Daily Dispatch 5/3/24: Property Taxes And Pot On Municipal Ballots - VOTE Saturday! And More

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Tomorrow, Saturday May 4, is Election Day for important municipal ballot items: Our bigger cities and counties have new oversight positions over tax appraisal districts to vote on: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections ...In Lubbock, local cannabis decriminalization is on the ballot: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/02/lubbock-texas-marijuana-election/ A UT Arlington lecturer was arrested yesterday after testing the rules against tents: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/pro-palestinian-protestors-set-up-encampment-university-of-texas-arlington/287-72249ae5-2b52-45a2-bbae-7b74ad5aad95 ...At UT Austin, claims by administrators of weapons and violence on the part of protestors is found highly doubtful by Travis County Judge Delia Garza: https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2024-05-02/ut-says-pro-palestinian-demonstrators-carried-guns-and-assaulted-people-prosecutors-beg-to-differ ...Over 600 UT Austin faculty members have signed a letter expressing no confidence in president Jay Hartzell: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-no-confidence-president-hartzell/269-b1b50674-33ad-4db7-ab85-6ef47322aa59 Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/townhall_24 Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections ...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/ Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20 Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.