31 October 2004

What about Proposition 3?

Chronicle metro/state columnist Rick Casey wrote a column on Friday in favor of Proposition 3.

While Propositions 1 and 2 have been discussed quite a bit, Proposition 3 has received far less attention. Basically, as Casey explains, the proposition would grant the city controller authority to conduct performance audits of city offices and services.

In terms of providing another check on the Mayor and Council, the proposal makes sense institutionally. However, one potential drawback is, as Casey points out, that the authority might be used in a purely vindictive manner, as has been the case with state controller Carol Keeton Strayhorn, whose use of the power became so personal that the state legislature finally stripped her of it.

Even with the potential drawbacks, Casey's conclusion seems compelling to me:

But in a city that gives its mayor more power than virtually any other mayor in the nation, we need an elected official with the authority to seek and present independent information.

When the mayor and the controller squabble, as they inevitably will, the public can choose whom to believe.

We might add that future squabbles between the mayor and city controller might also serve the purpose of forcing the city's only newspaper to cover municipal politics more closely. The public would certainly benefit.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/04 10:18 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Robison's world - cont'd

Clay Robison, the Chronicle's Austin news bureau chief who moonlights as hyperpartisan editorialist every Sunday, penned another column blasting Governor Rick Perry (R) and conservatives today.

This excerpt from the column is all too typical of Robison:

Perry's political "sensitivities," if you can call them that, are more limited and defined by what must be an overwhelming urge not to be blindsided from the right.

In a concrete sense, that urge has led to such things as cuts in health care for children and other important state services, an unwillingness to raise state taxes to adequately and equitably fund the public schools, and a hard-line stance in favor of the death penalty. You may recall that a few months ago Perry even allowed a severely mentally ill man to be executed after the governor's own appointees on the Board of Pardons and Paroles had recommended commutation of the sentence to life imprisonment.

In Robison's worldview, mean conservatives are all out to hurt children, execute the innocent, and keep taxes low for rich people.

As we frequently point out, if the Chronicle's editors want to feature such childish, simplistic columns on their editorial pages, that's certainly their prerogative. However, it continues to boggle the mind that Jeff Cohen lets someone who writes columns like this on Sundays direct the newspaper's coverage of state politics the rest of the week.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/04 09:23 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Be yourself, Houston

A few days ago, the Chronicle ran a question and answer session with Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation who writes on urban development issues, broadly conceived.

It's a little shocking that the interview made it into print, since most of Kotkin's answers are antithetical to the most deeply held beliefs of so many Chronicle editors. Here's an excerpt:

Q: When discussing quality of life in Houston, words like heat, mosquitoes and traffic seem to permeate the conversation. How do we overcome this negative perception?

A: What is quality of life? Is it to most people what they can do in their neighborhood or back yard? Or is it having some magnificent edifice in the center of the city where they can go, "Oh my God, isn't that spectacular?"

Is the quality of life in Houston really bad? There are some things you can't do anything about. The climate is what it is. It's not like you don't pay attention to quality of life, but is quality of life defined by pouring billions of dollars into downtown so a bunch of yuppies can make believe they're in Manhattan?

Or is quality of life about hundreds of thousands and millions of people getting a house and having a decent quality of life and in many cases, for the immigrants, a quality of life that was unimaginable to their parents. Isn't that what America is about, or not?

Q: Some $300 million was spent on a 7.5-mile light rail system that runs from downtown to the Astrodome complex. Supporters said the train would help bring the city into the 21st century. Do you agree with that theory?

A: I think you are a 21st-century city. The cities that are built on transit are 20th-century cities. It's a good thing to have, but does a business move to Houston because it has a transit system? I hate to tell you your traffic's not that bad compared to a lot of cities.

It is a good thing to have. It's part of your infrastructure, like your airport and your port. But this idea that, "Oh, we'll be a world-class city." This endless — excuse the expression — this endless penis envy that cities have about, "Oh, if we can only be like someone else," instead of saying how do we work with who we are to make ourselves better?

I think it is a good thing, but it can't be more than a fraction of the solution. This is not going to be a city of straphangers. It's never going to happen. You probably can't afford to build a system to carry the number of people that go to work every day. Plus, if you look at the employment projection charts, they're moving further and further out.

Go read the entire article. I'm an admitted contrarian, but I don't have a contention with a single word from Kotkin.

Of course, I'm also a Houston booster, for which I make no apologies (and which partly explains the existence of this website). This quote is music to my ears:

This is a city of upward mobility and aspiration, and that's what Houston should be selling itself as. Not as, "Well, we're kind of getting like Boston, we're kind of hip and cool." To hell with that crap.

Houston has vitality. It's got young demographics. It's a city of opportunity. If I was 25 years old, I probably couldn't move to Los Angeles. Houston would be one of those places you'd look at: Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas.

Are you listening, Jordy Tollett?!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/04 03:10 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (2)

Mayor still using false FAA revenue attack to discredit Prop. 2

Last week, I ran across this AP story about the Prop. 1/Prop. 2 battle:

Proposition 1, created by Mayor Bill White and other city leaders, would limit increases in property taxes and water and sewer rates. Those rates could only be raised by the combined increases of population and inflation or 4.5 percent, whichever is lower.

Proposition 2, developed by a group called RevCap and placed on the ballot through a petition drive, asks for a cap on all revenue collected by the city also based on the combined rate of population and inflation, with any excess revenue refunded to taxpayers.

Both initiatives require voter approval before the city can spend any revenue that would exceed their respective caps.

It gets interesting when Mayor White is allowed to characterize Prop. 2, the initiative the mayor doesn't support:

But White says Proposition 2 would limit revenues from water services, airport landing fees and pollution fines that vary from year to year. Those fluctuations could force the city to cut crucial services to stay below the cap because enterprise funds only can be used for specific expenditures, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has warned White that if airport revenue is used for property tax refunds, the city could risk losing federal grants for improvements.

"Anything that would cut the federal funding for airport expansion or would result in cutting police protection is not what I would think of as (fiscally) conservative," he said.

The problem is that airport revenue cannot be used for property tax refunds, according to Harris County Tax Assessor Paul Bettencourt. Chronically Biased dealt with this recently:

In a nutshell, the news release is based upon a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration, which Mr. Frank Michel from the Mayor's office agreed was based upon a faulty premise. The faulty premise is that the FAA was told that airport revenue could be used for property tax refunds. According to Mr. Bettencourt, and Mr. Michel agreed, this is not correct.

Frank Michel agreed with Paul Bettencourt on KSEV that what the FAA letter said was wrong, yet the mayor is still out there repeating it.

And the intrepid AP reporter didn't do any further digging. But he should have.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/31/04 09:56 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Maybe it will be an endowed dumpster?

Various Houston media outlets reported earlier this week that former Houston police chief and mayor Lee P. Brown will be donating his personal papers to Rice University.

The blogHOUSTON crew couldn't come up with a better response to that news than Laurence Simon's.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/04 09:41 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)

30 October 2004

The alternative media in Houston isn't the Press

A professional journalist with "big media" here in town asked in an email recently why we focused on the Chronicle so much but ignored the Press.

I thought that was a good question.

We do occasionally refer to the alt-weekly Press as more dinosaur than alternative media these days, but don't say much else because while the publication isn't objectionable, it's also not that interesting.

That was pretty much my answer to my correspondent, along with some examples from the most recent issue.

In the past, publications like the Press and the old Public News were edgy. They'd dig up interesting stuff nobody else would print. Sometimes, in the case of departed columnist Tim Fleck, they'd dig up stuff nobody else would even dig up. They would beat local media to the punch with stories. Basically, they would push the local media. The publications were reliably left-of-center and often cynical, but that wasn't really their selling point. That they were well-written, hard-hitting, and ahead-of-the-curve was.

Looking at the latest Press, though, I see very little of that.

Sarah Fenske's article on Police Chief Hurtt's Taser initiative was good work, to be sure, but isn't really groundbreaking investigative journalism. Regular music columnist John Nova Lomax turns in too many insomnia-curing columns like this one these days. Richard Connelly's column on the Astros was certainly cynical, but otherwise seemed to be a mean, not to mention mundane, effort by a good writer who seemed bored. His Hair Balls column remains an inadequate replacement for the old News Hostage column he used to do, and too much of the content is largely "olds" that's already been discussed and put in the grave by local bloggers much earlier. Speaking of bloggers, the column by Catherine Matusow on Matt Mullenweg, local blogger and programmer of some great blogging software very similar to what powers this site, was a nice profile of a good guy. But Matusow squandered an opportunity to turn a run-of-the-mill profile that really missed the mark with its focus on "blogs as fun little social club" into a more interesting article about blogs as a new form of alternative media.

Of course, Robb Walsh is brilliant, almost without fail. He's the main reason to pick up the thing each week -- unless, of course, one is in need of an escort service.

As I concluded in my email correspondence, that's really not the stuff of interesting media criticism (which is what we like to do here). The Press has become boring and predictable. And it was probably only a matter of time before "alternative" journalism as practiced by New Times would come to resemble the "radio" formula as practiced by Clear Channel/Infinity: targeted to a certain demographic, designed to sell ads, but otherwise not that adventurous, and certainly not outside the mold carefully crafted by the suits in corporate.

Fortunately, weblogs are increasingly assuming that "alternative" niche even as formerly alt publications like the Press become just another part of dinosaur media. Readers, not to mention folks in dinosaur media who are open-minded (like the handful who regularly correspond with us here), are the beneficiaries.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/04 03:37 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (2)

Media hypes flawed study

100,000 Iraqi civilians estimated killed

That's the headline of a Washington Post story the Chronicle ran the other day, based on a newly released "analysis" done by some researchers. In the fourth paragraph of the story, Human Rights Watch says the numbers appear to be inflated. Human Rights Watch! Which pretty much tells us that what follows is junk, if that group doesn't even buy it.

The study has been demolished here, here, and here. (There are probably more out there.)

But since the Chronicle didn't feel the need to offer a second, more skeptical follow-up story, today we find this letter to the editor in the Chronicle:

Everyone should read the Chronicle's Oct. 29 article "100,000 Iraqi civilians estimated killed."

More than 10 percent of the population of Fallujah (mostly women and children) have been killed by bombs dropped by the U.S. military since we invaded Iraq.

While at work or at the grocery store, just imagine one in every 10 people you see being killed.

Or just imagine one in 10 in your own family being killed from traumatic injuries sustained during attacks.

Is it any wonder that the civilian workers and military personnel associated with the U.S. occupation in Iraq are being targeted?

DOUG MARVY
Houston

Sure the Washington Post story carried a couple of quotes from people saying they didn't think the numbers were right, but that's not what the headline conveys and obviously that's not what the major thrust of the story conveys, either. How do our troops feel, seeing a report like that? Eleanor Clift was on the McLaughlin Group last night, shrieking, "100,000 dead!" Some people will take this report as gospel, no matter what the truth is.

Which leads us to how this happened. Newspapers have editors for a reason - they are supposed to be the grown-ups who prevent missteps like this. That Human Rights Watch quote should have made an editor take a hard look at running this story. Just because the story came from the Washington Post is not a safeguard in and of itself. Yes, this was news, but it wasn't the only news. And running with it because everyone else was doesn't make it any less objectionable, now that the study has been shown to be terribly flawed.

Update: Here's another skeptic who questions the timing of the study. There was some politics involved here? Who would have thought that?

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/04 02:33 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

A mole in Mayor White's administration?

Dan Patrick's successor website to Chronically Biased has obtained what appears to be an internal memo to Mayor White highlighting a loophole in city finances that might allow the city to evade the requirements of Proposition 2 if it passes.

While I'm not completely surprised that the administration would be researching ways to mitigate the impact of Proposition 2, one does hope they are just as diligently researching areas of the city budget that could use some discipline, even if said discipline ultimately has to be imposed by voters.

One thing that does surprise me is that Mayor White's administration apparently has a mole. I wonder who shot that memo over to Dan Patrick. And does that make David Benzion the new HouSnitch?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/04 02:18 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

29 October 2004

Improving customer skills

Yesterday, L.M. Sixel had an interesting column on how Chipotle Mexican Grill is beefing up its employees' communication skills:

In June, Chipotle decided to go beyond its basic training of burrito-making and key English phrases to its daylong confidence building sessions as part of its diversity efforts. The chain, which began in Denver 11 years ago, realized it had to go further to explain its unusual menu offerings.

Its next step is to roll out more intensive training on how the food is prepared so employees can answer questions such as "What is free-range pork?"

"It's going beyond, 'This is the rice, and this is the beans,' " Bishop said.

The chain also plans to teach employees phone skills. Sometimes if the manager isn't available, employees who aren't native English speakers are reluctant to answer the phone.

Bishop said the chain encourages its employees identified for promotion to learn English and sends them to classes.

While it's hard for employees who are often juggling two jobs, they're often willing to make the commitment because they've seen line workers move into management. And it doesn't hurt that Chipotle plans to open more than 100 stores during the next year.

Taking a page from Southwest Airlines and others like it, lower-level employees were encouraged to take matters into their own hands. Act like you own the place, Robinson stressed. Make customers feel as if they've walked into your home.

Everyone appreciates good customer service, but those skills really come into play when a dining experience is in trouble, for whatever reason. An employee who is able to listen, empathize and communicate can often turn a bad experience into a positive one, which benefits the company.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/29/04 06:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)

The Astros offseason gets underway

The Astros announced yesterday that the team will pick up the $3 million option on Craig Biggio's contract for next year. However, the Astros declined to pick up the $9 million option for Jeff Kent's contract (opting for a $700,000 buyout). The team appears interested in Kent returning, if he'll agree to less money.

Tom Kirkendall offers the sort of detailed analysis and speculation that is perfectly suited to weblogs and not dinosaur media on dead tree. The Astro in Exile weblog offers some pithy thoughts on the offseason work ahead of the team as well.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/04 11:47 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

28 October 2004

Get Houston moving

blogHOUSTON sometimes questions the city's priorities, but Houston drivers will certainly appreciate this news from KHOU-11's Dan Lauck:

"Getting traffic signals timed right, getting the stalled or wrecked vehicle off the road quickly, making sure that the traffic signals you have replaced with the latest technology actually work," says Mayor White.

A good example is that buried beneath the street at many intersections throughout Houston are loop detectors that can sense whether there are cars waiting in the left-turn lane.

If no cars are waiting, the computer inside a box is supposed to skip the green light for that lane. When White's administration took over, they discovered that only 20 percent of the loop detectors actually worked.

They say their predecessors didn't want to pay to maintain them. That meant that drivers would sit and wait -- for nothing.

Drivers on Memorial, for example, have to stop for a red light at Brittmore, even when there's not a single car coming from the other direction.

"There's all kinds of situations at which we arrive at a light and there's no cars around. It's the middle of the night, that sort of thing, and it drives you nuts to sit through a long light," says one driver.

At a number of locations there are no loop detectors or motion-detecting cameras, and the traffic ends up tied in knots.

David Crossley, a transportation expert, says just take a look at Westheimer from above to get a better idea.

"You'll see these knots of cars, then a quarter mile of empty space. Then there is another knot of cars. That's because the traffic lights aren't working," he says.

Timing those lights is now a city priority....

Mayor White ran on a "Get Houston Moving" platform. He would be well served to spend more time on mobility and less time on Tasers, park boondoggles, smoking, and African American museums.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/28/04 11:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Local media on Rosenthal

Rick Casey penned yet another column that takes shots at Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal on Wednesday, continuing a pattern of coverage by the anti-death-penalty Chronicle of tying Rosenthal negatively to the ongoing controversy of the police crime lab (and frequently misrepresenting or underrepresenting his views).

Casey is an editorialist of sorts, which gives him some cover for his opinions I suppose. But when every column treats Rosenthal so negatively or -- in the case of this Casey column -- effectively serves as a press release for Rosenthal's inexperienced and flawed opponent, a careful media watcher can't help but wonder if an agenda is at work, especially given the newspaper's efforts to paint a convicted murderer as a nice guy who repented in prison after meeting some really swell people:

Though he doesn't want to die, the boyish-looking Green expressed gratitude for the lessons he learned from some of the most violent criminals in the state.

"There are a lot of great men here," he said. "They taught me things I wouldn't have learned otherwise. They taught me about responsibility and respect and how to be a human being."

Presumably, he wasn't hanging out with these great men.

Judy Stokes, on the other hand, provides some balance for the Houston Community Newspapers, in the form of an interview with Rosenthal. The article is worth reading in its entirety.

It's nice to see this sort of coverage from a local media outlet. It's a welcome contrast from the Chronicle's efforts to portray Rosenthal as one of their "bad guys" in news and editorial coverage. Ultimately, savvy news consumers need enough information to decide whether Rosenthal merits criticism, praise, or something in between. The Chronicle hasn't done a great job providing that information.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/04 10:25 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (6)

Effectiveness of Tasers questioned

We have previously questioned the city's priorities in light of plans to purchase nearly $5 million in Taser equipment at a time when HPD is having to deal with manpower shortages because political leaders have not allocated adequate resources to training and recruitment of new officers.

In a Houston Press article this week, Sarah Fenske points out that Tasers are not the panacea that uniformless HPD chief Harold Hurtt has made them out to be.

I'm not going to excerpt this one. Just go read it in its entirety.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/04 09:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Food and drink roundup (10-28-2004 edition)

This was a busy week for Houston's food and drink writers, with plenty of good new stuff posted.

Robb Walsh makes a trip to the Barbecue Inn in the Heights with fried chicken aficionado John T. Edge, and offers up this ringing endorsement:

I go to Barbecue Inn as often as possible these days. You can't miss with the chicken-fried steak, the fried chicken or the fried shrimp. And now, I can say with some authority that the ribs aren't half bad either.

That's good enough for me. Elsewhere, Walsh shares some dirt on the Beard Foundation that may interest local foodies.

Alison Cook visits Pasha in the Village, and finds it a mostly good addition to Houston's lineup of Turkish restaurants:

In the end, though, a sweet earnestness pervades this cozy small house, and it triumphs.

Lean back amid all that pomegranate-colored warmth. Lift a feta-stuffed cigar and a glass of bone-dry Turkish white wine. And toast our collective good fortune in Turkish restaurants.

Diners on the northwest side of town may want to check out Molly Glentzer's thoughts on Red Onion Seafood y Mas.

Mona Shoup runs a letter about my favorite Tex-Mex joint in this week's Whine and Dine section:

Houstonian Mark Russell organized a celebration for 60 people at Spanish Village Restaurant, 4720 Almeda, that was scheduled after a memorial service.

"Imagine my surprise when many unexpected guests showed up. (The owners), who are genuinely good people, took it all in stride, took care of business and didn't get upset when we stayed after closing. This is the reason they have been in business almost 50 years and have more regulars than any place I've been."

Russell says the eatery serves great Tex-Mex and excellent margaritas in a fun atmosphere.

The family who run Spanish Village treat customers as extended family, but newbies who go there have to understand it's not Pappasito's. Things move a little more slowly, and the atmosphere is not as upscale. Those of us who are regulars consider those to be features, not flaws. And the enchiladas and shaved-ice margaritas are the best I've had in this great state. blogHOUSTON highly recommends Spanish Village.

Finally, Viet Doan reviews Proletariat, a funky little bar just off Montrose on Richmond. It's a good writeup, but neglects to mention that the Proletariat was resurrected on the site of the old Blue Iguana bar, one of this city's best dive bars (but a place that honestly did need some upgrades -- such as the holes in the old floor).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/04 09:14 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Live Music Roundup (10-28-2004 edition)

I usually link to David Cobb's weekly roundup of live rock music in Houston, but he hasn't posted one for a couple of weeks (although he is running an interesting interview with local musician Jeff Greer).

The local rock scene is not really one that I follow, so I'm just going to stick to the usual roundup of the Americana/alt-country/Texas music that I follow more closely.

Thursday, October 28
Mark David Manders, Blanco's
Micky and the Motorcars, Firehouse Saloon

Friday, October 29
Reckless Kelly, Fitzgerald's
Tommy Alverson, Firehouse Saloon
Guy Forsyth, Mucky Duck
Patrice Pike, Continental Club (Lisa Novak opens)
Honeybrowne, Sidecar Pub
The Watchman, Anderson Fair

Saturday, October 30
Randy Rogers Band, Firehouse Saloon (Wade Bowen opens)
Austin Lounge Lizards, Mucky Duck
Peach Truck Republic, Last Concert Cafe

(Update) I forgot to mention, but always check with the venue before heading out to a show. We're not perfect here, and schedules sometimes change at the last minute.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/04 07:52 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (6)

The N.Y. Times covers catblogging!

