30 September 2004
There they go again
The Chronicle corrections section is an endless source of amusement.
Here's the latest:
The decomposed bodies of two men were found Friday in the 3100 block of Penn City Road. A brief on Page B2 of Saturday's City & State section gave an incorrect street name.
Wouldn't one think that the street where decomposed bodies of two men were discovered would be a pretty important fact to get right?
And wouldn't one also think that such crucial basic facts would be double checked by editors, so that corrections wouldn't be necessary?
This is pretty basic journalism, but the basics seem regularly to elude the Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/30/04 11:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Food and drink (9-30-2004 edition)
As the weekend approaches, here's a quick roundup of various food and drink reviews this week:
Robb Walsh gives a big thumbs up to Denis' Seafood in West Houston. In a town where too many seafood houses are dishonest about their fish, Walsh says Denis' tells the truth about their offerings. And when you have some of best offerings in town, why not? Personally, I love this restaurant.
Alison Cook gets little joy from her experiences at The Grille at Clear Lake. That's fair enough, but readers may find little joy in her review, which has plenty of fine details, but never coalesces into a satisfying whole (not unlike her judgment of the restaurant). At least for this reader. But we link. You decide.
Dai Huynh updates us on various food news around town.
And Joey Guerra says The Belmar club "is the perfect place to grab a drink and gab the night away." One might suspect that a dance club might actually be better suited for... dancing? But again, we link, you decide.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/30/04 11:35 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Fiddling while the newspaper burns
Chronicle "blogger" and "Star" section editor MeMo takes the official newspaper weblog into LiveJournal territory:
As of today, you should see a new mugshot with MeMo. This is of no matter, except insofar as it helped me figure out something new about human nature. Call it vanity unfair.
A week or so ago, this page got an e-mail from a disgruntled reader. Certainly not the first, or even the first that day. Readers rightly believe that they have a stake in their daily news, and on top of that, journalism is a relentlessly self-critical profession. As a consequence, this aging editor has a hard carapace. You, the reader, can -- and should -- criticize this dumb MeMo. Pick apart the facile ideas, the flawed grammar, the ignorant Yankee faux-wit. Tell me i'm stupid or crazy; I have connections by blood or contract who got there before you, anyway. I'd have thought there wasn't much criticism i couldn't consider, address or shake off.
But one e-mailer found this girl's spray-hose-covered Achilles heel: he made fun of the photo accompanying this blog.
The newspaper has just announced massive downsizing, and one of the senior editors is upset because a reader criticized her photograph?
That really is an unintentional statement about what is wrong down at 801 Texas Avenue.
Here's a suggestion: dump the "blog" AND the bad photo, and bring back Texas Magazine.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/30/04 11:15 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Could Mayor White please explain?
The Chronicle's Ron Nissimov sounds a little exasperated over the White Administration's refusal to answer a simple question:
On Sept. 20, Mayor Bill White said an agreement had been reached to reduce an $846 million shortfall in the police pension to $535 million.
But an actuarial report presented to the Houston Police Officers' Pension System the same day said the pension shortfall already had been reduced from $846 million in July 2003 to $685 million in July 2004 because of stock market gains.
That would mean that the agreements would reduce the shortfall by $150 million, not the $311 million White claimed.
City and HPOPS officials have repeatedly told the Chronicle that they cannot explain the discrepancy. No council members have asked about the matter in public sessions.
Cannot or will not?
It's really unacceptable that no administration official will explain Mayor White's seemingly erroneous claim, that no council member will ask for an explanation, and that no journalists in town (besides Nissimov) are bothered by it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/30/04 10:57 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
The Chronicle's coverage of the Lone Star Iconoclast, circulation 425
When you think of the Chronicle, what's the first thought that comes to mind? Bloodhound - right!
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bloodhound like this:
1 : any of a breed of large powerful hounds of European origin remarkable for acuteness of smell
2 : a person keen in pursuit
That's just what I was thinking. No local media outlet can match the Chronicle for its instincts to go after a story, just like Chronicle reporters did with Enron, and a little old lady who had information related to some fake memos. Oh, and let's not forget the Chronicle's relentless pursuit of MetroRail. Yep, bloodhound.
Which explains why the Chronicle put Julie Mason on the case of the Crawford, Texas, newspaper that endorsed John Kerry.
This is really important stuff.
As Rob Booth pointed out, this is so important that the Chronicle ran an AP story online Tuesday, then printed the Julie Mason-authored story on Wednesday.
The Chronicle says that the Lone Star Iconoclast has a circulation of 1,000, which is probably being generous. Newspapers have been known to err on the side of inflation when it comes to circulation numbers. Regardless, how odd is it to get all excited about the editorial position of a newspaper that reaches maybe 1,000 people?
The majority of the Chronicle story is Democrat press-release journalism, but at the end are two interesting paragraphs:
Around Crawford, a few residents, who would not give their names, said they read the Iconoclast but ignore the editorials, which they generally described as more liberal than the town.
News of the endorsement was sent to the press Tuesday by the Democratic National Committee, the Kerry campaign and America Coming Together, a liberal policy group.
Oh, well that explains the Democrat press-release reporting. The DNC helpfully provided the talking points. And I thought the campaigns weren't supposed to coordinate with those 527 groups. Probably just a coincidence.
Hugh Hewitt (why can't some Houston radio station pick up his show?) has a biting piece in the Weekly Standard:
IT STARTED on the Late, Late Show Monday night. Drudge posted a link to a picture of John Kerry's suddenly orange face on Tuesday, and Blogs for Bush, Blogs of War, and Best of the Web started an Oompa Loompa meme Tuesday afternoon. I played the Oompa Loompa song a few times during the afternoon drive in scores of cities across the United States. Then Jay Leno opened his monologue with a combo botox/tan-in-a-can joke. Tens of millions of Americans kicked it around, and went to bed.
And the morning papers--except the New York Post-- said not a word. The Boston Globe, the Chicago Sun-Times, and other old media found space to cover the decision of the Crawford, Texas' Lone Star Iconoclast--circulation 425--to endorse John Kerry, but refused to acknowledge a genuine, though bizarre, story that is actually having an impact on the race--because they collectively don't think it should be having an impact on the race.
The Iconoclast's circulation is 425? Wow. You know, I didn't see the media get this worked up when some Democrats publicly endorsed Bush.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/30/04 12:37 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Chronicle quotables
Those of us who still read the paper Chronicle (someone has to!) are given the joy of checking out the "Quotable" in the paper's Election 2004 section.
Tuesday's entry is this wisdom imparted by former President Jimmy Carter:
"Some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida...With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida."
Former President Jimmy Carter
Florida Governor Jeb Bush begged to differ with the former president, in spite of Carter's expertise at monitoring elections, including his "successful" oversight of Venezuela's recent recall effort.
Wednesday's Chronicle doesn't have a quotable, which is a shame because there was a really good quote the Chronicle could have used:
"He voted for the use of force in Iraq and then didn't vote to fund the troops. He complained that we're not spending enough money to help in reconstruction in Iraq and now he's saying we're spending too much. He said it was the right decision to go into Iraq and now he calls it the wrong war. He could probably spend 90 minutes debating himself."
President Bush at a Monday campaign event in Ohio
Well okay, the Chronicle couldn't have used this quote because the trend is to use quotes that aren't favorable to President Bush.
But it was still a good one.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/30/04 10:50 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Tolerance at Houston's Baptist university
How tolerant of my alma mater:
"Mainly the purpose was to clear up some misconceptions about Islam," said Khalid Bhatti, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and graduate student at the University of Houston. "Islam is portrayed negatively, so we're just here to clear those misconceptions up. There are so many negative acts done in the name of Islam and no one speaks out against it. We're here to do that and I think we were successful in accomplishing that."
Except, the Chronicle coverage didn't address any of that.
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 09/30/04 07:59 AM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)
29 September 2004
Ken Charles knows how to generate buzz
Back when the Dan Rather memogate controversy broke, KPRC-950 general manager Ken Charles received some media buzz when he announced that he was dropping Dan Rather's news updates from the conservative-talk station's rotation.
Predictably, the buzz died as everyone but a handful of Move On diehards figured out that Rather's memos were fake, and that CBS News had taken a tremendous hit in credibility as a result.
Still, Charles managed to attract more media attention when the AP picked up the story earlier this week.
That attracted the attention of Owen Courreges, who praised Charles and KPRC on Chronically Biased, the conservative weblog affiliated with Dan Patrick's KSEV-700 talk radio station.
Apparently, that attracted the attention of Dan Patrick himself, who posted a good rant calling Ken Charles a RINO (which at one point in the day was changed by someone to Rhino, and then changed back) and questioning his conservative credentials. Here's an excerpt:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 11:28 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
A giant, crippled chicken will cross Westheimer?
The PETA freaks are at it again. No half-naked women in this protest though.
If PETA protests become run-of-the-mill in Houston, we may just qualify as being world class.
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 09/29/04 11:22 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Eckels loses on property tax proposal
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels couldn't find a second for his proposal to cut property taxes at yesterday's Commissioners' Court. Commissioners later voted to retain the same tax rate.
Afterwards, conservative and liberal members alike criticized the Eckels proposal, which was supported by Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt, as political grandstanding.
In an interview on KSEV-700 radio earlier today, Steve Radack explained his lack of support for the proposal by contending that it simply appeared out of the blue, and hadn't even been discussed with the other members or analyzed by staff. Indeed, the proposal seems to have gotten a kickstart over the last few days from the same radio station, which has been one of the biggest advocates in the state for property tax relief.
