Podcasts about bexar county

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Non-assimilating immigrants, illegal and legal, are showing the American people who they are and why it is dangerous to life and property, as well as society and our country, to not have strict, effective border enforcement.The rally this weekend in San Antonio shows two things: One, who is organizing these rally/riots. And two, how LULAC has fallen and needs to drop the “C” from the end of its acronym. The group seems to have abandoned the last word in its name: Citizen. Trump moves fast to save LA from a 1992 repeat Progressive states that care not for laws or the border are the ones tearing us apart Related: Texas Marine vet fighting for life after being shot, paralyzed by illegal migrant. Note how the Leftist San Antonio and Bexar County machine did little to nothing about the illegal alien despite multiple encounters with law enforcement and violating bail and probation.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Gina Ortiz Jones wins San Antonio mayor race. Another Leftist Democrat emerges from the Bexar Co. political machine ticking the woke boxes of homosexual, minority, woman, and likely many others.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

Joe Ball var ingen vanlig mann. Han var en spritsmugler og gambler, en arving av den rikeste familien i lille Elmendorf, en støvete prikk i Bexar County, Texas. Hans navn bar vekt i byen, men det var hans mørke begjær som definerte ham. Rykter og legender svirrer rundt Joe Ball som fluer til et kadaver. De sier han var en kvinnebedårer, en mann med et smil som kunne smelte hjerter, men som skjulte en kald, beregnende sjel. På hans taverna, Sociable Inn, var han konge. Baren var et tilfluktssted for synd – whisky rant i strie strømmer, kortspill summet i hjørnene, og servitrisene hans, ofte unge og sårbare, danset gjennom natten for tips. Men når en servitrise ble gravid eller for nærgående, forsvant hun. Noen hvisket at Ball matet dem, fortsatt pustende, til alligatorene han holdt i et betongbasseng bak baren, omgitt av ti fot høyt nettinggjerdePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/theserialkillerpodcastWebsite: https://www.theserialkillerpodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theskpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialkillerpodX: https://twitter.com/serialkillerpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Area law-enforcement agencies have reported the following recent activity: Editor's Note: All individuals arrested and charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt. Floresville police •May 25, Joe V. Neaves, 28, of San Antonio was arrested following a verbal disturbance call to the 900 block of Plum Street, during which officers could not obtain proof of identification from him; he was charged with failure to identify and making a terroristic threat. Wilson County Sheriff's Office •May 19, Billy J. Martinez Jr., 46, of Pandora was arrested in Bexar County and transported to...Article Link

On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail interviews Texas State Representative John Lujan of House District 118. A former firefighter and Bexar County sheriff's deputy, Lujan shares his personal journey into public service, his passion for education and faith-based community work, and the real-world impact of Texas border policy. Rep. Lujan offers insights on the need for practical, bipartisan solutions at the Texas-Mexico border, his role on the Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee, and why strong families and local engagement matter more than ever. Whether you're interested in border policy, Latino leadership, or public safety reform, this conversation brings a grounded, heartfelt perspective from deep in the heart of Texas.

The Briscoe Western Art Museum is happy to welcome all residents of San Antonio and Bexar County to come and experience the culture and art of the West for free on Monday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors of all ages can participate in the monthly “Full STEAM Ahead” educational series from 1-3 p.m., as well as a scavenger hunt across the museum's campus. The free day of art and culture is offered on the first Sunday of each month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Briscoe is located at 210 W. Market St., in San...Article Link

Bexar County is in a prolonged exceptional drought, and we're already dealing with 100-degree days.And due to climate change it's only going to get hotter and dryer in the coming years. How do we garden and landscape using drought and heat tolerant plants? How can you make your lawn Texas tough and beautiful?

