The State of Texas: Houston gets its check

What Texas is talking about today No Images? [Click here]( [University of Houston]( [Texas Monthly]( October 2, 2017 QUOTE OF THE DAY “We need to know if you’re really ‘like a good neighbor.’ We need to know if you’re ‘in good hands.’ They need to quit telling their clients, ‘Wait ’til you get the FEMA money.’ They need to write a damn check.” —Texas A&M University chancellor and Harvey recovery czar John Sharp, in an interview with the [Texas Tribune]( on Friday. Sharp criticized insurance companies for coming up short in their response to Harvey. BIG NEWS Big Relief After sparring over whether the state should tap into its Rainy Day Fund for the city’s effort to recover from Hurricane Harvey’s devastating flooding, [Governor Greg Abbott handed Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner]( a $50 million check on Friday. Abbott still hasn’t reached into the Rainy Day Fund—the $50 million comes from a $100 million disaster relief fund appropriated to Abbott’s office during the last legislative session—but Abbott did concede to using the source for long-term recovery costs, though that likely means he won’t dip into it until 2019 at the earliest. “The time to use the thrust of the Rainy Day Fund is when the expenses are known,” Abbott said at a press conference Friday. “So the members of the Legislature know how best to use the Rainy Day Fund.” In light of Abbott’s previous refusal to fork over more state aid, Turner had announced that he’d have to implement a one-year, 8.9 percent tax rate hike to raise $110 million next year, though he sliced that proposal in half after federal officials agreed to increase their contribution to the recovery. Abbott was critical of Turner’s plan, telling reporters he felt the mayor was using the recovery effort “as hostage to raise taxes,” according to the [New York Times](. But both men were all smiles Friday when Abbott presented Turner with the check. “Now that the hurricane winds are calm… it’s time that we begin the process of rebuilding Texas, and that’s a tall task,” Abbott said at the press conference. “This is what the state of Texas is for … We’re proud to be here wearing the same jersey working for the same team.” THE EDGE [Come Join us at the Edge]( This November, we’re thrilled to bring you a new way to experience Texas Monthly, at a two-day event called the Edge of Texas. [University of Houston]( MEANWHILE, IN TEXAS... Sitting Out Two high school football players in Crosby have been kicked off the team for protesting racial injustice and police brutality during the national anthem before a game on Friday, according to the [Houston Chronicle](. After Victory & Praise Christian Academy’s Cedric Ingram-Lewis raised his fist and his cousin Larry McCullough knelt during the anthem, head coach Ronnie Mitchem told the students to take off their uniforms and dismissed them from the team. Lewis and McCullough had been vocal about their intent to protest before the game, while Mitchem, a former Marine, told the Chronicle that he talked to his team about not wanting them to kneel during the anthem. Mitchem told the Chronicle he was fine with them protesting other ways, like kneeling in the end zone after a touchdown. Just not during the anthem. “That was my point of view,” Mitchem told the Chronicle. “Like I said, I’m a former Marine. That just doesn’t fly and they knew that. I don’t have any problem with those young men. We’ve had a good relationship. They chose to do that and they had to pay for the consequences.” Lewis’s mother, Rhonda Brady, questioned the coach’s decision. “A man with integrity and morals and ethics and who truly lives by that wouldn’t have done anything like that,” she told the Chronicle. “Actions speak louder than words. So, for him to do what he did, that really spoke volumes and I don’t want my kids or my nephew to be around a man with no integrity.” Long Live Texas On this day in Texas in 1835, the first shots of the Texas Revolution were fired in the Battle of Gonzales. There have been celebrations at the Alamo over the weekend during its three-day Cannon Fest, including a display of replicas of the cannons believed to have been used in 1836 by men defending the besieged fort, according to the [San Antonio Express-News](. Meanwhile, the birthplace of the revolution will celebrate this upcoming weekend with Gonzales’s sixty-first annual Come and Take It Celebration, a three-day festival in honor of the earliest Texans. Festivities include a softball tournament, a canoe race, a gold tournament, a 5K race, and [something called “chicken flying.”]( Tony Neighborhood Some folks in Houston’s affluent River Oaks neighborhood are concerned after resident Tony Buzbee bought a World War II tank and parked it on the street outside his multi-million dollar mansion, according to [KHOU](. Buzbee said he received a letter from the homeowner’s association, River Oaks Property Owners, informing him that the tank “impedes traffic,” causes a “safety issue” and is causing “serious concerns for neighbors.” But Buzbee defended his $600,000 purchase, basically saying that it’s just your friendly neighborhood tank. “If you’re offended just lighten up, my goodness it isn’t hurting anyone,” Buzbee told KHOU. Buzbee, a well-known attorney who once represented Governor Rick Perry in a felony court case, said he bought the tank overseas last year before its recent arrival in River Oaks. “This particular tank landed at Normandy,” Buzbee said. “It liberated Paris and ultimately went all the way to Berlin. There’s a lot of history here.” WHAT WE'RE READING Some links are paywalled or subscription-only. How a Port Arthur nursing home evacuation during Harvey began with a gun drawn[Los Angeles Times]( The Houston Fire Department didn’t have the resources or training to respond to Harvey [Houston Chronicle]( The ashes of a well-known Port Aransas oceanographer were put out to sea on the back of a turtle [Corpus Christi Caller-Times]( An Orange County man’s “shy but lovable” wolf went missing during Harvey[Beaumont Enterprise]( Far West Texas now has Lyft [Big Bend Sentinel]( POLITICAL PLAY [Four Texas Democrats Vote Against House Bill Offering Tax Breaks to Harvey Victims]( by Leif Reigstad Texas’s Democratic delegation previously acted as a united front in response to the storm. So why the change? [University of Houston]( MORE FROM TEXAS MONTHLY [Astronaut Scott Kelly Talks About His New Book and What He Missed in Space]( by Katy Vine Scott Kelly on what freaked him out—and what drove him crazy—during his record-setting year on the International Space Station. [“Friday Night Writes”: We’re Over Julie Taylor]( by Emily McCullar, Doyin Oyeniyi, Dan Solomon, and Christian Wallace Plus: Does Coach really deserve Tami Taylor? [Fast Food Faceoff: In-N-Out vs. Whataburger]( by David Courtney and Charley Locke TKTKTKTKTKTKTKTK [Save up to 79% off cover price!]( Subscribe to Texas Monthly [SUBSCRIBE]( Texas Monthly PO Box 1569 Austin, TX 78767 Texas Monthly has sent you this alert because you signed up to receive it either online at texasmonthly.com, at the website of one of our business partners, or when you filled out a reader response card. You may cancel your subscription to this and other Texas Monthly newsletters at any time. Please see our Privacy Policy. [Like]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](