You know you've made it when the N.Y. Times recognizes you, right? Well, ok, that may not hold the same wowza it once did, but still, this is very cool:

Some participants take Friday catblogging very seriously. Laurence Simon, a 35-year-old Houston technical support engineer, decided a while back that with so many people catblogging, it would be good to have a weekly compendium of the best of each week's entries.

So he began to post what he called the "Carnival of the Cats," a roundup (www.carnivalofthecats.com) of that week's Friday catblogging, available the following Sunday.

"The reason why I do it on Sunday evening is that most people aren't online," Mr. Simon said, "so on Monday morning, when people get into the office and are facing their first horrible cup of coffee, they can look at pictures of cats until they get screamed at for the first time of the day."

For a while, Mr. Simon was the host of Carnival of the Cats, but he decided to pass along the honor. Now, a different person handles the Carnival of the Cats each Sunday, compiling a healthy group of Friday postings for that groggy Monday morning audience.

Well, all right! Mr. Simon's Carnival of the Cats is GREAT fun. Where else can you find top notch entertainment like CSI Feline and Kitty Survivor? Not to mention Edloe, the perfect hostess.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/04 06:55 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (2)

Memories... of the way we were

Lee P. Brown may be gone as mayor, but his legacy lives on:

A sink hole has opened up in the Highland Village area.

The gaping hole appeared on Westheimer at Mid Lane Thursday afternoon. Motorists first noticed the hole around 2pm.

City workers believe the six foot wide and four foot deep hole was caused by a water main break. Water can be seen rushing into the hole.

One right westbound lane of Westheimer is closed to traffic. No injuries have been reported. There's no word yet how long repairs could take.

Six years of neglect of the city's infrastructure suggests we'll see more stories like this, not fewer. Mayor White does seem to have a better handle on things, though.

I'm heading over to the Vintage Wine bar near Westheimer and Mid Lane later, so maybe I'll come back with some firsthand shots of the sinkhole to replace the ABC-13 graphic.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/04 05:38 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

A little less TMi; a little more Texas Mag

At a time when newspapers are experiencing declining readership, one would think the decision makers at these papers would not try to alienate any remaining readers.

We've written before about Texas Magazine being cancelled by the Chronicle. I am still missing it. And even though the Chronicle told us we could expect to see those types of stories in the "star" section, it hasn't happened. The Chronicle still publishes Preview and Zest, and inside the "star" section we are treated to Yo! and TMi (yes, that's "Too Much information" - how hip), but not Texas Magazine stories. Why can't the "star" editor devote the Sunday "star" section to those Texas Magazine stories that we were promised? Last Sunday this was the big story on the front of "star":

The next time you dine out, just consider the food set before you. Typically, the portions are plenty more than you need to refuel your body at one sitting. Even when you order healthy choices, you may still be overeating if you're not aware of how much you're eating. It's hard to notice because you're not going back for seconds, just cleaning your plate.

Have you checked out the plates lately? Some are really platters.

We asked a registered dietitian to analyze three popular entrees served at well-known Houston restaurants: Kung Pao Chicken at P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Tacos á la Ninfa at Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant and the Chop Baker at Luther's BAR-B-Q.

The goal: How to eat wisely without giving up these favorites.

A lecture on how not to overindulge when dining out. Talk about a snoozer.

Instead of remaking the whole paper to entice younger readers who aren't even interested in newspapers, why not give us dedicated, and paying, readers a little of what we want?

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/04 03:00 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

27 October 2004

Boo!

Halloween's right around the corner and ghosts seem to be in the news.

An HPD veteran insists his house is haunted in this month's City Savvy.

And a couple of local entrepreneurs get into the spirit by offering ghost tours of Houston area "haunted" buildings.

If none of this floats your boat, take heart. I heard Christmas music while shopping last Sunday.

(10-28-2004 Update) More on the Spaghetti Warehouse haunting here.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/27/04 11:43 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Shamelessly copying D Magazine's Frontburner

Scott Chaffin points me to this Tim Rogers post over at D Magazine's blog:

Last week, I made the offer to buy the first beer for any fired Newsy who cared to meet at the Old Monk. The offer was premature--though I did get one e-mail asking me if I was serious. Yes, I was serious. And since I understand today is actually the day when blood will flow, I'm offering the same deal:

If you get fired from the News today, I will buy your first beer at the Old Monk at 5. But you have to RSVP via e-mail to me, and you have to be able to prove you were fired.

I'll make a similar offer to any Chronicle staffers who were let go in the big shakeup.

I'll buy the first round at the West Alabama Icehouse this weekend for any laid off Chron staffer who will RSVP me (click on my name at the bottom of this post to send a message to me). I'll want some proof of the firing since blogHOUSTON suffers from *ahem* limited resources to say the least. But I'm genuinely interested in hearing about your experiences with Houston's leading information source.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 11:25 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

Charlie Wilson to speak on Thursday

Thursday, The Houston World Affairs Council will be sponsoring a luncheon talk by former U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson, one of the legislative architects of America's foreign policy towards Afghanistan in the 1980s and the obvious focus of George Crile's book, Charlie Wilson's War.

The talk will begin at Noon at the Houston Club's Texas Ballroom and is entitled "The Afghan Struggle Against the Soviet Union and its Aftermath."

More information is available here.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 10:56 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)

The dueling propositions

The Chronicle specializes in simplistic house editorials, and today's endorsement of Proposition 1 was certainly a good example.

Indeed, the headline really tells you all you need to know about what's coming: Proposition No. 1 is useful and desirable; Proposition No. 2 isn't

In the interest of providing an alternative voice, this political scientist will offer some voting advice:

If you are serious about limiting the growth of municipal government by constraining the revenues it takes in from all sources, then you should vote for Proposition 2.

If you think there should be no such artificial limitations on the growth of municipal government (one reason being we elect representatives to make that determination), then you should vote for neither proposition.

If you fear that your fellow voters, if given the choice between a true revenue limitation mechanism or none at all, will choose the true revenue limitation mechanism (Proposition 2), then you might consider a defensive vote in favor of Proposition 1, which limits some income streams for the city, but not in a very stringent manner. The vote would be defensive, since the proposition with the most votes takes precedence if both win a majority. Mayor White's a shrewd politician who understands Houston moderates. That's why Proposition 1 is on the ballot.

Anyway, there's something to chew on for those of you who still haven't made up your mind on the dueling propositions.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 10:38 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

The same voice on redistricting

The Chronicle again runs one of those insipid "Another Voice" editorials, in which they take another newspaper's editorial, chop it down, and present it on their own rather empty editorial page.

Today, the newspaper that has pounded home its opposition to the recent Texas redistricting was more than happy to run the "voice" of the Dallas Morning News criticizing redistricting.

Here's a hint guys: it's not really a great example of another voice if it's indistinguishable from your own.

Just once, it might be nice to see a radically different point of view, from someone actually willing to argue that redistricting is an inherently political process that should remain political.

That would truly be "another" voice!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 09:53 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Harris county commissioners fire contractor

Three weeks ago, KHOU-11's Jeremy Desel broke the story that a construction firm had basically abandoned construction on the Westpark Tollway in the middle of the job.

Yesterday, Harris County Commissioners Court terminated the contract with the company in question.

The remaining work will be put to bid, and a new contract awarded in December. Work will not resume until January, according to the Chronicle.

More: Coverage from KHOU-11, KTRK-13, and KPRC-2

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 05:20 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Job cuts at the Chronicle

We noted a few weeks ago that the Chronicle buried some rather ominous news about "restructuring" at the newspaper in the business section.

We speculated at the time that layoffs were coming. Now, the shoe has dropped:

The Houston Chronicle has cut nearly 10 percent of its work force, or 243 positions, as part of a previously announced program to reduce operating expenses, the company said today.

More than 64 percent of the reduction was in contract labor and outside work force positions, 28 percent through voluntary buyouts and elimination of open positions, and 8 percent through layoffs. The Chronicle provided severance packages and job placement services to employees who left.

Virtually all of the positions in the news and advertising divisions remain intact.

In a letter to employees, Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney said it was important to cut costs to pay for initiatives that will add circulation, readership and advertising revenue.

Sweeney is not very convincing. A 10% workforce reduction is MASSIVE, no matter how he tries to spin it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 04:59 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)

Local sports talk radio to get competition

David Barron reports that local sports talk radio station KILT-610 will be getting some competition shortly:

Houston will add a second all-sports radio outlet in late December or early January, when KBME (790 AM) switches from its beautiful music format to compete with KILT (610 AM).

KBME, owned by Clear Channel Communications, will mix local programming with ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio shows, said Ken Charles, Clear Channel's Houston AM cluster programming vice president.

"Sports is a huge franchise for our cluster," Charles said. "With KPRC and KTRH and our rock stations, we talk to 85 percent of the men in this market, and a number of them are unhappy with the way sports is covered by the sports station currently. We want to give them an option, and with ESPN and Fox, we're giving them a great option."

KILT, owned by Infinity Broadcasting, currently airs ESPN Radio programs, including a tape-delayed segment of Dan Patrick's midday show. It will lose the ESPN franchise to KBME as part of the format change.

Losing Dan Patrick (the national sports guy, not the local conservative talker) will actually be a case of addition by subtraction by KILT.

Unfortunately, KILT will still have their local talk hosts, none of whom blow away listeners with their wit or knowledge (with the possible exception of Charlie Palillo, who loses points because of that squeaky voice thing he does).

We can hope that Ken Charles will put together something better than the sports dreck KILT broadcasts. He could do a lot worse than locking himself in a room and listening to Dallas's The Ticket for about a week straight. That sort of radio station would be refreshing.

As Barron notes, it's unfortunate that the Houston radio market will be losing Paul Berlin. Here's hoping he'll find a home somewhere on the dial, although given the current Clear Channel/Infinity dominance, I'm not hopeful.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/04 04:07 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (5)

We aim to please

MeMo says she doesn't like the term "mainstream" media:

3. Russell Simmons says "mainstream" -- hate that word -- media simply don't get the impact of hiphop culture. Ummmm, no spit. Which means "mainstream" media (and yeah, yeah, mea culpa) don't even get what's going on in their own houses, hiphop or not.

We'll just move right to MeMo's complaint: ' "mainstream" -- hate that word.' No problem. Some of us prefer to call you "old" media, anyway.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/27/04 04:05 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

CenterPoint Energy's neighborliness

CenterPoint Energy is not making any friends in the Maplewood West subdivision, according to this Chronicle story:

Behind Jim Laughlin's home on Twin Hills in the Maplewood West subdivision is a garden replete with a rain tree, flower beds and crape myrtles he and his dad planted in a final, shared project before the elder Laughlin's death.

His scenic back yard and those belonging to 22 of his neighbors were made possible more than three decades ago, when Houston Lighting and Power — now CenterPoint Energy — requested that residents extend their fence, landscape and maintain the utility company's property easement backing their property. The arrangement more than quadrupled the size of the yards over the original lot's dimensions.

It was also an unwritten agreement, leaving residents with no legal recourse in CenterPoint's plan to take over its easement Nov. 1, tearing down wooden fences, digging up flower beds and cutting down trees that have long blocked the view of its power lines and steel towers.

"The crape myrtles my dad and I planted will be gone. All I'll be able to see will be the power lines," said Laughlin, 50. "The company says it doesn't have a lease with us, we're not a business, so they don't have to honor the agreement."

[snip]

His neighbor and fellow dog-owner Judith Watson said the plans will take a chunk — about 70 feet wide by 120 feet deep — of land from each yard fronting the CenterPoint easement, land each resident has mowed, landscaped, fenced and carefully maintained over the years.

[snip]

Emily Mir-Thompson, CenterPoint spokeswoman, said the company is still studying the plan to reclaim all of its 150 feet of right of way by Nov. 1, "but we are moving forward with that deadline."

The decision, she said, was spurred in part by safety concerns stemming from the August 2003 power blackout in New York City and several other large cities.

"Since the blackout, there are regulations to make sure that the company's transmission lines are reliable. We need to clear those rights of way and make sure we have access to our lines and our equipment," Mir-Thompson said.

This looks bad, on the part of CenterPoint. Is the company saying that there are some new, mandatory regulations that must be followed, no matter what? There's no room for compromise here? Because this seems terribly heavy-handed. For more than 30 years these residents have been caring for this property and improving it, and CenterPoint is now going to repay them by giving them a new fence. Well, big whoopee-ding. CenterPoint owes these homeowners more than new fencing. If CenterPoint is going to follow through on taking away these backyards, it needs to compensate homeowners for 30 years of property care and for the decrease in property values they are now going to suffer.

This is not how a company enhances its image and this is not being a good neighbor in a community. This just stinks. CenterPoint should either find a way for the residents to keep their backyards, or compensate them justly for their losses. A new fence doesn't cut it.

And if the Chronicle has any sense of civic duty, the editors would get this story on the front page, of the A section. This sounds like one "bad guy" story the Chronicle should continue to pursue.

(Here's KTRK-13's coverage of this story.)

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/27/04 12:05 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

26 October 2004

The Tulsa World likes James T. Campbell

My good friend and current Tulsa resident David Hamby emails the following news:

Your Houston Chronicle reader representative had a column reprinted in Sunday's World. It was about the feud between Eminem and Michael Jackson. Hard-hitting stuff. Glad to see that he's branched out from covering waste management issues.

I'm pleased to hear he's a hit with the editors of the Tulsa World, but I wish the editors here in town would give him a bit more authority as ombudsman to correct some of that newspaper's problems.

Readers may be surprised to hear that I'm actually starting to warm to Mr. Campbell. We hope to interview him in the near future, if Jeff Cohen will let him talk to us on the record.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/26/04 07:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Freight trains hinder mobility, part two

KTRK-13 reports that Mayor White and other local officials are looking at ways to solve congestion caused by freight trains within the city:

Railroad crossings tie up traffic all over the city. Mayor Bill White and other city, county and state officials are trying to come up with a plan that would help clear the congestion.

They want to accommodate more freight cargo, but not inconvenience drivers. As you'd imagine, there's no easy, cheap solution. The mayor hopes funds from the federal government will help.

There are more than 700 crossings in the Houston area that back up traffic as the trains make their way through town. Mayor White wants a plan in place by March to find money to pay for a new rail traffic system.

This is a problem that I've been blogging about for a while now. When I first moved to Houston in 1995, it was stunning to me that freight rail traffic literally blocked so many important thoroughfares all through the day. Since then, the problem has not been addressed.

Ultimately, it may be difficult to find the financial resources to build the sorts of overpasses and underpasses we need to free Houston drivers from these freight train bottlenecks, but we won't know that until we recognize the problem and get to work on it. Kudos to Mayor White for getting us moving in that direction.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/26/04 06:13 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Shell Houston Open woes

What's up with the Shell Houston Open? Tom Kirkendall has the details and it's all about location, location, location:

First, despite HGA protestations to the contrary, the Redstone Golf Course is not a PGA Tour-quality golf course. Redstone is the renovated result of the old El Dorado Country Club course and, although the redesign improved that old course significantly, it is still not close to as good a tournament venue as the TPC in The Woodlands.

Second, Redstone Golf Club is out in the middle of nowhere with no nearby quality hotels and other acccomodations to attract the Tour players or visitors to the golf tournament. Consequently, the Tour players must stay in either second rate Intercontinental Airport-area hotels or far away quality hotels in either the downtown or Galleria-areas of Houston.

In the meantime, The Woodlands has developed the Houston area's best destination resort, along with a beautiful downtown riverwalk area dotted with quality restaurants, entertainment venues, shops, and hotels. As one anonymous Tour player commented to me after viewing the latest commercial developments in The Woodlands: "They [meaning the HGA] left this for that[meaning Redstone]?"

The short terms results tend to support that view. Not only are charitable donations generated by the tournament down for the first time in 12 years, this year's Houston Open attracted only 3 of the top 20 money-winners on the PGA Tour. Prospects for next year's tournament do not look much better.

The full post has lots more on what appears to be a decline. I hope it's only temporary.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/04 04:14 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Running with a debunked story

It wasn't terribly surprising to see that big New York Times story on the front page of the Chronicle yesterday. You know, the one about the 300+ tons of missing weapons material. It WAS surprising to see the Chronicle cover the same story today and put it on the front page, again, despite the problems with the story:

The discovery that 380 tons of Iraqi explosives have disappeared gave Kerry an opportunity to strike at Bush on the president's strongest issue. Polls have shown voters believe Bush would be the strongest leader in the war on terrorism.

"George W. Bush, who talks tough — talks tough — and brags about making America safer, has once again failed to deliver," Kerry said. "This is ... one of the greatest blunders of this administration. And the incredible incompetence of this president and this administration has put our troops at risk and this country at greater risk."

The New York Times and CBS first reported about the missing weapons. On Monday, the United Nations confirmed the reports. The explosives may have vanished shortly after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's army in April 2003, when, despite the U.S.-led coalition's presence, looting was rampant.

Well, the first problem is immediately evident: using CBS and the New York Times as content sources. There is some risk there.

Last night, NBC effectively took away all the oomph of the story with this:

NBC News: Miklaszewski: “April 10, 2003, only three weeks into the war, NBC News was embedded with troops from the Army's 101st Airborne as they temporarily take over the Al Qakaa weapons installation south of Baghdad. But these troops never found the nearly 380 tons of some of the most powerful conventional explosives, called HMX and RDX, which is now missing. The U.S. troops did find large stockpiles of more conventional weapons, but no HMX or RDX, so powerful less than a pound brought down Pan Am 103 in 1988, and can be used to trigger a nuclear weapon. In a letter this month, the Iraqi interim government told the International Atomic Energy Agency the high explosives were lost to theft and looting due to lack of security. Critics claim there were simply not enough U.S. troops to guard hundreds of weapons stockpiles, weapons now being used by insurgents and terrorists to wage a guerrilla war in Iraq.” (NBC’s “Nightly News,” 10/25/04)

There's a very good question in that New York Times story. Unfortunately, it's not the one the old media is asking. Here's Ed Morrissey to ask it:

Ship channel security increasing

KPRC-2 is reporting that security around the ship channel has been increased:

Harris County authorities stepped up security Monday around the ship channel as Election Day draws near.

Officials said they have not received a specific threat and that the increase in security is just a precaution.

However, they are already putting more deputies on patrol in the Houston Ship Channel's petrochemical corridor.

Deputies said plants and refineries in east Harris County could be possible targets for terrorists.

"The fear is that al-Qaida or terrorist might try to influence the American election similar to what was done in Madrid prior to the elections there," East Harris County Manufacturers Association spokesman Rick Hagar said.

Security will also be beefed up at local polling places, but officials said it would be unnoticeable to voters.

KTRH-740 AM also covers the story here.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/04 09:07 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

Lunar eclipse

Tomorrow evening, Houston-area residents are in for a treat -- a total lunar eclipse:

The eclipse that will occur on Oct. 27 should last for one hour and 21 minutes. The next lunar eclipse visible in North America will be in mid-October 2005, but the Earth's shadow will only cover about seven percent of the moon.

A lunar eclipse can be seen anywhere that the moon can be seen. The backyard will work fine. There are a few star parties in the Houston area that will give enthusiasts the opportunity to talk to astronomers and gaze through their telescopes.

The North Houston Astronomy Club will be hosting a party near Humble at the Jack Fields Elementary School on South Houston Avenue (information and map on the Humble ISD Web site: www.humble.k12.tx.us). The Fort Bend Astronomy Club will be hosting one at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park southwest of Houston (information and directions on their Web site: www.fbac.org). The Observatory at Sam Houston State University, northeast of Huntsville will be hosting a star party (map on their Web site: www.shsu.edu/~phy_www/map.pdf) and the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society will be hosting one at the Lunar and Planetary Institute on Bay Area Boulevard in Houston (directions on their Web site: www.lpi.usra.edu/education/other_programs/space_days.shtml).
All programs are free and open to the public.

Astronomers and enthusiasts urge Houstonians to watch the eclipse. It will be many years before southeast Texas sees another total lunar eclipse.

Pretty cool!