In this episode of Building Texas Business, I speak with Brian Birdy, the CEO of PMI Birdy Properties and a regional developer for Dill Dinkers. Brian shares insights about managing his family business, which his father started in 1979. He discusses the complexities of succession planning and how involving family members can strengthen the business for future generations. Brian's latest venture, an indoor pickleball facility, highlights his ability to identify emerging trends and foster a unique business culture. We explore effective strategies for business growth as Brian emphasizes the importance of a solid foundation. He talks about the need for a strong team, comprehensive training, and well-documented processes to navigate unexpected challenges. Additionally, we discuss the hiring landscape post-COVID, where Brian advocates for a proactive approach to recruitment and the importance of adapting to new employment trends. As we move into the topic of franchising, Brian shares his experiences with Dill Dinkers and the potential of using repurposed industrial spaces for pickleball courts. He reflects on the benefits and challenges of setting up a franchise in this fast-growing market. His connection to San Antonio adds a personal touch, as he expresses his passion for the local community and its cultural vibrancy. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I discussed with Brian Birdy, CEO of PMI Birdy Properties, about managing a family business founded by his father in 1979 and his strategies for succession planning and family involvement. Brian shared insights on the importance of building a resilient business foundation through strategic planning, comprehensive training, and process documentation, emphasizing adaptability to technological advancements. We explored the post-COVID hiring landscape, where Brian highlighted the significance of a proactive hiring approach, prioritizing candidates with a positive attitude and aligning with changing employment trends. The conversation delved into the burgeoning pickleball market, with Brian expressing enthusiasm for his new venture in opening an indoor pickleball facility and the potential of franchising with Dill Dinkers. Brian revealed the challenges and opportunities in the residential property management industry, particularly in differentiating oneself in a competitive market and adapting to shifts in housing demand. We examined the process of opening a pickleball franchise, discussing the benefits of franchising for newcomers, the importance of choosing the right franchise, and the potential for repurposing industrial spaces for pickleball courts. Brian emphasized the value of surrounding oneself with capable people, investing in staff, and being open to new ideas and changes to drive business success, while reflecting on his connection to San Antonio and the local community. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About PMI Birdy Properties GUESTS Brian BirdyAbout Brian TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Chris: Brian, welcome to Building Texas Business. Thanks for taking the time to come on the podcast hey thanks for having me. So you know, let's dive right in and talk about some of the things that you're doing as an entrepreneur and business owner and just introduce your companies to the audience. Brian: Sure. So I'm the broker and owner of Birdie Properties, which is a real estate company that specializes in residential property management. It has been in business for over 46 years. My dad actually started that business back in 1979. I've been running it and working at it and eventually running it since about 97 and have grown it to one of the largest residential property managers in South Texas, learned a lot of lessons in growing that business and the newest adventure is Dilldinker's Indoor Pickleball, which I'm sitting in, and I'm very excited that we will be opening our first location here in about a week and a half. Chris: Well, that's great. So two full-time jobs, it sounds like. Brian: Yeah, Well, the other one's a family-owned legacy business. It's three generations deep. Like I said, my dad started it. My brother and I both worked in it. I've owned it and run it for 20, 28 years and currently all of my three adult children and my daughter-in-law all work there and do the heavy lifting. With a little bit of guidance from me, that gave me the ability that could run effectively without my daily requirement, gave me the ability to actually continue that entrepreneurial spirit and try something completely different, which is indoor pickleball. I saw a true need in my city for this. There wasn't anybody delivering it. I saw it as an up and growing and when I actually started on it, less people knew what pickleball was. In the last 18 months it has really come to the forefront and so I got on. I started riding the wave at the right time and I hope it just keeps rolling, yeah well, it's certainly taken the last couple of years. Chris: It's taken on like a life of its own, it seems like. So let's go back to, I guess, Birdy Properties and maybe the unique part of what it's like in a family business to do the succession from your dad, who was the founder, to you and your brother then taking over that business. What were some of the maybe the pain points and lessons learned about doing that and what maybe advice you might give to someone that's in the process or thinking about it, of what to do or not do? Brian: Yeah, running a family business it's wonderful and it's tough, both hand in hand. The wonderful part about it is their name is on that business. Their future is tied into that business. Their commitment generally if they really care about it is they're a lot more committed than just an individual employee. But at the same time it's problematic in that you can't separate yourself from business. Family meals are filled with business. Taking an entire family vacation becomes almost an impossibility. And then succession is an issue. I bought the business from my father and it was clearly me. I own it. So my brother continued to work there but was not in ownership of it. That has its own problems. We found a way for him to actually build a business out of this and he's actually gone out on his own, is specializing in short-term management and is running his own business now, and so that was a way to kind of figure out how that could work. So he is the owner, sole owner, of Birdy Vacation Rentals. But I've got three kids that work for me. Each of them have unique qualities. They own all own a very important part of the business and they really can't survive without them working together, which works great now, but it's going to be. I'm going to wonder, I keep wondering and trying to figure out how, what is the best way to pass this on? And I don't have the right answer for it, but continuing to work at it, you know, giving them all individual pieces that they could own and be the masters of, and then by doing that, everyone needs each other kind of helps with that whole process. You can't no one of them can survive without the others. Chris: Well, it seems, if that's the case, right then you've set it up well for success because that fosters that team environment and team mentality. And you know we love talking about culture. So obviously you have the unique relationship with your children. How have you tried to take that beyond the family relationship with the other employees so that they feel the same engagement with the organization and tied to the organization's success? Brian: So we've gone through lots of that and growing and basically anybody who works for us can see that. I mean their last name isn't Birdy, they're not in the succession plan but we treat everyone within our business as if it was a big family. We believe in family. We believe in quality time. Individuals who work for us recognize we want them to do a great job for us but when they need time, when they need something they know they can ask for it, they can get it and just building that kind of culture has allowed us to have. Number of people who have worked for us for 15, 13, 12, I think is my current people that are out there have been here for a very long time. They're part of the family even though they're not. You know, their last name doesn't say birdie on it, but we work really hard in building a core that can. You know, property management is a tough business. I've said all along one of our core values is that we're going to have fun, and so one of the things we've always built is if we can have fun doing the worst part of that business, then we got it made. So we have a lot of fun when we're doing the fun parts of the business and when we go out of our way to make sure people are going to have fun. But we also find ways just to have fun and to really own that. There are tough parts of that business also. Chris: Sure, well, true for any business, right. There's always, yeah, the piece that you don't enjoy doing. But you know you have to right, it's a necessary piece but it may not be the most fun. I think you're right. If you can bring joy and fun into that, then the rest should be easy. Brian: right, because it's the stuff you like to do and want to do and, as I think about, I've been doing that for 28 years and I love going to work there. I love people that I work with and even though it's in a very tough and stressful because I mean, at times I have to evict people from their homes, I mean that isn't something that's fun, you know. But it has encouraged me that I'm waiting to see how much fun is running a pickleball facility going to be, where we have a core value of bringing joy to everyone through the sport of pickleball. And I'm like, if I can have fun doing property management, I think I should find it a little easier to have fun running a pickleball facility. But I don't know yet. We haven't opened our doors yet, we're going to find out, but it's. I mean, I'm just it feels like it's going to be fun, but you know, I don't know what, I don't know yet. Chris: So going back to Birdy and property management is anything innovative? Or you know how? Has technology or innovation kind of helped you be more efficient in what you do and maybe more profitable? Brian: Yeah, so we've. We have challenged ourselves to chase technology. You know, if you go all the way back to probably, I mean, and we've done this for a long time and we've had a website since 1998 when it didn't do anything and most people didn't have it, I mean we have a five letter URL. I mean we are www.birdy.com, you know, and people have wanted to pay a lot of money to buy that name, but it's just something. Fortunately, my dad said I think this might be something someday, let me just get our name now. He was lucky, he did that. But from that we've continued to chase the changes. Every business has had major changes. I will tell you that, coming out of the 07, 08 mortgage industry collapse and all the problems that happened, property management got brought way up into the forefront and technology, of course, coming on strong at that time saw this as an open lane that nobody was in and they have been chasing after us like crazy. And we have said all along if we want to continue to be relevant, if we want to be a hundred-year-old business, the only way we're ever going to get there is we have to embrace technology, embrace change, figure out the ways to do that, race to it, understand it and apply it. You know however that is, and so we've dramatically changed our business from where we first I mean when we first started, you know everything was on paper. It was all in a folder. The folder was in a cabinet. You know, you met people face to face. I mean, everything has changed and you know, at our last national event, the big thing that was there was all AI driven. Not only have we used technology and we use computers and we've automated some things, but now we're having the computer starting to figure out what can they really do for us in the industry, and I see that being big changes coming forward as to what can it really do for us. Coming out of COVID, we learned we can do a lot and we don't really need an office to do it anymore. We can have remote team members. We can do a lot on Zoom. We can do everything with computers. I think AI is just going to push that, and that even runs into this business. Bill Dinkers has changed a lot and it's only a couple of years old, but it's incorporated on court cameras that film the sessions for the players, and now that company is building AI, so it's going to be able to tell them automatically. You know some statistics from their match, you know counting things for them and I'm like, and so again, very early stages open landscape that technology and AI development is just stepping into, and I'm just curious and excited to see what can that take us to. I mean, because that's the future of our business, all of our businesses. Chris: Oh for sure, I mean, technology is not going anywhere. I think I had someone tell me one time never bet against technology. Technology always wins right Eventually it continues to evolve and you may not be an early adopter, but you better pay attention and learn how to integrate it sooner rather than later, or you're going to get left behind. Brian: Well, right, and it'll show you ways that you can like. We can manage more properties with less people. Because of technology, we can have individuals working for us now all over the world and we have been embraced that for a long time and we're about a 50-50 business. Half of our employees are here in town. The other half are all remote team members and primarily in Mexico, because I'm in South Texas, so I need people that can speak Spanish, and what greater way to have somebody work for me whose primary language is Spanish? So that part has been a significant change in the property management side of it. And that comes with technology. Right, because they have a computer. They can do everything. They have a phone line, so you call my office and you hit the phone. It's calling them Because phone is now what? A computer? Everything is a computer. If you can learn how to adapt the changes in your business to automation, you find ways to grow and to make money when you're doing it right. Chris: So you mentioned the 08 kind of market crash. What were some of the lessons you learned? I think that's a pretty important or severe impact on your business business and we always learn, kind of through some of those crises. So what were some of the things that you learned, maybe about your company or, more importantly, about yourself that kind of helped pull the company through to continue on a path of success? Brian: Well, if you think about it, most people saw that as a crash, as a problem. In my world it was actually a good thing. Besides the fact that people were losing their houses to foreclosure, that was certainly a negative. That didn't help me at all. But what came behind that was investors, and investors were buying those properties and turning them in to single family rentals and they needed management behind it. People who wanted to hold onto their house but had to leave them could not sell them Again. Another thing we were ready for growth. We were prepared for growth and we were not scared to grow as fast as we possibly could In those years. We doubled in size in both 07 and 08. And I think a lot of that was we were preparing for growth and then something happened that we didn't expect. But we were ready and I don't think anybody else was, so we benefited from that. We exploded over about a two or three year visit and really skyrocketed