Daily Dispatch 11/3/23: Dark Money Threatens Midland School Bond Election, and More

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A dark money operation funded by Tim Dunn of Defend Texas Liberty is pushing against a desperately-needed school bond proposal in Midland: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/tim-dunn-move-midland-school-bond/ Moves made two decades ago to make certification to teach elementary school in Texas had the side effect of driving down wages: https://theconversation.com/texas-tried-to-fix-its-teacher-shortage-by-lowering-requirements-the-result-was-more-new-teachers-but-at-lower-salaries-213962 Changes to requirements for universities to achieve "R1" research institution status could benefit several Texas campuses: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/texas-research-universities-carnegie-tier-one/ The CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase warns Texas officials not to tarnish their business-friendly environment by interfering in the internal affairs of large financial firms: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/jpmorgans-jamie-dimon-warns-business-friendly-texas-laws-wall-street-firms.amp Still no apology from Senator John Cornyn for remarks found offensive by Native American groups: https://www.alternet.org/senate-republican/ Republican Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell Jr. finds himself in a scrape with a fringe "election fraud" activist: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/texas-election-worker-heart-attack-conspiracy-theory/ Arlington gets a national profile boost in the wake of the first Texas Rangers World Series championship: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/us/texas-rangers-world-series-arlington.html Austin has become the biggest U.S. city to stop requiring parking minimums for new real estate projects: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/austin-minimum-parking-requirements-housing-shortage/ Harris County has been found to be officially the most ethnically-diverse county in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2023/houston-population-ethnicity/ Lubbock city officials announce that a marijuana decriminalization proposal has been successfully forced to a vote by Freedom Act Lubbock: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-collected-enough-signatures-to-put-marijuana-decriminalization-on-another-local-ballot-lubbock-officials-announce/ Thanks for listening! Grab our handy voter guide and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.