Update: Laurence Simon points out (in the forum) that the eclipse will be total at 9:23 p.m.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/04 05:42 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

25 October 2004

Two Texas country music shows of note

We normally post an Americana/alt-country/Texas country music roundup on Thursdays, but lately there have been midweek shows that deserve a mention.

That's surely true this week at the Mucky Duck.

Tuesday night, up-and-comer Randy Rogers will sit down with the legendary Kent Finlay of Cheatham Street Warehouse for a songwriters' night. Finlay has given many a Texas singer/songwriter a chance over the years, including Randy Rogers. Lately he's been suffering from some pretty serious health issues. It'll be my first time to see Finlay, and I'm looking forward to it. The show starts at 8:30 and is non-smoking, which should please a certain dermatologist-councilwoman.

Wednesday night, the legendary Joe Ely sits down for two separate acoustic shows that are also non-smoking. In the past, Ely has been joined in this setting by Joel Guzman, who is a genius with the accordion, but I don't know if that will be the case for these shows. No matter -- Ely can more than fill up the room himself.

I know I used the word "legendary" twice, but I'm not just throwing it around. Texas country music doesn't get any better than these two shows.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 10:08 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Hurtt on manpower issues: patrol city desks more vigorously!

Carolyn Campbell of KHOU-11 reports that the Houston Police Department is moving cops from the city beat to the desk beat:

Dozens of Houston police officers are being pulled off the street next week and some say they're being punished for writing too few traffic tickets.

Some officers say they're being punished because they didn't meet a ticket quota.

An officer with a radar gun is probably the last thing you want to see if you're speeding. But writing tickets is one way officers are measured by their supervisors.

Patrol officers are also expected to respond to citizens' calls, make arrests and investigate crimes.

Approximately 30 patrol officers will be taken off the streets on Monday because their supervisors say they're not productive enough.

"We want to ensure that the taxpayers get full value for their dollar," said HPD Lt. Robert Manzo.

The low-performing officers in every sub-station will be reassigned for 20 days to answer non-emergency calls from citizens in the Teleserve Division.

"This was not a decision that was arrived at lightly," said Manzo. "We took great deal of effort to ensure that this process was done as fairly as could possibly have been done."

Teleserve usually is staffed by officers who have been injured or assigned to desk duty.

We share the reservations of Hans Marticiuc:

"We can't afford to lose any more people out of the patrol loop," said Hans Marticiuc, head of the Houston Patrol Officers Union.

To elaborate -- we can't afford to lose any more street manpower because it's already dangerously thin!

Whether the name is Brown or Bradford or Hurtt, HPD seems to suffer from chronic mismanagement.

Other city leaders aren't much help when it comes to public safety either, with their focus on smoking, Tasers, African-American museums, and downtown park boondoggles.

More: Additional coverage from KHOU-11's Carolyn Campbell.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 09:13 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)

Dermatologist-councilwoman won't give up on smoking ban

Dermatologist-councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs just won't give up on her grand plans to ban smoking in Houston.

Today, she chooses to ignore any scientific evidence she might deploy for her cause in favor of pure emotionalism:

My fight against secondhand smoking started more than 20 years ago during my family practice residency at a Jacksonville, Fla., charity hospital. There, I met 7-year-old Charlie, a beautiful little boy with a frail body and big eyes. Charlie suffered from severe asthma. His medical chart was thick, and he visited the emergency room so frequently that we all grew attached. Charlie knew he needed help and didn't like to leave the hospital. He constantly worried about breathing and preferred the emergency room to his home, where nearly all of his family members smoked. When you are out of breath, you are so frightened, and Charlie always seemed so innocent and vulnerable.

One day, I noticed Charlie had stopped coming to the emergency room. When I asked around, one of the nurses told me that paramedics had found him dead, clutching his inhaler. Charlie's death filled my heart with sorrow and strengthened my resolve that no one should have to breathe secondhand smoke.

At the time, doctors and nurses still smoked in the emergency room. The first step was to eliminate smoke in hospitals. Next, we needed to clean up the air in other workplace environments.

We've come a long way in 20 years, but more work needs to be done.

It's time for a smoke-free Houston.

Since the dermatologist-councilwoman is not proposing to ban smoking in private homes (we don't think), poor Charlie would still have suffered from secondhand smoke, even if he had lived to enjoy dermatologist-councilwoman Gibbs' proposed ban on smoking in all of Houston's public places.

But seriously, do we actually believe that emergency room professionals actually smoked in treatment areas in the hospital? I can't help but think dermatologist-councilwoman Gibbs is exaggerating.

In any case, City Council should have many higher priorities than banning smoking citywide. We encourage dermatologist-councilwoman Gibbs to read these pages more frequently if she can't figure them out on her own.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 08:36 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

A record-setting transit authority

Callie Markantonis previously noted that Metro posted a press release on its website on October 19 praising itself for breaking its safety record.

She snarkily wondered if Lucas Wall might explain the "safety record" to us in light of the train's crash rate.

Lo and behold, it's only five days since the press release, and Wall has finally reported on the press release. We would call it "olds" but he does offer the following useful, new information:

Metro's light rail line, however, had a crash rate of more than 10 per 100,000 miles traveled in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The Main Street line, which opened Jan. 1, is on pace to set record highs nationally for collisions.

It's just a record-breaking year for Metro!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 08:02 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Does anybody edit the thing?

The Chronicle recently ran a story by Rhea Davis and Rosanna Ruiz on a spate of vandalism that has seen cell phone and radio towers in northern Harris and southern Montgomery counties damaged significantly in the last two months. According to legal authorities, there are no leads and no motives.

The story is unobjectionable, although we can't help but wonder why it took two staff members to compile.

Maybe one of the reporters was responsible for the penultimate sentence:

Cell phone towers have sparked controversy in recent years as some companies have proposed putting the towers in or near residential communities.

Nobody in the story asserted that the vandals were motivated by opposition to cell phone towers in residential areas. Indeed, the story made it clear that the motive remains unknown. But perhaps one of the reporters hails from the Chronicle's Department of Non Sequiturs and hadn't met her departmental quota when this article was written.

That's the only explanation we can come up with. Feel free to offer alternative theories on our discussion board.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 07:45 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

PJ's and politics

C-SPAN's BookTV.org links to a discussion on politics between John O'Neill, author of Unfit for Command, and Glenn Smith, author of Unfit Commander. The broadcast was recorded at Houston's own PJ's Sports bar, home of one of the best steak nights in town.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/25/04 07:37 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (1)

The Dallas Morning News on the crime lab controversy

The Dallas Morning News ran a column by Bruce Nichols last Friday on the ongoing controversy over Houston's disgraced police crime lab.

The story is noteworthy because it actually treats the controversy in a balanced manner, unlike the Chronicle, which has engaged in one-sided reporting and mischaracterized Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal's position repeatedly.

Here are some excerpts from the Nichols story that would never make it into the Chronicle:

Boosting the coupon coverage for those to our southeast

KPRC-2 reports that The Galveston County Daily News and The Texas City Sun will merge into one newspaper, effective November 7.

People depending on the two newspapers for news will surely be delighted to hear that the merged entity will feature an enlarged coupons section.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/04 06:35 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)

24 October 2004

Phoenix, Dallas, and Decatur have world class health inspection priorities

Eileen Faxas of 11 News Defenders continues to pound the issue of accessible online food inspections, this time managing to get the mayor to sit down and answer some questions:

So after talking with many people on this subject, 11 News' consumer reporter Eileen Faxas got to talk with the one person who has the power to make the ultimate decision.

Bill White's staff gave 11 News 25 minutes, so Eileen Faxas asked Houston's mayor the kinds of questions she thought Houstonians would ask.

The city has already purchased the software and system designed to provide this service for its citizens. Unfortunately, the issue still seems to be one that doesn't concern the mayor:

Mayor White's top priorities, he said, aren't online health inspections, but traffic, drainage, and jobs. Which means taxpayers will have to wait to see what their $217,000 bought in that brand-new computer system sitting in the Health Department.

Faxas: "At what point will you make this a priority?" Mayor White: "It will be sometime soon."

I guess after the mayor tackles more important priorities like Tasers, African-American museums, and a new park boondoggle.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/24/04 09:31 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)

Lech Walesa to speak in Houston on Monday

The Houston World Affairs Council will be sponsoring a talk by Poland's Lech Walesa on Monday.

The event will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Westin Oaks Hotel Consort Ballroom in the Galleria.

More information is available here.

The Houston World Affairs Council is a nonpartisan group that regularly brings important speakers on international topics to Houston.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 08:56 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)

Houston's Chinatown shifts

Nancy Sarnoff pens an interesting article on southwest Houston's Chinatown area.

The area she describes is absolutely bustling. When I first moved to Houston (in 1995), much of the area she describes was blighted and crime-ridden. Now, it's almost totally unrecognizable. This is the sort of urban renewal that takes place constantly in Houston, with little fanfare. Sometimes, we even criticize it (as an unwillingness to preserve our past). This story shows the more positive side of such renewal.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 08:51 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)

Covering the "olds" important to the Lampson campaign

With the election approaching, the Chronicle today follows up on a story that didn't especially have legs two weeks ago when Kristen Mack wrote about it (coincidentally the same day as the Houston Press story on the same topic came out): the recent complaints of several women against former judge and current Congressional candidate Ted Poe (R).

At least the Chronicle didn't repeat its last mistake of uncritically writing about the affiliation of the women with an advocacy group that doesn't turn up on google or in other databases.

Still, this "olds" coverage amounts to little more than a press release for the Nick Lampson (D) campaign. A quality newspaper might not have bitten once on this "story," and surely wouldn't have done so twice.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 08:42 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

A rather transparent endorsement

As we noted earlier, Sherry Sylvester predicted that the state's major newspapers would endorse President Bush, and then use that endorsement as cover to continue their left-of-center coverage the rest of the time.

In the case of the Chronicle, it didn't take long to get to the "rest of the time."

In the same edition that endorses President Bush, the Chronicle's staff editorialists consist of:

1) Cragg Hines, who blasts top Chronicle "bad guy" Tom DeLay (R) while penning a column that could pass as a press release from Charlie Stenholm (D), given the praise of Stenholm and criticism of opponent Randy Neugebauer (R) as an "over the top Republican robot."

2) Clay Robison, who gets in digs at DeLay and another favorite "bad guy," Governor Rick Perry (R) for their role in redistricting before moving on to the main point of a column critical of Governor Perry and the state GOP broadly for failing (so far) to deliver on the reform of the state's controversial "Robin Hood" education finance scheme.

3) Rick Casey, who is a little more subtle than Hines or Robison (who don't seem to know the meaning of the word) in a column that portrays Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal (R) and his prosecutors as uncaring lawyers who pursue the death penalty at all costs.

It's most problematic that Clay Robison serves as Austin News Bureau chief during the week, even as he engages in flamethrowing on the editorial page every Sunday. But it's also problematic that the Chronicle's other two regular opinion columnists (Casey's columns are merely op-eds running on the metro/state pages) consistently pen hard-left columns, with no regular balance from any conservative staff writer.

One endorsement for President isn't balance.

(Update) I should add that Hines' column on the editorial page is another example of editorializing on news the newspaper doesn't really cover with any depth, effectively letting the editorial serve as the news coverage. It's a peculiar practice, as we've noted before.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 07:50 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Preserving some history in the Fourth Ward

Yesterday's Chronicle carried an interesting story about an archaeologist's efforts to find and catalog historical artifacts on the future site of two HISD schools, in the Fourth Ward:

If he could do things the way he wanted, McGhee said, he would assemble a team — a couple of fellow archaeologists and about 20 graduate students — and they would spend the next 10 years excavating the area by hand.

But he knows that would take too much money and postpone for too long the new buildings for the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Gregory Lincoln School.

So his realistic goal, he said, "is to try to get archaeology done in this area in a manner that is scientifically acceptable while keeping within the realistic funding constraints that HISD has imposed ... We will not only focus on burials, we will focus on artifacts. There will be interpretation and analysis."

[snip]

HISD cleared structures from the land two years ago despite a written notice from the THC [Texas Historical Commission] that many of the buildings appeared eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The site, portions of which were seized using eminent domain laws, also may contain a Civil War-era cemetery.

It sounds like a very worthwhile effort, and it appears to be fast-tracked, so the school construction can get underway soon. But today's Chronicle has this letter to the editor:

Regarding the flap over the proposed location of Houston Independent School District's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts: Why would the possibility of an old graveyard on the site make a difference? It was of little concern to the builders and buyers of homes in the area. I personally believe the dead would not be pleased if their corporeal remains impeded the growth and education of children.

GLEN BROOKS
Houston

That seems unduly harsh. Of course the dead could not care less what happens, but society does care and benefits when the time is taken to preserve and study history. Studying the past, besides being very interesting, can teach us a lot about ourselves, our society, and even our future. And it appears that HISD and the Texas Historical Commission have reached a consensus on how to expedite this important work. We should support that.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/04 06:34 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Breaking news

U.N. PROGRAM WAS EXPLOITED BY SADDAM

Yes, this is an AP story the Chronicle is running and it says it contains new information, but it's still amusing that more than two weeks after this story really was news and after the Chronicle editors pooh-poohed the charges contained in the Duelfer Report, it is now the Big Headline Story on the Chronicle's front page.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/04 05:47 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Sylvester prediction comes to pass at the Chronicle

In an update posted on October 22, Sherry Sylvester suggested why the state's major newspapers would endorse President Bush's re-election:

The guys who are watching the bottom line at the big Texas papers know that media credibility is already at a record low. With declines in circulation and daily copy sales, Texas publishers will think long and hard before they invite the wave of subscription cancellations that would surely result if they took a stand against the President.

Just as the Boston Globe had little choice but to endorse Sen. John Kerry, in 2000 all of the states [sic] major newspapers endorsed Bush.

The Chronicle endorsed President Bush today, following the lead of the DFW and San Antonio newspapers.

When accused of bias, the Chronicle frequently resorts to tired claims that it gets angry letters from both liberals and conservatives, and therefore it's not biased. One can expect it to use its endorsement of President Bush for similar cover, another prediction offered by Sylvester:

Unfortunately, the Bush endorsements provide convenient cover for those reporters and editors who shamelessly slant the daily news. They will point to editorial page support for the president as proof their newspaper is balanced.

But the endorsements will not effect on the chronic bias that permeates the Texas news coverage in numerous ways from opinion driven news stories to misleading headlines. The endorsements will not counter the slanted political and public policy messages which are published in place of balanced news reports.

Texas journalists often insist that they are as hard on liberal Democrats as conservative Republicans and that may have been true at one time.

But those of us who monitor bias in the Texas press know those even-handed days are long gone – regardless of who gets the presidential endorsements.

Yes, we do.

Propositions one and two to be discussed

blogHOUSTON hears that Bill Balleza's Newsmakers program will feature an interesting discussion of Proposition One and Proposition Two.

The program airs on KPRC-2 at 9 am on Sunday, for those who are interested.

MORE: Websites in support of Proposition One and Proposition Two.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/04 07:34 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

23 October 2004

Maybe they should just drop the house editorials?

Lately, the Chronicle has been producing some silly staff editorials.

We don't especially want to turn this site into a daily Fisking of their latest pablum, but it's hard to ignore an editorial page that is beginning to resemble a poorly written left-of-center blog.

Take the staff editorial from earlier this week explaining that those "draft cards" sent out by the Rock the Vote organization were a "hoax" and describing Rock the Vote as "liberal-leaning" in its first two paragraphs.

Local journalism gets personal

Friend Rob Booth has posted some thoughts on that Josh Harkinson column on the Heflin/Vo race that we noted a few days ago.

Rob also has an amusing new description for the Houston Press.

With Chronically Biased in some sort of transition, it's nice to see Rob posting on his own site again.

(Update) Speaking of Chronically Biased, there's just something fun about their commissioning a graphic to generate excitement about their new "mystery blog" and to have that graphic contain a spelling error. Whoops!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/04 01:55 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

Governor's communications director criticizes Chronicle columnist

Eric Bearse, communications director for Governor Rick Perry (R), engages in some textual analysis of recent Clay Robison columns in a letter the Chronicle published earlier this week:

Though it is not unusual for Chronicle columnist Clay Robison to take issue with Gov. Rick Perry's approach to governing — after all, Robison's Oct. 17 column, "Texas' vulnerable pay the price of limited government," was the 22nd time this year he has mentioned our governor in a negative light — I take great exception to the way in which he ignored the full context of the governor's remarks.

Gov. Perry's speech to a conservative audience hosted by the National Center for Policy Analysis included a challenge to conservatives to see the importance of protecting abused and neglected children, as well as adults unable to care for themselves.

The governor's comment that there is "not only a limited role for government, but a legitimate role for government" was a strong acknowledgment of the need for a strong safety net to protect the most vulnerable among us.

He also advocated for more spending at Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services to hire more caseworkers, which is consistent with his record of supporting past funding increases at CPS.

Robison's negative column amounts to "drive-by journalism," where a member of the media doesn't stop to explore the facts, but instead finds a few words to nitpick in order to continue a drumbeat of criticism.

Hopefully your many readers will see it for what it is: a reflexive ideological reaction, not a reflective look at Gov. Perry's policies.

As we frequently point out, the Chronicle is welcome to whatever partisan stance it chooses to adopt for its editorial pages, however out of tune it may be with a majority of Texans (and Harris County readers).

The problem with Robison is not so much his extreme ideological leanings, but that he engages in partisan flamethrowing every Sunday, even as he serves as the newspaper's Austin news bureau chief. It boggles the mind that Jeff Cohen expects readers to believe Robison will confine his partisan flamethrowing to Sundays and cover state politics objectively the rest of the week. A quality newspaper would have more of a firewall between its news and editorial coverage.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/04 12:17 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Cutting the noise around Bush Intercontinental

A noise-reduction plan has been sent to the FAA by residents surrounding Bush Intercontinental Airport, and local congressional representatives are supporting the plan:

Speaking at a press conference at a home in the Foxwood subdivision, just north of the airport, several area congressmen challenged the FAA to join the Houston Airport System in implementing an effective noise abatement plan.

"If it can be changed at other airports, it can be changed here," said Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands; Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston; and Gene Green, D-Houston, also were present and said they would push the FAA to resolve the noise problem fairly.

Residents in the 22 neighborhoods surrounding Bush have complained for the last year that noise levels have soared since the city opened a new runway.

Houston Airport System officials have said they have implemented an airport management system to reduce the number of overnight flights and have opened an additional runway to reduce traffic on the tarmac closest to residences.

Next week will mark the first anniversary of the newest east-west runway at Bush, said Hank Husky, president of the Coalition of Homeowner Alliances Requiring Government Equity, or CHARGE.

"When that runway was opened, residents in over 20 neighborhoods, including this one, began to experience aircraft noise not experienced before," he said.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/23/04 08:29 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

22 October 2004

Haunted house time

The Chronicle's Joey Guerra points to the following online guide to Houston's haunted houses: HoustonHaunts.com

Personally, I'm not really a fan of flash websites, but this one looks good and has plenty of information on Houston's various spook sites. They also have a forum for all your ghoulish discussion needs.

Boo!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/04 11:21 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)

A busy day for MetroRail

It's been a dangerous day around Houston's light rail line.

Another car ran into the train, for collision #69 (KPRC-2's count is off).

And in an unrelated incident, KHOU-11 reports that a man has been shot while waiting for the train:

A man was rushed to the hospital after reportedly being shot at a light rail station Friday evening.

Witnesses say the suspects were on bicycles.

It happened around 6:30 p.m. at the station near Wheeler and Main.

Witnesses say two men on bicycles rode by and one of them apparently fired the shot.

The motive is unclear.

At last check, police were still searching for the suspects.

The shooting is the latest incident at a train station. Other people have reported being held up. Obviously, Metro's response to that problem has not been adequate if people are now being shot.

Instead of focusing Metro police manpower on ticketing jaywalkers and people who clip the train, the city needs to get serious about protecting riders of the train.

Of course, we can expect incidents of dangerous crime to increase as Mayor White and council continue to ignore police manpower shortages and focus instead on Tasers and African-American museums.