us up that. We've never lost that position since. Chris: That's amazing. So you talked about you were preparing for growth before those events happened. What was it you were doing to be preparing yourself for that growth? Brian: Making sure I have the right staff, all my training, all my processes, systems, policies and procedures. You know, you, when you first start and you're an entrepreneur, you have this great idea. You know how to do it all in your head, you make sure it can work right. What a lot of entrepreneurs aren't great at is writing it all down, systematizing it all and teaching people how to do it. And so, as you're growing, you're just throwing things trying to fill in these holes and you have to learn there's got to be a better process to your business and growing your business, and an individual who is forward thinking and really crazy ideas and just really interested to go do all these wonderful things can come up with some great stuff, but they're not the person that's going to carry it the long-term, step-by-step and so, understanding what you're good at, learning who you need around you to fill in those pieces where you're not and luckily for me, you know I have children who are from me but not really like me and so and they're not really like each other and so, collectively, the four of us and others that we've built into that start to create more of a complete package, and we learned and we're continuing to learn. We are forever changing and we are forever growing. It never stops, and that's, I think, it. I think at that time, what we wanted was I wanted to grow. We were talking about growing and I was trying everything to be visible because, remember, technology hadn't taken over. You know, people weren't finding you online. You had to. You know, I was still paying for ads and newspapers and the yellow pages because I wanted people to find me. But I found technology earlier than anybody else. I found a program called allpropertymanagementcom when it first opened and it was the first marketplace for property managers on the internet and I raced to it. I was the only one there in 2007. And that's when everyone started freaking out what am I going to do with my property? They looked and they found me, and that was a big part of so just the little steps like that was like not, I mean, that was an investment, I was paying money to do that, but I thought there would be a payoff. I didn't expect the tremendous payoff I got, but it really was a lot about just making sure you know what you have around you and a lot of times, what happens is we don't hire for growth, right, we want growth, then growth happens and then we get squished by the work. Everyone gets overworked, everyone gets stressed, nobody's happy, culture starts to get hurt and you can't sometimes, can never hire fast enough to catch up to train them all. So, knowing your business, watching closely, investing in growth by investing in your people, those are some of the lessons I learned because I did all that wrong at first and I suffered because of it and I've learned to do it differently because of that. Chris: Yeah, that's a beautiful point. I mean to your point about if you start to grow you haven't, excuse me, hired for it then you start making hiring decisions out of desperation and that's a recipe for disaster, as opposed to being able to follow that process. As you mentioned, that process is in place, that you stick to that. You follow that. You're always looking to evolve and change and tweak as times change. But if you're behind the curve, if you will, then it's hard to catch up. Brian: You also have to change with times. I mean when you can be hiring, when you don't need to hire someone, you're not in a hurry. During your interview process you don't settle for okay, this person's good enough, right? You're like, if none of them are good enough, well then they're none. Keep looking right. But if you're in a hurry, if you're in a need, then anyone close you're going to take and it may not be a good fit for you. And I would tell you, before COVID you had people in large numbers applying for jobs, but after COVID that changed dramatically and it became a point. I mean I used to say if I could get 10 people to interview, five of them would show up, or maybe six, and one or two or three potentially could be good opportunities there and you'd be able to windle it down to possibly one good quality candidate. After COVID you were lucky if one person showed up, and I don't think that's really changed dramatically even yet today. Chris: That was my question. It feels, like in the last, say, 12 months or so, there's starting to be a little bit of a maybe it's slow, but a swing back towards people realizing. You know you hear the bigger companies saying five days back in the office and you know that you know where we had the quiet quitting going on in 21, 22. It seems to me there's a little less of that and it's coming back. There are maybe more people out there and you hear that you know new college graduates are having, you know, really difficult times finding jobs because it seems like it's tightening a little bit Well. Brian: Luckily I'm in a season in which I've not needed to hire and I've got everything placed out right, and so I hope when I start hiring again in that space I do see that change, because I've noticed a big difference there and even had to change my whole process of what's really important when I interview people I mean I have put you know the number there are two things that are at the top of the list, and that is an overwhelmingly positive attitude and an undeniable desire to work. And if people come in with those two things, I can take them from there with anything else, because I can't give them either one of those. I can't culture that to anyone, I can't teach that to anybody. They have to have those two things If they have those, if they have those two things clearly, and you can find figure that out pretty quick. Chris: So I have a chance to identify with that, because the words I use are we look for effort and attitude Right. And I like your desire to work. You would think that would come natural, but you and I both know it doesn't. You're interviewing people. They just want a job sometimes or a paycheck, and they don't really have a desire to work or work hard. So I agree, you have to have an interview process that can kind of figure that out. Brian: That's true and we've, and that's something you have to learn and experience and get through and continue to tweak because, as you think you have the best experience, your market of applicants change and then you have to change and adapt with them. BTXBAdvert Hello friends, this is Chris Hanslick, your Building Texas business host. Did you know that Boyer Miller, the producer of this podcast, is a business law firm that works with entrepreneurs, corporations and business leaders? Our team of attorneys serve as strategic partners to businesses by providing legal guidance to organizations of all sizes. Get to know the firm at boyermillercom. And thanks for listening to the show. Chris:So we kind of look at the landscape out there. What are some of the headwinds that you either are dealing with now or that you think may be coming around the corner, that you're trying to prepare for to kind of not let them slow you down? Brian: I think that in the residential property management space, when times are good we do well, when times are bad, we do even better. So generally making sure that we're running the best business that we can, that we're providing what people need, figuring out a way to be being better Everyone wants to say they're better, but being better doesn't really necessarily draw anyone's attention anymore because it's like are you really better? You're just saying you're better. But when you're different and you can show someone why you are different, that's what really changes it, and I and so we focus on how are we different, why are we different, how can we be different and what differences are going to be important in the next five years that may not have been important in the last five years. Chris: That's really good. Yeah, I could see where and I would think even the lots have been written about it how difficult it is for people to purchase a home. Now, right, the interest rates, one thing, maybe the lack of accumulated wealth or down payments because of the lending markets. I can see where that would boost your business. Brian: I would tell you that in 2024, nationwide the market said that rental markets should have been skyrocketing and doing well, but for a variety of reasons it was not the best year. 2025 has started out as a much better year. Last year was a rough year on most residential property managers and when we look at that it came back to a tremendous amount of apartment complexes that were built coming out of COVID that opened and it drew a lot of the market space away People not buying, not moving, families coming together in one location, which reduces right. But we've seen a big change this year at probably one of our busiest first quarters in a while, so we're hoping that just continues. Chris: Very good. So, shifting gears a little bit Sounds like a company that you love. You said you love to have fun doing it. I guess we're in it for most of your life, bought it from your dad. All things going well, Kids are in it, Kids are thriving and against that backdrop you decide to step out and take on the pickleball business, which there's certainly some competition there. Maybe San Antonio's market was a little lacking. There's certainly some competition there. Maybe San Antonio's market was a little lacking, but there's all kinds of people doing pickleball courts now. So what was it that inspired you or drove you to make that decision and take on that risk? Brian: Well, so I started playing pickleball for the first time coming out of COVID in 2020, when our mayor said, okay, you can go and gather, but it has to be outside. And so there was a tennis place that had converted on a tennis court. Still, they converted and made these makeshift pickleball and I went out and said, hey, this is a lot of fun. Eventually, chicken and Pickle opened in San Antonio. I went inside to that and I thought, hey, I really like this, and started playing there. Quite regularly. My wife and a non pickleball related injury broke her ankle and we were out for about a year. When I came back one year later, everything had changed. It was almost impossible to book a court. The age of the players had dropped 20 years in a year. It used to be forties and fifties and I walk in and now it's twenties and thirties and I was like, okay, something has really happened here. So I did a lot of research, looked at all the numbers and then I started saying, okay, we don't have enough courts and we don't have any indoor courts, and I was like I think we could do a good job at this. I was first trying to find a place to go play, and what it led me to is there's a need. Maybe I can solve that need. And then, in researching it in the state of Texas, san Antonio was lacking in indoor courts In the country. We're doing awful. Houston was the only city in Texas even on the radar for the number of pickleball courts, and the number of indoor pickleball courts they have more than anyone in Texas. They have more than almost any other city in the country. So that city had figured it out and I'm like we hadn't yet. And I'm like we hadn't yet and I'm like, hey, if you're going to do something and you're going to be different, one of the greatest ways of being different is be first, because if you're first, you're different. There's nobody else, right? And so so I dove in, found a great Dill. Dinkins is a national franchise and I believed in what they put together and and so I'm one of their first franchisees. I'm going to be opening up my first club here in about 10 days here in San Antonio, and I'm a regional developer, so I have the right to develop up to 20 clubs. Whether I open them or help somebody else who wants to run their own pickleball location here, I will be supporting them and getting them open, and I can open all of my clubs. Other entities can open all theirs. There will not be enough pickleball, because if I fill all my clubs up all 20 clubs open and they're all completely full that would only represent a fraction of 1% of the Bexar County population, and so there's room for everybody and there's room for growth. And that's kind of one of the reasons why I got into this is that I'm like hey plus, I love it. I have so much fun, and I'm going to tell you what running a property management business has been a lot of fun, but I really hope that running a pickleball business is going to be even a lot easier to have fun. We'll see. I don't know yet. Chris: Yeah Well, in 10 days you'll start to figure it out. Brian: Well, that's free, that's free week, everyone's coming for free, so they're going to love me for at least a week, for sure. We'll see what happens after that. Chris: Good strategy there. Yeah, I know. Look, we've worked with some entrepreneurs and developers here in the Houston area doing this right, developing pickleball venues with the bars and the food service, and that's where they did the market research. And even in Houston it's interesting to hear your numbers on the covered courts in Houston, kind of leading all cities but there is a lack of courts in light of the demand especially, you're certainly private clubs have taken converted tennis courts or extra space where they put in pickleball courts, but if you're not a member of that club you don't have access. And so for the general public to have access, things like what you're doing and chicken, chicken pickle, et cetera, and some of the maybe non-national brands just worn off local things there's still a ton of demand for that. Brian: Yeah, if you look at it, lifetime Gyms and LA Fitness have both decided they're going away from basketball and they're going all in on pickleball. And I talked to their national developer and I said why are you making this change? And they said well, basketball has led to altercations and fights and problems and pickleball equals new membership and so they're all in and you can see, most of them are converting them. I have a couple of Gold's Gyms in San Antonio that have converted into pickleball in their courts. It's just there's such a need, there's such a desire. A lot of people say they find a way to play, they'll play anywhere. A lot of people haven't played because they say it's too hard to find a place to play. So we're hoping we can be part of the solution to that and start giving lots and lots of options for people to come out and play and see how easy it is, how fun it is. The community that's built around this is unlike other sports is the community that's built around this is unlike other sports? It is. It is a unique game in which it is the most gender equal and age equal. I can go out on any given day and lose to an eight-year-old or an 80-year-old, and both of them could be a male or a female. It doesn't matter, because this is. It is the equal sport amongst all sports. Chris: Yeah, well, I'll say you know, given the timing when you're opening and the fact that you know we're in Texas, being covered courts is going to be a nice added bonus, because I don't think you want to be in the middle of summer outside on a pickleball court for too long. Brian: Well, they've been doing it for years. What I have to do is get them in here so they can see, and that's the thing about being different. So some things that are different with