That Rocks/That Sucks

HThe Texas House last week refused to bring up a bill backed by families of Uvalde school shooting victims that would have raised the age requirement to buy a semi-automatic rifle in the state from 18 to 21 years. It was a death knell for the proposal even though it passed out of commi ee. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez blamed the legislature’s leading Republicans and Gov. Greg Abbo , calling them “too gutless to stand up to the gun lobby.”

The San Antonio Zoo has once again been recognized as the best in Texas, with the Texas Travel Awards giving it the honor for the second straight year and fourth time in five years. A national survey conducted last year by the a ractions company Blooloop named the zoo as the second-best in the country, trailing only Washington, D.C.’s.

HTeachers are skeptical that they will get any kind of substantial raise out of the Texas Legislature this session since the most ambitious teacher pay bills stalled in the House and Senate education commi ees. The failure to significantly boost teacher pay comes even as the state has a historic budget surplus. According to a National Education Association report, Texas currently pays its teachers more than $7,000 less per year than the national average.

The Texas House voted to expel a member for the first time since 1927, and they couldn’t have chosen a more deserving legislator. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, was expelled by a unanimous vote after an internal investigation found that he gave a 19-year-old intern booze then had sex with her. Slaton — a lawmaker who’s couched his anti-LGBTQ+ views as an effort to protect “family values” — submi ed his resignation a day before the expulsion vote, but the House opted to remove him anyway. — Abe Asher