It's been a long time in the making (a VERY long time in the making): John Mueller, sometimes called the black sheep of the Taylor smoked meat family, is almost back in business here in Austin. Mueller, who used to have
(Editor's Note: This guest post about last week's Texas Sommelier Conference comes from San Francisco food, wine and spirits writer Jordan Mackay, a James Beard Award-winning author for his 2010 book with Rajat Parr, "Secrets of the Sommeliers." But we
The bad news. Texas has a feral hog problem, with an estimated 2.6 million-plus animals roaming in destructive packs around our ranchland, woods and suburbs. The good news. They’re delicious. If you still haven’t picked up our August issue, check out writer Philipp
Get your general admission tickets to the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival on Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m. But if you are in or around Austin, we can also feed you sooner. Come downtown at lunchtime for the final TM BBQ Hunt, where we’ll pick four winners in
Over at Eater National, their regular “Sound Cheque” interview (musicians talking food) is with Eric Johnson of the Fruit Bats, which just released its fifth album, Tripper, on Sub Pop Records. The Portland-based musician says The Salt Lick is “something I basically think about daily.” But
From Dominic Episcopo’s book-in-progress, Meat America, which also has a Facebook page. (H/T to Jeff Smith for the headline.) – JASON COHEN
MEATLIFTING. It's nothing new. The 2010 arrest of Austin's Ronnie Allen Brock provided Texas Monthly with one of our trademark never-ending punny Bum Steer headlines (as if "Bum Steer" itself wasn't enough). But meat fencing? With an undercover sting called "Operation Meat Locker" to catch
(Ground beef guru Josh Ozersky, from a 2008 Nightline appearance) Wednesday at approximately 4 p.m., culinary event planner Mike Thelin was driving around Austin in search of hardwood briquettes, trying to fill a last-minute request from one of the many chefs participating in the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food
Inconvenient writing assignments have kept me away from the blog in recent days, so I have a lot of catching up to do. (I have stories in the September issue on the status of Galveston’s recovery from Hurricane Ike one year later and on the prospects for Gail Lowe, the
The first is from the Wall Street Journal's Opinion page for Saturday, July 13. The second was sent to me, unsolicited, by a reader, Mary Silbert, a woman whose husband died of mesothelioma five years ago and who worked for the passage of the bill this session. I
Here are the elements of the deal: * Automatic admissions capped at 75% of resident admits for UT only, starting with the entering class of 2011 and ending in 2015. * UT may not use legacy status in its admissions process. * Cap % of non-residents enrolled in the freshman
Remember Albuquerque. The Senate Democrats found themselves stuck in New Mexico without an exit strategy. The situation is similar to congressional redistricting in that the governor holds the cards. He can call a special session on any subject and open the call to Voter I.D. Except that the House Democrats’
Yes, the feral hogs debate was the House at its finest. No other parliamentary body in America could have produced that debate. Where else could you hear a hog hunt described as economic development? This turned out to be another urban-rural fight, with Sid Miller and Gattis warning of the
I came home last night to find a GOPAC survey in my e-mail queue. I tend to vote in Republican primaries (4 of the 6 elections starting in 1998), since that is the only election that matters for statewide candidates, so I assume that is how they found me. Here
Yesterday I posted a report on Texas Public Policy Foundation’s testimony before House Transportation earlier this week, in which I questioned TPPF’s continuing advocacy for measuring the growth in state spending compared to an index of population growth plus inflation. Later, I learned that Michael Villarreal, one of the sponsors
The Texas Public Policy Foundation testified before the House Transportation committee this week concerning the mammoth local option transportation funding bill that has passed the Senate. TPPF's Justin Keener expressed alarm about the rising cost of government (to no one's surprise): Between 2000 and 2008, the state’s total budget grew
When I read in Friday’s Statesman that Texas had lost its competition with Kentucky for an advanced battery project and the federal research funding that comes with it, I immediately wondered why the governor, who has made such a point of touting economic development, wasn’t more enthusiastic in getting behind
This is a report from Texas Monthly's intern, Abby Rapoport, on the Public Safety committee hearing of March 30 on Joe Driver's bill allowing guns on campus. It was four hours into the meeting before Public Safety made it to the issue that had brought crowds. Joe Driver presented HB
Prompted by the Senate Finance committee's rider banning the use of state funds for embryonic stem cell research, 18 prominent Texas scientists have signed a letter addressed to all Texas lawmakers urging them to "remove the ban on funding for embryonic stem cell research in Texas from SB1, and to
As lawmakers try to determine what can and cannot be done with the stimulus money, a crucial question has arisen. The purpose of the stimulus money is to help states fill holes in their budget. The question is: Does Texas have a hole–or, to put it another way, will the
This was the testimony of a witness from the Brennan Center at NYU, moments ago (around 10:55 p.m.), who said flatly that there are virtually no cases of voter impersonation fraud. I agree with him on that point, but the oft-repeated information that Abbott spent $1.4 million on voter fraud
It did not escape Judith Zaffirini’s notice that the Voter ID bill from last session carried a $671,000 annual fiscal note, but this year’s version has a a neutral impact. What prompted the difference? she asks Fraser. “Good research,” he contends. Evidently, upon closer scrutiny, the Voter ID bill can
After the flap between Comptroller Strayhorn and the state leadership in 2003, in which she threatened not to certify the state budget, the Legislature reacted by moving the state performance review from the Comptroller’s office to the Legislative Budget Board. The LBB has just come out with its new report.