us is we have pro cushion courts. They're all individually fenced. We have special LAD court lighting that's designed specifically for pickleball. Of course, it's not windy in here. There's no rain, there's no heat, there's no humidity and, as you can see behind me, all the walls are black in the playing surface, and that's so. When you're standing on your court and your opponent hits the ball pops, you know it's coming outside. You don't see that. You got wind, you got heat, you got sweat, you got movement, you got craziness, and so that's where we've dove into being different and we're hoping it'll pay off. Chris: No, all true. I mean having played myself. You're right, if you're outside and depending on where the sun is, you may, it's sometimes hard to see the ball. Brian: Yeah, true, not in here. Perfect lighting, perfect temperature, perfect courts. And the one thing I get annoyed I'm a spoiled. I'm a pickleball snob. Now. I cannot stand playing on a court where the court right next door is not separated and their ball keeps coming into mine. I'm like I can't even play that way anymore. I'm, I've become a. I've become a pickleball snob. I expect to be able to get on my court and play my game and not be disrupted by anybody else. Chris: There you go, as every man and woman should have a right to right. That's right. So so you kind of bit this off as a franchisee. Let's talk a little bit about that. What are some of the things that you learned about that process that maybe you weren't expecting that you could share with some listeners, and maybe a lot of people look at franchise opportunities. Brian: So I tell people all the time. So I've been involved in franchising in a couple of other ways. I went for about a four-year period and worked for a nationwide property management franchising company called Property Management Incorporated and I was up at the corporate level seeing. So I learned about franchising itself and people go why are you doing this, why should I do this? And I would give them reasons why. If you're already running your business, you already know what you're doing. You don't need a franchise when you're starting out from brand new and you have no idea what you're doing and you're not really sure how you're going to do it. You have to consider that Anyone can do the business on their own right. Even me, I could have opened this on my own. But do you know how much stuff I didn't know about pickleball that I learned from my franchise organization and the attention that it has drawn me? You have to figure out when that might be right for you. I think that there's been a lot of benefit of doing that. But you got to examine them all. I went and looked at every existing franchise when I started to do this Now. Since then, there are five new Pickleball franchises available and I'm sure there'll be five more in the next six months. So there are a lot of choices. I looked at them all, I checked into their history, I interviewed, expect what they need to do, and then I went and did a discovery day in Columbia, maryland, to find out what was Dill Dinkers all about, and a big part of it is who is the leadership? Who's going to be guiding you? Who are you going to be working with? And I absolutely loved the people that were involved, and that's a big part of this. You're going to be in business with them at the same time, and so this made a lot of sense for me. They were structuring in a very smart way of doing it, and they're the fastest growing Pickleball franchise that's out there, and they've sold 27 regions across the country. They've made great strides at improving everything that we do the play site cameras that we talked about earlier, with the AI involved that's something that's new. The pro cushion courts that's new from when we first started, and now all of our pro shops are powered by Pickleball Central, which, again, is also something new. So when you look at a franchise, it's like, yeah, they exist, but what are they doing to evolve? What are they doing to be different, because you're going to rely on that and work with them to show them how else they can be different. I decided this was the way for me to go and by being a regional developer here in town, I have my first one opening, I have my second one already under construction and I've got 18 more to go, but I'm probably not going to open all 18 of those. So there are opportunities right now and the way Jill Dinkers is, they have your corporate staff, but I'm the local representative. I'm here to help develop anyone locally. So anyone who wants to open one here has me helping them, and I've already gone through all the pain and suffering of what does it take to open a place. I know all. I know what you need to do to have it happen. They taught me what they knew. Now I've experienced here locally in San Antonio. I know what's going to happen here. Those are some of the advantages when you start looking at franchising and say, hey, I want to do a business, I don't want to do it alone, I don't want to start and it's tough. There's things you've got to know to be successful right out of the gun and you may not know everything on your own, it makes sense. Chris: And I said there's the franchisors got to show that value right. The why you're going to be making payments and getting the benefit of some of their things. It occurs to me too, one of the advantages, at least to what you're doing with these indoor courts and just kind of looking behind you is that you could take advantage of some of the big box locations that have been abandoned right that there's every city has those where there was some store that has either now gone to a bigger complex but left that space behind it looks like that's what you can kind of take advantage of from a real estate perspective. Brian: Right and I figured, with my real estate background, that this was going to be a piece of cake. But let me just tell you, san Antonio is a healthy city. We don't have big boxes just sitting around empty. Finding the location was the biggest challenge for me, and that isn't true everywhere else. That's why I'm franchise number one, but I'm not the first franchisee to open, because there are people who found it much quicker. The gentleman up in Pennsylvania went on his very first visit and found two locations and has opened both of them. One of them has 17 courts inside with 75 foot ceilings and no columns. Wow, I think it was like an aircraft hangar at some point. It was an indoor soccer facility for a while and it is like the perfect layout for indoor pickleball. But he found it in one visit, found one landlord, signed two leases and opened them both up. I have been to hundreds of places because I have to have the right hype, I have to have space between columns. I got to have air conditioning, I got to have bathrooms and I got to figure out, you know what's it going to cost to convert the place? And in San Antonio we don't have a lot of space just sitting around empty. Well, that's a good problem, it's good, it's good for the city. I mean, I found this one and I found my second one and I'm continually looking and there will be more opportunities and there will be more opportunities and there will be. Yeah, I think the strange thing in my city is we have probably the most vacant space in our city is industrial space. There's industrial warehousing all over and it's all empty and they don't want to talk to me yet. But they're going to one day they're going to say you know what I'm tired of being empty. Maybe we should talk to these pickleball guys, because it's the perfect layout giant empty buildings just sitting around empty. One day, when I can start turning them into pickleball, then the life's going to be real good. Chris: For sure. So just real quick, though, I want to ask about you kind of just as a leader right, your leadership style and how you think that's evolved over time, and kind of what you've learned maybe about yourself and about leadership in the process, in that journey. Brian: You know I learned leadership pretty young. I mean I go back and think about it and say you know, my dad was in the military. I was a military brat. We were all part of scouting. That was you start learning leadership and scouts right. I joined the Air Force myself, I served time in that and that the leadership is pretty well defined there. I mean, you know you can grow into being a good leader through that process. But in the military leaders comes with rank. Sometimes you don't really you haven't earned it, but you get it because you wear the rank and there's a difference in just knowing and understanding. And in that I learned I'm like if I want to be a leader, I've got to earn the right to be the leader of other people. As I started growing my own business, the challenge was I know how I want everything done. I like it done. A certain way. Most entrepreneurs are type A personalities we got an idea, we're going to run with it, we want to do it and no one could do it as good as we can. Well, you're going to be awful lonely and awful small if you think you can grow business all by yourself. So lesson you have to learn is how do I surround myself with people who make me better, who fill in the gaps of the things I'm not, and how do I let go and let them lead? So I've learned to invest in my staff and invest in them being leaders and letting it go. And remember, if you get from point A to point B and it doesn't cost any more money and it isn't illegal, does it really? And it doesn't use up any more time, does it really matter if they got there different than I would have? And honestly, it doesn't. But that's a lesson I had to learn. I was not very good at it, so my wife and my kids pulled things out of my gripped hands because they were like you got to let this go or we're never going to grow. And then you look back later and go wow, I'm so glad I did that. I mean, they're doing a better job at it than I ever did. And then you just have to make sure you're continually watching over what you're doing right, building good systems, checking on what you're doing, investing in your people, which means spending money on them, spending money to educate them, spending money for them to go out and try things, and also, don't be scared to try something. It's probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned Don't be scared to try something new that no one else has tried, because they're not all going to work, and I can tell you some of mine that were absolute failures. You figure it out, you go eh, switch back, we're done. But the ones that didn't work grew the business, made me money right, made us more efficient, and not being fearful to just change, adapt and be different is a big part, and when your staff sees that you're willing to do that and you're encouraging them and you're investing in them and you're giving them the ability to lead, you'll be surprised what they can do for you. Chris: Right. Well, so first, thank you for your service and second, yes, I think part of that for me is you can't be scared to fail, nervous. And second, yes, I think you know part of that for me is you can't be scared to fail. Uh. So if you don't take any chances, you won't learn, you won't grow. So you've got to be willing to do that and be observant of is it going well, is it not? Do I need to pivot, do I not? For your business and for yourself? Right? Brian: and you have to listen to your staff around you, because at certain point when you grow a business effectively, you start to get out of the day to day, and so you've got to check on it, you've got to hear from them, you've got to build on it and you've got to give them the ability to tell you maybe it is time to pivot, maybe we need to do something different, maybe there is a need out there, even though you didn't recognize it. They need to know. They can bring it to you and you'll listen Doesn't mean everything is going to change, but you give them a chance to speak it up and then it's out there and then you talk about it, and we do that regularly and it really changes the business when people have the freedom to bring up ideas and not be afraid of it. Chris: So let's move from the business side of things to just personal. Tell me what's your favorite part about San Antonio and why you decided to call it home. Brian: I moved here with my dad. He got stationed here when I was 13 years old and this has been my hometown almost ever since I joined the Air Force and I did leave here and I missed it all while I was gone. There's something about the community here in San Antonio the people, the events, the city that I missed. I've lived in other places. I don't think I ever missed not being there as much as I missed being here, and so this is truly my hometown. I love the city, all that we have going on, the fact we continue to grow and get big but we still feel like a small town Never and there's something for everyone. There's everything you possibly can want to do. You can do it here. I mean, we're in the middle of Fiesta. It's been going on forever, but there's still something in Fiesta that I still probably haven't even done. As many times I've gone out and done things and it's exciting just to be involved in that. I've been a Spurs fan since I moved here. I actually saw the Spurs as soon as I came back. We were coming back from Italy, moving to San Antonio, and the Spurs. I was 13 years old. The Spurs were in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Washington Bullets and they were up three games to one and I watched them lose the next three games and then not, and then I followed them and we didn't make it back to a conference championship for 20 years in 99. And then the next 20 years was a good payoff. We had a lot of fun and won a lot of games. Chris: So this is my town. Brian: I love my city. I love all that we do here. Chris: Yeah well, it's definitely spent enough time there to get a feel a very unique and welcoming culture and vibe. You mentioned Fiesta, but I don't see any badges on you. Brian: They're on sale at the front counter. Gotcha yeah, I actually was we made one, we've made one, we've traded some. A few people have bought them and it's a fun part to be part of that when you run a business in San Antonio. Chris: For sure. I've had the benefit of being there for a week on business during Fiesta and learned the whole thing about the badges and the trading and still have them with me. That's a lot of fun. Brian: Yeah, last weekend one of my managers took them all, went down and was down there handing out badges and also handing out flyers about our business Just getting the word out and getting connections to both people and other businesses. It's a unique time when everyone's just willing to talk to you and get face-to-face and everyone wants everyone else's medals. The Fiesta medals are kind of a cool thing, yeah for sure. Chris: Okay, last question Do you prefer Tex-Mex or barbecue? Brian: Tex-Mex for sure. I'll tell you this in traveling the country. There are other places where you can get barbecue. Maybe not quite the same, but there's some good barbecue out there. There is no good Tex-Mex anywhere except here. Chris: Yeah, yeah, I think it's a pretty accurate statement. Well, brian, I really appreciate you taking the time to kind of share your story, both on the property management side and Pickleball. Good luck with the grand opening coming up and look forward to seeing you guys succeed in that industry as well. Brian: All right, well, hey, great Thanks for having me on Great conversation. All right, take care. All right, bye, and there we have it. Special Guest: Brian Birdy.