It appears they overreached in pushing a proposal without building political support first, perhaps even antagonizing members of Commisioners' Court who generally favor their position. Taxpayers are the real losers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 10:42 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Disgraced former HPD captain attempts comeback
Various news outlets are reporting on disgraced former HPD Captain Mark Aguirre's attempts to get his job back, with back pay!
Here's an excerpt from the Chronicle's coverage:
During emotional and sometimes angry testimony Tuesday, former Houston Police Department Capt. Mark Aguirre claimed he was wrongfully fired and was betrayed by his co-workers.
During a hearing before an independent arbitrator, Aguirre said he wants his job back and the pay he has lost since he was fired almost two years ago for his handling of Operation ERACER, a controversial raid at a west Houston Kmart parking lot that became a legal fiasco for the city.
"Sir, you can't put me back together — I know that," he told the hearing examiner. "You have no idea what's happened to me, how I was betrayed by my co-workers and my Police Department. ... They destroyed me financially. They destroyed me reputationwise. You can't give me my reputation back. But I want that back pay, at the very least. ... I want my job back, and I want to be given some measure of dignity."
An attorney for the city, calling Aguirre the "mastermind" of the raid, claimed the fired police captain has no recourse.
Aguirre, 47, said he did nothing wrong and violated no rules or department policies when he embarked on the sweep, designed to crack down on racing enthusiasts and spectators clogging west Houston parking lots. Aguirre also said HPD's administration had approved plans for the operation, but scapegoated officers when the controversy became a political firestorm.
The August 2002 sweep in the 8400 block of Westheimer yielded 278 arrests, mostly for trespassing and curfew violations, none related to racing. A smaller raid the night before led to 25 arrests outside a nearby restaurant. All charges were dropped after HPD was deluged with complaints and lawsuits.
Aguirre speculated Tuesday that former Mayor Lee Brown directed all charges be dropped to protect former Police Chief C.O. Bradford, who publicly disavowed knowledge of the raid. When pressed, Aguirre could not provide proof, saying only, "That's my gut feeling."
Blogger Charles Kuffner downplays Aguirre's chances of success in this move. I would agree if Houston's civil service procedures were sensible, but it's important to remember that fired workers from HPD's notorious crime lab have actually been reinstated as a result of similar proceedings. In contrast, Aguirre's actions may have been unacceptably over the top, but nobody was sent to death row (erroneously) as a result. It will not shock me if he is reinstated.
(09-30-2004 Update) The Chronicle runs additional coverage today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 10:10 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
HPD manpower issues begin to affect public parks
The Houston Police Department has looming manpower issues that are now starting to be felt.
Carolyn Campbell reports for KHOU-11 that HPD is being forced to cut down patrols at area parks in order to maintain manpower in areas deemed more critical:
With more Houston police officers retiring, the department is trying do the same job with fewer people to make sure Houstonians are protected.
One idea is to take some patrol officers from Memorial and Hermann Parks and put them on the streets.
What will this mean for police protection in the park?
Joggers like to see them no matter what time of day it is. Police patrols make the thousands of runners in Memorial Park feel safe.
Next week, there will be fewer patrols assigned there from the Special Operations Division.
[snip]
But Capt. Lentschke says there's no need for joggers to change their plans.
"The numbers may change, but we will have police visibility out here every single day. The difference will be in the type of allocation. We will add mounted, we will add some bike officers, and so we'll have a little bit more visibility in those aspects, rather than just the patrol cars," she says.
Capt. Lentschke is losing about 50 of her 200 officers to retirement, but that's happening throughout the police department. As hundreds of officers retire, they have to shift manpower.
Police say that this is all to make sure that officers are there when citizens call.
The problem is going to get much worse before it gets better, because the city has not budgeted for cadet classes to compensate for retirements that are looming, let alone normal attrition.
Public safety is the most basic function of any municipality. Mayor White and City Council have completely abdicated their responsibility to ensure that HPD has adequate manpower to keep citizens safe. Local media are just now reporting on the problem. In two or three years, it will be much worse, and crime will skyrocket as a result.
It is beyond comprehension that a giveaway of $2 million for an African-American museum is a higher priority for Mayor White than public safety.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 09:38 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bias by omission on the death penalty
Sherri Sylvester of the invaluable Texas Media Watch penned a column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram yesterday.
She brought up an interesting point about bias by omission:
There's also an odd, anti-Texas-style bias that keeps some positive stories about the state out of newspapers altogether.
In February, The New York Times reported a study on the death penalty showing that, contrary to what many locals believe, Texas is not more likely to sentence convicted murderers to death than other states and in fact is below the national average.
The Times version did not appear in any major Texas paper after it broke, although a version of the story by The Associated Press did appear in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Months later, a portion of it was cited in a news report on another issue.
A search of the Chronicle archives confirms Sylvester's assertion that the newspaper never ran the Times story or original reporting on the study.
That's hardly surprising, as the Chronicle's editorial stance is firmly anti-death penalty, and regular columnists Clay Robison, Cragg Hines, and Rick Casey can be counted on to blast the death penalty with some regularity. Indeed, sometimes the editorial position even bleeds over onto the news pages.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 05:11 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Not a good example of a love story
Last Friday the Chronicle ran this story on the front page, telling us about a little girl whose father is on death row:
A bright-eyed girl with braided hair and a nose that crinkles when she smiles, Gabbie Green is not the only child in Texas who has a father on death row.
But she may be the only one who was conceived there.
"People always want to know, 'How can you have a 5-year-old-child with a man who has been incarcerated for 12 years?' " said Tameika East-Green, the condemned inmate's wife.
"I tell them I used to work at the prison."
The genesis of this unusual family began in September 1998, when Tameika East was a correctional officer at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Ellis Unit in Huntsville, which then housed the state's more than 400 death row inmates.
Edward Green had been on death row for five years, appealing a capital murder conviction for his role in the 1992 deaths of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, who were shot as they sat in a car at a stop sign in Houston.
East-Green, 26, says she immediately was drawn to the articulate young man with a boyish face and engaging smile who had grown deeply religious, introspective and remorseful about his past.
"I just fell in love with him," she said in a recent interview. "He didn't hide his feelings like most men."
Why in the world did the Chronicle decide to run this story on the front page, or at all? Are we supposed to feel sorry that this family cannot be together? The two adults made some terrible choices and the one to suffer the most will be the little girl, of course.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/29/04 03:21 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
The relevance of Marvin
Kudos to Eileen Faxas of KHOU's Defenders for her story about making health department inspections public.
This week, 11 News Defenders revealed how City Hall quashed plans to publicize health inspections by putting them online.
The Health Department wanted to post them online, but the Houston Restaurant Association is against it.
Consumer Reporter Eileen Faxas paid a visit to the Association, and got some interesting answers.
Houston Restaurant Association Director Juli Salvagio is quoted throughout the story.
When asked if these were public records that the public should be able to see, Salvagio agreed that they were public, and said she felt like the public already had access to them.
The city couldn't agree more.
"Call the health department and you can get the information you need," says Trahan.
The reality is that if you want to see an actual health inspection, you have to fax a request to the Health Department, wait about a week, go pick it up and pay 12.5 cents a page.
Talk about cumbersome. The spokesperson seems to think the system is fine as it is, and maybe it is. One could argue city inspectors do all this for us. We don't have to peek behind kitchen doors because they get paid to do it for us. They inspect, they check, they fine, they close. These threats should suffice. It isn't the point though. I wonder if restaurants would be more interested in compliance if a more public accounting took place. A real financial consequence (fewer customers) to serving off-temp food, ill-stored food, not being careful about separating food prep areas, or not keeping things clean might serve compliance more than the threat of a ticket here and there. It's something anyone who's gotten up at three in the morning with more than a little tummy ache should be interested in seeing.
"We have a great, great dining out city," she says.
What does this mean exactly? Isn't it nonsensical for the spokesperson of the local restaurant association to respond to a serious inquiry like this with this sentence? And if all she's interested in doing is glossing and trumpeting, how much more could we trumpet the restaurant industry in this city if the restaurants didn't mind opening their kitchen doors and letting us take a look inside? How about: we have a great, great dining out city...with restaurants that really care about the food they serve their customers. Has a little better punch to it.
Sadly, the easiest way consumers get any information about inspections is the local news station that puts up weekly restaurant reports. It's easy (too easy) to knock the goofiness of some of these news crusaders and their restaurant reports, but without these reports and token clean-restaurant certificates, we would know nothing about restaurants that have issues and ones that don't. They're sensational and ridiculous, but it's all consumers have right now.
BlogHOUSTON.net contributor and foodie, Anne Linehan, sent along the following website in an earlier private discussion. It can be done. Other cities are making the inspections public. A website would have to be clear as to what was being cited and then be clear if the violation had been fixed or not. And there would have to be some guard against abuse such as occurred here. Repeat, frivolous complaints would have to be stricken or kept from records somehow. Regardless, it is being done elsewhere.
The city health department seems to have no problem doing a website like this. It's disheartening that City Hall and a local business group found the effort to be a waste.
(Update) Eileen Faxas has more on the topic.
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 09/29/04 12:39 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Checking in on the Enron proceedings
Houston attorney and blogger Tom Kirkendall checks in on the various legal happenings with regard to the Enron prosecutions here and here.
Kirkendall brings the sort of legal/business expertise to the topic that no journalist at any local news outlet possibly can, AND provides links for those who want to go get more of the facts.
In short, his posts are a fine example of the niche that blogs will increasingly fill, especially in light of cutbacks at major media outlets.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/04 08:56 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro could learn something from time capsule
Last night on the local Fox affiliate's 9 p.m. newscast (KRIV-26), there was a story about a time capsule being found at the old Harris County criminal courts building which is currently undergoing renovation. The deep-thinking reporter suggested that we could learn a lot from the past to make the future better.
