"'Remember the Alamo!' That rallying cry has been a part of Texas lore for generations. But what, exactly, should we remember? Who were the ragtag group of adventurers behind the famous slogan, and how did they end up barricaded in a fort against a Mexican army? Who survived, who died, and how? This sixth book in the bestselling Hazardous Tales series tracks the Lone Star State's bloody fight for independence from the Mexican government. It features the exploits of the notorious Jim Bowie, as well as Stephen Austin, Davy Crockett, and other settlers and soldiers who made the wild frontier of Texas their home— until the bitter end. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all— if you dare!" -- Description provided by publisher.

In this hour, stories live on Moth stages around the Lone Star State - Everything’s Bigger in Texas. This hour is hosted by Moth Senior Director Meg Bowles. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Storytellers:

Alyssa Ladd attempts to be the "best Christian" at her Evangelical summer camp.

Chris Gorman adopts a dog that's been marked "unwanted."

At 12 years old, Robert Holguin infiltrates a NASA press conference.

Christopher Scott's life is changed forever when he answers a friend’s call for help.

The 250,000-square-foot facility — customized for broad training purposes, administration, and manufacturing — joins several other Watts Works Learning Centers across North America.

Gary's Heating and Air Conditioning has served residents in Amarillo, Texas, and the surrounding communities for over 40 years. According to the awarding organization, the company has established itself as the go-to HVAC experts not only because of its quality workmanship but also because of its excellent customer service.

The speedway’s original HVAC equipment, installed nearly 30 years ago, was outdated, and with one HVAC unit per suite, the cost to run and maintain the equipment was significant.

El Paso’s Teen Court is a peer-driven, youth-led program that centers the well-being of teenagers, instead of condemning them to the destructive criminal justice system.

With the improvements made, Tetra Pak aims to grow the capacity of its field force, enhance the customer experience and build competency through workforce development.

The U.S. Farmed seal will first appear on Anheuser-Busch's Busch Light this May, and Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob ULTRA have also obtained U.S. Farmed certification.

Florida hopes to put it all together and make a little history during its inaugural SEC meeting with Texas and first trip to Austin since 1939 and second in 100 years, dating to a 7-7 tie in 1924.

UF athletic director Scott Stricklin publicly backed his embattled coach — once again— before his vastly undermanned team entered a difficult closing stretch that could further amplify calls to replace the Gators' third-year coach. Even so, Napier's Gators were overwhelmed by the Longhorns.

Five Texas players had at least one play of at least 25 yards. Tailback Jaydon Blue had a 45-yard run and 45-yard reception while former UF receiver commit Isaiah Bond had a 34-yard touchdown catch and 44-yard run.

Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them "AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology.") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly 1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant" — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand. One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future." [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers... Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers. Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures." It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid." But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thanks to polyurethane foam and Polyglass silicone coating, this 1-million-square-foot warehouse in Texas took on the brunt of an EF2 tornado.

The BBB International Torch Awards for Ethics recognize businesses that maintain outstanding dedication to upholding ethical business practices and promoting trust in the marketplace.  

King of Texas Roofing wears its crown proudly, providing unparalleled new construction services to the commercial industry in Dallas and beyond.

NanoTech Materials, Inc. announced a move to a new 42,000-square-foot Houston-area facility, marking a milestone in expanding its Cool Roof Coat production to meet high demand.

OSHA and Noble Texas Builders have entered into a one-year partnership to enhance worker safety during construction at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – McAllen Independent School District Collegiate Academy in McAllen, Texas.

The new manufacturing facility, GAF Energy's second, will increase its capacity by 500% and bring total production of its solar shingle to 300 megawatts annually.

Community and company leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at GAF Energy's new 450,000-square-foot Timberline Solar manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Texas.

Like The State It Calls The University Of Texas At Austin Is A Bold Ambitious Leader To More Than 51 000 Students And 3 000 Teac... Maruthi Akella, Professor Educator, Aerospace Engineering, Pflugerville, TX, United States

DHL has recently expanded its vast network of U.S. retail locations with a new company owned and operated retail shipping store in Bellaire, Texas

Seattle's only news roundup. by Charles Mudede

We wake up today with this certainty: None of it mattered. The secret documents, the sky-high covid deaths, January 6, racist statement after racist statement, the economic crash, the sexual assault allegations, the pussy grabbing, Moscow,  Roe v. Wade, the conviction, and what have you. All of it amounted to a hill of beans. And there will certainly be more outrages in years to come; and once again, they still will not matter one dot. If we, on the left, come to this understanding, we can move on by simply asking: What, then, does matter? What truly counts in American politics? What is its actual ground? This kind of clear thinking might prove to be invaluable.