Welcome back to Tinfoil Tales! On this episode I am joined by my guest Rod and he is here to share his research and information of founding Bexar County Bigfoot and the possible activity around the area.Tinfoil Tales Podcast - Show Notes 

Three San Antonio residents have been arrested following a traffic stop that netted a stolen vehicle and narcotics. In the early morning hours of April 9, Wilson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jared Reynolds began to follow a vehicle, reported stolen in Bexar County, traveling south on U.S. 181 toward Floresville. According to the sheriff's office, Reynolds began to coordinate a high-risk traffic stop as he continued to follow the vehicle, enlisting help from the Floresville Police Department. A felony stop was conducted after the vehicle came to a stop without incident in the 500 block of 10th St. (U.S. 181)....Article Link

In this inspiring episode of Birds Up Podcast, we sit down with UTSA alumnus Jon Gary Herrera, the newly appointed President & CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit—and the first Latino to hold the position in the agency's 46-year history.Jon Gary shares how his San Antonio roots, years in strategic communications, and deep commitment to public service shaped his journey from private sector leader to public servant. We explore his time at UTSA, his unforgettable reign as Rey Feo LXVII, and how those experiences continue to fuel his mission to expand equitable, accessible, and innovative transit options across Bexar County.We dive into what's ahead for VIA, including the groundbreaking VIA Rapid Green Line, expanding on-demand transit zones, and the Better Bus Plan that aims to move San Antonio into a smarter, more connected future.This episode is full of heart, humor, and powerful insights on leadership, legacy, and what it means to build community from the ground up.Tune in and take the ride!Show Notes:VIA TransitMore information about VIA Link, including the Little Runner: https://www.viainfo.net/link/More information on U-Pass, a special rider program available through partnerships with colleges and universities that provides unlimited bus rides: https://www.viainfo.net/upass/UTSA Express Route Schedule: https://www.viainfo.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Schedule093.pdfMore information about the VIA Rapid Green Line: https://keepsamoving.com/projects/via-rapid/via-rapid-green-line/More information about open positions at VIA: https://www.viainfo.net/employment/UTSA / UTSA AlumniUTSA 50th Fiesta Arts FairUTSA Alumni Fiesta MedalUTSA Alumni Fiesta ShirtUTSA Alumni UTSA AthleticsUTSA Alumni Online Store  Thanks for tuning in! Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe for more great content! Birds Up!

Rod of Bexar County Bigfoot discusses sightings and evidence in his area of Texas.You can find Bexar County Bigfoot on:Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/350987592252517/Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/bexarcountybigfoot/?hl=enYouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF5iwYu1msySY8lYN6baMMATikTok- https://www.tiktok.com/@bexarcountybigfootIf you love iNTO THE FRAY and want more content....join us over on Patreon! Exclusive interviews, ad-free and early versions of the main show, physical rewards like stickers, signed books, T-shirts,  interactive live-on-video guest interviews and group chats with fellow patrons, private RSS feed, Patron-only Discord room and FB group, and more.Click HERE to check out the various pledge levels.OR...if you prefer Apple Podcasts...subscribe to iTF Premium in your Apple Podcasts app! You'll get all bonus episodes and early releases of the main show. Completely AD-FREE. If you have an encounter or encounters you'd like to share, contact me HERE or via email, shannon@intothefrayradio.comGet your iTF STICKERS....HEREFollow iTF:Facebook: Join the interactive group and visit the official iTF page Twitter: Official iTF and Shannon's personal accountShannon's Instagram Website artwork and logo for iNTO THE FRAY, by Mister-Sam ShearonIntro music with permission from TanekOutro music provided with permission from Electus Official

CPS Energy plans to rebuild its existing single-circuit 345kV transmission infrastructure — constructed in the 1970s — into a new double-circuit 345kV transmission infrastructure. The line will connect the CPS Energy Spruce Station in Bexar County to the STEC Pawnee Station in Karnes County by crossing Wilson County; the approximately 46-mile project is estimated to cost 6 million. The new line, by adding another electric transmission pathway between generation resources and burgeoning population centers, should make the Texas electric grid stronger and more reliable, according to CPS Energy. Information about the proposal was presented at an open house in Floresville...Article Link