(10-23-2004 Update) Laurence Simon points out in the comments that MetroRail actually shut down service for a time on Thursday night after Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, stranding passengers downtown watching the game and leaving them uninformed as to the problem:

Service was suspended for safety reasons just as the contest ended about 10:15 p.m., however, and it took almost 40 minutes for a train to arrive at Preston Station to ferry the disappointed fans home. Some irate passengers complained there was no sight of an obstruction on the tracks and no communication from the Metropolitan Transit Authority about the reason for the wait.

Several said the continuing troubles with rail service during downtown events make them less likely to ride again.

"I don't appreciate how the city is like, 'Come downtown and use rail,' but you don't have enough respect for your patrons to let us know what's going on," a visibly upset Cassie Reid of Midtown told a MetroRail supervisor at Preston Station. "I could have walked home by this point."

The supervisor had just arrived at the platform — more than 30 minutes into the delay — to inform the 100-plus waiting riders that rail service north of Jefferson Street had been suspended and there was a bus available on Fannin Street to ferry them to the Downtown Transit Center.

Only minutes after more than 50 people left the station and began walking the block to Fannin, a train finally pulled in. Only 50 or so people were left to board it, and the trip south was hampered by numerous delays. From the end of the game, it took almost an hour for the train to reach Midtown, only a mile away.

The affluent upwardly mobile types who wanted a toy train and disdain buses must have been quite upset at having to rely on the bus once again.

A Metro executive added the following:

None of the incidents appeared to affect the rail line, but Arndt said "we will always err on the side of safety."

Except, of course, for laying the rail line down a busy, narrow traffic corridor in a manner that, 69 incidents later, has proven to be dangerous.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/04 07:34 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)

Does journalism warp reasoning?

How does this happen? How do trained and professional journalists write editorials that, day after day, seem to defy common sense?

This week a soldier with a nickname right out of a mid-20th century, all-American sit-com, Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, pleaded guilty to eight of 12 counts of abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Frederick admitted that he knew his behavior — including the attachment of wires to a prisoner to make him think he could be electrocuted — was wrong at the time he engaged in it. His admission earned him a sentence of eight years in prison, and the judge stripped him of rank and pay.

If a noncommissioned officer in the Army repeatedly and openly does what he knows is wrong, his actions suggest he has little fear of punishment. Frederick said an Army investigator encouraged him and other guards to mistreat prisoners and prescribed various abuses, which they enthusiastically exceeded.

If a sergeant knows prisoner abuse is wrong, the senior commanders in Iraq should have recognized wrong when they were apprised of it by Red Cross workers in Iraq.

Also disturbing, Frederick had worked at a Virginia state prison. Other reservists at Abu Ghraib had experience working in U.S. prisons. War warps human behavior, but the link argues that audits of prisoner treatment in the United States are in order.

Excuse me while I stare at the editorial with my jaw agape. Of course the public was disgusted with what happened at Abu Ghraib, but the public also knew, unlike so many professional journalists, that it was an isolated incident and not reflective of our military as a whole. And what is this "war warps human behavior" statement? Where is that from and what does it mean? Should everyone who has ever served in a war be considered warped and be barred from society?

Let's try this: if some journalists, like Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, Jack Kelley, Janet Cook and Dan Rather, sully the profession of journalism through lying, plagiarizing, and promoting stories containing fake backup, should we then condemn the journalism profession as a whole? No. That's not what we are supposed to do. Here is what the Chronicle's editors told us after the Dan Rather faked memo problem exploded:

Conservative critics of the mainstream news media will attempt to tar the daily press, as well as ABC and NBC, with CBS's sins. The network's unprofessional behavior draws attention to the three broadcast networks' loss of audience and prestige, but CBS blundered on its own.

CBS's sins shouldn't tar the daily press. All right.

What if some newspapers and publishing companies are being investigated about circulation numbers, should we suspect all newspapers of inflating their numbers? Apparently not, because the editors haven't written an editorial on the Enron-like scandal within their own industry:

Ordinarily, the press gives a hot-diggity-dog ride to corporate corruption stories. If it's a banking, real estate, or stock market swindle, it wins multipart coverage on Page One [unless it's the Enron scandal in Houston -- the Chronicle missed that one]. But, despite the fact that newspapers are a $55 billion business, the press has largely tamped down the circulation scandal, burying its scant coverage in the business pages.

But the editors DO think that this soldier's actions, which are obviously not representative of 99% of our fine military men and women, should lead to a nationwide audit of conditions in U.S. prisons.

Think about that.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/22/04 06:15 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

21 October 2004

Dinosaur media in action

The Chronicle regularly reports what I call "olds" (news that's out of date by the time it makes it into the daily).

I'm not sure what to call this little blurb from Rich Connelly in the Houston Press:

Was it Microsoft run amok, or was the Houston Chronicle getting all subliminal with its hatred of George Bush's foreign policy?

We don't know. All we know is that the lead editorial October 12, on the recent Afghanistan elections, contained this sentence: "Exit polling and international observers predicted that Interim President Hamid Crazy would win election with more than 51 percent of the vote."

Well, sure he's a winner -- he's got a great '80s-nostalgia theme song, from the Fine Young Cannibals: "He's Ha-mid Crazy -- whoop, whoop…"

That was only noted by this blog -- and then picked up by the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal -- way back on October 12!

In internet time, that's like years.

Come on, dinosaur media! Get yourself up to speed and find some NEWS to write about!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/04 11:51 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

Houston Press covers Vo/Heflin race

Josh Harkinson reports on the Hubert Vo/Talmadge Heflin race for state representative.

He includes these observations from UH political science professor Richard Murray:

"Most people think Harris County is going to flip from Republican to Democrat," explains University of Houston political science professor Richard Murray, "but the question is when it's going to happen. Politicians like Heflin are kind of like the canaries in the mine."

And for the Democrats, Vo could be the chisel that strikes gold. The 48-year-old former factory worker and convenience store clerk has become one of the party's greatest hopes for a new beginning, in a race that reflects the rapidly shifting political bedrock in urban Texas.

Murray sees an upset in the works. "I think he's going to win."

Like the rest of the local dinosaur media, Harkinson neglects to identify Murray as a finally out-of-the-closet Democratic partisan. Murray's a straight shooter and a good academic, but readers deserve to know that he's no longer just a political science professor talking about politics.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/04 11:37 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)

Food and drink (10-21-2004 edition)

Houston's food and drink writers have been busy this week!

Robb Walsh goes in search of dumplings.

Alison Cook praises the Third Ward's Soul on the Bayeaux.

Brian McManus checks out reported trouble at the Lancaster Bistro.

Dai Huynh catches up diners on various restaurant news about town.

And finally, Gracie Ochoa treks all the way out to FM 1960 to check out Celluci's Pub.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/04 09:42 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

Live music roundup (10-21-2004 edition)

I usually link to David Cobb's weekly roundup of live rock music in Houston, but he hasn't posted one this week.

The local rock scene is not really one that I follow, so I'm not going to try and duplicate Cobb's effort and screw it all up. Instead, here's the usual roundup of the Americana/alt-country/Texas music that I follow more closely.

Thursday, October 21
Mando Saenz, Mucky Duck

Friday, October 22
Jesse Dayton **, Mucky Duck
Phil Pritchett, Firehouse Saloon (Texas High Life opens)
The Gourds, Fitzgerald's
Ian Moore, Sidecar Pub
Asylum Street Spankers, Continental Club

Saturday, October 23
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Mucky Duck (Shake Russell for the late show)
John Evans **, Firehouse Saloon (cd release party)
Bleu Edmonson, Sidecar Pub (Matt Davis opens)
Peter Case, Anderson Fair

Blanco's probably has something good going on too, but they don't make it very easy to check.

As always, check with the venue before heading out, as schedules can change at the last minute.

** John Nova Lomax penned a nice column on Jesse Dayton and John Evans in last week's Houston Press.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/04 09:18 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Stinky's Pig Farm

Some stories are too good to pass up, like this one:

Magnolia resident Bill Bailey said his two piglets are more than just pets — they are his first step toward turning his 5-acre homestead into a pig farm to protest a developer's plans to surround his land with a 580-acre subdivision.

Bailey said he is protesting Magnolia Ridge because the developer — Austin-based John Kleas Co. — bought the properties to the north, east and west of his five-acre lot at 38928 FM 1774, but never approached him with a deal.

He said he made the real estate broker handling the sales an offer of $350,000, but was turned down.

Jane Miller, project manager for the 580-acre commercial and residential project, between FM 1488 and FM 1744, said the company turned down Bailey's offer because the price was too high.

"We would entertain another offer, but not at that price," Miller said.

"We encourage him to contact us."

I'll bet they do! Bailey's calling it Stinky's Pig Farm. That's one way to get a developer's attention.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/21/04 03:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chronicle editorial pages: facts not required?

Recently the Chronicle published an opinion column purporting to show that during President Bush's time in office, abortions have increased, perhaps even soared. This, the author speculated, is attributable to Bush's economic policies that make it harder for women to keep their babies.

Safety is no accident

METRO posted a curious press release on their website yesterday:

METRO Breaks Own Safety Record Third Year In A Row
Oct. 19, 2004

For the third year in a row, METRO has set a new record for safety, posting its lowest number of accidents ever per 100,000 revenue miles.

During FY 2004, the Transit Authority logged .83 accidents per 100,000 miles, down from record years of .89 in FY 2003 and .99 in FY 2002.

The new figures represent a 33% decrease in METRO's accident rate since 2000.

"Safety is no accident at METRO," said President & CEO Frank J. Wilson. "All of our employees go to work each day with safety as their number one priority. We are dedicated to being the safest system in the country.

The buses must be running much more safely this year, given the frequent MetroRail crashes. Or maybe there's some convoluted reason light rail crashes don't count that Lucas Wall can explain to us.

(Update) Now we get it. We've not heard any reports of Metro buses killing anybody this year. So by that standard alone, it's been a safer year.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/21/04 12:20 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Council shelves expensive Tasers, for now

KPRC-2 reports that City Council today voted to put off a decision to purchase nearly $5 million in Taser equipment, a priority that we criticized last week.

Council member Addie Wiseman sounded a familiar theme:

"Personally, I believe we need more police officers out on the street. Here, we're being asked to spend millions of dollars. We're having to borrow money to make this purchase," said Addie Wiseman, a Houston City Councilwoman.

Onetime conservative Michael Berry, on the other hand, is disappointed that Council is reconsidering the expenditure:

"I wish we could have passed it today, but I think some people felt like they needed some more information. I've had my questions answered. I feel very comfortable with it. I'm a huge proponent of this Taser technology and I think we need to move forward with it," said Michael Berry, of the Houston City Council.

Rumor has it that that Councilman Berry also likes cotton candy and lollipops. A whole bunch!

Television reports showed that Police Chief Hurtt is still not wearing the HPD uniform.

MORE: Coverage from KTRK-13 and KHOU-11.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/04 12:00 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

20 October 2004

McLane begins to lower Beltran expectations

Sports Business News calls attention to the following line from a Dale Robertson column that I missed last week:

According to team officials, the Astros need to rally past St. Louis and win their first pennant to turn a for-real profit this season.

The Astros enjoyed record attendance of more than 3 million fans this season. It is difficult to imagine that the team is in any real danger of not turning a profit.

But you just knew that at some point owner Drayton McLane would start lowering fan expectations regarding Carlos Beltran, who's going to cost some team plenty after his tremendous postseason performance.

Here's hoping for a big game from Beltran tomorrow, so we can continue to see him in an Astros uniform for at least one more series.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/04 11:38 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)

Fjetland says the strangest things

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) surprised bloggers, media, and fellow candidates when he appeared at a candidate forum yesterday after much blogger speculaton suggested he would not.

Kristen Mack's coverage had this entertaining line:

"I didn't think he was going to be here," [independent candidate Michael ] Fjetland said. "If I had known, I would have prepared better, but I winged it. If he didn't show up, he realized he was going to look bad."

That sort of preparation must surely inspire confidence in voters.

Fjetland has been saying all sorts of entertaining things lately. In a recent blog interview with Charles Kuffner, he noted that he hoped a post-DeLay Washington would be more civil:

With DeLay gone we might be able to get back to some kind of civilized behavior in Congress.

With no apparent sense of irony, he then proceeded to call DeLay names:

My only regret will be if the bastard gets back in.

[snip]

Any replacement won't be as bad as that power drunk moron.

Fjetland practices a strange form of "civilized behavior."

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/04 11:28 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chronicle again mischaracterizes Rosenthal position

It was hardly a shocker that the Chronicle endorsed Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal's opponent

Rosenthal is one of the Chronicle's "bad guys," almost certainly because he's a tough prosecutor who believes strongly in the death penalty.

What was a shocker, although perhaps it shouldn't be at this point, is that the editorial page continues to characterize Rosenthal's position on the crime lab unfairly:

Rosenthal refuses to stand aside to allow the sort of independent investigation needed to restore faith in the system.

That's a more carefully worded version of the letter that this blog forced the Chronicle to correct just a few days before this endorsement came out. That letter actually contended that Rosenthal opposes an independent review of the crime lab, when in reality the Chronicle's own reporting notes that he supports an independent review.

Further, I followed up with Rosenthal, who explained that he actually had called for a Blue Ribbon Review panel to review the crime lab (which Judge Robert Eckels supported but then-Mayor Lee Brown opposed), and that he later wrote to then-police chief Joe Brashears urging a review of the entire crime lab. He admits that he has refused to recuse himself "unless there was evidence that any of my staff was involved in wrongdoing" and contends he's just doing the job he was elected to do. He has also opposed a "Cleveland plan" style review, contending that it is not appropriate to Houston's circumstance. Those last two points are certainly fair game for honest debate, but to characterize Rosenthal's position as outright opposition to an independent review is not honest.

The Chronicle can certainly endorse whatever candidate it prefers for various offices. However, one would hope for a little more integrity from the editors than continuing to mischaracterize the views of a politican they clearly dislike.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/04 10:43 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

The Chronicle weighs in on redistricting

Two days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a two-sentence order that remanded a series of related Texas redistricting cases back to a lower court for "further consideration."

In short order, local blogger and attorney William Dyer explained in a lengthy post what the decision meant, and why it's not much of a "victory" for hopeful Texas Democrats (despite major media characterizations to the contrary). His post came only a few hours after the decision, and is well written and reasoned.

Today, the Chronicle came out with a staff editorial that is neither well written nor well reasoned.

It begins as follows:

One of the arguments against redrawing congressional districts more often than once every 10 years is the endless litigation and unwanted uncertainty that inevitably result. The U.S. Supreme Court action Monday sending the Texas redistricting case back for review confirmed nothing in the law. However, it proved that the litigation over redistricting would last beyond the November election.

I can't even figure out what the second sentence means. Or what the writer even intended it to mean.

This seems to be the main contention (to the extent I can find one):

The redistricting plan, which required one regular session and three special sessions to pass, gives the Supreme Court justices plenty of cause for concern. The redrawn district map is outlandish on its face and suspect in nature.

Outlandish on its face? Only to those who dislike it, one supposes. The courts haven't found it "outlandish on its face" or on its merits, and seem unlikely to do so.

The Chronicle goes on to offer something that finally does at least resemble an argument:

The fault of the new district map is not that it threatens to shift six seats in Congress from the Democratic to the Republican column. As Texas is so heavily Republican, a Republican advantage could have been gained without doing so much damage to communities and common interests. The plan's demerits result from the legislative majority's complete disregard for the state's need to have a strong, experienced, knowledgeable, effective delegation in Washington — a delegation in which each member is familiar with his constituents and their needs.

To summarize, the reason the editors contend the new map is "outlandish" is because it does "so much damage to communities...." We have to give the Chronicle credit for coming up with a unique new twist on a tired topic. We tend to think of communities in terms of neighborhoods, and schools, and families, and neighbors, and shared experiences. At Minute Maid Park during Game 5 a few nights ago, for example, I felt like a genuine part of the Houston sports community! I feel like a part of a different community when I walk my dog and see neighbors. But I've never been out and about in Houston or anywhere else, and thought to myself "Darn that Tom DeLay for destroying my sense of community by obliterating Chris Bell's Congressional district!" What a novel new argument against redistricting.

Even more amusing, the Chronicle urges "strong, experienced, knowledgeable, effective" representation in Washington -- yet itself endorsed an environmental lawyer from the minority party over the House Majority Leader who just flexed his muscles in delivering a sales tax deduction for many Texans who itemize their federal income taxes. But Tom DeLay is a "bad guy," so that probably trumps the other considerations. It's hard to know from day to day with Chronicle editorials.

As we say frequently, if the Chronicle wants to write childish left-of-center editorials that frequently don't measure up to the best work by bloggers (on the left and the right), that's certainly the newspaper's prerogative. But one would think it might cause Jeff Cohen some concern that a post by a blogger only hours after a Supreme Court decision beats any commentary that has appeared on the Chronicle's news or editorial pages on the topic so far.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/04 10:07 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Music update: Bob Schneider at the Mucky Duck

We normally provide a roundup of live Americana/Texas/alt-country type music on Thursdays, but sometimes venues will sneak in an interesting Wednesday show.

Tonight, Bob Schneider will be playing the Mucky Duck at 8:30 ($15, nonsmoking).

It might be advisable to call ahead to check on seating.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/04 08:40 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Flu vaccine shortage blame

In an entirely predictable development, Cragg Hines blames the Bush administration for the flu vaccine shortage that the media is busy whipping into near-hysteria:

In May 2001, four months into the Bush administration, Janet Heinrich, director of GAO's health care division, testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. The title of her statement could not have been clearer: "Steps Are Needed to Better Prepare for Possible Future Shortages."

Heinrich's testimony was an eerily exacting guide to what is now afoot.

"Manufacturing difficulties could occur in the future and again illustrate the fragility of current methods to produce a new vaccine every year," she said. "Compounding the problem is that when the supply is short, there is no system to ensure that high-risk people have priority for receiving flu shots."

On Tuesday, Heinrich was far from pleased that her forecast has come to pass. "This has been a long-standing issue," she said matter-of-factly.

And then Hines says:

The Bush administration has blamed the current vaccine shortage on virtually everyone but itself.

A favorite whipping boy is, of course, trial lawyers and liability suits against pharmaceutical houses. So, it's interesting to note that the National Vaccine Advisory Committee said in a report last year that shortages in vaccines against childhood diseases "do not appear to be liability-related."

Okay, Cragg, what is the reason for the shortage? What did the Bush administration actually do to cause a shortage, in an election year? Did you do any digging into what the root cause might be?

19 October 2004

Who will pay for Houston's own Central Park?

Mayor White has announced plans to acquire land near the George R. Brown Convention Center, part of his broader plan to create a large, downtown park:

Mayor Bill White announced today that he has completed negotiations with Crescent Real Estate Equities, Ltd. Partnership to acquire 5.29 acres of land for a major new central park in downtown Houston. The new central park would entail over $35 million in private contributions, and amount to more than 13 acres. This acquisition will consolidate the City of Houston’s ownership of the “Superblock” in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center and a block immediately to the west, all of which will be made into an urban park to be opened as soon as late 2007.

“Great cities preserve land for public plazas, parks and gathering places for the future,” said Mayor White. “We now have an opportunity - probably our last opportunity as a city - to create a place like that for us in Houston’s central core. A new major park will be an enduring legacy for our efforts to improve Houston’s quality of life.”

Eighty percent or more of incremental funds required to complete acquisition and development of the park will be raised from private sources. Design and development will be accomplished through a private/public partnership.

Mayor White currently is working with a number of interested individuals and organizations to secure the private funding required for site acquisition, design and construction. The schedule calls for site acquisition to be complete by the end of 2004, pending City Council approval of the project and agreement with those private funders.

It's good to know that Mayor White is already acting to implement his park project even though City Council has apparently not yet approved it. And it must be reassuring for taxpayers to hear that tired promise that someone else will fund "most" of an exciting new project.

Mike Snyder adds this tidbit:

The city's contributions would come from hotel and entertainment tax revenues rather than property taxes, White said.

Hotel and entertainment tax revenues may be an unsteady source of funding for the Mayor's new project, if recent history is any guide.

That's not to say that the mayor's proposal doesn't have its appeal. His presentations are always appealing. But this proposal needs to be reconciled with other priorities in the city, by all the city's relevant elected officials. That means City Council needs to be engaged fully, and the cost to taxpayers needs to be spelled out more clearly.

MORE: Coverage from KTRK-13, KHOU-11, KPRC-2, and the Houston Business Journal.