We also have to accept the fact that California no longer represents the future of America. In the past it did, but not anymore. The future is now found in Texas. Elon Musk knew this. He relocated himself, Space X, and X to what has become our whole country: the Lone Star State.

Kamala Harris only won deep blue states: And Trump is going back to the White House because millions of people decided to "sit this one out." And the Senate returns to the GOP. As for the House, its final composition is yet to be known. Now, how are we to read all of this, and, particularly, the outcome of the presidential race? Well, Trump's first term in office is something like the first book in Octavia Butler's Parable series, Parable of the Sower, which was published in 1993 and features a Trump-like president who basically strips America of its economic assets. The second term will be like the second book, Parable of the Talents, which was published in 1998 and features an out-and-out Christofacist president who promises to “Make America Great Again.” Butler never completed the third book in the series.   

"Welcome to how our only world ends. It will be like this every summer: getting worse, and worse, and worse until there’s nothing worse left."https://t.co/vs5HAmUloY

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) July 23, 2024

Florida and South Dakota gave abortion access the middle finger. But Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada protected reproductive rights. However, with the Senate, and possibly the House, under GOP control, the whole states’ rights business might turn out to be worth no more than the salt you put in greens.

The Stranger Election Control Board had a good night. Alexis Mercedes Rinck is going to beat incumbent Tanya Woo for Seattle City Council Position 8. The same goes with Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott. He will certainly beat Andrea Suarez in the race to represent Washington’s 43rd Legislative District. And the man who did not catch the Green River Killer isn't going to Olympia. Bob Ferguson handily defeated Dave Reichert for the governor seat. Sen. Maria Cantwell gave her opponent nothing but the boot. And, altogether, it seems Washington became bluer, saner, a little world, a precious stone, set in the reddest of seas.   

Now that the whole country is basically Texas, Seattle might consider not staying in bed with conservative council members. Now is the time to get up and go hard to the left.   

Voters showed Washington State Ferries (WSF) some love this time: The Prohibit Carbon Tax Credit Trading initiative  went down in flames. This means WSF will get electric ships and some badly-needed government cheese. However, the Ensure Access to Natural Gas measure , which wants to decelerate Puget Sound Energy’s departure from carbon liberation and protec the buyers and sellers of natural gas statewide, left the gate in the lead: 51% to 48%.

Joe Kent is facing a second round of wound licking. His opponent in Washington's 3rd Congressional District race, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is, at this point, ahead by 4 points.

The sun will be out today. That's something.

A termite mound that's been around for something like 34,000 years was recently discovered in South Africa. Of course, termites haven't called this mound home for thousands of years. And this is a shame, because termites are really delicious. You catch them during the rainy season; this is when termites take to the sky with lots of fat in their bodies (they are trying to start a new colony—the circle life, that sort of thing). A little cooking oil and a few minutes on the burner turns these brown critters into a tasty snack.

Let us end with this scene from Downtown 81. Ronald Reagan is president. Hip-hop is emerging. And Jean-Michel Basquiat is getting his groove on in the ruins. What I want to point out is the way he moves. So smooth. So cold. So internal. This is being with others to be by yourself. This is exactly how I feel today. Dancing to the aftermath.    

"After all is said and all is done, it's just me and you."…

Texas lawmakers began filing bills for next year’s legislative session on Tuesday, submitting a record-breaking 1,500 in the first filing period.

Air Force combat veteran MJ Hegar will face Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn after winning her Democratic primary in Texas, while Maine's Democratic Speaker of the House Sara Gideon has secured the right to challenge her state's vulnerable Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November. Meanwhile, Ronny Jackson, President Trump's former physician, will be the Republican nominee to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry in northern Texas. It was a primary night that also resulted in a humiliating defeat for Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general who was forced out by the president in 2018. He lost to former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, a political neophyte who nonetheless enjoyed Trump's backing (see story here ). In Texas, Hegar got the nod over Black state senator Royce West in a close race for the Democratic nomination in a state that has long been red, but that analysts say is in a state of political flux due to changing demographics. Even so,

Vaughan’s retooling of the blues made it relevant to a new generation.

It is the first law office in Colorado for Vinson & Elkins.

Carl Luis Zambrano-Bolivar, 26, and Jhonata Nahin Toro Gonzalez, 22, were arrested Sept. 26 by federal immigration officers.

Is that a tortilla in your pocket, Travis Hunter? Or are you just happy for CU?

While everyone else on the field thought the play was over, Colorado’s Shilo Sanders didn’t hear a whistle, so he kept going.

After a multi-week trial that started in October, an Adams County jury found Ricardo Perales-Cordero guilty of murder in less than two hours, court officials said.

The gun was bought for protection, his family says.

His fiancée says the shooting critically damaged his kidney.