The Chronicle's story on the time capsule highlights a few of the items found inside:
His recollection sparked a search, and the time capsule was found in January. On Tuesday the Commissioners Court learned of its contents, which included 19th century Texas rail tokens, a local phone book and a news report on the dedication by Marvin Zindler.
[snip]
Many of its contents are prosaic. But it does include an 1883 token used to buy a meal on Galveston Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway and an 1883 token for Austin City Railroad.
(emphasis added)
You don't suppose there was a time when you actually had to pay to ride the train, do you? Maybe that KRIV-26 reporter was onto something when he said we could learn from the past.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/29/04 08:19 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 September 2004
Staff restructurings and layoffs at the Chronicle
The Chronicle buried the following ominous information in the "Around the Region" column of its Business section today:
The Houston Chronicle is undertaking a restructuring that will include both the creation of new niche products — in the newspaper and as separate publications — as well as reductions in operating expenses, including the elimination of staff positions.
"We are working hard to adjust the cost side of our business," said Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney. "We will not compromise our commitment to quality journalism and service to our advertisers."
In a letter to Chronicle employees released late Monday, Sweeney said he is committed to keeping up with the changes in the Houston community with vibrant new products, pointing to the recent redesign of the Chronicle and the company's commitment to Spanish-language products such as La Vibra, a weekly Spanish lifestyles supplement and La Voz, a weekly newspaper published in partnership with the Chronicle.
A restructuring of the company's expense base is critical because the newspaper needs to invest in the future, Sweeney wrote. The newspaper has already reduced operating expenses and will continue to do so, including cuts in staff. Cutbacks will be achieved through attrition, a voluntary buyout program and, if necessary, involuntary layoffs.
Many of us have been writing about the Chronicle's problems for some time, and have more recently suggested that the design changes really haven't done much to address those problems. They must finally be starting to affect the bottom line.
Publisher Jack Sweeney seems to be spinning what appears to be significant downsizing. While he claims that new niche products will be created, the only examples cited are the redesign -- which isn't a new product at all -- and an emphasis on a weekly Spanish language supplement. However, the new Spanish product being introduced would seemingly be balanced by the old Texas Magazine being discontinued, for no net gain in product, and an actual loss of product for English-only readers.
The last paragraph is the most ominous. Press releases and internal company memos don't bring up the possibility of "involuntary layoffs" if there's a good chance that payroll can be reduced to desired levels through attrition and incentives. Sweeney must be planning a massive manpower reduction.
While we have our problems with the Chronicle's editorial decisions -- and think staff reductions might actually be avoided if the editorial product were thoroughly remade into something of higher quality -- we don't have problems with most of the fine folks who make the newspaper go on a daily basis. It's unfortunate that some of them will pay the price for the newspaper's poor editorial choices over the years.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 11:06 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Calvin Stephens appointed to UH Board of Regents
The University of Houston System has announced the latest addition to its Board of Regents, Dallas businessman Calvin Stephens:
Reflecting the growing scope of the University of Houston System’s importance for the entire state, the latest addition to the Board of Regents is a noted businessman from Dallas, Calvin Stephens.
“We are extremely pleased that Gov. Perry has appointed Calvin Stephens to the University of Houston System Board of Regents. He is a wonderful addition to the board, both as an alumnus and as a major community leader in Dallas,” said Morgan Dunn O'Connor, chair of the UH System Board of Regents. “His appointment demonstrates the statewide impact and importance of the UH System. Our Board now includes representation from East Texas, Central Texas, South Central Texas, as well as Houston. Our sincere appreciation goes to outgoing Regent Theresa Chang who has served the UH System so well during her tenure.”
While Stephens, the chairman and president of SSP Consulting, is indeed honored that the governor selected someone from “faraway” Dallas to help oversee the UH System, he’s quick to point out that he still considers Houston home in many regards. As a youth and teenager, the Port Arthur-born Stephens spent every summer here with family in Cuney Homes, a housing project near the University of Houston campus.
“Many of my childhood friends are from the Third Ward area. And I learned to swim right there in the pool at Jack Yates High School, near the University,” Stephens recalled.
The system's mission may be statewide, but the recent marketing slogan "Houston's University" really is appropriate. A major urban research university is an important asset to this city, and thus the goings on there are important (contrary to the myopic contentions of some Houstonians).
Congratulations to Stephens. May he exercise good judgment in helping to govern Houston's university.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 10:21 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
DeLay: The GOP's ten years as the governing party
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) pens an article reflecting on ten years of Republican control of the House of Representatives.
Of course, the Houston Chronicle would never run such a piece during election season, so we have to turn to USA Today for Representative DeLay's thoughts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 10:02 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)
David Cobb interviews The Methods
David Cobb runs the best local music site in Houston (even though it's a little light on my beloved alt-country/American stuff).
It's the best local music site in Houston because he regularly interviews local bands, in addition to posting all sorts of information on who's playing where and what's happening.
His latest interview is with The Methods, whose sound he describes as "not unlike early Radiohead or Coldplay."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 09:47 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
James Campbell talks to a Virginia newspaper
Houston Chronicle reader representative James T. Campbell is quoted by Marvin Lake in a Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot commentary on the Dan Rather controversy:
Aside from damaged credibility, James T. Campbell, reader representative at the Houston Chronicle, sees another fallout from the CBS debacle.
“I think what will result is mainstream media, unfortunately, taking a more cautious approach to doing stories that may be remotely damaging to Bush or his administration.”
Interestingly, Campbell sees a “paradox at play here. People who consider themselves liberal may have some skepticism about the media in general, but had no problems with this particular story because they probably saw it as helping their candidate.
“Ultimately, any time you have a story like this blow up because of shoddy journalism or protectionism it hurts all of us. It means we must go the extra step to vet bias and safeguard our credibility.”
One way of safeguarding credibility is to be more responsive to readers and critics, via email and in print. Indeed, the writer of the column excerpted above is his newspaper's public editor, the equivalent of James T. Campbell's position at the Chronicle. Unlike Campbell, Lake actually has a column to communicate with readers about perceived problems at his newspaper, and in journalism more broadly. That's a good idea, one that even the New York Times adopted after years of holding out (the Blair scandal, of course, helped push them to that decision).
Campbell, in contrast, seemingly cannot be bothered to answer emails about his newspaper's editorial policies, even emails phrased in a polite and sympathetic manner. Nor does he have a regular column. Apparently, his function is to transmit complaints to the editorial board. One wonders if the Chronicle wouldn't be better served if their reader representative had a higher profile and greater authority to scrutinize editorial practices.
A tip of the hat to Rob Booth for catching this reference to Campbell in an unexpected place.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 05:57 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
New police station to honor fallen astronaut
KPRC-2 reports on yesterday's groundbreaking of a new HPD station for the South Central division.
The station will be named after Ronald E. McNair, an astronaut killed in the 1986 Challenger accident.
In attendance were Cheryl McNair (McNair's widow), Mayor Bill White, and Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
The report did not indicate whether Hurtt has yet donned the HPD uniform.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 05:14 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Planned Parenthood overcomes bullying pro-lifers
Sometimes the Chronicle throws us skeptics a bone. More often than not, though, the Chronicle lectures us. Tuesday we got both, and the lecture is a doozy, basically saying pro-life advocates are wrong to try to stop the construction of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin.
It never ceases to amaze me that liberals want to save whales and spotted owls, yet have no problem killing babies. We must punish cigarette makers and ban smoking for the sake of the children, yet it is ok to make big profits by killing defenseless little children in the womb. It's obscene and absurd, at the same time.
The editorial ends with some advice, no doubt heartfelt, for pro-lifers:
Anti-abortion activists, meanwhile, deserve some credit for seeking a legal method in making their case. Unfortunately, too many members of their loose-knit movement have already used violence — including murder — in the cause's name.
Last year, an abortion rights opponent drove a delivery van through the entrance of the Houston Planned Parenthood clinic. The driver had a long history of harassing Houston clinics and had served a year in federal prison for breaking a visiting doctor's windshield and threatening to kill him.
It is incumbent on the law-abiding protestors, therefore, to make sure their boycott tactics are devoid of bullying, harassment and even veiled threats.
We can turn that around and argue that pro-abortion groups have their own instances of bullying, harassment and even threats.
For more thoughts on the Chronicle editorial, Owen Courreges has written a good rebuttal over at Chronically Biased.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/28/04 04:26 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Another Voice really is, for a change
Recently I pointed out how the Chronicle has worked very hard to tell its readers that Rep. Tom DeLay is a corrupt politician, a bad man, and something akin to the personification of evil here in Texas, except when that title goes to Halliburton. In the Chronicle's world it's probably a toss-up between the two.
So imagine the surprise at seeing Tuesday's "Another Voice" editorial that really is another voice. The Chronicle's editors chose a Wall Street Journal editorial that argues the Travis County district attorney's case against DeLay's associates is politically motivated. Wow!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/28/04 10:28 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Will the media scrutinize the politics of Fannie Mae?
Yesterday, Terry Keenan wrote an article for the New York Post pointing out that if the major media were truly objective and fair in their characterizations, they would be treating the ongoing Fannie Mae scandal as the Democrats' Enron.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/04 08:39 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
27 September 2004
A poor use of (skyrocketing) property tax revenues
The Chronicle reports the following embarrassing news:
Nearly two-thirds of 2004's graduating high school seniors now enrolled in Houston-area community colleges are taking remedial classes because they weren't prepared for college.
Sixteen local school districts sent 6,552 newly graduated students to the Houston Community College System and the North Harris Montgomery College District this fall. Sixty-four percent of them, or 4,217, are taking high school-level courses, according to the colleges.