(10-20-2004 Update) Mike Snyder has additional coverage here.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/19/04 10:10 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (3)

Demagogue on Sunday, "objective" journalist the rest of the week?

Clay Robison penned a typically shrill column for the Chronicle's editorial page this past weekend, and one that is highly reflective of his worldview.

Here is an excerpt:

While controversy continued to swirl last week over Texas' poor record in protecting abused children, Gov. Rick Perry was in Dallas bragging about a major cause of the problem.

In a speech to the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, Perry touted "limited" government and his role in perpetuating it in Texas.

"I believe there is not only a limited role for government, but also a legitimate role for government," he said, patting himself and the Legislature on the back for bridging a $10 billion revenue gap last year by squeezing needed services rather than raising state taxes.

Excuse me, governor, but abused children have had about all the limited government that they can stand. So have frail, elderly Texans with no one to look after them.

This is the sort of demagoguery one hears from the minority party in Texas all of the time, especially on blogs. As we've noted time and again, if the Chronicle is determined that staff editorials shall be childish and simplistic, that's entirely the prerogative of the editors (although one wonders why even have an editorial page at all if the newspaper's resources and vaunted trained journalists cannot produce higher quality than the better left-of-center blogs in the state).

In any case, the problem with Robison is not so much the substance of these columns, but that as he's serving as hyperpartisan weekend editorialist, he also serves as the head of the Chronicle's Austin news bureau.

It boggles the mind that the newspaper expects readers to believe that Robison can engage in such partisan flamethrowing on weekends, yet cover the majority party and politicians in the state capital fairly during the week.

A quality newspaper would make him a full-time editorialist and find a more credible newsman to run the Austin operation.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/19/04 09:24 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Turning to Dallas for local sports coverage

KHOU-11's newspaper partner (the Chronicle) must be pleased to know that the television station's website is running a really great newspaper column on Astros manager Phil Garner.

There's only one problem.

It's a newspaper article by Dallas Morning News columnist Kevin Blackistone.

I's a pretty good read, better than anything in today's Chronicle actually.

Now, KHOU and the Dallas Morning News are both owned by Belo, and various Belo media entities share this kind of content frequently. Still, one has to think the folks down at 801 Texas Avenue can't be too happy that their "partner" television station turns to the Dallas newspaper for opinion columns on the local sports scene. They should, of course, be even less happy about the quality of their own sportswriters.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/19/04 08:54 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)

Food problems at UH

Chartwells, the company that holds the food service contract at UH, is under fire from students:

"The students as a whole are not gung-ho happy," RHA President Russell Payne said. "However, they have acknowledged that there have been improvements."

Students' concerns ranged from pricing in convenience stores to their inventory.

Some of the loudest complaints, however, had to do with sanitation and customer service.

Advertising junior Phong Chau said employees handling the food, such as those working at Taco Bell in the Satellite, never wear gloves.

"For the price I pay," Phong said, "I expect so much more."

The district manager for Chartwells, showing that all those years of management training have really paid off, responded:

However, Chartwells Resident District Manager Nick Iula said gloves aren't required by the sanitation department and are not encouraged by Taco Bell.

"If an associate has a glove on and picks his hair, it's the same as if he picked his hair without a glove on," Iula said. "Chartwells has never had one confirmed case of food-borne illness."

Oh, that's disgusting! Food handlers should not be picking their hair or anything else, while they are working.

Callie, get Marvin on the phone, pronto.

The good news is UH students needn't worry. Iula is on the case and says that once the company's contract is renewed, there will be big changes:

Iula said the company has a number of plans for continuing to improve its service -- but they're being kept secret so they are not copied by competitors.

"There will be changes made that you won't believe," Iula said.

(emphasis added)

Iula should probably be more concerned with current hygiene issues, such as employees picking their hair while working, rather than his super secret future food improvements.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/19/04 01:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

Beldar explains yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court sentences

Rob Booth calls attention to this Chronicle/AP coverage of yesterday's two-sentence U.S. Supreme Court order regarding Texas redistricting, and local blogger William Dyer's analysis of that order.

Dyer's analysis goes well beyond the AP coverage, and is yet another example of the important ways that intelligent bloggers have begun to supplement (even supplant) dinosaur media. Few journalists are intellectually equipped to analyze complex cases of election or business law, but plenty of bloggers are quite comfortable doing so. Indeed, Dyer's brief discussion of Texas redistricting in his comments section is enlightening in its own right.

Keep an eye on blogs like his, in which the posters bring special expertise to a range of topics. They're the new alternative media, and many of them are quite good. In this case, the analysis beats that Chronicle/AP dispatch hands down.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/19/04 09:39 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

18 October 2004

Pointless editorials

As Kevin recently pointed out, if the Chronicle editors want to write simplistic and childish editorials, that's their business. However, one would think editorials offered up by the lone major newspaper in the fourth largest city in the U.S., would be substantive, and filled with logic, facts and a point. A clear idea and purpose. A reason for actually being an editorial.

Covering the press releases important to Houstonians

The Chronicle's Jenalia Moreno reports on a new Pew Hispanic Center study.

She even notes that it was "released today."

And her story was posted at 12:41 am this morning.

Moreno must be a quick study, to digest the contents of the report, obtain her quotes, file her story, and get the thing edited and posted to the web in 41 minutes!

Because the newspaper surely would not report on something it hadn't even seen or reproduce quotes from a press release.

Now, I realize that Pew faxed and emailed advance press releases to major media in the country, who had decisions to make about how to report the information. That's fairly common practice. However, it's amusing to me the extent to which major media does advance "reporting" like this all of the time, and most folks think they're actually covering the news instead of recycling press releases.

Incidentally, the Washington Post chose to characterize their advance coverage in the following manner:

Walsh's experience parallels a trend seen nationwide over the course of the 2001 recession and the sluggish recovery that has followed, as minority families lost significant ground to whites in terms of household wealth, according to a report to be released today by the Pew Hispanic Center.

That's a more honest approach.

I haven't had a chance yet to examine the study closely, but it looks to be rich in data. I'm looking forward to delving into the results and methodology more carefully. For readers who care to do the same, it is available here (link to pdf file). In the meantime, I think this is a useful observation from Robert Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center:

The wealth gap should shrink as the Latino population and acquires greater education, especially college degrees.

In this election season, most folks can probably agree about the importance of education in the accumulation of wealth over time.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/18/04 04:34 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Lone Star Emmy awards

The Lone Star Emmy awards were handed out on Saturday, at the Hilton Americas-Houston, and here's the Chronicle's story on the winners:

KHOU (Channel 11) won the night's biggest prize, for overall station excellence, while KPRC (Channel 2) won for best evening newscast, and Tristan Alfonzo of KRIV (Channel 26) won for outstanding news anchor.

Dallas' WFAA won 25 Emmys to lead all Texas stations. KHOU was next with its 14. Other Houston stations winning awards included KRIV, seven; KTRK (Channel 13), five; KXLN (Channel 45), three; KPRC and KUHT (Channel 8), two each; and KLTJ (Channel 22), one.

Houston stations swept the awards in the investigative-reporting category, with Emmys going to KRIV's Randy Wallace and Jim Dunham; KTRK's Wayne Dolcefino, Steve Bivens and David Defranchi; and KHOU's David Raziq and Chris Henao.

Among the multiple individual winners were Dolcefino; KHOU's Jeremy Desel, Carolyn Mungo and Dan Lauck; KXLN's Patricio Espinoza; and KRIV's Greg Groogan.

[snip]

The ceremonies were to have been co-hosted by CBS News' Dan Rather and Peter Van Sant, but Rather, in a video message, said "war and presidential politics" prevented him from attending.

He made no mention of the ongoing investigation into the fairness and accuracy of a report CBS aired in September about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

Congratulations to all the winners!

And, as for that Dan Rather thing...oh, nevermind.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/18/04 10:52 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

Win, Win, WIN!

There were big smiles and warm hearts all around, as the Chronicle editors wrote this editorial for today:

Austin attorney Thomas Van Orden has no delusions about the role of appearance. When the civil liberties case he has spent three years preparing reaches the U.S. Supreme Court this winter, Van Orden won't be the one making arguments. Instead, a childhood friend and respected law scholar will do it for him.

Supreme Court Justices, Van Orden recently told Chronicle reporter Polly Ross Hughes, can't help but notice the lawyer before them. An appearance by Van Orden — homeless, hobbled by mental illness, and broke enough to glean his office supplies from trash cans — might distract the court from his case.

This is about the only concession Van Orden has made to his marginal status. For three years, he has patiently argued before several courts that two tablets bearing the Ten Commandments, which stand close to the Texas Capitol, violate the First Amendment barring government establishment of religion. A former defense lawyer, Van Orden first noticed the tablets on his daily walk from his tent to the University of Texas law library near the Capitol. According to the Los Angeles Times, Van Orden one day used a tattered ball of string to measure the tablet's proximity to the Capitol. Seventy-five feet — too close, Van Orden argues now, to comply with the Bill of Rights' ban on government endorsement of any religion.

[snip]

In order for this case to reach the high court, Van Orden had to present deep and important constitutional questions. Even more difficult, he had to develop these questions while living outdoors, dining off food stamps and researching his case from a library carrel. Plagued by anxiety and depression, Van Orden had been homeless and jobless since the late 1990s; along the way, he also lost his law license over a $500 payment dispute.

He is still allowed to represent himself. Astonishingly, armed only with that right and his intact knowledge of law, Van Orden has managed to guide his case to the Supreme Court.

Whatever the outcome, the justices' ruling this spring will make two powerful statements. One will define a new boundary between church and state. The other will reiterate the law's mighty potential for any citizen with enough knowledge and nerve.

Ah yes. A homeless man who's a lawyer who's fighting to get rid of the Ten Commandments. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/18/04 09:01 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Southwest Freeway problems

On my way to the Galleria this morning (about 7:15), I noticed a pretty bad accident on the Southwest Freeway inbound near Kirby.

A vehicle was flipped, and several lanes were closed as emergency officials were tending to the accident.

Traffic was already backed up to Weslayan, so those planning on the Southwest Freeway anytime soon may want to consider another route if possible.

As always, you can keep track of these things online at TranStar.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/18/04 07:37 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Time to reregister for Do Not Call lists

Texas' Do Not Call registry is open for business, and if you sign up online, there's no fee:

The Texas Public Utility Commission announced Friday the offer is good for new signups and for renewals.

[snip]

The PUC said the no-call list registrations as of Jan. 1 will begin to expire, depending on the enrollment date.

Registrations were good for at least three years.

Because of administrative costs, Texans who sign up or re-enroll for the lists by phone or mail must still pay a fee.

The Web site to register online is www.texasnocall.com.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/18/04 06:50 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

17 October 2004

Rick Casey to headline literary event

Chronicle books editor Fritz Lanham announces that metro/state columnist Rick Casey will serve as master of ceremonies for a literary event:

The Houston Chronicle's Rick Casey, whose columns meld hardheaded reporting with common sense and a humane outlook on life, will serve as master of ceremonies for this year's Book & Author Dinner.

Casey joined the Chronicle in August 2003, coming from the San Antonio Express-News. He had worked for the Express-News and for the San Antonio Light since 1987. Before that he edited two city magazines, worked as a reporter and editor for the Seattle Times, and freelanced for such publications as the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Newsweek.

Born in St. Louis, he has lived half his 57 years in Texas. He has won numerous awards, including twice in the past five years being named best general columnist for a major Texas newspaper by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association.

Perhaps Casey can explain to the fine writers in attendance how his lifting of entire phrases from a Washington Post story by Dan Morgan without proper attribution earlier this year was not plagiarism.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 10:00 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (1)

Misplaced priorities on "beautifying" Houston

Ron Nissimov reports the the city of Houston will soon be cracking down on the growing problem of... residents who put trash out early?

Residents who place heavy trash on their curbsides too early can expect some unwanted visits from city officials.

The city plans to deputize 300 civilian employees in the near future to allow them to issue tickets as part of an effort to get tough on violators, officials said Wednesday.

"What's one person's heavy trash is another person's eyesore," Mayor Bill White said.

White said he would institute a "zero tolerance" policy by issuing citations to violators instead of giving warnings, but the official in charge of enforcement said this would not necessarily mean that all violators would be cited.

Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin, who heads the mayor's newly created neighborhood protection division, said the new policy will likely result in more citations. He added that inspectors and officers will try to resolve problems over early placement of heavy trash before issuing citations.

"We don't want to throw out common sense with zero tolerance," Lumpkin said.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 09:41 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Take this endorsement, and a kick in the teeth with it

Sometimes, it's nice to know what the Chronicle's editors think of large segments of their readership.

And in this "endorsement" of Representative John Culberson (R), it's pretty clear:

The Chronicle has differed with Rep. Culberson on several fronts, most notably his opposition to rail transit. However, Culberson, a Republican, promises to support the plan approved by the voters last year. The Chronicle trusts he will use his growing influence in Washington to see that Houston not only gets its share of transit funds, but is allowed to catch up. Culberson's district now includes the Texas Medical Center, and the congressman has promised not to let superstition and ignorance be obstacles to federal support for the most advanced and promising forms of medical research. Almost alone among his colleagues, Culberson is alarmed at the growing federal deficit and promises to exert restraint.

That's a not-so-subtle reference to stem-cell research, and an even less subtle reference to the generally conservative, church-going folks who make up Representative Culberson's district. It's nice to know what the Chronicle's editors think of Culberson's supporters.

Some relevant advice was recently offered by Charles Krauthammer:

First, the inability of the human spinal cord to regenerate is one of the great mysteries of biology. The answer is not remotely around the corner. It could take a generation to unravel. To imply, as [Senator John] Edwards did, that it is imminent if only you elect the right politicians is scandalous.

Second, if the cure for spinal cord injury comes, we have no idea where it will come from. There are many lines of inquiry. Stem cell research is just one of many possibilities, and a very speculative one at that. For 30 years I have heard promises of miracle cures for paralysis (including my own, suffered as a medical student). The last fad, fetal tissue transplants, was thought to be a sure thing. Nothing came of it.

As a doctor by training, I've known better than to believe the hype -- and have tried in my own counseling of the newly spinal-cord injured to place the possibility of cure in abeyance. I advise instead to concentrate on making a life (and a very good life it can be) with the hand one is dealt. The greatest enemy of this advice has been the snake-oil salesmen promising a miracle around the corner.

Surely the editors of the Chronicle can't object to any of that, or reject it as the rambling of some ignorant, superstitious conservative.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 09:19 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

UH's Hofheinz Pavilion becomes more cozy

UH sports beatwriter Michael Murphy buried the following in his column last week:

Hofheinz Pavilion will be even cozier this season.

Seating has been reduced from the near-9,000 it usually accommodates down to around 5,800. The difference is the end-line seats will all be covered, leaving only sideline seating.

Some longtime season-ticket holders will be displaced, but UH officials promise they will work with everyone when it comes to seating issues.

In addition to being a little silly (and even unprecedented), having to resort to covering end-line seats with tarps must be a huge disappointment to UH athletics director Dave Maggard and new head coach Tom Penders.

They surely had to expect fan interest to pick up after the Penders hiring. This seems to be a sad admission that fans are adopting a wait-and-see attitude. That's really the case in this sports town -- fans will support teams that give a good effort and win some games, but they won't put up with a perennial loser. Unfortunately, the two major men's sports at UH -- football and basketball -- have suffered from too many losing seasons for too many years, and attendance has been correspondingly abysmal. If Art Briles (head coach of football) and Tom Penders (head coach of basketball) don't get it turned around, one suspects tarps may be covering I-A athletics in general at UH.

As usual, the CoogFans message board is actively discussing the Hofheinz news, including the arena's new floor.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 05:52 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Some alternative thoughts on Rick Casey's facts

Chronicle metro/state columnist Rick Casey penned a column on Friday that's effectively a press release for the Scott Hochberg campaign. Indeed, it took no time at all for the Hochberg campaign to cite Casey's column:

Chronicle calls Ann Witt's attack ad on Scott's pro-military votes "dishonest", "a level of demagoguery that suggests desperation."

That's not what the Chronicle editorial board (which presumably speaks for the newspaper) said, but what a columnist said. They're not quite the same thing, and it's a little misleading to suggest they are (since we're about to take up the topic of misleading characterizations).

How about some cops to go with the Tasers?

Uniformless police chief Harold Hurtt has been a vocal proponent of equipping Houston police officers with Tasers in an effort to decrease the use of deadly force.

Tom Bazan alerts us to this item on City Council's weekly agenda:

15. ORDINANCE authorizing issuance of City of Houston, Texas Tax Notes, Series 2004C; prescribing the terms and form thereof; providing for the payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon; authorizing the Mayor and City Controller to accept and execute the winning bid for the Notes, approve the amounts, interest rates, prices and terms of such Notes and certain other matters related thereto; ratifying the use of a Preliminary Official Statement and Official Notice of Sale and authorizing the preparation and distribution of an Official Statement to be used in connection with the sale of the Notes; making other provisions regarding such Notes and matters incident thereto; authorizing execution and delivery of a Paying Agent/Registrar Agreement, a Co-Bond Counsel Agreement and Special Disclosure Co-Counsel Agreement; and declaring an emergency

[snip]

b. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing contract between the City of Houston and TASER INTERNATIONAL, INC and GT DISTRIBUTORS, INC for Taser Devices and Associated Equipment for Houston Police Department; providing a maximum contract amount - 5 Years - $4,679,855.55

Nothing against $5 million worth of Tasers, but wouldn't that money be better spent trying to solve HPD's manpower issues?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/17/04 03:43 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Why the Astrodome Hotel is a terrible idea

We have called attention previously to the ongoing debate over what to do about the decrepit Astrodome (here and here).

A proposal that has generated some buzz is the notion of converting the Astrodome into a second convention center hotel, a proposal supported by the editors of the Chronicle if it can be done at no expense to taxpayers.

Bruce H. Walker wrote an op-ed for the Chronicle a little over a week ago that explains why the idea is terrible, whether taxpayers foot the bill or not. The problem, he argues, is that demand for convention space (and accommodations) is down nationwide, even though supply remains steady (and recently increased in Houston with Hilton Americas). The addition of more such space in the form of a refurbished Astrodome would devastate the already struggling Houston hotel industry.

Further, there's already some danger to taxpayers, even if the Astrodome Hotel idea is shelved. Tucked away in Walker's op-ed is this ominous line:

Because Hilton Americas' rate of earnings is currently about half the rate the city must pay on its bonds, the project will probably not be able to cover its bond obligations, resulting in a cash drain for Houston. Consequently, Houston hotel occupancy tax receipts will probably have to be used for the cash shortfall, resulting in little or no marketing funds left to promote Houston!

Most worrisome to hoteliers in the downtown area is that all the market gain in room nights sold has gone to the new public Hilton rather than to privately owned hotels. The promise that major new convention volume was on the way has not happened.

So, what's in store for downtown?

Even without an Astrodome hotel, a dismal 47 percent occupancy rate is expected through the first half of 2005, meaning red ink will prevail. Look for hotel closures or conversions to residential usage.

It's outside the scope of Walker's editorial, so he doesn't mention the fact that Mayor White's revamped pension deal with municipal employees involved collaterizing their pension plan with the Hilton Americas hotel (which could turn into a problem if assumptions don't pan out), nor does he mention that depressed hotel receipts could lead to additional funding issues regarding Houston's three new sports arenas.

Taxpayers should ignore developers' promises regarding the virtues of an Astrodome Hotel and insist on a fiscally responsible solution, even if that means tearing the obsolete structure down.

Incidentally, Walker is not identified in the online version of the op-ed, but he is president of Source Strategies Inc., which calls itself a hotel development consulting firm. We have reproduced his op-ed below, since the Chronicle does not archive its outlook section. We think, as William Dyer argued in a similar instance, that this use is consistent with the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.

Astrodome utopia

Here's a letter in today's Chronicle:

For a really great thing to do with the Astrodome, why not turn it into a mixed-use small city with residential space that's inspiring and inspired?

By that I mean efficient, smart and modest enough so that ordinary folks can live close to downtown and make good use of the light rail that is nearby.

This is a perfect opportunity to locate a dense population center close to rail and the other amenities that a community needs, such as jobs, medical care, cultural venues and educational facilities. This could be a hub for bus transit to other locations throughout the city, too.

