The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
We’re more than a week into early voting for the Texas party primaries. Voting began on February 20. A record number of Texans – more than 15.2 million – are registered to vote in these elections, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.
Sam Taylor, a spokesperson for the agency, reminds voters about what kinds of identification they need to bring to the polls.
“If you have one of the seven approved forms of photo ID, that’s what you need to bring to vote,” Taylor says.
Those seven approved forms of photo identification are as follows:
– Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
– Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
– Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
– Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
– United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
– United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
– United States Passport (book or card)
If you don’t have one of the seven approved forms of photo ID and can’t “reasonably obtain” them, you have other options. Taylor explains, “You can fill out what’s called a reasonable impediment declaration at the polls and that’s just basically saying you had a reasonable impediment to obtaining an ID such as lack of transportation, there’s work schedule issues, there’s a couple different options you can check on that form, and you basically sign to swear that you are the person that you say you are and then you present a supporting form of identification.” That could be something such as a utility bill or your voter registration certificate. Early voting continues through Friday, March 2. Election Day is next Tuesday, March 6.
President Donald Trump actually weighed in on the Texas primaries Tuesday.
He sent out two tweets, hours apart, backing eight fellow Republicans. The first called on voters to back Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. All except Paxton are facing a GOP challenger in the 2018 Texas party primaries.
I want to encourage all of my many Texas friends to vote in the primary for Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. They are helping me to Make America Great Again! Vote early or on March 6th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2018
In the second, Trump touted Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Comptroller Glenn Hegar, Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Texas LC George P. Bush backed me when it wasn’t the politically correct thing to do, and I back him now. Also, AC Sid Miller has been with me from the beginning, he is “Trump’s Man in Texas.” Also support Comptroller Glenn Hegar, and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2018
The Texas Tribune reports that Trump’s endorsements of Sid Miller and George P. Bush could be especially significant since each are facing tough primary battles. Former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patteron is trying to unseat his predecessor, Bush. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is in a heated primary race against former lobbyist Trey Blocker. (You can watch a debate between the two here.). early voting continues through March 2. Election Day is Tuesday, March 6.
The Dallas Mavericks have hired a new interim Chief Executive Officer, Cynthia Marshall. The move comes in the wake of an investigative report alleging members of the NBA team’s staff, including its former CEO, repeatedly sexually harassed their female colleagues.
Jessica Luther, who co-wrote the story for Sports Illustrated, recently told KERA News in Dallas that the Mavericks workplace was hostile for women. “I think if you were on the business side and you had to go into the office, it could be a really rough space, especially if you had to interact directly with the then CEO and president of the Dallas Mavericks, Tedema Ussery.”
Ussery left the organization in 2015. Team owner Mark Cuban, who insists he has no knowledge of this decades-long culture of harassment, introduced Marshall as the team’s new interim CEO at a press conference earlier this week. Marshall explained the team is in the early stages of its response to these reports but has identified three focus areas: the investigation, culture transformation and operational effectiveness.
“Regarding the investigation, independent investigators are in the process of conducting interviews with current and former employees,” Marshall said. “The purpose of the interviews is to make sure all issues and allegations are surfaced and addressed. We need everything to come out. Allegations will be thoroughly investigated and any required disciplinary action with be administered swiftly, very swiftly.”
Marshall is the founder of Marshalling Resources, a consulting firm that specializes in leadership, diversity, and inclusion. She also used to be senior vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer for AT&T.