DigitalDesk v. Bexar County, TX

Violence against women is a public health crisis, and as nurse practitioners, we're here to shed light on the issue, provide support, and empower survivors. In this podcast, we'll discuss the physical, emotional, and societal impacts of gender-based violence, explore resources for healing & most importantly speak with Patricia Castillo! In case you don't know who Ms Castillo is and what she's done for the San Antonio community, read below

Violence against women is a public health crisis, and as nurse practitioners, we're here to shed light on the issue, provide support, and empower survivors. In this podcast, we'll discuss the physical, emotional, and societal impacts of gender-based violence, explore resources for healing & most importantly speak with Patricia Castillo! In case you don't know who Ms Castillo is and what she's done for the San Antonio community, read below

Want to learn what it's like to be a firefighter? Bexar County Emergency Services District (ESD) 12 Fire/Rescue is hosting a Citizens Fire Academy to give participants an inside look at fire operations, emergency response, and lifesaving skills. The four-day academy will be held on two consecutive weekends — June 7-8 and June 14-15 — at ESD 12 Station 192 at 11800 U.S. 87 E., west of Loop 1604 in Lone Oak. Hands-on experience will include vehicle rescue operations, live fire extinguisher training, hose handling, and more. In addition, those who complete the academy can obtain American Heart Association CPR...Article Link

Dr. Phil is discussing a dangerous trend law enforcement calls a “Takeover,” which is an event organized on social media with the sole intention of gathering as many teens and young adults as possible, to literally “takeover” city and suburban streets, parks, malls, and houses to party in for profit. Law Enforcement reports that often these events result in businesses ransacked, and neighborhoods destroyed from chaotic behavior, reckless driving, and violence that ensues, many times leading to arrests and death. Dr. Phil will speak with the mother and teenage girlfriend of a 17-year-old boy named, Landyn, who was shot and killed at what has been described as a Teen Takeover party. Dr. Phil will speak with Bexar County Sheriff, Javier Salazar, who is investigating Landyn's murder, and reports that every weekend his office is responding to drug and alcohol fueled takeovers organized by online hosts, and attended by teens, who are armed with guns. Leading up tonight's episode, Dr. Phil's team worked to gather intel in order to track alleged takeover party hosts in the Bexar County and discovered information about a potential takeover party. Watch what happens when the Bexar County Sheriff's Office allowed Dr. Phil's cameras to follow them to that party, which resulted in numerous arrests, and firearms seized. Thank you to our sponsors: PureHealth Research: Head over to https://PureHealthResearch.com and save 35% with code PHIL Preserve Gold: Visit: https://drphilgold.com/  Get a FREE precious metals guide that contains essential information on how to help protect your accounts. Text “DRPHIL” to 50505 to claim this exclusive offer from Preserve Gold today. Jase Medical: Go to https://Jase.com and enter code PHIL at checkout  

One out of every four children in Bexar County are food insecure. Sixty-three percent of students in Bexar County qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Children in Bexar County are dealing with health barriers and challenges. What do we know about the conditions in the San Antonio area that put children at risk and how can we create a future in which children thrive?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added Joseph Harris of Converse to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. Texas Crime Stoppers is now offering a cash reward of up to ,000 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous. Joseph Joshua Harris, 18, has been wanted out of Bexar County since Feb. 24, 2025, for capital murder by terror threat and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. His criminal history consists of past arrests and charges as an adult for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft of a firearm, evading arrest/detention,...Article Link

Domestic violence-related homicides across Bexar County continue to rise. The latest numbers show that in 2023, there were 33 people killed in domestic violence incidents. That number is up from 27 during the prior year. Bexar County Family Violence Prevention Services is encouraging people to speak out and ask for help when needed. How do you think the community can protect victims of domestic violence?

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠In this segment of "Notorious Mass Effect," host Analytic Dreamz dives deep into Aubrey Drake Graham's legal confrontation with UMG Recordings, Inc., filed in Bexar County's 225th Judicial District Court, Texas (Case No. 2024CI26782). Analytic Dreamz meticulously dissects Drake's Rule 202 petition and TCPA motion for discovery, alleging UMG employed payola, bot-driven amplification, and anticompetitive strategies to propel "Not Like Us" to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Backed by FCC advisories from February 2025, a prior iHeartMedia settlement on February 26, 2025, and detailed deposition requests, Analytic Dreamz outlines the TCPA hearing set for March 24, 2025, aiming to uncover evidence of defamation, fraud, and antitrust violations tied to the track's unprecedented streaming and radio success.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"Jack Riccardi previewed President Trump's speech to a joint sesion, joined by Ed Morrissey, Christian Hodges and Tim Graham and talked about Trump's first 44 days with historian Paul Kengor plus coverage of the Bexar County fires. Also carried the presidential address and Democratic response."

This week's Last Word commentary examines the growing demand for mental health services in Bexar County—and whether the state will provide the funding needed to meet it. Bob Rivard unpacks the county's plan to expand in-patient mental health services, why the need for more capacity has been a long-standing issue, and what it will take for Texas lawmakers to support these efforts. With statewide hospital bed shortages and increasing pressure on emergency rooms and law enforcement, how will Bexar County's move impact care for those in crisis? And will the state step up to ensure these investments aren't made in isolation? Join us for a thoughtful reflection on mental health policy, local leadership, and the future of state funding for critical care services. -- -- 

The drive to build two new major sports facilities in downtown San Antonio continues. And there continue to be questions about public input and tax-dollar support. Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert joins us with his concerns and to answer your questions.

Join us as we explore the incredible journey of Trish DeBerry, a trailblazer who has worn many crowns—both figuratively and literally. As UTSA's first Homecoming Queen, Trish's connection to her San Antonio roots set the stage for a career defined by innovation, leadership, and community impact. From her early days as a journalist to founding a highly successful marketing agency and serving as Bexar County Commissioner, Trish has consistently broken boundaries and redefined what it means to lead with purpose. Today, as CEO of Centro San Antonio, she is at the forefront of efforts to revitalize downtown, creating a vibrant, welcoming space for all.In this episode, Trish reflects on her career milestones, the lessons she's learned in public service, and her vision for San Antonio's future. Discover how her time at UTSA shaped her path, the challenges she's overcome as a woman in leadership, and her proudest accomplishments in transforming one of Texas's most iconic cities. Whether you're passionate about civic engagement, urban development, or leadership, this episode is packed with inspiration and insights. Tune in to hear from a leader who continues to shape San Antonio's story, one bold step at a time!Show Notes:Centro San Antonio Trish DeBerry UTSA RoyaltyUTSA Alumni Diploma Dash 5kUTSA Alumni UTSA Merger WebsiteUTSA Athletics Hall Of Fame NominationShelly Lares talks about being the first UTSA artist-in-residenceFive things to watch at UTSA in 2025UTSA MLK March 2025UTSA AthleticsUTSA Alumni Online Store  Thanks for tuning in! Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe for more great content! Birds Up!

This week's guest is Jeff Arndt, who has served for 13 years as president and CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit, San Antonio and Bexar County's public bus system. Listen as Arndt discusses his career at VIA ahead of his retirement and the continuing challenges, even amid significant improvements, to San Antonio's public transportation system.  

In this episode, we sit with Rod Nichols, founder and lead investigator of Bexar County Bigfoot. With their research into the elusive Sasquatch focusing on the San Antonio, Texas, area, they also stretch out to investigate the whole of North America. Rod shares his experiences with Bigfoot, the Texas Dogman, and the paranormal. https://www.instagram.com/bexarcountybigfoot?igsh=dGlzanU2emVsYWFkFreaky Merch! We are super excited to announce that you can now purchase Let's Get Freaky merch! Hoodies, t-shirts, mugs, stickers and lots more! Check it out! http://tee.pub/lic/aQprv54kktw If you have any paranormal or wild experiences to share and would like to be a guest on the show, please get in touch! Email us at letsgetfreakypodcast@mail.com or message us on social media. Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, @tcletsgetfreakypodcast https://linktr.ee/letsgetfreaky

This week's guest is David Marquez, executive director of Economic and Community Development for Bexar County, a longtime leader in economic development and advanced manufacturing, including cross-border auto manufacturing, for the county. Marquez oversaw the building and funding of the AT&T Arena, now renamed as the Frost Bank Center. Listen as Marquez discusses his role with the county and his own journey from machinist at Kelly Airforce Base to a leading voice in the direction of Bexar county.   