She becomes the second in the family to enroll at TSU.

A team of nine athletes from Open Mat Bermuda will be hunting for medals at the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in Texas. The competition, which runs from tomorrow [November 1] until Sunday, will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Centre and Arena, Fort Worth, Texas. Representing Open Mat – a Brazilian Jui-Jitsu Gym […]

Athletes from Open Mat Bermuda claimed four medals on day one of the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, yesterday [November 1]. Lonnie Bascome [brown belt] claimed gold in the men’s 162.2Ib category; Reina Maypa [blue belt] won bronze in the women’s 136lb division; and Jason McAlpine [brown belt] secured two bronze […]

Athletes from Open Mat Bermuda claimed five medals at the Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in Fort Worth, Texas. On the final day of the two-day event yesterday [November 3], Chris Regan, the Open Mat Bermuda head instructor, won gold in the black belt, Master 4, male 215lb division. Also winning medals for Open Mat […]

Just back from the Texas Library Association Conference in Houston! 

As always, it was great to see fellow authors and illustrators, as well as the librarians who've supported our books through the years.  And I always enjoy seeing what's new at the publisher booths.

We had a great time for my panel Tuesday afternoon, "What's New with Texas Middle Grade and YA Authors," organized by Susie Kralovansky, featuring Jessica Lee Anderson moderating, and fellow panelists Paige Britt, Cory Putnam Oakes, P.J. Hoover, Cynthia Levinson, Liz Garton Scanlon, Jennifer Mckissack, and Joy Preble.  Conversation was entertaining and enlightening.  

Many thanks to everyone who puts in the work to make TLA the best state library conference in the country!

Here are some pics:

Hitting the road

Rainy Houston from the hotel

Me, Cynthia Levinson, PJ Hoover

Carmen Oliver signs

Jennifer McKissack, Jennifer Ziegler, Joy Preble

Paige Britt and Donna Janell Bowman

Me and the world in the lobby of the Hilton

Signing BORROWED TIME

Janet Fox and Jennifer Ziegler

PJ, Jessica, and Joy

Me and Elaine Scott

Buffalo Bayou on my early morning run

Back in Austin!

Monday I'm going to be running in the 25th Capital of Texas Triathlon!  It's my first triathlon (Olympic distance) in twenty years and I'm pretty jazzed.

Steely-eyed determination 20 years ago. :-)

One of the great things about triathlons (and running races in general) is that you get to occupy unusual spaces: the last ones I did were Leon's Triathlon in Hammond, Indiana, a couple of Bud Light triathlons and others in Chicago. Leon's had a swim in Wolf Lake (shudder), followed by a cycle leg on an elevated highway that ran past the old U.S. Steel plant, and a run leg through an industrial downtown.  The Chicago ones were on the lakefront, just north of Navy Pier, with a bike on Lake Shore Drive and a run along the lake.

2013 CapTexTri

The CapTexTri also has a great location in downtown Austin, with a 1.5k swim in Lady Bird Lake; a 40k (24.8 mile) bike on a quadruple loop through downtown Austin, including Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez; and a 10k (6.2 mile) run through Zilker Park.

The only thing I'm not too keen on is the bike route, since it requires you to do the same loop four times with a bunch of corresponding hairpin turns.  I don't like loop routes because I always think of how many more times I have to do the thing...Still, going up and down Congress Avenue without any cars is going to be pretty cool. As long as there are no poles in the middle of the road, I should be okay. :-).

Don't ask.

I feel fairly good about my training.  I've maintained good running mileage after the Austin Marathon and Austin Distance Festival and got some good workouts in even while traveling doing school visits.

On Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis

The swim is probably my weakest event -- I could stand to do more work on technique and probably do more open water swimming, but the distance won't be an issue.  Also, Lady Bird Lake isn't going to have waves (I seem to recall a couple of triathlons in Chicago with 3-4 foot waves on Lake Michigan (and this was on the near side of the breakwater).  Also, I won't have to deal with a wet suit.  My biggest concern is to not get kicked in the face. :-).

Lady Bird Lake during 2013 CapTexTri

The bike I'm feeling good about as well.  I'll be using the bike I used for my triathlons back in the day - a Trek 1000 I bought when I was in grad school for $450 (a guy at one bicycle shop here tried to sell me a new one, asking if I had a "nostalgic attachment" to it.). I do, but I also don't think a new bike is going to drastically transform my performance.  At least not $2000 worth :-). (A guy at another bike shop told me the Trek 1000 was his first road bike and he wished he still had it.  It's possible he was being kind :-)).

Tomorrow is packet pick-up, bike drop-off, and a chance to scope out the transition area, which I'll need because I can't see without my glasses...:-)

Oh, well.  Qapla!