We'd need to tear up large portions of the parking lot and design and build a park for walking and for outdoor events; plus fix a section for community garden plots so that residents could grow their own vegetables and flowers. Adding shops, restaurants and a cultural venue for lectures, recitals and small concerts would make it a fabulous community center.

Colleges and universities could plan a space for enrichment programs they could run for both adults and young people.

The entire thing could be organized to give the residents a stake in their own community.

The revitalization of downtown and Midtown are exciting, but the living spaces are too expensive, development not dense enough and there are not enough open spaces to make such density attractive. We need spaces for students, the elderly, working families, single parents and young marrieds so that those who are too young, too old or too poor to maintain and drive automobiles can enjoy their lives and make a go of it.

We should be having a continuing dialogue in our community on the best way to organize communities.

The Eighth Wonder of the World could show just how modern and essential she could be — we just need to have the vision.

LESLIE BANKS
Houston

Gosh, this sounds really swell. Let's just make sure all that organizing and envisioning doesn't involve a single penny of taxpayer money, okay?

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/17/04 09:56 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

HISD superintendent search is, shhhhh, a secret

Is it a good idea for HISD to keep its superintendent search on the secretive side? Richard Connelly isn't so sure:

Picking a new superintendent for the Houston school district is an important job -- too important for mere mortals like district parents or residents.

Citing new rules, HISD is abandoning its own past practices -- and the usual methods used elsewhere in the nation -- and will not disclose the finalists to replace recently retired superintendent Kaye Stripling.

Announcing the finalists would only bring with it a lot of annoying public input, as reporters and citizens did their own background checks and then actually contacted school board members, who'd rather not be bothered, the officials leading the search didn't say.

Instead they said that "confidentiality enhances the applicant pool," which apparently is superintendent-search bureaucratese for "mind your own business."

The Chronicle, a couple of weeks later, takes a more pro-HISD stance:

If everything goes according to the Houston school board's plan, the public will never know the names of the candidates they interview for the superintendent's job.

Instead, the next glimpse of the search process anyone outside the nine Houston Independent School District trustees gets will come Nov. 17, when the board plans to name its choice. It's a standard practice in Texas and other states with laws protecting the secrecy of superintendent searches.

It's that secrecy that guarantees the best candidates will interview for the job, said the man leading HISD's search, Don Killough of the Texas Association of School Boards.

"If we can tell them it's going to be confidential, that really helps us," he said. "We're looking at high-caliber people."

Sure wish the Chronicle would give us a scorecard so we could keep track of which entities should be transparent, i.e. Hall i bur ton, and which ones don't need to be transparent, i.e. Metro and, apparently, HISD.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/17/04 08:59 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

16 October 2004

Letters to the editor: fact or fiction?

The Chronicle's policy on letters to the editor is lacking one big requirement: letters should have some basis in fact:

I look for letters on a variety of topics to keep the column interesting, and I try to give a balanced view by choosing those letters with diverse opinions.

On most days, the column is a reflection of the letters that came in the day before. It is not necessary to be a Chronicle subscriber to have your letter selected for printing in Viewpoints, but it is necessary to comply with the letters policy by providing your name, address and telephone numbers (for verification purposes). This information is not printed with your letter.

If a letter doesn't include this information, it won't get very far in the selection process. Many otherwise usable letters are also rejected because they are too long. The ones with the best chance of being printed are the short ones - written concisely and succinctly on one topic.

According to Outlook editor Judy Minshew, letters should have diversity; name, address and telephone numbers; and brevity. How about some facts or truth? Well, those are not actually listed as requirements. And that can become a problem, as evidenced by a letter that appeared last week which actually misstated District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's position on the HPD crime lab (later a correction was issued, thanks to Kevin's prodding), and by this whopper in today's paper:

It is agreed that there is a jobs drain and that new jobs are paying less. Most of those who are out of work are highly skilled and highly educated. It is common knowledge, too, that there is a shortage of teachers. Why don't we have a federal program to subsidize teachers' pay and to lure the surplus of educated and skilled workers into the teaching profession?

I would rather see billions spent on that than on fighting a war to free up the world's second-largest oil reserve.

MANUEL CASTREJANA
Houston

Whoa! Manuel, Manuel, that's a whole lot of agreeing and common knowledge that isn't borne out by the facts, sir.

15 October 2004

Be careful out there

Impatient truck driver

Late afternoon rush hour can be frustrating on the Southwest Freeway, especially on Fridays.

It was even worse today, when the truck above started pushing traffic out of its way after the driver had earlier run into a building because of an apparent temper tantrum. KPRC-2 reports:

The chase started in Bellaire at 2 p.m., police said. The driver, identified as Hector Barraza, drove his 53-foot trailer to what he thought was his delivery location and then got angry when he found out it was the wrong address, company officials said. Police said he then rammed his truck into the building and drove off.

"It began in Bellaire, inside the 610 Loop. It started out as a hit-and-run and we located the vehicle pretty quickly and he ran into one patrol car in Bellaire and then out (in Sugar Land)," said Cpl. Daniel Kerr, of the Bellaire Police Department.

Barraza then sped down the freeway, weaving in and out of traffic and sometimes driving on the shoulder, officers said.

Several law enforcement agencies joined the chase to try to stop him.

At the University exit in Sugar Land, traffic was stopped on the freeway, so the driver pushed the vehicles in front of him out of the way, according to witnesses. The big rig hit a box truck, minivan, pickup truck and at least one another vehicle. No one was seriously injured.

"Before I knew it, the 18-wheeler was in the middle lane where I was in the right-hand lane and he didn't stop. He kept going and he jammed the cars into my car. The police officer started shooting at his car with their pistols and their shotguns -- at the tires -- and I took off," said Sam Rodriguez, who was caught in the accident.

"We became very concerned he was going to kill somebody. At that time, we started firing rounds at the truck to disable the tires, disable the radiator," said Sgt. Paul Mosely, of the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department.

Spikes that were put down in the road punctured one of the big rig's tires, but the driver did not immediately stop. Officers then drew their weapons.

"Sheriff's deputies threw spikes out. He went off in the grass to avoid the spikes. A couple of sheriff's deputies got out and fired their shotguns in the radiator to stop him," said Robert Spears, a witness.

About 30 minutes after the chase began, the driver stopped in the median past the Grand Parkway exit on Highway 59 in Sugar Land.

Game Over

Radio traffic reports indicate all lanes are now open but traffic is slow. More coverage on this incident can be found at KHOU-11 and KTRK-13.

Remember that you can use TranStar's alert system to have personalized text updates on Houston traffic conditions sent to your wireless device (phone, PDA, Blackberry, or pager).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/15/04 05:53 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Encouraging students to stay in school and succeed

Here's a Chronicle story about a state-wide effort to encourage at-risk students, beginning in the sixth grade, to stay in school and plan for graduation and then college:

For the first time, Houston students and others across the state considered at risk of dropping out will get such help, starting in sixth grade.

Graduation plans typically help students track what courses they need to graduate and outline the steps needed to get into college.

"They're not too young to begin thinking of their college and career plans," said Elsik High School counselor Trula Samuel of the Alief Independent School District.

The move is part of an ongoing statewide effort to reduce the dropout rate in Texas, which reaches 40 percent in some districts, including the Houston Independent School District.

This seems like a good first step, but the story doesn't make clear if the advocacy program involves counseling only, or if it also includes in-class tutoring. If the program is strictly counseling, it will probably not have the success these schools are looking for. Students need to be prepared academically, or they will struggle in the college prep classes needed to get into college, and then in college itself. Getting students into college can't be enough; the students need to be able to hold their own, and even excel, in college coursework. An example of a program that targets kids who need extra help, through counseling AND academic support, is AVID. The AVID program is in use in schools across the country, with proven success.

Wings over Houston

Nathan Smith of the Galveston Daily News calls attention to this weekend's Wings over Houston event:

The roar of jet turbines will be matched only by the roar of the crowd this weekend as the 20th annual Wings Over Houston Airshow takes flight at Ellington Field.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flight team will headline the two-day spectacular, and organizers expect record crowds to take in the sights and sounds of some of the world’s most daring aerial stunts.

[snip]

A display of the official fighter and bomber teams of the Air Force, Navy and Marines will rip up the sky Saturday and Sunday alongside thunderous turns from the U.S. Navy Official Fighter Demo F-18 Hornet, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, AH-64 Apache Helicopter and the C-5A Galaxy. The enormous C-17 Globemaster will also make an appearance, and the ground-attack demonstrations involving the A-10 Thunderbolt will be on display, as well.

It should be an impressive demonstration.

The show runs from 8 am to 6pm on Saturday and 8 am to 5pm on Sunday. Full details can be found at the Wings over Houston website.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/15/04 02:30 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

14 October 2004

Ken Caminiti's last night out

New York's Newsday runs a depressing account of former Astro Ken Caminiti's last night alive:

As the two drove around Brooklyn, Caminiti's conversation jumped to a number of issues - "love, life and everything," as [friend Rob] Silva put it. Caminiti talked about how his three young daughters meant the world to him, how much he loved his father, how drugs and alcohol had damaged his life and how he had disappointed so many people, Silva said.

The full article is here. I found it via Scott Chaffin.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/14/04 11:04 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)

Your secret will be safe with Bev (and her staff?)

If you're a politico or other "important person" down in Fort Bend county, you might not want to share any sensitive information with Fort Bend Star columnist Bev Carter.

So says friend Chris Elam, and he makes a good case.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/14/04 10:47 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (2)

Food and drink (10-14-2004 edition)

Food journalism in town gets a boost this week, as Robb Walsh and Alison Cook both return after taking last week off.

Robb Walsh writes that Bellaire's new Lemongrass Cafe is hit-and-miss:

[Chef Fah] Vora's dishes are brimming with youthful exuberance. Spicy Thai ceviche is a Little Mermaid's menagerie of scallops, shrimp and calamari in lime and pineapple juices spiked with cilantro, red onion and chiles. The vibrant South American-Thai seafood cocktail comes in a martini glass, and it looks as wild as it tastes.

Unfortunately, some of Vora's experiments fizzle....

Vora is obviously a dedicated and hardworking chef. I'm confident that the process of trial and error will lead her to a menu of solid hits. She should have plenty of time to work on it. Bellaire is so starved for chic restaurants that the Lemongrass Cafe is already a local favorite.

Alison Cook is optimistic about Rancho Chicken:

I still think Rancho has the potential to produce the best takeout chickens in town. Just a few tweaks would do it: pulling the birds off the spit a few minutes earlier; getting the seasoning consistent. The place is mere months old, and there's not enough volume yet to get a chicken right off the fire, with a still-crisp skin.

That could change, and it ought to. The young Mexico City-reared brothers who own the place, Jesse and Jeremy Schwarz, have some good ideas, and they're trying to do things right. Even their side dishes have surprising integrity.

Dai Huynh searches Houston for the perfect Wiener schnitzel.

Joey Guerra visits the Speak Easy Lounge, and reports (unknown to me) that Opie Hendrix is the regular musician on Wednesday nights.

And finally, the following tidbit from the Chronicle whine and dine section begs for comment:

Lonnie Jones of Houston says he found the food very good and the waiter attentive at Cyclone Anaya's Mexican Kitchen, 5761 Woodway, but he wasn't happy with the parking situation.

"Every parking space in front was reserved by the valet parking people. The manager's attitude was that's the way he wanted it. The choice parking spaces should be left open for the customers and the valet parking spaces should be someplace else."

The manager of Cyclone Anaya's should actually be complimented! Parking in the shopping center where Cyclone Anaya's is located is very limited. The restaurant's solution is to provide free valet parking during busy periods. It takes an extremely grouchy soul to find fault with that. But there is nearby parking if, for whatever reason, a patron doesn't want to turn over the keys to the valet. Just expect to walk more than 20 feet.

A short walk won't kill you, Houston! Really. The food and service are well worth it! And while one normally doesn't go to a Tex-Mex restaurant for wine, the Toad Hollow Reserve merlot is a nice wine that isn't marked up ridiculously. They also serve a large quantity by the glass, in case you're the oddball wine drinker (like me) among a table of margarita drinkers. For that matter, the margaritas (on the rocks, of course) are deceptively strong, and not overly sweet. It's hard for me to find fault with anything at Cyclone Anaya's.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/14/04 10:34 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Weekend music roundup (10-14-2004 edition)

Smart readers of blogHOUSTON already know that David Cobb provides a great roundup of local rock music each week.

This week's installment was posted yesterday.

I like to supplement his list with the alt-country/Americana/Texas music shows that I favor. Here are the shows that have caught my eye this week:

Thursday (October 14)
Geoff Spahr, Firehouse Saloon
Shawn Nelson, Continental Club
Tracie Lynn, Mucky Duck

Friday (October 15)
The Flametrick Subs (Los Skarnales open), Continental Club
Matt Powell Band (F-Co opens), Firehouse Saloon
Lucy Kaplansky, Mucky Duck
Mandy Smith Group, Live Sports Cafe (Happy Hour)

Saturday (October 16)
Tom Russell, Mucky Duck
Mark Miller, Firehouse Saloon
Hacienda Brothers (Mary McBride opens), Continental Club
Mandy Smith Group, Stag's Head Pub
Montrose Beer and Gun Club Event (click Read More link), West Alabama Icehouse

I'm sure Blanco's probably has some fine acts playing, but they don't have a web presence and they don't seem to care. Give 'em a call if you like the kind of music you see above, and as always, doublecheck with the venue before heading out to a show. Schedules do change, rapidly.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/14/04 06:58 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Sudden Insight, by Ken Hoffman

Here's some political analysis that's worth reading:

Roland Mesnier was the official White House pastry chef for 25 years — baking goodies for Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton and Bush (43).

He recently retired from the White House and now concocts confections for Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, the fruitcake capital of the world.

Although Washington, D.C., has more than its share of fruitcakes, too.

Mesnier was in Houston Wednesday, so I asked him one burning political question:

If nobody was looking, which president was most likely to stick his finger in the cake icing to sneak a taste?

Answer: "That would be the current President Bush, and the cake would be a seven-layer chocolate cake," Mesnier said. "President Bush has a sweet tooth."

Information like that could help sway the undecided.

It did me. I decided to order chocolate layer cake for dessert.

That's much more fun, and frankly just as substantive as this:

We believe?

Astros fans on their way to Minute Maid for playoff games should expect, of course, downtown roadwork to delay their trek to the game:

Preston Street, an eastbound thoroughfare that will take traffic to Minute Maid Park for the National League Championship Series, will be narrowed to one lane at Smith for two weeks starting today as workers rebuild the intersection.

The story lists alternate routes and includes a handy map.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/14/04 09:17 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)

13 October 2004

A forthcoming correction

Yesterday, I emailed Chronicle reader representative James Campbell and letters editor Judy Minshew regarding that letter containing an inaccurate assertion about Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal that ran earlier in the week.

Today, both Campbell and Minshew emailed separately to indicate that the assertion in the letter was wrong, and that a correction would be issued.

I'll update this post with the correction when it appears.

(10-14-2004 Update) Here is the correction:

Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal now supports an independent investigation of the Houston Police Department's crime lab. His position was incorrectly stated in a letter to the editor on Page B6 of Monday's City & State section.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/13/04 10:38 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Kirkendall comments on the Nigerian barge trial

Tom Kirkendall checks in again on the Enron-related Nigerian barge trial.

Why do we keep linking to Kirkendall on this topic?

Because he offers a view we haven't seen from dinosaur media:

Left unstated in the mainstream media's accounts of the trial is the continued dubious nature of the government's case in this trial. The government spent three weeks putting on its case in chief, which consisted almost entirely of testimony from former Enron executives who admitted that they were liars and cheats. Each of these witnesses stated that they had lied about the Nigerian Barge transaction to prosecutors initially, but now allege -- after copping plea bargains with the government -- that they are telling the truth in supporting the government's theory that the Nigerian Barge transaction was a sham.

Go check out his lengthy, detailed post.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/13/04 08:20 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Bach and beer

What could be better than a Bach Society presentation of Bach Vespers? A Bach Society presentation of Bach Vespers and beer:

The Bach Society will present “Bach Vespers” at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd. at Greenbriar in Rice University Village, at 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. The Bach Choir and Orchestra will be directed by newly appointed Music Director Dr. Albert LeDoux. The program includes the following music: Cantata 131 by J. S. Bach, Aus der Tiefen ruf ich, Herr, zu dir; and two motets by the greatest German composer before Bach, Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672). There is no admission charge, but seating is limited. After the Vespers, all are welcome at the Bach Society’s annual Oktoberfest (now serving beer).

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/13/04 08:04 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)

Benzion returns to the Houston airwaves

Rumor has it that one David Benzion will be making his return as a Houston talk radio host today.

We hear the former executive producer and occasional host from KPRC-950 in its pre-Clear Channel days will be sitting in for Dan Patrick on KSEV-700 at 4pm today.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/13/04 03:42 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (4)

The kid will be fine

Rookie Brandon Backe will start the first game of the National League playoff series against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight.

Manager Phil Garner had this to say about his rookie:

"Sometimes young people get so wrapped up in what's going on that they lose sight of the bigger picture," Garner said. "But Brandon's been on a big stage before, though not this big, as a starting quarterback in the high school playoffs in Texas. He knows something about this. He's gotten a little better each time out."

Sportswriters in other states might scoff at a manager suggesting high school football playoffs might in any way prepare a pitcher for the pressure of the playoffs in the big leagues.

Here in Texas, of course, we take our football seriously. The great baseball fans of St. Louis will surely outnumber the folks who saw Backe play for the state championship in football, but it's hard to imagine they'll be much more intense.

Go 'Stros!

(Update) The Cardinals will start former UH pitcher Woody Williams. How's that for a local connection?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/13/04 01:22 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Martinis and manicures

This is an interesting marketing hook:

La Strada, 322 Westheimer, in the Montrose area has "martinis and manicures" on Thursday nights.

Owners Aldo and Robbie Catania said the success has turned what began as a September treat into an October event.

"They do this out in California and it goes gang-busters out there, so we thought we would try it out here on our patio. We only thought we would do it for a couple of weeks, but it just took off," Robbie Catania said. "Two manicurists (were used) the first weeks and now we have 10 manicurists. We do about 80 people every Thursday."

Women begin lining up an hour or two before the manicures even start at 6:30 p.m. The service is offered until 8:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/13/04 11:15 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

The policy of uninformative bylines

The Chronicle's "byline policy" rears its head again. Last week readers were offered an opinion column by one Tarif Abboushi who thinks the U.S. is kowtowing to Israel:

A point of contention during Tuesday's vice-presidential debate was John Edwards' barb that the Bush administration had outsourced the capture of Osama bin Laden to Afghan warlords. But there is no denying that it has outsourced the Israel-Palestine conflict resolution to Israel. After repeatedly asserting he would do whatever it takes to ensure that Israelis and Palestinians comply with his peace plan — the much-vaunted but ill-fated road map — President Bush has shown he was only talking the talk. When it came time to walk, he toed Sharon's line all the way around the illegal Israeli colonies on the West Bank.

Here's the byline, at the end of the column:

Abboushi, a Houstonian, is a Palestinian-American. He can be e-mailed at tabboushi@aol.com.

That's a pretty information-lite byline, but a minute spent on Google helps fill in the blanks. Abboushi is a bit more than just a Palestinian-American Houstonian. He also appears to be a past director of the Houston chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it should have been included in the byline. Abboushi obviously has a point of view, perhaps even an agenda, and many readers would appreciate knowing this after reading his op-ed.

This problem of uninformative bylines is a continuing one with the Chronicle. Charles Kuffner has noted it, and Kevin Whited tried, unsuccessfully, to get some answers from the Chronicle about what the paper's policy is. Last week I emailed the Chronicle's reader rep and Outlook editor about Abboushi's byline and didn't receive a response.

This may be a little detail, in the eyes of the Chronicle editors, but it's these little details that are adding up.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/13/04 07:45 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

12 October 2004

Houston, entrepreneurial city

Houston has long been regarded as a city where "bidness" gets done.

Now, a national study has recognized Houston's entrepreneurial spirit:

Houston ranks No .4 in the nation in the entrepreneur category of Visa International's Innovation Index.

As part of its "Ideas Happen" campaign, Visa created an Innovation Index that ranked the 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas based on measures of community support, entrepreneurialism and creativity.

