The State of Texas: March 19, 2014

Bum Steer Award

It’s not some foolish Texan, but rather, an actual bum steer. On Tuesday, “A loose bull ran through South Waco streets, yards and business properties,” according to the Waco Tribune. Animal control brought out their lassos and horses to wrangle the beast, which took about an hour to corral. And in case you were curious, “the animal control cowboys are contracted on an as-needed basis.”

Video Of the Day

A North Texan is getting some Internet buzz for his cover of “Let It Go,” the theme song from the movie Frozen. It’s a pretty popular cover choice, but unlike the other karaoke cowboys, this fella sings the song in 21 different Disney character voices. It’s the work of either genius or madness:

Texas By The Numbers

LBJam-Packed — Number of people who signed up to get ticket information concerning the planned LBJ Summit: 21,000. Number of people the largest room in the LBJ Library can hold: 1,000.

Child horrors — Number of arrests made in the FBI’s worldwide child porn bust: 14. Number of victims identified: 251. Number of states victims live in: 39. Number living in Texas: 19. Only state with a higher number of victims, by one: Louisiana.

Crime By Crimewest — Number of public intoxication arrests made during SXSW: 45. For DWI: 22. For theft: 66. For aggravated assault: four. For inciting a riot: one.

Daily Roundup

Hybrid, Bye-Brid — Folks with a penchant for eco-friendly stuff appear to have crashed head-on with regulations. Tesla motors is/was considering opening a “gigafactory” in Texas, but now that might not happen because we have “long-standing state laws protecting and regulating auto dealerships,” according to the Texas Tribune. Like the alcohol industry, car manufacturers in Texas can’t sell directly to customers, only through “tightly regulated franchised dealers.” Among the country’s strictest (only Arizona is worse), those regulations “could harm Texas’ chances of landing the $5 billion lithium-ion battery plant Tesla plans to construct by 2017.” Oh, and it’d also cost about 6,500 jobs. The Texas Automobile Dealers Association, which has the state in a monopoly choke-hold over the issue, says the restrictions are to protect poor, defenseless customer, although that argument seems to have all the gas mileage of a Ford car. Despite both Wendy Davis and Rick Perry have publicly pushed for revisions, “It is unclear whether opponents of the anti-trust laws can change it next session.” Maybe Texas will get its pistons firing correctly in time for flying cars.

Good Job(s) — Although you might be out of luck if you’re looking for a job in the electric car market, don’t worry! There’s still plenty of other opportunities. “Texas once again is leading the nation in job growth — at least through January — and economists say trends for the rest of the year look promising,” according to the Dallas Morning News. The state added a total of “33,900 jobs in January and 322,400” for the twelve-month period. Much of the growth came from “trade, transportation and utilities [and] education and health services.” But construction was a big winner, too, which should come as no surprise to anyone in the cities, where construction cranes are now near-permanent landmarks. The real question: will all these jobs will help Governor Rick Perry seek the most important job in America.

Rick Flair-y — The short answer to the previous question: maybe? The job market here certainly makes Rick Perry an appealing national figure. Or perhaps its just the glasses. Regardless, “a new survey conducted for CNN by ORC International March 7-9, indicate that [Perry] could yet rise from the ashes of the epic flameout of his 2012 campaign for president,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. Our governor came in a third, and, as the Statesman noted, he’s pretty good at getting elected. Larry Sabato, a favorite insert-quote-here for such political stories on Republican politics, said “Perry is without doubt a much better politician than the bumbler who came across in 2012.” The piece, however, does have one real gem and probably the most important takeaway: Rick Perry 3.0, is, “sans cowboy boots but sporting a stylish pair of Oliver Peoples glasses.”

¿Cómo Se Dice, ‘Fired’? — Despite all the good news about jobs (or possible job, in Perry’s case), there’s one person who needs to worry about a career. “The Hempstead school board won’t renew the contract of a principal who instructed her students not to speak Spanish,” according to the San Antonio Express-News. For those needing a study review, the principal was “placed on paid administrative leave in December after reportedly announcing, via intercom, that students were not to speak Spanish on the school’s campus.” Civil rights advocates are also calling for an FBI investigation into what they claim are hate crimes being committed after the principal was put on leave, with one director of a Latino group comparing it to “Mississippi in the 1950s and ’60s.”