The Grande Dame of Dish is far from retired.
The state’s Republican leadership appears to be warming up to the $17 billion in federal stimulus money, Gov. Rick Perry’s voluble aversion notwithstanding. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who breakfasted today with Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus, gave some insight about the leadership’s thinking to reporters in
President Obama just lent a hand to the advocates in Austin who have been arguing for 12-month eligibility for families signing up for Medicaid, as opposed to having to re-up every six months. Obama today signed the SCHIP Reauthorization Act, which rewards states that reach more children with Medicaid. Currently,
The Gallup organization released a nationwide poll last week showing the partisan preference in every state. The daily tracking poll, conducted during the election campaign, sampled 19,415 adult Texans concerning their self-identification by political party and found that 43.4% identified themselves as Democrats compared to 41.0% who identified
The Quorum Report today reports that the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call has a story saying that John Cornyn is encouraging Greg Abbott to join the Senate race to serve out the remainder of Kay Bailey Hutchison’s term. I was surprised to see this. Abbott supposedly has ruled out a
I hope this won’t be seen as poaching; a lobbyist sent me the story from Capitol Inside. Here are the first two paragraphs: There’s speculation that State Rep. Joe Straus may be seriously considering a race for the Texas House’s top leadership post if no other candidate catches
I just heard a scenario for the BCS that would have Oklahoma and Texas in the BCS title game. The argument is that Florida, which trails Texas by .0372 in the BCS standings, does better than Texas in the polls but worse in the computer rankings. The question is, will
Jack Rains, whom some may remember as a former Secretary of State during the Bill Clements years, sent this commentary by Rush Limbaugh to his (Rains’) e-mail list. It pertains to the county-by-county map of the election (click on image for full map). I will comment following Limbaugh’s
I am going to publish below an e-mail and corresponding op-ed that I received from Senator Eliot Shapleigh. It requires no explanation. # # # # This is Shapleigh's letter to me: I’ve read your recent pieces on major issues, including tuition. In my view you miss the point. After
Here is what to watch for. If Craddick has the votes, he will lay out the names. If he doesn’t lay out the names, he doesn’t have the votes.
I am going to use this format to update daily the number of early votes cast in the fifteen counties with the most registered voters, ranked by the Secretary of State in the order of most to least registered voters. I am also going to include the numbers for the
Fort Bend County is off the charts: up 142% compared to the votes cast here in 2004. Harris County is up 117%. The lowest six of the top fifteen counties (based on registered voters) have combined to cast just 4,000 votes more than Harris County. The six are Fort Bend,
There are three plausible reasons for the reduction: 1. Olson is winning and doesn’t need the money. 2. Olson is losing and the money can’t save him. 3. Some other race is more important to the Republican party. Here’s how RedState sees it: The NRCC [National Republican Congressional
Bobby Mueller, the owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, is dead at the age of 69. His son Wayne Mueller, vows to carry on his dad’s tradition. Bobby–who was the son of Louie, who founded the sprawling barbecue restaurant in 1949–died in his sleep on Saturday morning. The death
The historic showdown between Texas and California has been a cold war, a simmering ideological feud between two great powers. And the winner (for now) is . . .
Rereading John Graves
There’s no point in grousing about Texas’ minor shortcomings. Why not just roll up our sleeves and make it perfect once and for all?
The question is not so hard; it’s the answers that are the problem.
