Greg Abbott

Rick Perry: Mum's The Word

Rick Perry has adopted a more behind-the-scenes approach this time around. That doesn't mean he hasn't been busy.

AG Greg Abbott Bans Same-Sex Benefits In Cities, Counties & School Districts, Sorta

Attorney General Greg Abbott, in an ironic twist of timing, has struck down the ability of cities, counties and school districts to offer domestic partner benefits. By almost any measure, today was a landmark day for the GLBT community, with all eyes focused on basketball player Jason Collins, the ... More >>

Texas Attorney General Thinks Nuclear Annihilation of Austin Still Preferable to State Turning Blue

There aren't terribly many things that can actually threaten Texas. Mexico hasn't put up much of a fight in nearly two centuries. We've sufficiently assimilated into the non-slave states from which we once broke. Global warming and environmental degradation may present some cause for concern, but, a ... More >>

Darque Tan Settles With AG Over False Claims That Tanning Is Healthy

With people so worried about skin cancer that they're looking for triple-digit SPFs, it takes guts to claim that spending time in a tanning bed is healthy. Orange-y, unnaturally colored guts. But Houston Darque Tans have apparently continued to say their beds increase Vitamin D in their GTL custome ... More >>

Greg Abbott's Awful "Gun 'n' Bible" Ad Gets an F in Grammar

What was that old Warren Zevon song? "Send Bibles, Guns and Grammar"? No? Well, that or something along the lines of it should be sent to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who caused a few jaws to drop with an ad he put on his Facebook page. The ad is mostly evidence that today's Web allows anyo ... More >>

Texas Joins In $29 Million Settlement With Toyota Over Sudden Acceleration, AG Announces

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today that Texans will be part of a $29 settlement with Toyota over its actions after claims that various models had sudden, unexplained accelerations that endangered drivers. Texas and 27 other states "investigated whether Toyota adequately and promptly ... More >>

The Bible Bandwagon's Getting Crowded: Rick Perry, Greg Abbott Grab A Piece Of The Kountze Limelight

Don't worry, Jesus: You will not be fighting Your epic battle against Satan on the battlefields of Kountze High School alone. By Your side will be Governor Rick Perry and state Attorney General Greg Abbott, both of whom have somehow decided to intervene in a red-meat, hot-button issue sure to pleas ... More >>

AG Greg Abbott Can't Keep Himself Out Of The Kountze Cheerleader Bible Case

In a development that really only has people asking "What took so long?" Texas attorney general Greg Abbott, ever eager to flail whatever red-meat rightwing issue that crosses his desk, has "offered assistance" to the good folks at the Kountze school district who have received a "menacing and mislea ... More >>

AG Slaps The Texas Highway Patrol Museum For Defrauding Victims' Families

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today he's settled an enforcement action against a noble-sounding fund-raising group that allegedly did not fulfill its promises to law-enforcement families. The Texas Highway Patrol Museum, which was never much of anything to begin with, has closed its ... More >>

Texas Joins Suit Against Apple, Publishers for E-Book Price-Fixing

Texas joined 15 other states and the feds today in suing Apple and three publishing companies for alleged price-fixing e-books. "Colluding to fix prices violates antitrust laws and raises costs for customers," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. "In this case, three of the nation's largest pub ... More >>

The Super Bowl Prostitution Hoax

Indianapolis mobilizes for an epic battle with an urban legend.

BP to Pay $50 Million in Civil Penalties for Pollution Connected to Texas City Blast, AG Says

The Texas City blast​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has announced that BP has agreed to pay a $50 million fine "for unlawfully emitting pollutants during and after the March 2005 explosion" at its Texas City plant. The civil penalties come two years after BP paid $50 million to resolve fe ... More >>

AG Sues to Preserve Galveston's Fort Crockett

​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed a suit on behalf of Texas's state historical officer, asking a judge to order the owners of Fort Crockett to fix the buildings and not demolish them. The state is asking for a temporary restraining order against Max Bowen Enterprises and Juan Hijo ... More >>

Texas Cities and Nonprofit Entities to Get About $3.5 Million in National Settlement of JPMorgan Suit

Settlement helps, a little.​Financial giant JPMorgan has agreed to pay $228 million to settle charges that it manipulated deals involving the government bond market, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says the state's portion of it will be about $3.5 million. The money will go to Texas mu ... More >>

Texas AG Greg Abbott Grabs The Spotlight In Fight Against EPA's Tailpipe-Emissions Rule

Greg Abbott leads a mostly southern uprising​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants everyone to know that he is doing everything he can to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from trying to implement greenhouse-gas limits on cars and trucks. In the latest of a series of lawsuit ... More >>

Osama Bin Laden Mission: Rick Perry & Greg Abbott Weigh in Without Mentioning Obama

Neither went so far as the New York Daily News.​The world has presumably been waiting breathlessly for the chance to know exactly what Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott think about the death of Osama Bin Laden. The wait is over. Both politicos issued statements this morning ... More >>