Text the JudgeJoin Judge Ron Rangel, former Bexar County prosecutors Kirsta Melton, and Jessica Cantu as they describe the first two local human sex-trafficking trials, laying the groundwork for Bexar County's current sex trafficking unit.Support the show

In this episode, the Bigfoot Society reconnects with Rod Nichols from Bexar County Bigfoot in San Antonio, Texas. Rod shares his journey into Bigfoot research, inspired by an encounter he had while on disability. He dives into his methodology of discovering 'wood structures' believed to be linked to Bigfoot and recounts various evidence and experiences. Rod discusses intriguing footprint discoveries, eerie vocalizations, and potential cryptid encounters in the region. He also touches on local lore, treasure legends, and the challenges faced by Bigfoot researchers in Texas. The episode concludes with advice to listeners on how to share their own sightings and experiences. Additionally, we hear an intriguing account from a truck driver who shares his own Bigfoot experiences across various locations. Tune in for a fascinating look at Bigfoot activity in an unexpected area!Resources:Bexar County Bigfoot FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/350987592252517/South Texas Monster Hunters FB Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/540209659699938Bigfoot 101https://www.facebook.com/groups/776812785714170

Suzanne, a 51-year-old mother of four from Olmos Park, Texas, is currently missing but presumed dead. Despite multiple searches, including a sweep of the landfill in Bexar County, Suzanne still has not been found. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the disappearance of Suzanne Simpson. It's a case with circumstances that are all too familiar to those who regularly follow true crime. Suzanne's husband, Brad, was a suspect from the start. And just weeks before this episode aired, he was arrested for Suzanne's murder. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology   An Emash Digital production

Steve Allison is a the current Representative for Bexar County's House District 121. He won't be on the ballot this election after losing in the Republican primary. We hear how Allison sees this election and what the next legislative session might look like.

When Suzanne Simpson, 51, goes missing after a heated argument with her husband Brad near their Olmos Park home, police launch a search that leads them from a local park to a Bexar County landfill, suspecting foul play. Brad, arrested on assault and firearm charges, has stopped cooperating with investigators as the search for Suzanne continues. Drew Nelson reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Chandler Simpson is in the Bexar County Jail, charged with assault in connection with his wife's disappearance. Suzanne Simpson has been missing for a week. Domestic violence is very real and all too common in Bexar County. What does the Simpson case tell us about intimate partner abuse?

In this episode of "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered," Sara critiques Kamala Harris' Univision town hall, in which she was caught using a teleprompter, exposing the scripted nature of her responses. Harris' focus on a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants angered legal Hispanic citizens, as Sara calls out the Biden-Harris administration's failed open-border policies. Additionally, Harris fumbled at a separate rally, awkwardly repeating "32 days” after her teleprompter shut off, further highlighting her disconnect from the public. Sara also addresses Harris' failure to tackle inflation and rising costs for middle-class families, noting her tone-deaf response while wearing a Tiffany necklace. The discussion highlights the flawed "border security bill," which facilitates illegal immigration rather than stopping it. Sara also touches on the influx of Haitian migrants in Logansport, Indiana, straining local resources and schools.   The episode shifts to Barack Obama's attempt to rally black voters for Harris, despite her low approval ratings. Sara criticizes Obama's hypocrisy, comparing his attacks on Trump to his own divisive rhetoric, while also pointing out rising crime rates and economic instability caused by Biden-Harris policies. Sara shares a viral video of Bexar County sheriff candidate Nathan Buchanan catching a woman stealing his campaign sign. Buchanan discusses his plans to restore law and order in Texas, tackle open-border policies, and shut down San Antonio's largest migrant center. On a lighter note, Sara teases her husband, Steven, for not wearing burnt orange to support the Texas Longhorns, while humorously recounting the tension at their home during Alabama's recent game.   Sara was joined by BlazeTV contributors John Doyle, host of "Heck Off, Commie!" and Lieutenant Colonel Allen West.   To learn more about Nathan Buchanan, visit: BuchananForSheriff.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine a Texas where you can effortlessly travel by train from Austin to San Antonio, or even journey all the way to Monterrey, Mexico. On this episode of Transit Tangents, Judge Andy Brown of Travis County joins us to share his vision for transforming passenger rail service in Central Texas. He gives us an insider's perspective on the challenges and opportunities for developing these critical rail connections. We also highlight the collaborative spirit driving these rail projects forward, emphasizing the strong partnerships between local leaders like Judge Sakai in Bexar County and their counterparts in Mexico. Send us a textSupport the show

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A minor car crash caused that massive petrochemical pipeline fire in the eastern Houston suburbs yesterday: https://apnews.com/article/pipeline-fire-texas-659141b9f88ed2b324c36fce2735746f ...The pipeline is owned by Energy Transfer, led by oil billionaire Kelcy Warren: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pipeline-fire-erupts-la-porte-texas-prompting-evacuations-2024-09-16/ ...Houston area Representative Gene Wu says we might know what chemicals are being burned into East Houston's air, had Republicans not voted against that rule: https://x.com/GeneforTexas/status/1835858167130984651 ...Dramatic aerial footage of the flames from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cdxrr7dz412o ...We talked to petrochemical engineer Chuck Crews, Democratic opponent to Republican Texas House incumbent Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, about all of this yesterday: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-news-minipod-la-porte-texas-pipeline-explosion/id1552998795?i=1000669739509 Ken Paxton's legal maneuvers to stop Bexar County officials from sending out unsolicited voter registration applications have been shut down by a San Antonio judge: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/16/politics/ken-paxton-bexar-county-texas-voter-registration/index.html Liz Cheney was campaigning against Ted Cruz in Dallas with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/09/16/liz-cheney-is-not-a-fan-of-ted-cruz-the-junior-senator-from-texas/ ...Cruz does have his backers, though - including one of the country's most notorious anti-abortion crusaders: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/ted-cruz-touted-the-endorsement-troy-newman-executing-abortion-providers/ TODAY is National Voter Registration Day, and our friends at MOVE Texas are activated across the state: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-170-gearing-up-for-national-voter-registration/id1552998795?i=1000669634900⁠ See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://govotetexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: The “scripted” responses from Democrat officials, and predictably wrong media narrative, over yet another assassination attempt of Donald Trump should, but sadly won't, awaken all Americans to the big lie that has been Leftist projection on so-called rhetoric and political speech. Alleged shooter hid for nearly 12 hours before Secret Service saw him at golf course FBI Affidavit Indicates Alleged Would-Be Assassin Had SKS Rifle Ryan Routh, armed man arrested at Trump golf course, posted prolifically about Ukraine war, has long rap sheet Would-be Trump Assassin Had Biden-Harris Bumper Sticker Trump Assassination Suspect Donated 19 Times to Democrats MSNBC Guest: Donald Trump Is ‘Exactly Like Hitler' Texas Dem U.S. Rep. Crockett: MAGA Is a Domestic Threat, Trump Is Stoking Them Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Bexar County pulled a fast one with their register-more-Democrats-to-vote scheme. Mailed the stuff out before the court hearing over barring them from doing so.Amarillo's Rep. Smithee finally decides to run for House Speaker. His best chance is as a safe compromise candidate and it might work. Also a far-Left Democrat, Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, has filed for Speaker as well.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

There is a new $2.8 billion budget and possible downtown moves for the Spurs and the Missions. County Judge Peter Sakai joins us to update listeners about the latest developments.

Guest: George Rodriguez, South Texas conservative ...Cruz vs Alred...AG Paxton vs Bexar County..and other stories.....    