In its highest category score, Houston ranked No. 4 with a score of 90 in the entrepreneur category behind Austin; San Diego; and West Palm Beach, Fla. The score for entrepreneurialism was based on data such as the average number of new businesses, expansions, new divisions and the number of new patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office through 2003 for each MSA.

Houston ranked No. 27 in the area of creativity with a score of 69, and ranked No. 41 in the area of community support with a score o 24.

Well done, Houston.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 09:49 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Houston Metblogs reviews Onion Creek

Karen over at Houston Metblogs writes a great review of Onion Creek coffeehouse/cafe/bar in the Heights:

Onion Creek, located at 3106 White Oak Boulevard in the Heights, has become a local favourite – the camaraderie! The food! The refreshing pints of beer! The selection is extensive, and my husband has thankfully stopped whining, since he’s able to have a “proper” roast-beef sandwich and a tall pint of Boddington’s. The wine-list is impressive for a neighbourhood bar, and as for food – the sandwiches and individual pizzas are delicious – and the Country-Ass Reuben is so good, you’ll slap your mama.

Onion Creek sounds like an excellent place, aside from potentially grouchy neighbors like the first commenter.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 09:30 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Texas 249 toll proposal rejected

KTRK-13 reports that residents on the northeast side have been successful in defeating efforts to turn a stretch of Texas 249 into a toll road:

There's a victory for residents and business owners who did not want a part of Highway 249 turned into a toll road.

State highway planners have decided against the proposal, which would have made an 8-mile segment of 249 from the beltway to Spring Cypress Road a toll road to pay for a northern extension. The state is now looking into funding the extension through a combination of free and toll lanes.

Rad Sallee covers the issue in more depth for the Chronicle.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 09:17 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Congress approves sales tax deduction; liberal group complains

Many Texans will now enjoy a sales tax deduction on their federal income taxes, thanks to the hard work of two area Congressmen (Republicans Kevin Brady and Tom DeLay) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R).

Chronicle reporter John Henry balances the good news with a quote from the liberal Center for Public Policy Priorities:

Most Texas families gain nothing from this change," said Dick Lavine, a senior fiscal analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin.

Henry was so determined to work tired class-warfare rhetoric into his story that he missed a chance at offering readers some real insight into what impact this change in the tax code might have on the state legislature as it considers revamping state education funding in the next session. Maybe next time.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 08:57 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)

Area Congressional candidates debate

Charles Kuffner notes that Representative John Culberson (R) will debate challenger John Martinez (D) tonight. The event will take place at Fondren Middle School, 6333 S. Braeswood, at 7 pm. The candidates are vying for the District 7 Congressional seat.

Kuffner also notes that a candidate forum for those running for the District 22 Congressional seat will be held in one week, October 19,at North Pointe Elementary, 3200 Almond Creek, in Houston/Clear Lake, at 7pm. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R), Richard Morrison (D), Mike Fjetland (I), and Thomas Morrison (L) are all expected to participate. Candidates will be available to visit with voters beginning at 6:30 pm.

They're our representatives, folks. If you don't like what they're doing -- or if you do -- it's a great time to let them know about it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 04:50 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

What do they really think of Afghanistan's president?

The Chronicle makes a rather interesting statement in a staff editorial today:

Only a few months ago, many Afghans did not understand the point of elections. Before Saturday's election, more than 10 million Afghans braved terrorist attacks and assassinations to register to vote.

Exit polling and international observers predicted that Interim President Hamid Crazy would win election with more than 51 percent of the vote.

That should be President Hamid Karzai.

A few weeks ago, the Chronicle's editors blamed a website staffer for an error that turned a photo of a young girl at a political rally into an ugly political statement by the newspaper that drew (unwanted) national attention from the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto.

Today's apparent editorial slight of Afghanistan's president made it into print editions of the newspaper as well, so it's going to be harder to blame a lowly website staffer this time.

There are some real problems down at 801 Texas Avenue.

(Update) The Chronicle has corrected the online copy, with no indication that the mistake was ever there (although a new timestamp of 10:12 am on the article is revealing) and no note in the corrections, at least not yet. It will be more difficult to airbrush the paper copy that's already out. If someone would be kind enough to email a pdf of the dead tree version, that might be worth storing with our other Chron greatest hits.

(Update 2) Anne Linehan scanned the dead-tree version of the editorial. Click the [Read More] link to view it.

TranStar launches personal alerts service

Chronicle transportation columnist Lucas Wall reports that TranStar has launched a personal alerts service for motorists in Houston.

The service has been available as a demonstration project for the last year. Subscribers can receive alerts on any device capable of text messaging or email (phone, pda, pager, or the like), and alert profiles can be individually tailored for location, time, and incident.

The Houston Business Journal first reported on the launch of the service on September 30, scooping the Chronicle and its dedicated transportation columnist by roughly two weeks.

TranStar's personalized alert system can be accessed here.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/12/04 07:33 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chronicle's memo conclusion is a really big stretch

Suppose Jeff Cohen is the chairman of the High School Journalism
committee for ASNE, the American Society of Newspaper Editors. And let's suppose, hypothetically of course, that Cohen knows a journalist who might be a good speaker for a fundraiser for the High School Journalism committee. And suppose Cohen contacts someone who knows someone who handles the fundraising activities for the committee and suggests the journalist speak for that fundraiser.

Should we then conclude that Cohen is involved in the day-to-day fundraising operations of the High School Journalism committee? I wouldn't.

Suppose John Kerry is running for president. For the Democratic party. And suppose, no hypotheticals this time, the DNC has some interesting connections with 527 groups. Suppose someone who worked for MoveOn.org, now works for the DNC. And suppose someone who sits on the DNC Executive Committee is the founder of a 527 group. And suppose that the DNC announces on its website that it has partnered with 527 groups:

The Democratic Party is partnering with MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, Campaign for America's Future, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans to organize a massive public mobilization. On Wednesday, May 14, join us by calling and emailing your representatives in Congress to let them know that the majority of Americans oppose more irresponsible tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest sliver of Americans.

Should we conclude that some people involved with 527's are running things at the DNC or vice versa? Well, we have yet to see that story out of the Chronicle, so I guess we aren't supposed to reach that conclusion.

Yet, the Chronicle has reached the conclusion that a memo one of its reporters obtained shows that Rep. Tom DeLay is much more involved with day-to-day operations at TRMPAC because (get ready) DeLay suggested Rep. Billy Tauzin headline a fundraiser.

Here's the Chronicle story. Here's the memo. It seems to be a pretty far leap, but you can look for yourself and decide.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/12/04 02:31 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

The dying old media

Here are some excerpts from the Key Findings Summary of the Iraq Survey
Group's latest report, also known as the Duelfer Report:

Saddam Hussein so dominated the Iraqi Regime that its
strategic intent was his alone. He wanted to end sanctions while
preserving the
capability to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) when
sanctions were lifted.

[snip]

The introduction of the Oil-For-Food program (OFF) in late 1996 was a
key turning point for the Regime. OFF rescued Baghdad's economy from
a terminal decline created by sanctions. The Regime quickly came to
see that OFF could be corrupted to acquire foreign exchange both to
further undermine sanctions and to provide the means to enhance
dual-use infrastructure and potential WMD-related development.

Here is what the Chronicle told us in an editorial last week:

On Wednesday, the top U.S. weapons inspector reported that
he did not expect to find any stores of weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq. Charles Duelfer, a CIA expert and former U.N. weapons inspector,
concluded that Saddam Hussein had destroyed his chemical and
biological weapons in 1991 and 1992, and had not resumed production.
Duelfer also said there was no evidence that Saddam had tried to
import uranium after the first Persian Gulf War.

Rather than being a gathering threat, Iraq was less able to develop
and produce weapons before the U.S. attack in 2003 than it was in
1998, according to the report.

Saddam's Iraq was nearly prostrate, it turns out, but far from benign.
According to Duelfer and his report, Saddam was trying to develop
illegal long-range ballistic missiles. He intended to resume banned
weapons programs whenever United Nations trade sanctions were lifted.
But intentions are not facts. Desires, even a tyrant's, are not
weapons.

There's a reason why people are leaving old media behind and
turning to other sources for news, especially the internet. That reason is displayed above.

11 October 2004

Chronicle disregards own reporting, runs erroneous letter

In an earlier post, I pointed out the Chronicle's tendency under Jeff Cohen to portray certain political figures as "bad guys," mentioning that Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal had become the newspaper's latest "bad guy."

As I mentioned in that post, the Chronicle's editors are free to take any editorial stance they'd like, however simplistic and childish.

However, when the editorial stance leads to improper journalistic practices, a line has been crossed.

Yes, but will the "bad guy" actually win his election?

Under Jeff Cohen's stewardship, the Chronicle has become a different newspaper than it was under Jack Loftis.

Not necessarily better, but different.

It's no longer the mouthpiece it once was for the Greater Houston Partnership and other downtown interests. That's an improvement.

Unfortunately, the paper that missed Enron continues to miss local stories that it should own. It continues to have major problems with basic journalism (like dates). And it has a tendency to go to absurd lengths to make sure all of Houston's ethnic groups are properly represented in its stories. None of these is an improvement over the last regime.

One final distressing tendency is an editorial tendency to make certain figures into "bad guys."

Go 'Stros!

Congratulations to our Houston Astros, who just won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history!

Bring on St. Louis!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/11/04 10:34 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

Hold the patty

Once again, PETA is doing its part to place Houston in the ranks of world class-dom. It seems we've made the top-ten list for vegetarian-friendly cities:

Houston has some of the best vegetarian restaurants around… especially if you're really hungry! From all you can eat buffets that make a vegetarians drool, vegans swoon, and carnivores reconsider their position, to exotic vegetarian In-House dining, there is something for everyone.

Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 10/11/04 08:36 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chronicle: Rock the Vote is nonpartisan

The Chronicle needs to have an editor overseeing whoever is writing headlines. This L.A. Times story that the Chronicle runs today, about Rock the Vote, has an unbelievable sub-head:

Fake draft cards urge youth to vote
A nonpartisan group sends the e-mails to thousands

Yes, the first paragraph of the L.A. Times story uses the word nonpartisan to describe Rock the Vote, but that's no excuse for the Chronicle to echo it. Here is the L.A. Times headline:

Rumor of a Draft Touches a Nerve
Bush and Kerry deny conscription plans, but Rock the Vote raises the specter.

That headline writer apparently didn't go by the first paragraph of the story, and one look at the Rock the Vote website makes clear the group is anything but nonpartisan. Its list of partners is a roll call of liberal groups and people including Michael Moore, ACORN, Planned Parenthood, NAACP, Ben and Jerry's, and lots more.

Ken Caminiti, RIP

Former Astro Ken Caminiti died of a heart attack in New York on Sunday.

Caminiti was always a fan favorite in town, but had his best (MVP) season after being traded from the Astros.

In recent years, he had been plagued by problems with drugs, and had just been in the news again last week for that reason. Those demons may finally have overcome him.

May he rest in peace.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/11/04 06:17 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)

10 October 2004

Ongoing construction along Houston's eastern corridor

The Baytown Sun's Kristopher Banks does an excellent job highlighting planned and ongoing construction projects along Houston's eastern corridor, especially I-10.

This quote should give pause, however:

Of course, there is always the possibility of alternatives to Interstate 10. Baytown is not part of the Houston Metro system and is therefore not part of the system’s planned light and commuter rail system. Baytonians, though, should give it some consideration Clark said. Because of the Port of Houston, there is already significant rail infrastructure in place, [Houston-Galveston Area Council transportation planning director Alan Clark] said.

“I can’t believe that in 10 to 20 years, with the growth in that corridor, it won’t be something for local government leaders to think about,” Clark said.

Thinking about rail is not objectionable, but they may want to think carefully about hooking up with Metro.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/10/04 08:46 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Robison gives himself away

Clay Robison, the Chronicle's Austin news bureau chief, moonlights as a hyperpartisan editorialist on weekends.

It's an arrangement that doesn't seem to give Jeff Cohen pause, although Texas Media Watch's Sherry Sylvester has frequently pointed out that it should.

Today, Robison is throwing flames in his typical fashion. This sentence is probably more revealing than he intended, however:

The most obvious is the war in Iraq, which is producing divisions in America that are beginning to remind us of the Vietnam era.

Us?

You're not speaking for me, Mr. Robison.

Maybe you intended to refer to coworkers at the Chronicle? Or perhaps you were referring to liberals who oppose any projection of American power abroad? Or maybe you were referring to supporters of Senator Kerry?

But please, be specific about the groups YOU are affiliated with. And please don't include me in that "us." Thanks!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/10/04 08:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Covering the news important to... DFW Dwellers?

Thomas Korosec writes about a problem that many Houstonians experience every New Year's Eve, Fourth of July, and Cinco de Mayo: guns fired into the air by revelers.

Unfortunately, Korosec isn't talking about Houston's problem.

The Chronicle's "Dallas Bureau" reporter is checking in on how Dallas is trying to fight the phenomenon.

At a time when when this city's only newspaper is downsizing and doesn't have a food section editor (or even a reviewer to step in and pinch hit when Alison Cook takes the week off), it's apparently very important for the Chronicle to cover the news important to DFW dwellers.

Because that metro area's two major dailies surely need the help, and Jeff Cohen obviously has manpower and resources to spare here in Houston.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/10/04 08:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

A roundup of blog postings on our topics

Over the last few days, local bloggers have hit some of the topics we like to cover here, and we'd like to call attention to some of them.

Chris Elam posts a "not-so-concise, but detailed look at the DeLay Ethics Report," which Rob Booth tackles also.

Owen Courreges doesn't share the Chronicle's sympathy for confessed killer Edward "Peanut" Green III, who met his end this week via lethal injection. Further, Courreges indicts the newspaper for being less than diligent covering problems at the crime lab during the years when favored politicians held office.

Phil Magness takes the Chronicle to task for again allowing one of their "focus board" members to portray himself as a Republican when, as Magness contends, he is not.

And Tom Kirkendall checks in on the Enron-related Nigerian barge trial. Kirkendall's a local attorney who posts regularly on local business topics. His expertise comes shining through on posts like this. The analysis provided by such expert bloggers across the blogosphere regularly outshines traditional coverage from journalists, and such blogging is at least an informative supplement if not replacement to dinosaur media.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/10/04 05:02 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Cragg Hines hasn't discovered Google

It's Sunday, so Cragg Hines offers up some of his very insightful political insight. Today he's concerned with voting irregularities in Ohio:

CANTON, Ohio — Linda Fogle hurries from the Stark County Board of Elections to her car in a space reserved for absentee voters. On Election Day, the retired medical assistant already will be in Arizona for the winter. She drove downtown to vote early because she found the mail-in ballot confusing. She didn't like the punch-card version at the elections office much better.

Was she confident that her votes — all for Democrats, she said — would be tallied, and correctly? Fogle shrugged.

Who knows what the Chronicle pays Hines, but the editors are not getting their money's worth, because Hines wrote an entire column focused on Democrats worrying about a Republican secretary of state, without a single example of any actual problems. If Hines had spent thirty seconds on Google, he would have discovered several stories in the news of suspicious voter registration in Ohio. Wonder why he didn't use any of these examples?

One more note on Hines' column - this sentence is a keeper:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, leading another get-out-the-vote effort for Democrats, said Blackwell already has "a credibility gap" and "could shift Florida's embarrassment to Ohio."

It might be more helpful to Hines' point if he found someone else to utter the words "credibility gap."

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/10/04 09:06 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)

Yes, the Chronicle is often amusing

Here's a letter in today's Chronicle:

Were he around, Beethoven would have been amused by the Chronicle's Sept. 24 headline, "Symphony cancels 2 Beethoven operas." Beethoven wrote only one opera.

Also, his sixth symphony is commonly known as the Pastoral; the Eroica is Beethoven's third symphony.

JOSEPH L. NOGEE
Houston

We agree. blogHOUSTON is often amused by Chronicle lapses.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/10/04 07:30 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

09 October 2004

The Press fills in where the Chron falls down

The Houston Chronicle dropped the ball earlier this week regarding complaints made by Barbara Davis, a former supporter of Ted Poe who has turned on the Congressional candidate and former judge.

Davis, who has largely been ignored by local media despite voicing complaints about Poe's later treatment of a 1996 tragedy that revolved around a drunk driver hitting Davis' car and killing her husband and housekeeper, finally got local media to bite on her complaints after an organization, Texans for True Sentencing, put her and another critic (Carolyn Hardin, whose complaint dates to 1998) forward in a press conference.

Unfortunately for Poe, who is in the midst of a tough campaign against Nick Lampson, the Chronicle's Kristen Mack devoted scant attention to the facts behind the allegations:

In 1996, Davis' car was hit by a teenage drunken driver, killing her husband and housekeeper and critically injuring her. Poe's sentencing included conditions such as a six-month jail sentence, shock probation and a requirement that the defendant carry pictures of the victims in his wallet. He also prohibited him from having a driver's license for 10 years.

Three years later, Davis found out the defendant got his driver's license back. When she tried to reach Poe, her calls went unreturned, she said.

That's it. The rest of the story is basically "he said/she said" filler that sheds little detail on the controversy. Mack concludes her article with strong criticism from Nick Lampson, Poe's opponent in the Congressional race. Nowhere does the article delve into the background of the "organization" behind the press conference, an organization that as of the time of this post turned up exactly three references on google (all related to Mack's Chronicle story). Also as of the time of this post, neither TexansforTrueSentencing.com or TexansforTrueSentencing.org is a registered web domain. Perhaps the organization has been in existence for some time (instead of being thrown together hastily during political season to hurt a Congressional candidate), but that's not the impression given by Mack's reporting or from web searches.

Fortunately, Sarah Fenske provides much more background on the Davis allegations in a story in this week's Houston Press. Fenske's story seems a bit more sympathetic to Davis than to Poe, but there are enough facts for readers to make an informed decision on the matter. The same is not true of Mack's coverage of the story.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/09/04 11:04 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

08 October 2004

The dead zone

The "dead zone" is in the news, and I'm not talking about the USA Network show.

This AP story in the Chronicle, says the zone, an oxygen-depleted area in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, is growing:

Fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico are threatened by loss of coastal wetlands and agricultural runoff, from which a "dead zone" of oxygen-depleted water has grown, experts say.

To stop expansion of the 5,000-square-mile area where low oxygen levels make it difficult for marine life to survive, studies show that wetlands must be reclaimed and fertilizer use in the Mississippi River basin cut by 25 percent, said Andrew Solow, a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

Solow was one of five experts who addressed environmental attorneys attending the first of two days of discussions Thursday at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort.

Shrimp and fish can escape from the zone, which for the first time this past summer stretched toward the Texas coast, Solow said. But he said crabs and other slow-moving species can be killed in the area where trillions of tiny sea plants called phytoplankton sink, die and decay.

KHOU-11 also has a story on the "dead zone," although it notes that this year the zone has almost disappeared:

DiMarco says part of the reason for the change is the currents. Strong, coastal currents normally not seen until September came early this year, churning along the coast, breaking the Zone apart.

Then came a tropical storm and a couple hurricanes.

Active hurricane seasons may be good news when it comes to reducing the size of the Dead Zone, DiMarco says, because wind mixing is pretty much the enemy of the Dead Zone.

But just as the weather is unpredictable, there's no way to say how long the Dead Zone will last next summer, or if it will upset the big fish along the Texas Coast.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/08/04 01:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Dallas recruits Houston for police officers

KHOU-11's Jason Whitely reports that the Dallas Police Department is aggressively recruiting Houston for new officers:

Houston and surrounding counties could be losing more police officers and potential new recruits because of an aggressive effort to lure our law enforcement officers to Dallas.

It was a billboard that first caught our attention. Dallas Police recruiting in Houston? It's true.

"We want to have a real diverse police department. I've gone to New York a couple times. I've gone to Phoenix, El Paso, McAllen," said Detective Buu Nguyen, Dallas Police Department.

Two Dallas detectives are in town all week, going to job fairs, schools, even at the Houston Community College looking for new recruits.

"We see a lot of interested people here. They're walking around. They treat us very well here. They've accommodated us very well here. All we're trying to let them know is that we're hiring," said Detective Eddie Lopez, Dallas Police Department.

They plan on hiring 220 new officers over the next year.