Texas Publishes Their Social Security Numbers, Now Someone's Trying to Scam Them

Just give 'em John Doe's number, he won't mind.​Attorney General Greg Abbott is warning any Texans whose Social Security numbers were inadvertently exposed by the state government to, ummm, not just hand out that info to anyone calling to try to "confirm" things. More than three million emplo ... More >>

UTMB Forced to Give PETA Documents on Animal Experiments

UTMB must hand over more than 1,000 pages, AG says.​Attorney General Greg Abbott has ruled that the UT Medical Branch in Galveston must turn over documents sought by PETA regarding experiments done on animals. A PETA whistleblower alleged in January that animals were used in painful and dead ... More >>

Japanese Disaster Relief: AG Warns Against Fake Charities

Check before you give​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a warning today to anyone thinking of donating to Japanese earthquake relief: Be careful who you're giving to. "By doing a little research, well-meaning Texans can ensure their dollars actually help the recovery effort and aid vi ... More >>

Duct Tape Holding Pollution Equipment Together: So Bad Even Texas AG Acts

Greg Abbott goes after polluters!!! Take that, Obama!!​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took precious time off from suing the federal government to get it to stop forcing Texas to enforce Clean Air provisions in order to do a little Clean Air-ing of his own. Abbott's office charged Gulf Che ... More >>

Sexting: Parents to be Punished for Their Kids' Naughtiness if Bill Passes

Sexting: The love song of the modern J. Alfred Prufrock​If you're the parent of a tween/teen who's dumb enough to sext, you've got enough problems. You don't need to add to them by being forced to attend a class on the whole thing. But according to a bill announced today by state Attorney Gen ... More >>

Texas Gay Divorce: Court Rules Against Abbott, But on Technical Terms

Greg Abbott's attempt to grandstand is rejected​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott intervened as fast as he could in a lesbian divorce case in Austin, but it wasn't fast enough, an appeals court has ruled. Abbott wanted to intervene in the suit because God knows if he didn't it would have led ... More >>

Texas To EPA: Keep Your Hands Off Our Rubber Stamp!!

Texas goes to court​As expected, Texas state officials are not just going to roll over and accept the Obama administration's taking away their right to rubber-stamp every application to let companies pour greenhouses gases into the air. Texas AG Greg Abbott went to court today, filing a petit ... More >>

SunMart: Jury Hits Gas-Station Chain For $30 Million For Cheating At Pumps

Not all gallons are created equal​SunMart is a Houston-based company that runs convenience stores across the Southwest. If you regularly got your gas from there, a Houston jury said this week, you got ripped off. You paid for a gallon but got less, through some pump trickery. A jury hit SunMa ... More >>

Greg Abbott Goes After Google. Next: Justin Bieber, Lindsay Lohan and Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga: Greg Abbott will get to the bottom of this, even if it means headlines​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has gotten a lot of ink with his investigation into Google's search rankings.Abbott usually spends his time on right-wing causes like fighting the Obama health-care plan or battling ... More >>

Greg Abbott Blames Obama For Bullets Hitting El Paso's City Hall

El Paso City Hall -- in the crosshairs, thanks to Obama​In the ever-escalating battle between Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott to see who can put out the most shameless press releases exploiting the hot-button issue of "protecting our borders," today's A-for-effort goes to Abbo ... More >>

Bally Fitness Tricked Ex-Members Into Renewing, AG Says

They just really wanted ex-members back​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed suit today claiming Bally Total Fitness had tricked former members into renewing contracts by sending them "past due" notices.More than 1,000 Texans were duped into renewing, Abbott said, after receiving the notices." ... More >>

You Get Promised Thousands Of Wild Hogs To Kill, You Get Tame Pigs Instead

​It may be difficult to believe that some internet advertising claims are exaggerated, but Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott insists such is the case in an action filed today. Worse, the victims of the alleged false claims are Texas hunters. It's almost sacreligious.All the hunters wanted to do w ... More >>

You May Be Dead, But You Can Still Get A (Too Late) Pardon, Texas AG Rules

​Good news if you were wrongfully imprisoned by the state of Texas for a long, long time, but you then died before you could be pardoned -- and face it, in those circumstances you could use some good news -- state attorney general Greg Abbott ruled today that you can be pardoned posthumously!!Yay? ... More >>

How Not To Repair Your Credit

​You might think that a business couldn't squeeze much money out people who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but where there's a will, and perhaps a paucity of ethics, there's a way.This week's Houston Press cover story takes a look at a rift between two "debt invalidation" companies, in ... More >>

Radnofsky's Claim About Texas Marriages Is Quite A Stretch

​Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who plans to challenge Greg Abbott as a Democratic candidate in next year's Attorney General race, must feel that the spotlight isn't shining bright enough from her speaking gig at tonight's Tarrant County Young Democrats Gubernatorial Forum at Texas Christia ... More >>

Eight-Liner King Enters Guilty Plea

​A major operator of the 8-liner machines that are so popular (and illegal) around here and the rest of Texas has entered a guilty plea that will cost him over $1 million, state attorney general Greg Abbott announced today.Gordon Graves, the 72-year-old founder of Aces Wired, entered the plea in a ... More >>

