Solar Eclipse Means Big Money To Texas

One economist is calling it “the most profitable 22 minutes in Texas history,” according to the Texas Standard. The total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 is expected to draw up to a million visitors to the Lone Star State, especially in its narrow path of totality.

Texas cities located in that path include Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Temple, Killeen, Llano, Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Uvalde, Del Rio and Texarkana. (That is not a complete list. Check online to see if your community is in the totality path.)

All of the state will experience at least a partial solar eclipse, the Houston Chronicle reported. For example, the sun will be about 94% eclipsed over Houston at its peak. The moon will start to block the sun around noon, with totality beginning near Del Rio on a path northeast across Texas.

Viewers are urged to wear eclipse glasses labeled with ISO 12312-2 standard or use a handheld solar filter to avoid eye damage. Given demand, those might be a challenge to find at this late date.

Meanwhile, let’s hope for a sunny day on April 8!

Prosecutors Settle Paxton’s Fraud Case 

Nearly nine years after felony securities fraud charges were brought against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, prosecutors last week agreed to drop the charges if Paxton pays about $271,000 in restitution, performs 100 hours of community service, and takes 15 hours of legal ethics courses, the Texas Tribune reported. The deal was struck just three weeks before Paxton was set to face trial. Paxton did not have to enter a plea under the terms of the agreement. He is still under federal investigation for his relationship with since-indicted developer Nate Paul. The settlement caps a topsyturvy span of several months for Paxton, who was impeached in the House and acquitted in the Senate. Paxton successfully took on a number of those who voted to impeach him by backing their opponents in the GOP primary, and led Republican voters to oust three incumbent Court of Criminal Appeal justices who drew his ire with a previous ruling.

“The pundits, lobbyists and consultants have written his political obituary many times and yet they greatly underestimated General Paxton’s tenacity and grit,” Nick Maddux, a Paxton adviser and political consultant, said in an email.