Early voting in Texas for the November 6 midterm elections begins today, October 22, and ends November 2.
A list of Williamson County early voting locations can be found here.
A list of Travis County early voting locations is here, and a list of early voting mobile locations is here.
Whether you’re early voting or not, now would be a good time to locate your voter registration card.
If you didn’t participate in early runoff voting, today is the day!
Also note that, at least here in Williamson County, a lot of the regular voting locations don’t seem to be open, so plan accordingly…
Harvey is expected to be a Class III Hurricane by the time it makes landfall on the Texas coast late Friday or early Saturday. Predictions are for as much as 30 inches of rain in some places, as well as up to a 12 foot storm surge in coastal areas.
Mandatory evacuations have been issued for Aransas Pass and Calhoun County, as well as parts of Brazoria and Matagorda Counties.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has preemptively declared 30 counties disaster areas, which automatically makes a lot of state resources available to local officials.
Here’s a list of official closures in the Texas Coastal Bend area.
If you live on or near the Texas coast between Brownsville and Port Lavaca, now would be a darn good to to load up your car, tape your windows, lock your doors and evacuate.
Even in central Texas, be prepared for flooding in low-lying areas, avoid low water crossings, and have adequate food and water supplies in the event of a loss of power.
In short: Don’t be this guy:
“As a result of all of the heavy rains, and at the request of the LCRA Emergency Management Team and the City of Austin Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Fire Chief has decided to close Lake Austin, Lady Bird Lake, and the Colorado River downstream of Longhorn Dam. The flooding upstream and the threat of more rain has caused concern and the LCRA has already started releasing water from various dams around the Hill Country. The water will flow downstream of Austin and is not expected to worsen the current flooding situation on the Colorado River downstream of Austin.”
Condolences to any of those who had their Memorial Day lake outing cut short. The lake is projected to be reopened at noon on June 1.
This week, UT’s LBJ Presidential Library is having a three-day Civil Rights Summit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For this they’ve managed to snag four different past and present U.S. Presidents:
President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at a Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, April 10, 2014….President Obama will be joined by three former Presidents who will also deliver remarks at the Civil Rights Summit: Jimmy Carter will speak on April 8; Bill Clinton will speak on April 9; and George W. Bush will speak on April 10.
That’s a real feather in the cap for the LBJ Library and whoever arranged the summit, but it’s likely going to mean a huge pain in the ass to anyone who wants to do something in Austin when Obama comes to town. Obama’s over-protective security detail usually bring traffic to a complete standstill wherever he goes. I don’t know his schedule, but if he comes in and leaves Thursday, expect everyplace from the airport up to about 35th street to be all bit impassable for much of the day.
Better pack a lunch…
Over on my other blog, I have a warning from William Shatner not to set yourself on fire frying a turkey.
Now, thanks to Dwight, we have a more local warning from The Round Rock Fire Department. Take it away, boys!
The turkey frying warning video is indeed a rich genre…
BlueHost was down for most of the day, so no blogging.
Expect your normally scheduled political rants to resume on Monday.