Houston Airport System Won't Release Salaries....Because Of National Security Issues

A while back we wrote about the Houston Airport System exporting its vast knowledge of running airports to countries all over the place. HAS wasn't too forthcoming about the financial aspects of it all.A couple of months later, Mayor Bill White suddenly forced out the HAS director -- at least partly ... More >>

Conn's Uses High-Pressure Tactics To Dupe Consumers, AG Says

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has taken on a big local retail chain today, charging that Conn's Appliance stores have used high-pressure tactics to force consumers to buy defective products and then refused to live up to their warranties."According to the state's enforcement action -- and infor ... More >>

Craigslist At A Crossroads

Criminals being dubbed the latest "Craigslist Killer" seem to be popping up everywhere.There was Michael Anderson in Minnesota, who lured to her death a woman answering an ad for a nanny; a 16-year-old S/M enthusiast who killed a New York City radio newsman who posted an ad; and a yuppie who used th ... More >>

The AG Vs. Don McGill Toyota: Those Wily Salespeople

Lesson Number One if you're dealing with Don McGill Toyota in West Houston, especially if you're not really fluent in English: Read all the fine print, even the parts where salespeople have folded the contract over so you can't see it.Texas AG Greg Abbott announced today a $78,000 settlement with th ... More >>

Texas 1, Evil 0

Photo by Indigo GoatFor at least one brief, shining moment, the world has stopped going to hell in a handbasket.Against all the forces of dark and evil, against Satan, Pazuzu, Belial and the ACLU, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has stood up and declared that the moment of silence in Texas s ... More >>

You Weren't Cured Of Down Syndrome, But You Can Get A Refund

Photo courtesy AGs officeGuess what? You can't take a pill with something called "glyconutrients" and cure Down Syndrome or cystic fibrosis.But if you're a Texan who thought you could, you can at least get your money back.Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced a settlement today against Mannat ... More >>

Another Hotel Gets Slammed For Ike Price-Gouging

Attorney General Greg Abbott has hit yet another hotel for price-gouging during Ike.This time it's the Sealy Rodeway Inn. And if you're going to be staying in lovely Sealy, in a lovely Rodeway Inn, why not be gouged while you're at it?Abbott's office says the hotel "charged evacuees a higher, 'speci ... More >>

Breaking News: Candy Bars Can't Cure Alzheimer's

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced this morning that he's charging a Fredericksburg company called Nature's Candy with violating the Texas Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. (Woe to the person who violates the "cosmetic" part of the first act. Grandma ... More >>

Local Attorneys Help Hit Drugmaker Hard

$800 million is a ton of money to settle a civil suit, but two Houston attorneys helped win a settlement of that size this morning.Joel Androphy, who specializes in whistleblower suits, worked with Sarah Frazier and won a big one as the drug giant Eli Lilly agreed to pay that whopping amount to sett ... More >>

TDCJ Comes Up Against The Cell Phone Companies

A lot of people who read about the epidemic of cell phones in Texas prisons had a basic question -- if you can't discover and confiscate the things, why not just block them? Set it up to jam transmissions in the prison?It turns out TDCJ has thought about that, but it's easier said than done.The pris ... More >>

From The Oakland A's To Texas' Biggest Deadbeat Dad -- The Pride of Brazoswood High

Troy Neel, of Brazoswood High, had one good year in the majors: as an Oakland A, he batted .290 in 1993.So he was never an All-Star. Today he earned a new title: The newly arrested Biggest Deadbeat Dad in Texas.Attorney General Greg Abbott's office announced that Neel was arrested yesterday at LA In ... More >>

At Least A Little Payback Against A-Hole Debt Collectors

If you've ever been harassed by a debt collector, deserved or not, Texas AG Greg Abbott has just stood up for you (As Joe Biden might put it, since Abbott's in a wheelchair).Abbott's office announced a settlement this morning against NCO Financial Systems, one of the world's biggest debt-collection ... More >>

La Grange Hotel Liked Ike, AG Says

La Grange has been heretofore known mostly as the home of the fabled "Chicken Ranch" immortalized by ZZ Top and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Now it can be known as the home of The Most Heartless, Coldest Bastard of a Motel In Texas (Allegedly). Texas AG Greg Abbott charged the Cottonwo ... More >>

A Different Kind Of Traffic Problem For Houston

Harris County, be proud -- you're a leader in...well, in human trafficking. Maybe you shouldn't be so proud, on second thought. Texas AG Greg Abbott released a lengthy report today on human trafficking in Texas, and the news isn't too good. Up to 17,500 people are brought into the US as victims ... More >>

Houston's Darque Tan, Leading The Fight Against Cancer

AG Says Two Motels Gouged Ike Victims

Business as Usual

Despite a deregulated energy market, Houston is sticking with the home team

Tale of Two Cities

Kid-Care's former leader says the attorney general is playing favorites