

  

  Messenger photo
  

  
  
• The Fifth Circuit late yesterday evening permanently reinstated the "only one drop box" policy of Gov. Abbott for absentee ballot. Although it's clearly voter suppression, you've got other options: Drop the absentee ballot in the mail today, vote in person starting today through October 30th, or vote on election day. So the ruling is a big deal, but not that big of a deal.
•  I really didn't know that the pre-COVID rules allowed for in-person drop off of an absentee ballot only on election day (which seems like a really, really dumb rule.) The new rule is still in place.
  
  
  
• Judge Ho's concurrence takes an interesting stance which, believe it or not, makes a lot of sense to me, too: Only the legislature, and not the governor, should be able to change election laws. Ho would have slapped down any of Abbott's changes, including the first change which allowed absentee ballots to be returned during the 40 day period instead of only on  Election Day. But that issue wasn't before him.  It was only Abbott's second change (the one-return-location vs. many-return-locations) that was before the court instead of the broader issue of "Can the Governor do any of this at all?"                                                            
  
  
  
• Here are the early voting locations in Wise County. The hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except Tuesday, October 20th, and Tuesday, October 27th, when the hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  You also have the next two Saturdays to vote. You can use any of these locations regardless of where you live in the county.  
  
  
  
• I'm not sure I ever posted the specific Wise County results for Senate District 30. Shelley Luther won here.
  
  
  
• And I don't think I had ever heard Amy Coney Barrett speak before yesterday. That's a young voice that she has. 
  
• This may interest lawyers only, but look at some of the responses to this tweet. I'd quit on the spot if they happened to me.  (I've worked for a big Dallas law firm right out of law school. It was a horrible, horrible experience.)
  
• You would think fresh milk would even settle somewhat, but I never have to shake it. 
• The Cowboys are going to sign former UT and SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert. I bet I've posted this magazine cover three times on here in the past. I was in Barnes and Nobles in Southlake when I first saw it and couldn't believe the cockiness of the cover. But, then again, that was during the Peak Evil Empire Cockiness Period.
  
  
  
• Noteworthy since that magazine cover: 
  
  
  
• There's some candidate for the Dallas Court of Appeal who is running an ad on The Ticket promising "to interpret the Constitution the way it was written in 1787."  Someone needs to tell him about that 3/5ths thing. Edit: It's Bill Whitehill. He was with a big downtown Dallas law firm for 32 years. (See above bullet point.)