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: The backroom work to intimidate, and even ruin, two Lubbock County commissioners – all for working to stop ballooning county spending and a big tax increase – is underway from several fronts. The latest item that is in public is beyond petty – it is juvenile and petulant political retribution from Big Budgets Bowtie Parrish.We visit with one of the targets, Lubbock County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Attorney General Paxton sues Travis County for the same reason he sued Bexar County earlier in the week: The hiring of a partisan “progressive” outfit to run a local voter registration scheme.Oil and gas rig count unchanged this week.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

Alabama11 Pastors in Nicaragua released, AL ministry founder overjoyedGov. Ivey calls for resignation of Ken Davis from AL Dept of Veterans AffairsAL provides legal brief over FL ban on transgender surgeries for minorsCullman County sheriff mad about illegal alien shooting/injuring veteranTroubles with the AL Board of Pharmacy are many  says state lawmakerGov. Ivey releases a list of items for "National Preparedness Month"NationalHarris bussing in supporters to rallies, also gets endorsement from Vlad PutinOne trial against Trump will not happen in DC until after the electionHunter Biden seeks to avoid tax trial by switching his plea to guilty this weekFL Senator says Chuck Schumer to blame if there is government shutdownVA AG says 100 thousand migrant children lost and unaccounted forTX AG sues Bexar County for plan to mail out voter registration applicationsSiri actively taking sides in politics, Amazon quick to make the "glitch" claim

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Bexar County over a plan to reach out to unregistered voters with applications.After two years of missing its recruitment goals, a new Army college partnership is helping recruits in San Antonio get their GEDs.Amazon is trying to save its Echo program with a major artificial intelligence upgrade for […] The post Ken Paxton sues Bexar County over plan to mail out registration forms to unregistered voters appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Nathan Buchanan is the Republican candidate for Bexar County sheriff and is challenging Democrat incumbent Sheriff Javier Salazar.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Ken Paxton, as threatened, has filed a lawsuit against Bexar County over their program to register more voters in the San Antonio area: https://newrepublic.com/post/185585/ken-paxton-threatens-sue-democrats-voter-registration ...He's also poised to similarly sue Harris County over their efforts to increase voter registration in Houston - all part of longstanding GOP efforts against urban and Latino voters: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/us/texas-voter-registration-paxton-bexar.html ...Our urban centers voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in 2020, which is likely the real motivation for Paxton's tactics: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-attorney-general-sues-bexar-county-over-mail-in-voter-registrations-2024-09-05/ ...Democratic elected officials in Texas are calling for federal intervention against Paxton's voter suppression efforts: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/09/04/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-voter-fraud-democrats-want-doj-investigation/75071421007/ ...Tarrant County commissioners vote along party lines to reject a plan to open 50 early voting sites around Fort Worth: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article291928425.html TribFest starts TODAY in Austin, and Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://govotetexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! ⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate⁠⁠⁠ Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: False conservative city Councilwoman Jennifer Wilson leads Lubbock city council to pass a tax increase, overriding the newly elected Mayor Mark McBrayer as well as conservative Councilman David Glasheen. But wait there's more! Wilson also appears to have successfully pushed a mechanism whereby elected officials will have less responsibility and accountability in one of biggest expenses of a city – police and firefighter pay. This the exact disease that the Congress began decades ago which puts the growth of spending and government on near autopilot while exempting the elected from having to do hard work.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Texas revenue for FY2024 comes in right about where the Comptroller predicted a year ago. It is down when factored against inflation.A fourth state representative enters the race for Speaker of the Texas House: David Cook. I discuss the items of importance he wrote in a letter to members of the House.Attorney General Paxton sues Bexar County for hiring an outside, Leftist firm to mail unsolicited voter registration applicants to voters – and it did so on a no-bid contract! Read the suit, it has far more information than the press release.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Officials in Bexar County have voted to move forward with plans to mail voter registration forms to unregistered voters in spite of threats of a lawsuit by Ken Paxton: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/bexar-county-hire-voter-firm-19740080.php The Texas Department of State Health Services has followed a similar policy at Texas DPS in denying trans Texans from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/03/texas-transgender-birth-certificates/ The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers has unveiled its Educator's Bill Of Rights, which they intend to bring before the Texas Legislature next year: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/texas-teachers-union-pushing-stronger-public-school-protections/287-6eb18a34-5697-499d-97b2-e50ce6ddfa69 ...While public school districts struggle with teachers lacking proper certification: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/04/texas-uncertified-teachers-staff-shortages/ Ted Cruz would really like for you to forget the key role he has played in undermining reproductive freedom and abortion rights in Texas: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/ted-cruz-texas-senate-election-abortion-record Arizona Senator Mark Kelly will take part in a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday September 13 in Fort Worth: https://secure.kamalaharris.com/a/paiorhjgqjnzkdjsgn Deposed State Rep. Shawn Thierry shows her true colors in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, who herself has little time for the outgoing turncoat: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6361472377112 TribFest starts tomorrow in Austin, and Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://govotetexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! ⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org/donate⁠⁠ Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

MDJ Script/ Top Stories for August 22nd Publish Date:  August 22nd    BREAK: COBB INTERNATIONAL FAIR From the BG AD Group Studio, Welcome to the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast.    Today is Thursday, August 22nd and Happy heavenly Birthday to Stormin' Norman Scharzkopf. 08.22.24 – BIRTHDAY – NORMAN SCHARZKOPF*** I'm Dan Radcliffe and here are the stories Cobb is talking about, presented by Credit Union of Georgia.  Cupid: County to Accept Judge's Ruling, Switch to State Map Sex Assault Fugitive Caught in Cobb Cobb Approves New Baseball Complex   Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on cereals.   All of this and more is coming up on the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!    BREAK: CU of GA STORY 1:  Cupid: County to Accept Judge's Ruling, Switch to State Map Cobb County Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has announced that the county will accept Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill's ruling striking down its "home rule" map as unconstitutional. Cupid plans to add an agenda item to formalize this decision and adopt the 2022 maps passed by the Georgia Legislature. This follows Hill's denial of the county's request to intervene in a case related to the map, which has led to orders for special elections for the District 2 and District 4 seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners. The county had argued that these elections could cost up to $1.5 million and leave half the commission without representation, but Hill clarified that current commissioners would retain their seats until their successors are elected. The special elections are scheduled for either April 29 or June 17, 2025, depending on whether there is a runoff in the November general election. STORY 2:  Sex Assault Fugitive Caught in Cobb Ric Allen Gayton, 55, of Marietta, was arrested on August 16 in Cobb County on charges of being a fugitive from sex assault charges in Bexar County, Texas. He was located at the intersection of Black Bear Drive and Powers Ferry Road and was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Texas authorities plan to extradite him. Gayton remains in custody. STORY 3:  Cobb Approves New Baseball Complex The Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a new baseball complex in east Cobb with a 4-0 vote, Commissioner Keli Gambrill was absent. The complex, proposed by Blake Bondurant, will be built on three parcels totaling 12 acres and include two baseball fields, concessions, a batting cage, a barn dominium, and a playground. Located near East Cobb Baseball Georgia, the facility aims to supplement existing services. Site improvements will involve grading, tree removal, and paved parking. The property requires adherence to stormwater management and buffer regulations due to its proximity to Wilson Lake. Construction is expected to take a few months once underway.   We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.799.6810 for more info.    We'll be right back  BREAK: DRAKE STORY 4:  Man Accused of Sex Act in Kennesaw Church William Clinton Dixon Causey, 31, from Waycross, was arrested on August 16 for allegedly committing a sex act in the Adoration Chapel of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Kennesaw on August 14. He faces charges of public indecency and vandalism of a place of worship. Causey was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and remains in custody without bond. STORY 5:  16 States Sound Alarm on Polices Used to Fire Cobb Teacher This week, the U.S. Department of Justice and 16 states plus the District of Columbia expressed concerns about Cobb County's policies used to fire former Due West Elementary teacher Katie Rinderle. Rinderle was dismissed in 2023 for reading the book “My Shadow is Purple,” which the district deemed in violation of new policies on instructional materials and controversial issues. The DOJ is urging the court to examine the impact of these policies on education and their compliance with Title IX. They argue that retaliating against teachers could deter students from reporting discrimination. The 17 jurisdictions supporting Rinderle's lawsuit believe these policies foster homophobia and harm LGBTQ students, affecting educational outcomes and potentially imposing financial burdens on other states. The Cobb County School District has declined to comment on the litigation but stands by its decision. We'll be back in a moment    BREAK: COBB INTERNATIONAL FAIR – INGLES 10   And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on cereals.   ***LEAH INTERVIEW ON CEREALS***   We'll have closing comments after this.   BREAK: Marietta Theater (BONNIE & CLYDE)   Signoff-   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today's Marietta Daily Journal Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at mdjonline.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network   Show Sponsors: ingles-markets.com cuofga.org drakerealty.com mariettatheatresquare.com Cobb International Fair   #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forty-six percent of households in Bexar County earn less than what is required to make ends meet in the current economy. This means that 345,000 households in Bexar County earn wages below the cost of living. That's according to a report by The United Way of San Antonio. Why are so many families living with financial hardship? How are they getting by? What can be done to improve their situations?

Text the JudgeJoin Judge Ron Rangel and former prosecutor Meredith Chacon as they discuss how Mark Benavides — a former defense attorney and judicial candidate — was convicted and sentenced to 80 years' prison for exchanging legal services for sex in Bexar County.Support the Show.