Trump Visits Texas: Your Texas Roundup

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“If I’m headed out in a hurry, I’ve decided I want to go with some well-appreciated flashes before the end. I want to go out like fireworks.”

—Dallas Morning News reporter Jeffrey Weiss in February. Weiss, 62, had been writing regularly for the Morning News about his experiences after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He passed away on Wednesday.

BIG NEWS

President Donald Trump at the White House on October 25, 2017 in Washington DC.Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Texas Visit
President Donald Trump was in Dallas on Wednesday, where he visited with Texas’s political leaders and attended a fundraiser downtown, according to the Dallas Morning News. Trump met with Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick after arriving at Dallas’s Love Field Airport, where they briefed him on recovery efforts since Hurricane Harvey. Trump said he was open to supporting major infrastructure projects in the Houston area that would that would reduce flooding, and suggested that homeowners in flood-prone areas build water-resistant drywall on the first floor of their homes. “I’m the builder president,” Trump said during the meeting, according to the Washington Post. “Remember that.” A few dozen supporters gathered to greet Trump at the airport, and he posed with a supporter’s sign that read “We played hooky to high five our president.” But he was later met by protesters after going to the Belo Mansion and Pavilion for some fundraising events. The protesters chanted, “Cheeto go home!”

MEANWHILE, IN TEXAS

Stepping Out
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announced on Wednesday that he won’t seek reelection. This is a big deal in Texas politics, as Straus has been one of the most powerful players at the Capitol in recent years. His moderate stance has often kept more radical Republicans in the House from passing controversial legislation, such as the bathroom bill. “I believe that in a representative democracy, those who serve in public office should do so for a time, not for a lifetime,” Straus wrote in a Facebook post announcing his decision to retire. He added, “Just as my ascension to the Speaker’s office was unconventional and my approach to governing is unusual in these divisive times, I know this is also an unexpected decision. It’s been decades since someone has left the Speaker’s office on his own terms. But we have accomplished what I had hoped the House would accomplish when I first entered this office, and I am increasingly eager to contribute to our state in new and different ways. Instead of acting on behalf of the entire House, I will now have a greater opportunity to express my own views and priorities. I will also continue to work for a Republican Party that tries to bring Texans together instead of us pulling us apart. Our party should be dynamic and forward-thinking, and it should appeal to our diverse population with an optimistic vision that embraces the future. I plan to be a voice for Texans who want a more constructive and unifying approach to our challenges, from the White House on down.” A few members of the House have already said they plan on campaigning to replace Straus as speaker when the Legislature meets again in 2019. One of Straus’s top supporters, Richmond Republican Representative John Zerwas, announced that he had filed to run for the speaker’s post just moments after Straus made public his decision to step down. State Representative Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, had already announced his candidacy.

Astros Win!
The Houston Astros won! They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in a thrilling (and potentially dangerous for fans with heart problems) second game of the World Series, ending it 7-6 in eleven innings. George Springer came through with a two-run home run in the top of the eleventh, in what proved to be the game-winning hit. Incredibly, this was actually the Astros’s first win in a World Series game in the franchise’s 56 years of existence. The teams combined for a record-setting eight home runs, including four from the Astros that came in the ninth inning or later. The Astros were down 3-2 in the ninth when Marwin Gonzalez hit a game-tying solo homer against the Dodgers’ usually very good closer Kenley Jansen. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa followed with back-to-back homers in the tenth to give the Astros a 5-3 lead, which closer Ken Giles promptly blew in the bottom half of the inning, giving up a home run to Dodgers star Yasiel Puig and a base hit to red-hot Enrique Hernandez, who drove in the tying run. Then Springer came through in the clutch, and Astros reliever Chad Devenski made it interesting by giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the eleventh before striking out Puig in a marathon at-bat to end the game. Game three will be in Houston on Friday.

Deportation Controversy
In an immigration controversy in South Texas, a ten-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was placed into deportation proceedings immediately after undergoing surgery at a children’s hospital. Rosamaria Hernandez, an undocumented girl who lives in Laredo, was transported on Tuesday morning via ambulance to Corpus Christi for gallbladder surgery, when agents at an immigration checkpoint in Freer discovered her undocumented status. Border Patrol agents escorted her ambulance to the children’s hospital in Corpus Christi and waited outside the girl’s hospital room as she recovered, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Immediately after her surgery, they took her to a children’s shelter in San Antonio that can allegedly serve her medical needs while she waits for her case to be processed. But according to her family’s attorney, the hospital discharge summary states that she must have a follow-up appointment with her primary care doctor in Laredo in three days and that it’s in her best interest for her to be in the care of family members “who are familiar with her medical and psychological needs.” She was brought to the U.S. when she was three months old, the Guardian reported.