Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Coming Next Week: The Red Threat 🇨🇳

• One year ago, Texas Scorecard released an investigative series and podcast on the Chinese Communist Party's infiltration of the Lone Star State.
   
• Next week, a new four-part series by Kristen Stanciu will reveal how in education, politics, commerce, and even in their surveillance efforts, the CCP's infiltration of Texas goes even deeper than previously thought.

Women Harassed, Attacked By 'Trans' Activists

• “Trans-rights” activists harassed and assaulted women who attended Gov. Greg Abbott's ceremonial signing this week of legislation designed to protect women’s sports. Sydnie Henry has the details on this emerging story.
       

• Following a years-long fight to protect fair play in women’s collegiate athletics, the new law ensures biological women only compete against biological women. Women attending the ceremony at the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in Denton were faced with vitriol from those who oppose the legislation. 

      
• Video captured by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) shows LGBT activists making lewd gestures at attendees entering the ceremony.
       
• Meanwhile, Michelle Evans of the Independent Women’s Network attended the event and videoed the protestors spitting on other attendees, hurling profanities, and physically stopping her from leaving.

Dallas Council Considers Proposal to Remove Homeless Camps

• The Dallas City Council will soon consider a $4.1 million addition to Dallas’ 2024 budget for the city to address its homeless encampment problem. Soli Rice has the story.

     

• It would involve spending $1.5 million for dissolving and “decommissioning” the homeless encampments, $1.5 million to build fences to keep homeless people out of “encampment-prone” areas such as highway overpasses and bridges, and $1.1 million to “clean” up encampments.

      
• This proposal comes just over a month after the Dallas City Council voted in favor of spending $3 million to assist homeless residents with finding housing.
       
• The homeless population in Dallas increased by 35 percent from 2015 to 2023.

Mesquite Teacher Exposed, Fired For Racist Posts

• An elementary school teacher in Mesquite was fired on Tuesday for posting racist social media rants demonizing white people and joking about killing a white man. Emily Medeiros has the details.
       

• Danielle Allen, who taught first grade at Thompson Elementary School in Mesquite Independent School District, made a series of racist posts on X (formerly Twitter) in which she claimed the white race “is the most evil race to ever exist.”

       
• Libs of TikTok, a social media group that routinely exposes leftist teachers, shed light on the postings.
      

• After being exposed for racist remarks, Allen posted that her “job was safe” and her “employers laughed” at the matter. But after multiple community members called on the school to investigate, Allen was fired yesterday and will be ineligible for rehire at the district. 

Roanoke Restaurant to Close Down After Hosting Drag Show Targeting Children

• A Roanoke restaurant that became the center of controversy one year ago for hosting an “all-ages” drag show will be shutting its doors. As Brandon Waltens reports, the owners of the Anderson Distillery and Grill blamed the community for not supporting them.
     
• The restaurant attracted attention in August 2022 by hosting an event featuring several scantily clad "drag queens" dancing and performing vulgar lip-sync routines in front of children.
      
• According to the restaurant's owners, they are moving the business to Denton. 

Lowe Announces Rematch Campaign With Klick

• Grassroots political activist David Lowe has announced his rematch campaign challenging incumbent State Rep. Stephanie Klick for a seat in House District 91. Matthew DeLaCruz has the details.

      
• Lowe was among four challengers to Klick in the 2022 GOP primary, forcing the incumbent into a runoff. He lost the runoff by less than 800 votes.
     
• In 2021, Klick used her chairmanship of the Public Health Committee to block legislation protecting children from gender mutilation procedures. Due to pressure from home and other lawmakers eager to pass protections, Klick did not block the effort this session – but she was seen by grassroots activists as an opponent on other conservative issues.

Texas Teacher Sentenced to 100 Years in Prison

• A former Hughes Springs ISD girls’ volleyball coach, Aaron Marshall, was convicted of nine felony sex crimes against his adopted daughter. Erin Anderson reports the abuse began when the girl was 12 and lasted until she was 16.
      
• The State Board for Educator Certification records show Marshall’s Texas teacher certificate is currently valid, but he is under investigation by the Texas Education Agency. Texas law requires a license holder’s license to be revoked if they are imprisoned following a felony conviction.

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