"It's sinful to allow a student to show up at a community college and tell them they'll have to spend the year learning what they should have learned in high school," said Gene Bottoms, senior vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board, a coalition of states working to improve education. "It's a problem everywhere."
Some students in area community colleges need up to 1 1/2 years of remedial math just to catch up.
That's shameful.
Chris Elam thinks the taxpayers who are funding the bulk of this re-education should be upset.
Greg Wythe takes him to task for... well, it's not exactly clear.
But go read both of them and decide for yourself.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/04 11:03 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Can news in the guise of an editorial be biased?
Although we dish out a fair amount of criticism to the Chronicle, they occasionally deserve some credit for creativity.
The editors do seem to realize that it's not quite right to show outright bias on the news pages, even if they do it from time to time.
Of course, the editorial page is a different story. That's where opinions should be expressed, and for the most part, any media watcher who complains about "bias" on the editorial page is going to sound silly. Of course there's bias on the opinion page. It's called opinion!
However, here's where the Chronicle's creativity comes in.
What if you take a story that is about Texas politics but isn't really local? What if you dispatched your liberal Washington bureau opinion columnist to "cover" that story? And what if said columnist turned out a typically biased screed in the guise of a "news" column, but it ran on the editorial page? And what if that opinion column basically posed as "news" coverage of the story, thereby giving readers a completely slanted view of reality?
Would we call that an example of media bias?
I think so.
But give the Chronicle credit for being creative about it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/04 10:06 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
The section formerly known as Features
What is going on with the Chronicle's section formerly known as Features? It has been renamed to a picture of a gold star, which means we must call it the "star" section, but that's not where the bad ideas end.
Kevin Whited told us recently that Texas Magazine, a weekend insert, has ceased to exist. What the Chronicle said is that the stories about interesting people and places around Texas, in addition to schedules of events, would now be found in the "star" section. Well bummer. Texas Magazine was great and was one of the few things that made the Sunday paper worthwhile.
I checked out the "star" section to find those unique Texas Magazine stories I am now missing. Unfortunately, I am still missing them, because they aren't there. What we do have in the new and improved "star" section is a whole lot of skin. And trendy fashion. And celebrity news. Yippee.
The "star" section practically needs a parental warning label because plastered all over the pages are women in various clothing styles, frequently employing the less-is-more thinking. We even get an interview with a Playboy Playmate who is also a UH senior. And, to add to the vapidity, the "star" section appears to be fixated with Paris Hilton.
MeMo is in charge of the "star" section and her unique, uh, style is very apparent. We can guess the goal is to attract a younger audience to the Chronicle, and MeMo is going to do that by creating a dumbed-down and trashed-up section. Saturdays look to be maintaining the theme of Home and Garden, but the rest of the week is suspect. And there is not a hint of those wonderful stories that used to fill Texas Magazine.
I wonder what long-time readers think of the new "star" section? My guess is most Houstonians don't even open it up anymore, unless it is to turn to the comics.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/27/04 03:06 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Taxpayers shouldn't have to fund the Astrodome hotel
In Monday's Chronicle, the editors tell us they think the proposal to turn the Astrodome into a hotel is a good one, as long as the taxpayers don't have to pay for it:
The Harris County Astrodome must be preserved, but not at extravagent [sic] cost to the taxpayer while private investors and contractors profit.
[snip]
A private company, Astrodome Redevelopment Corp., has proposed to remodel the Dome into a 1,000-room convention hotel and entertainment complex. The plan hinges on a detailed analysis of potential profitability. The company is asking that hotel taxes generated by the project be used to defray the construction cost.
It is good to see the editors take this stand, although with the Chronicle's relentless advocacy for Metro's light rail, it was unknown which side they would take.
There is one sentence, however, that is worthy of a bit more attention:
Another crucial calculation to be made is whether diverting hotel taxes to pay for a huge hotel in the Astrodome would restrain or reduce the income stream of hotel taxes needed to pay for three new sports arenas and the city's convention center hotel.
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority had to issue new bonds in August to make up for a shortfall in hotel tax revenue:
The new bonds were needed to make up for declining hotel and car rental tax revenues, which the authority receives to pay off bond debt. In 2002 and 2003, the revenues sagged 10 percent.
To meet the annual payments for $900 million in previously issued bonds, the authority had projected annual 3 percent increases in hotel and car rental tax revenues.
"September 11 came and the recession came, and the hotel and car rental taxes have not been growing 3 percent. They're declining," said Oliver Luck, sports authority executive director.
So we already know that hotel tax revenues are not what earlier projections said they would be. The Chronicle editors should have mentioned that.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/27/04 01:32 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 September 2004
Houston IS worth it
A little over a week ago, the Houston Business Journal ran an editorial by Doug Williams that attacked the unorthodox "Houston: It's worth it" campaign masterminded by local advertising firm ttweak.
Williams, who is a principal at a local advertising firm that presumably competes with ttweak, writes that he's not amused that people are laughing about Houston as a result of the ttweak campaign, and spills way too much ink on what he thinks should be done to boost Houston. *yawn* *SNORE*
So, we've now heard a typically unimaginative establishment advertising type complain about an advertising campaign that's actually captured national attention. We've heard Jordy Tollett, the president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, criticize the ads and then refuse to talk to national reporters. And we've heard Elyse Lanier, whose "Expect the Unexpected" campaign was a monumental flop, weigh in on the matter from her summer vacation spot in Malibu -- Houston being too hot for the former mayoral first lady in the summertime.
I can sympathize with the establishment to some extent. In the case of Tollett and Lanier, the millions and millions they've spent seem to have had minimal impact. And Williams surely is a bit upset that a couple of upstarts with an office in Midtown/Montrose have the gumption to upstage his firm and garner national attention -- and to do it without bilking the taxpayers out of millions of dollars.
Houston can't be an easy city to market. As I've written elsewhere, I like the fact that ttweak takes on its drawbacks head on. While Houston is not a city that can be marketed in the same way as, say, San Antonio, it is a great city with plenty to offer. Playing on people's negative images of Houston -- and then showing them why it's great despite those things -- makes sense to me.
But then, I came here for grad school despite hearing all those negative things, and immediately began discovering all of those positives that FAR outweigh the negative.
I emailed the ttweak people for a reaction to the Williams piece, but they never responded. One suspects they were too busy promoting the city to respond to negative (maybe envious?) establishment types.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/04 11:16 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Another endorsement for Proposition Two
Our friends at Chronically Biased have finally taken time from commenting on Twinkies, endangered bugs, and cancer-detecting dogs to address two competing referenda that will be on ballots within the city of Houston this fall.
The CB folks recommend a no vote on Proposition One (Mayor White's initiative, which would limit increases on property tax and water rates) and a yes vote on Proposition Two (a citizen's initiative, which would place an overall cap on municipal revenues).
Taxpayers stand to benefit if either of these proposals wins, but Mayor White's is obviously the watered-down version. Those who are serious about limiting the growth of municipal government -- and forcing local political leaders to set better priorities than the Brown Administration (which left us deteriorating infrastructure, underfunded pension plans, and a bigger, less efficient municipal government) and the current administration (which has proposed spending $2 million on an African-American museum but still hasn't adequately funded police cadet classes despite looming manpower issues) -- should indeed support Proposition Two.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/04 10:35 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Cragg Hines' wisdom
The Chronicle's Cragg Hines, with his perfect hindsight firmly in place, gave us this column last week that calls President Bush (surprise!) incompetent.
It's supremely easy — and facile — for President Bush to ridicule John Kerry's shifting positions on the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. For, unfortunately, the president has never had a qualm.
"Stubborn incompetence," as Kerry put it Monday in his speech at New York University.
The "stubborn" part we've known about Bush for a long time. It's, in some measure, genetic. And it has seemed over the years that the deeper Bush digs himself into a hole, the more stubborn he can get.
But the "incompetence" part, at least judging by pre-White House experience with Bush, is a more surprising and alarming development.
That, of course, was the italic subtext of Kerry's latest take on Iraq. Yes, the policy has gone awry. But why? "Stubborn incompetence."
Thankfully, Tom Kirkendall leads us to a very helpful Max Boot column in the LA Times:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/04 09:44 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Houston has a new dog park
On Saturday a new dogs-only park was opened in Houston:
The event was the opening of the city's first recreational area expressly designed for canines, and the four-footed set took it all in with unleashed enthusiasm.
"This is wonderful," said Lynn Clark, a longtime member of the Houston Area Dog Park Association, which has lobbied the city for such facilities. "Just look at all the happy dogs and people."
However, there appears to be a potential problem, albeit a minor one, that could pop up:
Maxey Bark and Run Park — so named because it borders a Metro park-and-ride lot — is open from dawn to dusk.
(emphasis added)
If Metro ever decides to close that park-and-ride, the dog park will have to be renamed.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/26/04 07:54 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
25 September 2004
Houston Symphony's Zemlinsky interpretation praised
The Chronicle's Charles Ward offers praise for the Houston Symphony's performance of The Mermaid by Alexander Zemlinsky:
For a second week in a row, Houston Symphony music director Hans Graf and the orchestra poured their energy into a lavish performance of a major but overlooked work.
The Mermaid by Alexander Zemlinsky opened Thursday's performance of the weekend subscription series program in Jones Hall. The usual Saturday concert was moved forward to accommodate Yom Kippur, but only a few hundred people heard Zemlinsky's voluptuous interpretation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale about a mermaid who tries to take a human lover but is rejected.
Zemlinksy was a noted conductor and teacher — Arnold Schoenberg was a star pupil — but became one of those unfortunate composers whose music and reputation were obscured by the rush of history, in his case the destruction of tonal music that arrived just after the turn of the 20th century. Only in the past couple of decades has his music resurfaced under the urging of a few conductors, including James Conlon and Riccardo Chailly.
