New Team Gear
Harris County property taxes are increasing. See this from the Chron:
Harris County Commissioners Court on Thursday gave final approval to its financial plan for the upcoming year, including an 8% increase in the county’s property tax rate for the new fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. The vote fell along party lines, with the four Democrats supporting the $2.6 billion general fund budget and property tax rate of 38 cents per $100 of assessed value. Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey voted against the measures.
Commissioners Court approves the tax rate and budget not only for the county government’s general fund, but also for three other entities – Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris Health public hospital system and the Port of Houston. All were approved on Thursday, except for the flood control tax rate, which will be determined by voters in November as part of a bipartisan effort to give a major financial boost to the county’s flood mitigation infrastructure.
Typically, Texas counties cannot raise property tax rates by more than 3.5% without seeking voter approval. However, this year is an exception. Because the Houston area has experienced multiple disasters recently, the county is eligible under state law to increase its property tax rate by 8%.
Along with the 8% increase for the general fund, the Harris Health system and Port of Houston tax rates went up as well.
For the owner of a home valued at $400,000, the increases will total an additional $256 in taxes. However, that figure could increase further if voters in November approve an increase for Harris County Flood Control District that would add an extra $60 per year, generating $113 million in revenue for maintaining flood mitigation infrastructure.
Here is the entire read: Harris County approves $2.6B budget, tax rate increase for 2025 (houstonchronicle.com).
I am okay with this. I am not going to complain. I will be voting for the flood control tax rate hike as soon as I get my mail ballot.
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Commentary has said before that the GOP has lost all its moral high ground. All of it. The latest is the GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina. Here is from CNN:
(CNN) — Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, a CNN KFile investigation found.
Despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, a review of archived messages found in which he also referred to himself as a “perv.”
Here is the entire read: Mark Robinson, NC GOP nominee for governor, called himself a ‘black NAZI!,’ supported slavery in past comments made on porn forum | CNN Politics.
There is no outrage from the GOP. That is typical these days. We all know that the MAGA GOP is a totally corrupt outfit. Shameful for sure.
This is good. See this from NBC News:
Less than 24 hours after CNN published a bombshell report on comments that it said Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, made on a pornographic website, the Democratic National Committee unveiled new advertisements linking him to former President Donald Trump.
The DNC plans to launch a new digital advertisement and nearly a dozen billboards highlighting how Trump has praised Robinson, who is North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, according to a source familiar with the matter and a news release by DNC regional press secretary Kenny Palmer. NBC News was the first to report the new ad push.
By linking Trump to Robinson, Democrats hope to cut into Trump’s support in the state, which a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since 2008.
North Carolina could prove decisive in a close presidential race, and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, said himself that it would be “very hard” for his ticket to win in November if Democrats flip North Carolina.
Here is the entire read: Democrats launch new ad push to tie Trump to Mark Robinson following reported porn website comments (msn.com).
And then there is this tweet today from @MattGertz:
No mentions of the GOP’s self-proclaimed “Black Nazi” candidate for NC Gov Mark Robinson yesterday on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Jesse Watters Primetime, Hannity, or Gutfeld, if you’re wondering how all that is going.
Your 2024 MAGA GOP, folks.
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My next-door neighbors are going solar. Three trucks showed up and started the installation process. I am curious to know how long it will take to finish the job.
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Tilman Fertitta will be putting in a bid to get a WNBA franchise for H-Town. Good. If he is successful, I wonder if he will call the team the Comets. The Comets did win four WNBA titles. Just so you know, H-Town hasn’t had a WNBA team since 2008. Good luck.
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Commentary has a dozen or so lids that I choose from to wear to The Yard including the Space City lid in the featured photo. I have a Colt .45s, orange, blue and gold, patriotic, assorted blue and orange combos, blue, and a couple of World Series Championship lids. It looks like I will have to pick up another one next season. See this from the Chron:
The Houston Astros’ Nike City Connect Space City uniforms have been extremely popular ever since they debuted in 2022, but the team will wear them just one more time before they’re retired for good.
The contract between Major League Baseball and Nike allows teams to swap out their City Connect uniforms every three years. The Astros will exercise that option and unveil an entirely new City Connect look next season. That means Monday night’s game against the Mariners will be the last time fans will see the popular uniforms on the field.
Wearing them mostly on Monday home games, with a few exceptions, the Astros have gone 13-12 in the navy blue jersey-navy blue top combination, including 4-2 this season.
The uniforms were a nod to Houston’s contributions to space travel with the navy uniforms featuring the “Space City” nickname across the chest in a 1970s NASA-like orange font, rainbow piping throughout the uniform and rainbow gradient socks. The jersey’s sleeves had a grid pattern resembling star charts used by astronomers. The cap logo featured the Astros’ traditional star H logo with planetary tracks and rainbow gradient. The word Astros also was spelled out along the side of the cap. As a tribute to the Astros’ 1970s uniforms, the pants featured the player’s uniform number on the right leg.
When the jerseys launched in 2022, it was a record-setting day in Astros Team Store history with jersey sales that day topping the sales of the 2017 World Series Champions Gold Rush event. It also was the team store’s second-largest non-game day sales total behind only the day after the 2017 World Series championship win.
I wonder who they will pay homage to next season. Our diversity since we champion it all the time. Energy, the Port, the Medical Center, our higher education institutions, and our railroads are our major regional economic forces. Our foodie community, maybe.
Don’t give me grief about throwing in the railroads. Don’t forget, a locomotive is still featured on the City of H-Town logo. Don’t fret about the team running out new gear just to make a buck or it being a sinister marketing ploy. I don’t mind shelling out more dough for new gear. Heck, just last week at the Team Store I bought a nice t-shirt with Astros spelled out in the tri colors of red, white and green with the Mexican flag on a sleeve. Just like I don’t mind paying $21 including tips for a Saint Arnold at The Yard. I am doing my part to keep Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker in orange and blue.
We won last night, and our magic number is down to five.
