May 12, 2025

In this edition: Action Alert: Ask Brownwood City Council to continue in-town recycling at the Council meeting TOMORROW! Deer-proof gardening without a fence; DeLa Express and Bahia pipeline updates; Bluebonnet ICE Detention Center stays in national spotlight; Corporation for Public Broadcasting under presidential attack

Last Chance to Save In-town Recycling—Come to a Council Meeting

If you believe the City of Brownwood should continue to offer citizens an in-town recycling option (since no curbside recycling is provided), plan to attend Brownwood City Council TOMORROW, Tuesday May 13, at 9 am, to show your concern about this issue. You do not have to live in Brownwood to attend a City Council meeting; meetings are open to the public.

For over 10 years, the City Sanitation Dept. has delivered mobile recycling trailers to the parking lot under the Austin Ave. overpass, so people could bring their household recycling from 9 am to noon on 2 Saturdays each month. The trailers have been staffed by City employees and volunteers from Keep Brownwood Beautiful.

With KBB’s recent dissolution, the City is considering discontinuing this service, and the City Council may be discussing the issue at their May 27^th meeting. So now is the time to let them know if you want it to continue.

Brownwood resident Leslie Courington is preparing a Citizen Presentation for City Council for the upcoming meeting TOMORROW. More people in the Council chambers makes a bigger impression on council members and city staff. You don’t have to speak, just come to show your support.

Citizen presentations are at the beginning of the meeting—you can leave after Leslie speaks if you don’t want to stay. Scroll down to the Civic Calendar below, for a link to the City website where you can find the full agenda for the Tuesday meeting

If you would be willing to volunteer to help staff the recycling trailers, once or twice a month, contact Leslie at 325-203-6940. Volunteers help unload recyclables, and make sure only accepted items are dropped off, not trash.

Deer-proof Garden: Is there such a thing?

Yes. A deer-fenced garden is a deer-proof garden. If you live where the white-tailed deer are rampant, like the south side of Brownwood, only a tall fence will protect most vegetables and ornamentals.

But outside the fence, where the deer roam freely, there are still many beautiful and useful plants you can grow here, with little to no deer damage:

Garlic—true garlic (annual), and elephant garlic (perennial)

Garlic chives

Rosemary

Yarrow

Blue mistflower

Sages, including Mealy blue sage, May night sage, Salvia greggii, Texas sage, culinary sage

Iris

Bamboo

Mexican feather grass

Vinca (Periwinkle)

Some of these plants were already established on our property when we moved here in the oven-summer of 1998. All are heat and drought tolerant, though they will obviously benefit from regular water. Some will spread easily, or are considered invasive, so choose carefully to suit your landscape.

My personal favorites:

Garlic chives/Chinese chives—(allium tuberosum) Shade tolerant perennial, will spread. Edible dark green leaves, tasty edible flower buds, blooms in the summer heat (with regular watering), honeybees love it.

Blue mistflower—native, butterfly magnet. In our yard, the Queen butterflies swarm over our patch as long as it flowers, and many other insects visit as well

Yarrow—feathery fern-like foliage, thrives with virtually no attention, valued for insect repellent companion planting and many medicinal uses

Bamboo—ours has grown in a big container for years by our back door. I would never plant it in the ground, since it’s highly invasive.

New Pipelines in Brown County—Update

On the agenda for last Monday’s Brown County Commissioners Court meeting (May 5) was “Discussion and possible action to update the Road Use Agreement and Bond with Bahia Pipeline LLC,” but no representative from the pipeline came to the meeting, and no action was taken.

The Commissioners had previously approved a right-of-way agreement and performance bond for the pipeline in Precinct 2 at their meeting Sept. 23, 2024. The right-of-way agreement was for 6 months, so by now it has expired.

According to the Texas Railroad Commission Pipeline New Construction Report, the 30 inch diameter Bahia Pipeline is for “hazardous liquid transmission” (natural gas liquids) and will be 554 miles long, running from Ector County, near Odessa, to Chambers County, near Houston. Capacity is 600,000 barrels per day. The Report lists a construction start date of Nov. 11, 2024.

https://www.rrc.texas.gov/media/s2lp0dk2/2024-cy-pipeline-construction_dec31-2024.pdf

The owner is Enterprise Products Partners of Houston. According to their media library, “Enterprise Products Partners and related entities has over 50,000 miles of pipeline in more than 27 states.”

https://oilandgaswatch.org/pipeline/7135

Have you seen this pipeline under construction, or heard anything about it? Email me: beemonster@verizon.net

DeLa Express pipeline’s Monthly Pre-filing Status Reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) show almost no changes over the past 3 months.

The most recent report, filed April 15, shows delays in the project schedule, and zero progress since January on completion of environmental surveys (60% complete), cultural resources surveys (54% complete), and survey permissions from landowners (70% complete).