But Zemlinsky's influence was so strong that when Schoenberg got the news his teacher had started writing The Mermaid, he began writing his own post-romantic tone poem, Pelleas and Melisande (as the symphony's program notes observe).
Zemlinsky never abandoned tonality, as Schoenberg did so spectacularly. He retained a deep allegiance to the harmonic tradition that had ruled European music for almost three centuries.
It's interesting that Schoenberg is so much more celebrated (especially, if memory serves, by former music director Christophe Eschenbach, who really put the Houston Symphony on the map) than his teacher, who seems more in line with traditional classical music. Is the choice of Zemlinksy merely reflective of the prior interest in Schoenberg, or a departure? I haven't followed the post-Eschenbach symphony, so I really couldn't say.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/04 11:25 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)
Proving the assertion with itself?
The political scientist in me just got around to a closer look at the Chronicle's predictably screeching house editorial on the indictments secured by Travis County DA Ronnie Earle in relation to the TRMPAC:
Lawyers for the accused argue that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution trumps Texas law. But if the Constitution supersedes Texas campaign finance law, it would also negate similar provisions in federal campaign finance law. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld such laws as constitutional.
Some defendants and their lawyers stipulate that federal law allows corporate money to be used in Texas elections. This is false. Texas has the right to regulate its elections in any constitutional manner it pleases.
The intent here seems to be to confuse readers into thinking something has been proven!
The argument goes something like this: 1) the indicted officials contend that the First Amendment protects their actions; 2) but if the First Amendment protects their actions, it would also negate other federal campaign finance law; 3) but the Supreme Court has upheld federal campaign finance laws; 4) the First Amendment doesn't protect the actions of the indicted officials because Texas can regulate its elections in any constitutional manner.
Talk about circular reasoning! Since the question itself is about whether or not the First Amendment allows Texas campaign finance law to be interpreted as Earle has interpreted it, it's odd to fashion an argument that concludes with an assertion of the point to be proven (item 4) as proof! Because surely items 2 and 3 are so ambiguous as to be disregarded as anything but speculative -- not legal/analytical -- observations. The crux of the debate is over what is constitutional. That is what will be decided in court(s) eventually.
Further, the political scientist in me cringes every time I see a phrase like "Texas has the right...." Texas is not a person. It's a state. The state government of Texas may have powers, but powers are not rights. The Chronicle should be more careful with its use of language.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/04 10:56 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
The "tax man" speaks out
Paul Bettencourt is sounding the alarm on skyrocketing property taxes:
Tax Collector/Assessor Paul Bettencourt said, "The overall increase on the Houston home was worse than I expected."
Bettencourt says the average home in Harris County costs $3,100 a year in taxes on average. That’s up $1,600 since 1997.
Bettencourt says as home values have been going up, a lot of commercial values have been going down. Meaning overall, homeowners in Harris County are shouldering an ever greater tax burden.
The city of Houston did lower the tax rate this year, but with values up, taxes are actually higher.
"The public needs to remember that they need to be protesting their value whenever they get a case," Bettencourt stressed. "This reinforces that we need tax relief legislation out of Austin."
As Bettencourt points out, even though the city enacted a token rate decrease this year, appraisal creep has kept the total bill increasing steadily. Bettencourt favors lowering the cap on annual appraisal increases from the current 10 percent.
The Harris County Tax Office provides information on protesting assessed property values here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/04 10:18 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro's 210 Katy Freeway route latest casualty of service cuts
KHOU-11's Mike Zientek reports on one of the casualties of Metro's decision to cut back on bus services:
Driving is drudgery most of the time on the Katy Freeway. That's why riders of Metro's 210 route let someone else take the wheel when going to work downtown.
For 19 years, it served the West Belt Park & Ride but next month, this ride will disappear.
[snip]
Metro officials say the reason they're eliminating the route is because of the hundreds of empty parking places that are left day after day. Metro's Vice President of Planning says it's costing $240,000 a year to serve an average of only 115 passengers a day. This doesn't mean that he thinks the Park & Ride idea as a whole, has hit a speed bump.
"We are looking at additional Park & Rides, it's just that the market for Park & Ride service is a little further out," says John Sedlak, of Metro.
[snip]
Metro insists there are other avenues. They say they would like the 210 route riders to take another nearby route or join a vanpool.
Metro says it will be eliminating another 21 routes by the end of next month in a move it says will save at least $9 million.
One of the many benefits that Metro promised in relation to the referendum on light rail was a 50% increase in bus services, including expansion of Park-and-Ride services. Instead, Metro seems to be scaling back bus services considerably. Even worse, this particular Park-and-Ride bus serves one of the most congested freeways in Houston, the Katy. The cost per rider may be higher than Metro would like, but any cost-benefit analysis ought to consider the cost in light of the additional congestion resulting from having those riders in separate vehicles along the corridor served. In some instances, the cost may well be justified.
Furthermore, in the discussion of costs, the media might also report on costs of the light rail system. Opponents of light rail predicted that the cost of the system would force Metro into cutting bus services. That may -- or may not -- be the direct cause of the current cuts in bus services, but consumers of news can't make an informed conclusion without more information. It would be useful, for example, if reporters would press Metro officials on the per-rider cost of the light rail train, and the freeway congestion relieved by the same.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/04 05:43 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Battleship Texas is ailing
According to this AP report, the Battleship Texas needs some serious repairs:
Age, relentless corrosion from saltwater and tight budgets are doing what no bombs, torpedoes or bullets could accomplish.
Sixteen years after the state spent $14 million to help preserve it, the nearly century-old Battleship Texas -- the only remaining battleship to survive World Wars I and II -- needs an overhaul to keep it from rusting away.
"The ship is in need of significant repair," said Steve Whiston, director of the infrastructure division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which maintains the 573-foot-long, 34,000-ton vessel in a berth on the Houston Ship Channel. "There is corrosion at the water line. We're continuing to experience problems that cause us concern. And the ship, given its age, is pretty fragile."So fragile that chronically leaky air tanks -- known as blisters and added to the exterior during the 1920s for stability -- sprung a serious leak one recent night. Workers were greeted the next morning with the ship sporting a 4-degree starboard list.
"It got all of us excited but we're satisfied it's stable," Whiston said.
The water was pumped out and the leak was patched, at least temporarily.
"If you are going to acknowledge you're going to keep some historic ships, there is a very strong argument this is at least as good, if not the best, one to keep," said Barry Ward, curator of the Texas.
Ward said the ship is a unique piece of technology in terms of the time period it represents. "This goes from the very beginning of the age of flight through the nuclear age," he said.
The battleship is a great place to visit. The history of the ship is fascinating and you can go all over that big boat, exploring below-deck quarters, checking out the mess hall, sitting in the anti-aircraft gun seats and climbing up the main mast, among other things.
Let's hope she can be repaired and enjoyed for years to come.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/25/04 01:29 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
A little appreciation for our downtown tunnels, please
Anne Belli Gesalman gives a pretty decent history and overview of downtown Houston's tunnel system in the September 15th Edition of The Greater Houston Weekly:
Each week day, thousands of office workers, tourists and other visitors to downtown take stairs, escalators and elevators down into this self-contained sub-grade world, sheltered from the elements and immune from such outdoor annoyances as construction zones, mosquitoes and bus fumes.
Not to mention annoyances such as crazed drivers, panhandlers, Metro officers on the prowl for jaywalkers, and Metro trains and buses that seem to have a penchant for hitting pedestrians.
Today, 77 building - officer towers, performance hall, government complexes and hotels - are connected, from the historic district on the northern edge of downtown, the skyline district to the south. The tunnel serves about 150,000 downtown workers.
We Houstonians are known for our love of cars and our lack of desire to walk instead of drive. The tunnel system stands in the face of that. It makes it easier for downtown workers to walk. Now that the free downtown trolly system is about to go by the wayside, the use of the tunnels might actually increase.
Ms. Gesalman goes on to give some historical and notable facts about the tunnel, but gets one thing wrong:
The tunnel may only be accessed directly from the street at one point - from Wells Fargo Plaza at McKinney and Louisiana. All other access points are through building lobbies.
Not true actually. There are at least ten other non-lobby entrances that I'm aware of. While most involve the Theater District Parking system, there is one entrance on the corner of Travis and Mckinney that offers direct access.
The tunnel system could see its biggest boost of all in the years ahead if Metro officials opt to build a subway line downtown instead of additional street-level light rail lines. The transit agency unveiled preliminary plans for a downtown subway this summer, and it says it will study the option in coming months. Construction would not begin until at least 2007.
That's reassuring (the part about the boost, not the part about the prospect of another Metro boondoggle). Several months ago there was talk of eliminating the tunnel system in Dallas to get people back on the streets for street-level retailers. Even our own downtown reps, in a piece by the Chronicle's Dallas bureau reporter, were trash talking the downtown office-worker-venerated tunnel.
"Clearly, they work like a giant vacuum. They suck people off the street," said Jodie Sinclair, spokeswoman for the Houston Downtown Management District. "I had a woman visiting from Manhattan ask me, `Where are all the people? It's Wednesday at 1 in the afternoon.' I told her, `Dear, they're all underground.' "Over the past decade, Sinclair said, Houston has come to terms with its tunnels, even though "behind the scenes, people wish they weren't there."
Behind the scenes? Houston has come to terms with its tunnels? Is someone going to come up with the bright idea that something this free and this used shouldn't be?
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 09/25/04 10:35 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Political groups should be labeled equally
If the Chronicle is going to attach labels to conservative political groups, then the same must be done with liberal political groups. It's called consistency. In Saturday's Chronicle there is an article about a 527 group, Texans for Truth, that is being accused of violating campaign fund-raising laws:
The complaint says Texans for Truth is accepting contributions and running advertisements to influence the presidential race and therefore comes under campaign finance limits, which cap individual contributions at $2,000 from an individual and $5,000 from a political committee.
Texans for Truth has reported a $100,000 contribution from Daniel O'Keefe, a California television producer.
Glenn Smith, a Democratic political consultant who organized Texans for Truth, said Friday that he hadn't seen the complaint and could not comment on its charges.
Smith said most of the group's contributions are small and not representative of the big money already being spent in the election.
Texans for Truth's ads came after another group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, ran TV ads criticizing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Navy service in the Vietnam War.
The watchdog groups have complained to the FEC about the Swift Boat group and other pro-Republican groups. Those complaints are pending.
The closest the Chronicle reporter comes to acknowledging that Texans for Truth is a pro-Democrat group is when he writes that the group was founded by "Glenn Smith, a Democratic political consultant." But the reporter has no problem saying that the Swift Vets group is a pro-Republican group.
If you follow the links at Texans for Truth, you can see that Glenn Smith is the founder of DriveDemocracy.org, "a Texas-based organization initially funded through a generous start-up grant from MoveOn.org." OK, now we're getting somewhere! One look at these groups' websites will show that these are not non-partisan groups, any more than the Swift Vets are non-partisan. As such, they should be labeled accordingly.
Also, the story mentions television producer Daniel O'Keefe without giving any background. Ten seconds on Google would have provided plenty of helpful information on O'Keefe, if one was interested in finding some more information. O'Keefe is a John Kerry fundraiser who says he is mad at President Bush for not fighting in Vietnam and for his handling of the Iraq war. It would be safe to label him a liberal.
The Chronicle needs to think outside the liberal box and label these groups appropriately. It's a little thing, but it's a thing that grates on the nerves of many readers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/25/04 08:22 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
24 September 2004
Murray engages in nonpartisan party building!
Kristen Mack supplies the following news about University of Houston political science professor Richard Murray:
Richard Murray, University of Houston political science professor and noted authority on Houston and Texas politics, will hold the Bob Lanier Endowed Chair in Urban Public Policy at UH.
The $500,000 endowment, funded through donations from individuals and foundations, is named for the former Houston mayor.
Murray recently began assembling a team of academics and others to help create a more robust two-party system in the state by revitalizing the Democratic Party. He characterizes the effort as nonpartisan and says it won't affect his objectivity as an academician.
Professor Murray is an asset to his department, and certainly deserves this endowed chair.
However, the notion that Professor Murray's work at "revitalizing the Democratic Party" in Texas is "nonpartisan" is surely one of the more nonsensical things I've read lately in the Chronicle. If Professor Murray actually said it with a straight face, then it leads us to question his academic "objectivity." Maybe he was just pulling Mack's leg and she didn't catch on. Either way, it's silly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/04 11:59 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Corrections, Chronicle style
The Chronicle corrections section is just an endless source of amusement (and one that occasionally garners national attention).
Last Sunday, the newspaper ran a story by John Frank of the Washington news bureau on political donations by Texas sports owners.
On Monday, the Chronicle ran the following correction:
The first name of Houston Astros owner Drayton McClane was listed incorrectly on Page A12 Sunday with information accompanying an article about campaign contributions by sports executives.
That rather priceless statement led to the following correction the next day:
An item in this column Tuesday misspelled Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane's name.
There are three owners of major sports teams in this town. One would think those employed as editors of the city's only major daily would have a clue who they are and how to spell their names. But one would obviously be mistaken.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/04 11:32 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chronicle: Lynne Cheney = Stepford wife?
The Chronicle has a daily Election 2004 section and in today's paper, under the heading "Quotable," is this:
"She plays the smiling Stepford political wife, which is so opposite from what she is. It's quasi an embarrassment, and I say that because she's not the little wife."
-- Paul Costello, Rosalynn Carter's former press secretary about Lynn Cheney
I'd give the link to it, but it's not online. This seems highly disrespectful, unless the Chronicle is trying to highlight how nutty Rosalynn Carter's former press secretary is, which probably wasn't the intent.
A look at the Chronicle's Election 2004 section for the past week shows that there are days when the Chronicle editors can't find anything "Quotable." So Wednesday and Thursday were "Quotable"-free, but Tuesday, the Chronicle dug up this:
"We either pull out all the stops over the next few weeks, or we will live to regret it."
--James Carville, Democratic strategist to prospective donors in a DNC fund-raising letter sent last week.
Actually, the Chronicle was a bit off describing Carville. It should have said, "Democratic strategist and host of CNN's Crossfire." And what an illuminating quote!
On Monday, the Chronicle decided this was worthy of being a "Quotable":
"We've got to take out the sanctuaries. We're going to have to sustain, tragically, some more casualities. Airstrikes don't do it. And the longer we delay...the more casualties we will incur."
--Sen. John McCain, on CBS' Face the Nation. The Arizona Republican called on the president to initiate an urgent ground offense to retake insurgent sanctuaries in Iraq [sic]
Love the ellipsis. Wonder what was taken out so the three dots could go in? And was this really the most "Quotable" quote the Chronicle could find from the Sunday news shows? Why, yes it was. It was a Republican criticizing President Bush.
We have to go back to last Thursday to find another quote. But it's not given the title of "Quotable" - it's just in a little box on the Election 2004 page:
"Actually new documents surfaced today proving that President Bush did not fulfill his National Guard service. CBS said they know they're new because they were just printed over the weekend."
--Jay Leno, The "Tonight Show" host on a CBS' [sic] story using disputed documents.
The Chronicle needs to get its Washington bureau looking for better "Quotables."
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/24/04 11:25 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
23 September 2004
Scooped by the Ohio and New Braunfels Press
Former President Bush made a trip to Ohio earlier this week to stump for the current President Bush. The topic of CBS News (with which he tangled as President) came up in his speech:
"This disgraceful thing with CBS, trying to malign our son's service as a jet pilot, was insidious," Bush told about 300 Republican supporters at a private ballroom in Columbus.
It's really too bad that the Ohio (instead of Houston and/or Texas) press actually is reporting former President Bush's reaction to MemoGate, a scandal with many Texas connections. As pointed out previously, the Houston Chronicle should have owned this story, including this local angle. Instead, they've largely been shown up by the national press, the Ohio press, and even the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/04 11:59 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)
What to do with the Astrodome?
Bill Murphy and Bill Hensel report that Astrodome Redevelopment Co. has shifted from initial plans to develop a theme park out of the abandoned sports arena. Now, the company hopes to redevelop it as a convention hotel.
No doubt, many Houstonians have fond memories of the Dome, and don't like the idea of tearing it down. However, the costs of maintaining the empty behemoth are significant. It either needs to be dynamited and paved over, or turned into something useful.
On that last, Tom Kirkendall warns:
[M]y sense is that this proposal for the Astrodome is not likely to occur without a substantial subsidy from Harris County. Consequently, let's see if the Chronicle or any other Houston news media discloses the true taxpayer cost of retrofitting and maintaining the Dome in comparison to alternative uses of the property. Given the Chronicle's abysmal performance in providing accurate information regarding the cost of the Streetcar Named Disaster, my expectations are not high.
Somebody needs to look out for the taxpayers and their interests on this deal. Murphy and Hensel suggest that the redevelopment project has a potential price tag of $400 million. The result would be a convention hotel that competes with the new Hilton Americas downtown -- potentially hurting its revenues.
This project needs much more scrutiny before we decide it's better than just blowing up the rat trap.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/04 11:32 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Maybe the Chronicle needs a new subscription drive
You can just imagine this poor Chronicle reporter pounding his keyboard in frustration as he worked on this story:
Reaction from Fort Bend County residents to the indictments involving campaign contributions linked to U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land was rather tepid Wednesday. Most people said they were only vaguely aware of this week's actions taken by a Travis County grand jury.
Local political leaders say the indictments will have little or no effect on the upcoming election in which DeLay, a Republican and the House majority leader, is seeking an 11th term.
"I think that most people realize that partisan politics get introduced into many things, including the DA's office of Travis County," said Eric Thode, chairman of the Fort Bend County Republican Party.
A quick and informal poll of people outside a county courthouse annex building Wednesday showed that only a few knew about the indictments in any detail.
"I don't really keep up much on it," said Mary Lutz of Needville. "I should, but I don't."
Lutz said she plans to vote a straight Republican ticket and that includes voting for DeLay.
The grand jury on Tuesday indicted three DeLay associates and eight corporations on charges of making illegal campaign contributions to Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee associated with DeLay.
DeLay was not named in the indictments. DeLay is being challenged Nov. 2 by Democrat Richard R. Morrison, Libertarian Thomas Morrison and independent Michael Fjetland.
How can this be? Hasn't the Chronicle told these people that DeLay is a very bad man? Why aren't they paying attention?
Perhaps there aren't enough of DeLay's constituents reading the Chronicle.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/23/04 10:46 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 September 2004
CAIR's fuzzy math
On Sunday the Houston office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent out a press release saying it was holding a news conference calling for political and religious leaders in Texas to condemn Islamophobia. We at blogHOUSTON couldn't wait to see if the Chronicle would send a reporter and, if so, to read the story.
We weren't disappointed. The Chronicle answered the call and on Tuesday Melanie Markley wrote a press-release talking-points story:
Last week's attempted firebombing of an Islamic center in El Paso represents the latest in a renewed rash of hate crimes against Muslims in Texas, the director of Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday.
Iesa Galloway, executive director of CAIR in Houston, called on political and religious leaders Monday to condemn the attack in El Paso, calling it an act of "Islamophobia," a term he said was coined by his organization.