Meanwhile, Reuters recently reported that “US energy companies seek exemption from Trump plan to move Liquid Natural Gas on US ships.”

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-energy-companies-seek-exemption-trump-plan-move-lng-us-built-ships-2025-05-07/

Since the DeLa Express pipeline is planned to carry “liquids-rich natural gas,” much of which would likely be destined for export, the new rule requiring transport on US-built ships could add another layer of uncertainty for investors in the pipeline project.

Nearby ICE Detention Center Highlights Judicial-Executive Face-off

In the last edition of this newsletter, I covered the dramatic US Supreme Court intervention on April 19 that prevented imminent deportations from the Bluebonnet ICE Detention Center in Anson, Texas via Abilene Regional Airport. Anson is 25 miles north of Abilene, and about 100 miles northwest of Brownwood.

Ongoing media coverage of the Bluebonnet facility includes drone video of 31 detainees forming the letters SOS with their bodies in the exercise yard there on April 28.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/sos-migrants-held-texas-fear-notorious-el-salvador-prison-2025-04-30/

Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller’s recent comments regarding a possible suspension of Habeas Corpus are the latest escalation of this administration’s attacks on our constitutional rights.

US Constitution Article 1, Section 9:

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

One First

148. Suspending Habeas Corpus

Welcome back to “One First,” an (increasingly frequent) newsletter that aims to make the U.S. Supreme Court more accessible to all of us. If you’re not already a subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one (and, if you already are, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription if your circumstances permit…

2 months ago · 708 likes · 142 comments · Steve Vladeck

Please let me know if you have witnessed or are aware of a rebellion or invasion that requires suspension of this bedrock constitutional protection of your personal freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, imprisonment, or deportation.

Executive Order Illegally Targets Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

Yes, I love my PBS. Currently saved in the DVR at home are episodes of the PBS Newshour and Newshour Weekend, Frontline, Finding Your Roots, Independent Lens, POV, VOCES, American Masters, Austin City Limits, Nature, NOVA, and more.

Apparently the President doesn’t share my love, and of course, that’s his right. But his recent Executive Order, Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media (May 1), which attempts to end federal funding for PBS and NPR, is yet another misguided and misdirected executive overreach of congressional authority.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/

As Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB, states in her response to the EO:

“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority.

Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.”

“In creating CPB, Congress expressly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees or contractors…’ 47 U.S.C. § 398(c).”

https://cpb.org/pressroom/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Statement-Regarding-Executive-Order-Public-Media

Stay tuned as this issue will be resolved in the courts, and in Congress.

You may wish to call or email Congressman Pfluger, and Senators Cornyn and Cruz regarding this. Here’s what I told them in phone calls last week:

Dear (Representative/Senator),

I expect you to maintain and protect congressional funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and NPR. These organizations are authorized and funded by Congress, and explicitly protected from presidential interference by law, under 47 U.S.C. Sec. 398 (c).

I expect you to ignore the recent Executive Order calling for an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, because it is illegal, and exceeds the President’s authority. I expect you to deny any rescission request that would stop federal funding to CPB, PBS, and NPR.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-rescission-process-congress-trump-doge/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Rep. August Pfluger (House District 11) Brownwood: 325-646-1950

San Angelo: 325-659-4010

Sen. John Cornyn Dallas: 972-239-1310

Sen Ted Cruz Dallas: 214-599-8749

Support Your Green News

Your feedback is always welcomed, especially updates and corrections to keep the Civic Calendar current.

If you like this newsletter, forward it on to someone else, and ask them to subscribe. Send correspondence to beemonster@verizon.net.

Send story leads anytime, or drop by to see me at the Brownwood Art Center, 215 Fisk, weekdays, 2-6 pm. I’ll be the Gallery Guy greeting you at the front desk.

Civic Calendar: Your shortcut to citizenship and political participation

Brownwood City Council 501 Center Ave City Hall

9 am every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://brownwoodtexas.gov/150/City-Council

City of Brownwood Agenda Center posts agendas for Boards and Commissions including:

City Council, Airport Board, B’wd Municipal Development District Board, Building and Standards Commission, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission and more….

https://www.brownwoodtexas.gov/AgendaCenter

Early City Council 960 Early Blvd. City Hall

6 pm every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://www.earlytx.net/96/City-Council

Blanket City council 718 Main St. Blanket Lions Club

5:30 pm Third Monday

https://www.facebook.com/cityofblanket/photos

Bangs City Council 109 S. First St. City Hall

6 pm 2^nd and 4^th Monday

https://www.cityofbangs.org/

Brown County Commissioners 200 S. Broadway County Courthouse

9 am First and Third Mondays confirm on county calendar