"This," said Galloway, "is the latest in a trend of attacks that have been happening across Texas."
Galloway said other recent acts include a dry-ice bomb that exploded in a mailbox at a Houston-area Islamic center, a series of arsons in San Antonio that targeted Muslim-owned businesses and graffiti and other hateful incidents in McAllen.
Galloway said he believes that hate crimes against Muslims have spiked during the past six months.
If Galloway provided statistics to back up what he believes, the Chronicle reporter didn't pass them on in the story. Next to the story online is a statistics box that belies Galloway's assertion that Muslim hate crimes are on the rise. The statistics, from the Texas Department of Public Safety, list hate crimes reported against Muslims in Texas:
TEXAS STATISTICS
Incidence of hate crimes reported against Muslims in Texas, by year:• 2004: No statistics available
• 2003: 4
• 2002: 11
• 2001: 29
• 2000: 3Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
We can see in 2001 there was a high of 29 hate crimes and last year there were four. Seems as though hate crimes against Muslims have been declining, dramatically. Galloway highlighted the attack on an El Paso mosque, and a dry-ice bomb in a mailbox at a Houston mosque. In the case of the El Paso attack, the police have already arrested a suspect. While certainly a disturbing incident, it's a stretch to say Texas is experiencing an epidemic of Muslim hate crime attacks. And a dry-ice bomb in a mailbox could just as easily have been kids pulling a prank.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/04 05:37 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Who Is Nate Gray?
Richard Connelly tucked away the following blurb near the end of his "Hairballs" column in last week's Houston Press:
When most Houstonians hear the name "East Cleveland," they may find themselves surprised that the tiny Montgomery County town of Cleveland has a suburb.
But, it turns out, there is also a city of sorts named Cleveland, in a state called "Ohio." And that Cleveland has a suburb to the east, an impoverished, mostly minority enclave of 27,000.
Why the geography lesson? Because the politics of East Cleveland may come to play an intriguing role in the politics of Houston.
Mayor Emmanuel Onunwor was convicted last month of bribery, racketeering and tax fraud, the charges stemming from an FBI investigation of businessman Nate Gray. Gray was videotaped handing envelopes stuffed with cash to the mayor, apparently to further the interests of CH2M Hill, a company running the city's water department.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that wiretaps of Gray have led to "so many different fruitful veins of investigation," triggering probes in Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans -- and Houston.
There are indeed some local connections. CH2M Hill is involved in the Port of Houston Authority's mammoth Bayport project, and it has its nose fully in the City Hall trough. In 1999 the city paid $1.6 million for the company to develop a "strategic plan" for its water system, an amount later amended to $2.5 million, which is a pretty nice amendment. A year later it got a $3.5 million design contract.
Gray also owns Etna Parking, which has a piece of the contract for shuttling car-rental customers at Bush Intercontinental Airport. A "Nate Gray" gave $500 to Mayor Bill White's campaign in December.
Whether anything comes of this is difficult to say -- Gray didn't return calls, and the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office in Cleveland refused comment.
There may be something there, or there may be nothing. This is the sort of thing that former Press reporter Tim Fleck was good at fleshing out.
A search of the Houston Chronicle archives did not turn up any reference to this story.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/04 05:06 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Eavesdropping on the Chronicle
It would be fun to see what goes on in the daily editorial board meetings at the Chronicle. You know, having to go over current events and decide what matters are of such importance that the Chronicle must give its devastating, can't-miss analysis.
Big 1: Well, there is this Rather thing.
Big 2: The President gave a speech at the United Nations.
Big 3: John Kerry gave his fourteenth position speech on Iraq.
Big 4: DeLay wasn't indicted, but all his closest friends were.
Big 3: It's not as good without DeLay's indictment.
Big 5: Metro isn't checking boarding passes.
Unison: No, no, no. Can't do that.
Big 1: Johnny Ramone died. The Ramones were awesome. Oh, but he was a conservative.
Big 4: No problem - we can just bury that part about his being a conservative. No one actually reads all the way to the end.
Unison: Great, good! We'll go with that.
Big 2: MeMo showed me a Kansas City Star editorial on the swinging pendulum of fashion.
Big 4: Terrific! We'll do Another Voice for that one.
Big 1: OK. Rather, Ramone and the swinging pendulum of fashion it is. Good meeting folks. Thanks. See you tomorrow.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/04 10:10 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
We don't want to see her in jammies
The Chronicle's MeMo is an endless source of amusement. On Tuesday, Memo delved into the world of blogs vs. Big Media:
Someday this blogger would love to do a serious piece about the rise of the "citizen journalist," which is a term Drudge made popular to distinguish himself from the lackeys of Big Media such as, presumably, us. The issue really does deserve much more space, but when did journalists with real jobs become separated out -- in the public mind and maybe in some cases beyond that -- from their chief role, which is to be the eyes and ears of the public? This is, believe it or no, the principal reason most people we know got into the Land of Bad Pay and Bad Hours that is journalism -- because they were idealists (and not idealogues).
Ah! we could go on and on, about journalistic ethics, about fatcat Beltway and Manhattan pundits being conflated with everyday news people, about liberal vs. conservative. But another time.
Can't wait.
That's an interesting idea she brings up, though - that journalists are idealists.
My handy little (online) 2001 Merriam Webster defines an idealist as "one that places ideals before practical considerations." And ideal is defined as "a standard of beauty, perfection or excellence. An object or aim of endeavor."
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (who hasn't taken that personality test?) has this to say about idealists:
The Idealist's Motivation
Wanting to uncover meaning and significance in the world, and trying to understand what they believe is the real nature of life and relationships, Idealist thought and speech tends to be interpretive, which means they frequently comment how one thing is really something else.
And:
Idealists are naturally inductive in their thought and speech, which is to say that they move quickly from the part to the whole, from a few particulars to sweeping generalizations, from the smallest sign of something to its entirety.
[snip]
At the very least, Idealists are the best suited of all the types to read between the lines, or to have a sixth sense about people, and they do indeed follow their hunches, heed their feelings, and insist they "just know" what people are really up to, or what they really mean. Even with complicated issues NF's [idealists] need hear only the first words of an explanation to feel they understand the subject fully, jumping from telling details to larger meanings.
Oh dear.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/04 06:55 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
21 September 2004
Can anyone explain the editorial policy?
A few posts ago, Anne Linehan credited Chronicle Outlook editor David Langworthy for a "frank column" acknowledging public concerns about shortcomings of the mainstream media.
Recognizing the problem surely is a start, but my most recent experience of being ignored by the Chronicle's reader representative James T. Campbell and Langworthy himself suggests that the newspaper still has a ways to go in being responsive to readers who have questions about editorial policy and decisions.
To back up a bit -- I actually wondered about the Chronicle's official policy on bylines for op-eds when I ran across a complaint on Charles Kuffner's blog that the newspaper had run an op-ed with a "ridiculously uninformative byline...." Apparently, Kuffner thinks that the newspaper needs to edit supplied bylines. I got to thinking about it, and realized that even though I don't really have his problem with the Chronicle's practices (seemingly, the policy is to run supplied bylines unless they are somehow inaccurate), it might be nice to know the official policy.
I sent James T. Campbell a polite email inquiry about the policy, beginning with a discussion of the criticism (and an admission that I didn't agree with the criticism). He responded fairly quickly that mine was a recurring question, and that he would visit with David Langworthy and get me an answer "tomorrow."
I didn't hear from Campbell the next day, so I emailed again and asked if he had been able to get a statement of policy from Langworthy.
No response.
A day later, I forwarded the correspondence to Langworthy, along with a repeat of the question.
Still no response, a week after the initial email.
I understand that editors probably have more important things to do than answer questions from bloggers, but it seems strange to promise an answer to a legitimate question about editorial policy and then not to deliver, and to ignore subsequent emails on the topic.
Given Langworthy's "frank" column, it's stranger still.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/04 11:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
The Chronicle still isn't happy with Prop. 12
Recently, Texas Media Watch noted that the Chronicle was less than happy with Proposition 12, medical liability reform:
When medical liability reform was on the ballot last year, the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle adamantly opposed it. In addition to chronically slanted news coverage of the issue, the paper produced twelve editorials during the campaign stressing their opposition. Two days before the vote they wrote:
If Proposition 12 passes in Saturday's statewide election and becomes an amendment to the Texas Constitution, Texans almost certainly will have given up an important constitutional right and consumer protection tool.
In exchange, they will have received a dubious promise about lowering the cost of medical malpractice insurance rates.
Houston Chronicle, 9/11/2003
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/21/04 05:39 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
20 September 2004
Chronicle gets mixed review for memogate coverage
The Houston Chronicle gets a mixed review from Texas Media Watch's Sherry Sylvester for its recent coverage of the Dan Rather fake memo flap.
Sylvester blasts the Chronicle for ignoring Marian Carr Knox:
The elderly National Guard typist, Marian Carr Knox, made national news when she told reporters that the documents were phony. Knox, who lives in Houston, told the Washington Post and Matt Drudge that she had called the Houston Chronicle to tell her story, but they didn’t call her back.
As Anne Linehan suggested earlier, perhaps the Chronicle's voicemail wasn't working. And maybe that's why they missed the Enron story as well. Someone at 801 Texas Avenue really should call in the phone company. In any case, the Dallas Morning News managed to scoop the Chronicle on a story the local newspaper should have owned.
Sylvester goes on, however, to credit the Chronicle for its background on Bill Burkett:
The Houston Chronicle also published an important piece on Burkett, who has been a bitter and frequent critic of Bush over the years. The Chronicle noted that many of Burkett’s charges failed to check-out. Demonstrating how far off a national news report can drift, on September 17 the Washington Post published a piece on Burkett entitled “Suspected CBS Source is Well-Regarded Texan." The much better researched story about Burkett ran in the Houston Chronicle the same day. It was headlined “Texan has history of attacks on Bush."
More of this kind of reporting from journalists who knew the players and their backgrounds would have saved the national media a lot of time and surely resulted in some glory for the Texas press.
It really is disappointing (if not surprising) that the Texas press didn't do a better job on this story. Texas newspapers could still redeem themselves, however. Documents were obviously faked, and laws broken. Getting to the bottom of who did what would be some nice journalism. It might even produce that elusive first Pulitzer for the Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/04 10:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
What is an accident?
The Chronicle reported the latest light-rail "accident" on Sunday, describing it as the 61st (my count of incidents is 63):
Two people suffered minor injuries after a car ran a red light and collided with a MetroRail train today in downtown Houston. The accident was the 61st involving a light rail train.
The accident occurred at about 4 p.m. at Main and Pierce. A northbound rail car collided with the car after the female driver failed to stop at a red light, said Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Chief Tom Lambert.
I highlight the term "accident" because I'm not quite sure what that means in METRO/Chronicle parlance.
The newspaper previously defined reportable incident, collision, and attempted suicide as an adjunct to another collision report:
Reportable incident: Involves at least one injury or property damage of more than $1,000. MetroRail has had 60 reportable incidents since the Main Street line was completed in October 2003.
Collision: Any reportable incident resulting from an accident. MetroRail has had 59 collisions.
Attempted suicide: Any reportable incident resulting from a person intentionally crossing a train's path. MetroRail has had one attempted suicide.
Presumably, an accident is an unintentional collision of person or vehicle with the train, but it might have helped to have a definition. Even if we rule out the suicide attempt (which seems intentional and not accidental), isn't the true number of accidents at least 62?
Not to be overly pedantic, but if the Chronicle is going to insist on running boxes with definitions, shouldn't the newspaper make some effort to report according to those definitions?
Surely they're not just making it up as they go along.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/04 10:05 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chronicle olds: news that isn't new
A couple of weeks ago (on September 2, to be exact), the Dallas Morning News ran a story by Terry Box on a recent study by Experian on car loans:
Dallas motorists shoulder the highest monthly car and truck payments of those in any major U.S. market except Houston, according to a new study.
In a review of 3 million consumer profiles, Experian Consumer Direct found average vehicle payments of $441 in Houston and $424 in Dallas, compared with the national average of $383.
Dallas had the largest average loan amount – $26,521.
The study didn't try to determine reasons for the higher payments and loans in Texas' two largest metropolitan areas.
The Chronicle's Purva Patel chimed in with coverage of this matter of local interest a full two weeks later:
Not only are our cars big in Houston, so are our car payments.
Houstonians shell out more in average monthly car payments than any other city in the nation, according to a recent study by Experian Consumer Direct.
Drivers pay an average $441 a month in Houston, compared to the national average of $383 and a Texas average of $415.
Though Experian didn't set out to find out why we pay so much, people in the industry pointed to the city's lower credit scores, higher-than-average delinquency rates and appetite for pricier cars.
Readers can expect us to refer to "olds" (as opposed to news) in the Chronicle from time to time. This would be a prime example of the phenomenon.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/04 09:33 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
KHOU allows viewers to vent
Local CBS affiliates are taking the brunt of viewer anger regarding Dan Rather's forged memos. The Kerry Spot at National Review Online highlights KHOU's response:
One of the best responses from any network so far is from KHOU, the station for which Rather famously covered a hurricane in 1961. They're putting viewer responses right up on the web site. Guess how viewers are reacting?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/20/04 06:35 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)
This explains a lot
The Chronicle's David Langworthy writes an interesting Sounding Board column in Monday's paper. He agrees that there have been some media missteps this summer which have contributed to the (growing) distrust of media. But there is one sentence that is eye-catching:
During afternoons spent selecting and editing content for the Chronicle's Outlook pages, I have my radio tuned into KUHF-FM and the news broadcast of National Public Radio's All Things Considered. This is a matter of longstanding habit, but also a tool for professional survival. I cannot count the times the NPR voice coming out of my office radio has alerted me to changes affecting Outlook content.
(emphasis added)
He doesn't say that anything on Fox News has alerted him to changes affecting Outlook content. He specifically highlights NPR as prompting the changes in content.
That explains a lot.
Let's give credit to Mr. Langworthy for a frank column. It's refreshing to read that someone at the Chronicle is aware of the public's concern regarding the media. But it's a shame that, in light of Mr. Langworthy's admission, the Chronicle's editorial pages are still so filled with invective toward conservative and, often, mainstream ideas and issues.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/20/04 12:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
Answering machines are pretty cheap these days
Yesterday's excellent Washington Post article on the Dan Rather-forged memos issue includes this paragraph, toward the end of the story:
"I know Dan Rather is right," Marian Carr Knox, a former secretary in Bush's Guard unit, recalled saying. The neighbor said she should do something about it. So she called a Houston newspaper, Knox told CBS, but did not get a call back. Dallas Morning News reporter Pete Slover soon tracked down Knox and showed her copies of the Killian memos.
(emphasis added)
That's rather embarrassing.
UPDATE: I'm not sure MeMo (second item) should be mocking anyone, considering her paper couldn't return a phone call.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/20/04 07:57 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
19 September 2004
Will the Chronicle Issue a Clarification to its Correction?
On Friday, Kristen Mack turned in her first column as the Chronicle's new local-politics columnist, a spot unfilled since John Williams left the newspaper in June.
It was an inauspicious start, inasmuch as it included this snippet at the very end:
State Rep. Talmadge Heflin says he's in tune with his district. On a recent television show Heflin said: "I have been very much in touch with the district. It covers part of Katy school district, part of Alief, part of HISD, part of Spring Branch and part of Stafford. I know the district, I know the schools, I know the needs."
Apparently he doesn't know it as well as he thinks. Turns out no part of the Spring Branch School District is in State House District 149, according to Heflin's Web site.
Leaving aside the fact that Mack's last sentence is actually a fragment (there's no subject), it's a mean "gotcha" type assertion that must have been embarrassing to the newspaper since, as Rob Booth pointed out, it's not true.
The Chronicle ran the following correction today:
State House District 149 represented by Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, includes a non-residential portion of the Spring Branch Independent School District. A story on page B2 in Friday's Chronicle said incorrectly that none of the district is in SBISD.
Booth takes issue with the correction, noting that it's also "factually incorrect."
Will the newspaper now issue a clarification of its correction? Stay tuned.
Mack's column, incidentally, will appear every Friday.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Texas Magazine, RIP
The Chronicle has ceased publication of its weekend Texas Magazine:
Texas Magazine has suspended publication. The Houston Chronicle is exploring the best ways to offer its readers in-depth, well-written stories about the people of this state. Moving forward, you'll find many of those articles in the Star section, along with the rest of our high-quality lifestyle coverage Sunday and daily.
The Texas Magazine was a handy repository of stories about Texas people and places as well as schedules for festivals and such all across the state. There's no way that sort of coverage can be effectively rolled into the "star" section (we use quotes because that's not the section's actual name, but a reference to the symbol that serves as the name of the section).
Even worse, the editor of the "star" section describes herself as a "recent Houston transplant." That's right, she's new to Texas! It's not her fault that she doesn't yet know enough about our fine state to hold it in the high regard it deserves, but we do wonder about the wisdom of tranferring responsibility for features on Texas to a fairly recent Texan who spends part of her day working on this.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:18 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
The Quest for Houston's Best Burger
The Chronicle's Dai Huynh sings the praises of Christian's Tailgate Grill and Bar on Washington near I-10. His is as much a story of the place as a food review.
That's also the style of Robb Walsh, who reviewed the place for the Houston Press in January:
"This is the best burger in Houston," Bebout whispers devoutly.
Finally, I'm allowed to eat. And I have to say, it's absolutely awesome. The hand-formed patty is made from a half-pound of never-frozen, freshly ground beef that cooks up into a very juicy burger. The french fries are average, but the onion rings are excellent. I would have liked the meat a little closer to medium rare, but that's my only quibble.
"Well?" Bebout demands a verdict. I reply by mentioning my usual favorite burger joints. Bebout allows that Adrian's Burger Bar in the Fifth Ward is outstanding. But Adrian puts a whole pound of meat on every burger, and that's too much for average folks to eat at lunch. And yes, he says, the cheeseburger at Rudyard's is indeed psychedelic. But Rudz isn't open for lunch. He goes on to say that the barbecue burger at Guy's is tasty but very well done. And however good the burgers at Tookie's and Gilhooley's may be, these restaurants are inconveniently located way the hell down there on Galveston Bay.
I'm forced to concede. At lunchtime, within the city limits, for hand-formed burger enthusiasts who don't want a whole pound of ground meat, Christian's Totem has the best burger in town.
Rudyard's would get my vote for best burger, but I've never tried the one at Christian's. Perhaps a blogHOUSTON.net field trip will be in order shortly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 09:02 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston Chronicle "Rail Memo" Mirror
In November 2002, as rail was being debated as a transit option for Houston, the Houston Chronicle inadvertently posted an internal memo to their website. The memo quite clearly revealed an editorial strategy aimed at winning the public over to rail, and attacking opponents of rail. It just as clearly revealed the Chronicle as a biased advocate for, rather than objective reporter of, local public policy.
For some time, the Houston Review had the memo posted on their website. Earlier this summer, their website disappeared. An archived version of the memo is available here. In addition, we are mirroring the transcribed memo below. Finally, Tom Bazan sent graphic screen caps of the memo, which are available by clicking here and here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/04 05:43 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
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