Out of town recruiting is nothing new for large departments, but Houston Police said it recently had to cut all of these out of its budget to save money. Dallas has done the opposite; spending more in the last few weeks than it has in the last few years.

Dallas City Council is spending $22,500 buying billboards across the state, 10 of which are in Houston.

One attraction Dallas offers is pay. First year salary there is $38,640, compared to Houston's $27,097.

Dallas recruiters said they've already found 40 or so Houstonians interested.

But their visit here comes at a time when the Houston Police Department is facing a personnel crisis itself.

A large number of officers here are retiring over what they consider a poor pension plan, among other things.

It's unclear whether any will take Dallas up on its offer or whether Houston will have a harder time finding new cadets.

Emphasis has been supplied to make the point that Whitely doesn't: HPD is facing a looming manpower shortage, because City Council under Mayor White's leadership has not funded cadet classes sufficient to replace personnel lost to retirement and attrition.

KHOU-11 recently reported that manpower is being shifted from city parks to more basic police services, indicating that personnel shortages are already affecting everyday life in Houston. Meanwhile, the Mayor and Council have apparently placed a higher priority on smoking bans and a $2 million African-American museum giveaway, judging from time spent on those issues.

At least Dallas should find Houston fertile recruiting ground for their police department, since there's not really local competion at the moment! That should give our friends at Y'allBlog one more thing to like about Houston.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/08/04 12:55 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Mayor White comes out for smoking ban

Ron Nissimov reports that Mayor White has endorsed a more moderate version of the smoking ban that has been supported by council member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs:

Houston restaurants may soon be smoke-free.

Mayor Bill White announced Wednesday that he is drafting an ordinance that would ban smoking in restaurants, but not in bars.

"I have been listening to people who want a ban everywhere and the people who don't want to lose their market," White said. "I'm trying to find the middle ground."

White said his proposal would be phased in over two years to try to minimize any negative impact on restaurants.

Under Houston's current ordinance, restaurants and other public buildings are allowed to have smoking areas if they are properly ventilated. Smoking is banned within 25 feet of entrances to public buildings.

White said that under his proposal, any restaurants with bars in their establishments would be allowed to maintain smoking areas in the bars, as long as there is "real separation" from the dining areas.

Sekula-Gibbs remains hopeful this is only a first step towards her more comprehensive ban:

"I feel like it's a step in the right direction," Sekula-Gibbs said.

She pointed out that many cities that have barred smoking in public places started off with partial bans such as White's proposal.

"I think most Houstonians would support a full ban, but the mayor won't do it right now," Sekula-Gibbs said.

Sekula-Gibbs concludes with her best impression of Sheila "I can always be found when a camera is nearby" Jackson Lee:

She added that until Wednesday's proposal, she had not gotten much support from White in her efforts. Sekula-Gibbs said she believes White may have proposed the ordinance because she has pushed the issue by having two meetings in the last month with various constituency groups and community leaders.

As someone who has portrayed herself as a conservative, the doctor-councilwoman should, perhaps, just back away and let the mayor (a former Democratic state party chair) take credit for proposals that impose new burdens on business owners and seem an odd priority given Houston's many ongoing problems (ranging from HPD manpower shortages to municipal pension plans that still have liabilities that will require issuance of bonds to the HPD crime lab).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/08/04 12:13 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Harris County's version of eBay

This looks interesting: Harris County has an online program for bargain-hunters:

The county purchasing office runs a 24-hour Internet auction featuring the county's used and surplus office furniture and computers, jewelry and items confiscated by the Sheriff's Department, and even sunglasses and umbrellas left behind on Metropolitan Transit Authority buses.

The auction, which began in 1999, brought in more than $477,000 last year, money that went into the county's general operating fund.

"It's a little revenue generator for us, not a big one, but something," said Jack McCown, head of the purchasing office.

Before bidding, shoppers can inspect items at the county's purchasing warehouse at 601 Lockwood, near Navigation east of downtown.

Items are sold "as is." That may mean that a piece of electronic equipment doesn't turn on and needs to be fixed, said Bea Agundez, the purchasing office employee who runs the auction.

The article says a computer table can be bought for $5 and a filing cabinet, with a stain, for $1.

I'm not sure I'd want to bid on used sunglasses, though.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/08/04 10:24 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Noise study planned for Bush Intercontinental

Residents who live close to George Bush Intercontinental Airport have succeeded in getting airport officials to agree to a noise study:

Airport manager Tom Bartlett and Rick Barrett, senior project manager for noise compliance, discussed the status of a planned noise model study and noise monitoring with members of the Coalition of Homeowner Alliances Requiring Government Equity (or CHARGE) at a town hall meeting Monday at North Harris College.

A contract that would fund the study is expected to go to Houston City Council for approval in the new few weeks.

[snip]

The project should be completed in three or four months, which keeps the project close within the time line set for the study, said Barrett.

[snip]

Numerous noise complaints have come into the airport's noise compliance office since the opening of the new runway, and after the FAA lowered the glide slope altitude near the airport from 3,000 feet to 2,000 feet.

This move, say many, has affected people whose homes and businesses are miles away from the airport than residents in the closer subdivisions such as Woodcreek, Foxwood, Kenswick and Northshire.

Once the study is complete, the information will be turned over to the FAA for review and consideration for possible mitigation, said Bartlett.

The story also mentions an interesting point: the airport wanted to use the same contractor who did the original study when the runway was planned, but the residents asked congressmen Gene Green and Kevin Brady to intervene and the city of Houston agreed to a new contractor.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/08/04 07:46 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

07 October 2004

Food and drink (10-07-2004 roundup)

The Chronicle's online food/drink section is a little thin this week, with nothing new posted from critic Alison Cook.

Dai Huynh interviews Jeff Armstrong, executive chef for 17 restaurant in the Sam Houston Hotel.

And Gracie Ochoa checks in on the Bambu Lounge at the Rickshaw.

As mentioned above, the offerings seem a little thin this week. Maybe the dead-tree version had more content. Or maybe the problem is something else.

Over at the Houston Press, Robb Walsh also seems to have taken the week off.

However, Paul Galvani found plenty of problems at the The Burning Pear in the Sugar Land Marriott.

This reader of the Houston Press hopes Walsh returns to review a Houston restaurant or two next week.

Those are pretty slim pickings on the reviews this week. Surely that's another niche to be filled by enterprising bloggers, eventually.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 11:08 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

A little problem with dates

The Chronicle may have Jeff Cohen's style of writing for various interest groups down, but other trifling details of journalism are proving elusive, if recent corrections are any indicator.

There's this one posted on October 5:

•The vice-presidential nominee debate between Democrat Lloyd Bentsen and Republican Dan Quayle took place in 1988. An article on Tuesday's Page A1 misstated the year.

That article stated the year was 1980.

Another set of corrections was posted today:

•An e-mail between former Merrill Lynch executive James Brown and a colleague regarding an airport finance project introduced into evidence in the Enron barge trial was dated March 2, 2001. A story on Page B4 of Wednesday's Metro section gave the incorrect year.
•The Coca-Cola Variety Celebrity Talent Review will be held Oct. 15 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. A story on Page E8 of Wednesday's Star section gave an incorrect date.

Aren't dates part of that who/what/when/where combo that journalists are supposed to focus on primarily?

Maybe the newspaper should hire some fact checkers to avoid putting out erroneous copy.

(10-08-2004 Update) For the third day in a row, the Chronicle has a correction involving an erroneous date:

A candidate forum for candidates for Alvin Community College board of trustees and state and Brazoria County offices will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday at the Alvin Senior Citizen Center, 309 W. Sealy. A story on Page 4 in the Oct. 7 edition of the Brazoria County ThisWeek gave an incorrect date.

(10-09-2004 Update) Make that four days in a row:

Rachel Buchman will perform at 5 p.m. Oct. 16 and 17 at the Houston Zoo as part of the Da Camera Goes to the Zoo! series. The dates were incorrect on Page F15 of Thursday's Preview section.

(10-10-2004 Update) That's five days in a row now:

•Tours of the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner are at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. An incorrect time was provided in today's Travel section on Page J1.

•The Aeros play host to Cincinnati next Saturday in their regular-season home opener at the Toyota Center. A story on Page C8 of Saturday's Chronicle incorrectly stated the Aeros' schedule.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 10:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Advocacy journalism, Cohen-style

Owen Courreges calls attention to advocacy journalism posing as news that is brazen even by Chronicle standards:

The Rev. Carolyn J. Mobley and her partner, Adrain Bowie, say they consider themselves "thrice blessed" as black, gay women.

Not everyone they encounter shares the sentiment.

"Those who don't want to acknowledge the whole of me, God bless them," Bowie said Wednesday. "They've missed out on the blessing of me."

Black same-sex couples such as Bowie and Mobley would be disproportionately harmed by anti-gay marriage policies, says a report released Wednesday by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Institute and the National Black Justice Coalition.

The reporting is not balanced by any statement from those who advocate traditional marriage, nor is there any indication that according to one survey, only 28% of blacks as a group support gay marriage (contrasted with 32% support among whites, and 36% support among Hispanics surveyed).

One imagines, though, that Jeff Cohen had to smile at this interest-group-oriented advocacy journalism. After all, he laid out the plan for it to Texas Monthly's Evan Smith shortly after taking the reins at the Chronicle:

He talked about retooling the business pages so that women, minorities, and small-business owners would read them, "not just CEOs of Fortune 500 companies." He wants the front page of every section to have stories that appeal to "Hispanics, African Americans, Jews, single moms, the elderly—all the people in the community."

Rosanna Ruiz probably earned herself a bonus by working three such groups (gays, blacks, and women) into a single story.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 10:10 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

How about a little ideological diversity?

In her regular newsletter, Texas media watcher Sherry Sylvester notes that trust in major media has reached historic lows, and suggests that it's not a coincidence that major media outlets across Texas have announced layoffs.

Sylvester argues that major media outlets in this conservative state might want to respond by rethinking the imbalances on their editorial staffs:

This bad business news could be positive for media bias fighters because it means editors and publishers must re-evaluate their product and there's a chance they will focus on the role chronically biased reporting has played in plummeting readership.

We have a number of ideas about ways to stop the hemorrhaging.

First, how about a full-time, Texas-based, conservative opinion writer. Though most state newspapers print outside commentary from conservative writers, the high-profile columnists and opinion writers on staff who focus on state politics and public policy are all liberal – some radically so.

The list includes Molly Ivins and Cragg Hines along with Jan Jarboe Russell, Clay Robison, Alberta Phillips and Democratic collaborator Dave McNeely. No conservative columnist with experience in that big chunk of Texas policy that is conservative has a staff position at a major Texas paper.

[snip]

Nobody begrudges the right of the state’s big papers to take whatever editorial positions they want to take, but some balanced commentary on state issues would reassure Texans that the folks at their local paper aren’t mailing their columns in from another planet.

Emphasis supplied to highlight the Chronicle's two hyperpartisan editorialists, one of whom moonlights as the Austin news bureau chief. Sylvester neglects to mention the Chronicle's featured metro/state columnist Rick Casey, who also comes at things from left-of-center (not to mention he sometimes takes work from other columnists without proper attribution).

Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen had a golden opportunity to hire a conservative columnist when John Williams left the newspaper for Baker Botts. Instead, he promoted staff writer Kristen Mack to Williams' old position. In her very first effort as the new columnist, Mack managed to get in an ideological dig that turned out to require a correction. Even worse, the correction itself wasn't accurate.

Until Cohen begins to address the real problems at the newspaper -- and by that we don't mean retooling the typefaces and renaming entire sections to symbols -- he should expect the criticism (and the decline in revenues) to continue.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 08:50 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Education news

Here's a brief roundup of some education news:

The results of Texas' assessment ratings continue to be absorbed by local schools and districts. Some schools that were previously rated as exemplary, have now been reclassified, and not surprisingly, school officials are scrambling to figure out what areas of instruction need improving.

Klein ISD's bond initiative passed last week, but the number of people who opposed the bond measure has surprised district officials. Officials say they would like to conduct a district-wide survey to see if they can determine why the opposition vote was higher than expected.

Spring ISD has earned a superior achievement rating in the the state's financial accountability rating system, also called School First, for the second straight year. That sounds like good news!

And Tom Kirkendall has linked to Dallas blogger Virginia Postrel's NY Times article on why Texas' Robin Hood school finance system is broken and how it might be fixed.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/07/04 02:59 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Vacation blogging

blogHOUSTON promises never to post vacation blogging that is complete and utter gibberish:

1. Insight is even more limited than normal when you're on vacation, but a lot more fun. At one point today, it seemed incredibly amusing to contemplate that the Web site www.gfl.it might stand for "Girlie Football League," and that its symbol might be a yellow breast. Alas, turned out to be a picture of a lemon shot from its nubby end.

a. The phrase "refreshing towelette" in several other languages: salvietta rinfrescante, rince-doigts, erfrischungstuch.

2. Here, where the fight against Worldwide Torpor begins to seem less and less pressing, the bees (or bee-like insects; they are the size of thumb-joints and have iridescent, Jacksonville Jaguar-like blue wings) are the same size as the hummingbirds.

3. Task: Samuel/Roger: compare/contrast

4. Another task: find a tourist spot that does not sell its own location-specific snow globe. (In other words, there is St. Elsewhere - to cite a snow globe reference - but Elsewhere is a different story.)

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/07/04 11:01 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Houston's Twinkie-centric local media

The Chronicle has followed the lead of Chronically Biased and posted an op-ed on Saving the Twinkie.

At least The Chronicle didn't pull staff from their trash coverage to devote to the topic; this op-ed comes to us as one of their "Another Voice" postings, from the Vancouver Columbian.

We're not quite sure why the Twinkie merits so much attention from the local Chron watchblog or the Chron editorial pages, but as good watchers of the local media, we feel obliged to pass it on to our readers.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 09:58 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

Bomb scare in downtown Houston?

The Chronicle is reporting that the police have opened up an area of downtown evacuated earlier today:

Several blocks in downtown Houston were evacuated this morning just as employees were showing up for work, but police are opening the area back up already.

More details to come.

That's some scanty reporting considering the Chronicle offices are downtown.

KHOU-11, whose offices are nearby on Allen Parkway, reports more details and suggests a bomb scare may have been the cause:

Houston police have blocked off an area in the 700 block of San Jacinto downtown after a suspicious device was found Thursday morning.

Houston police evacuated 701 San Jacinto Thursday morning after a suspicious device was found.

A bomb squad has been called to the scene and the building at 701 San Jacinto has been evacuated. It's not known at this time when or who discovered the device.

We'll post an update as developments warrant.

(Update) The Chronicle has updated their story (reproduced above in its entirety from earlier) with this:

A downtown post office was evacuated this morning when workers found a suspicious package that turned out to contain some watches, a spiral notebook and a few other personal items.

Streets around the post office in the 700 block of San Jacinto were closed for less than hour as the Houston Police Department's bomb squad rushed to the scene and checked out the package.

So, it was a false alarm. Thankfully.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/04 09:45 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

06 October 2004

Opa!

The 38th annual Greek Festival put on by Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church opens on Thursday and continues through Sunday.

Although the other Greek Orthodox church in town also puts on a festival, this one is still the biggest and the best.

Indeed, it's consistently one of the better ethnic festivals put on in this city.

Parking is always difficult near the festival. If you're not familiar with Montrose, your best bet is to park at Lamar High School and take the free Metro shuttle (details here).

Go enjoy some (bad) Greek wine, excellent spanokopita, and beautiful bozouki music.

Opa!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 11:43 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (4)

This week in Houston music

David Cobb posts his invaluable roundup of this weekend's upcoming live music in town.

Cobb focuses mainly on rock, so here is a supplement of Texas/alt-country/Americana music going on around town.

Thursday, October 7
David Joseph, Firehouse Saloon

Friday, October 8
Django Walker, Firehouse Saloon (Eli Young opens)
The Weary Boys, Continental Club
Jimmy LaFave, Mucky Duck
Shake Russell, Anderson Fair
Mandy Smith Group, Fitzgerald's

Saturday, October 9
Cooder Graw, Firehouse Saloon (Jody Booth opens)
Hadden Sayers, Continental Club (King Coal opens)
Paul Thorn, Mucky Duck
Jon Dee Graham, Sidecar Pub

That list isn't exhaustive, but those are shows that caught my eye. Also, Blanco's usually has good Texas country acts on the weekends, but since they don't have a website, they don't get as much publicity as they might.

Always check the venue before heading out, as bookings can change rapidly.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 11:30 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Bad news for ExxonMobil

Although Houston's economy is no longer as dependent as it once was on oil (something that one MSNBC producer seems to need to repeat to himself in order to believe), international oil and gas exploration, production, and trading are still mainstays of the local economy.

That's why, as Eric Siegmund points out, it's especially painful to read of ExxonMobil's decision to abandon a recent ultradeep well in the Caspian as noncommercial.

Too many folks are under the impression that "Big Oil" merely sticks a pipe in the ground and reaps the benefits of $50/barrel oil. In reality, drilling a single well involves all sorts of geological, engineering, fiscal, environmental, regulatory, and political complexities, just to start. It's not a cheap business, as is illustrated by Eric's post about ExxonMobil having to write off a $100 million drilling project that, according to the best judgment and planning by the world's foremost energy company, should have been a success.

That's the nature of the business, as many Houstonians know.

(10-07-2004 Update) A correction has been posted above. A reader points out that I used the term ultradeepwater when I should have used the term ultradeep. That's a significant difference, and the text has been corrected. We appreciate our smart readers keeping us on our toes!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 09:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Hallmark on political risk in the oil and gas industry

Local political risk analyst Terry Hallmark is featured today in a question-and-answer article put together by David Ivanovich for the Chronicle business section.

Hallmark is one of the foremost political risk analysts practicing the craft, having been at it roughly 20 years or so now.

I've been privileged to call him my boss, mentor, and friend for nearly seven years. For a sampling of the sorts of issues we deal with on any given day, go check out Ivanovich's article.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 09:03 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (0)

Tom DeLay defended, rebuked

Edd Hendee, conservative morning talk show host for KSEV-700 radio, pens an op-ed for the Chronicle today on Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's indirect pursuit of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R, Sugar Land). I'm going to excerpt liberally, because the Chronicle does not archive op-eds:

[W]hat happened in 2002 is that companies gave money to TRMPAC as companies give money to liberal and conservative groups all the time. TRMPAC used this soft money on administrative expenses in some cases, and in other instances gave that money to other political organizations. Companies and individuals also give money to state and national political parties like the Republican and Democratic national committees who, in turn, donate some of that money to state and local groups with similar goals.

One of the indictments against a TRMPAC official says he broke the law by giving $190,000 in soft money to the Republican National Committee, which in turn allegedly sent $190,000 in hard or politically utile money. Indeed, this hard money was used by TRMPAC to help Republicans win a Texas Majority (as the name of the group makes clear).

District Attorney Earle would have us believe this arrangement — so common in American politics that it is taken for granted as a means of dispersing campaign money around the country by both parties — is illegal.

For the benefit of the Travis County district attorney, here are some examples of how soft and hard money have flowed on the Democratic side over the past few years:

• On Oct. 31, 2002, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $75,000 of hard money. The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $75,000 of soft money.

• On July 19, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000 of hard money. The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000 of soft money.

• On June 8, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000 of hard money. The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000 of soft money.

• On May 14, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000 of hard money. The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000 of soft money.

• On Sept. 1, 1999, the Texas Democratic Party sent the DNC $50,000 of hard money. The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000 of soft money.

Mr. Earle, call your office: Your state party has a few things they'd like to discuss. Oh, and by the way: When can we expect your office to indict the Democrats on these same "infractions"?

Strangely, the folks at Chronically Biased neither linked to nor commented on this op-ed, despite the fact that KSEV sponsors their weblog and Edd Hendee is on their editorial board.

Maybe they'll have something to say tomorrow about the ethics rebuke MSNBC is reporting (based on anonymous sources).

Interestingly, the byline for this story is: "Hendee, a Houstonian, is active in Republican Party politics." One wonders if that was supplied by Hendee or written by David Langworthy. Since the Chronicle refuses to answer questions about this editorial page policy, it looks like we'll keep wondering.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 08:32 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)

Who sponsored the draft bill?

The Chronicle is really a piece of work. This article on the Democrat-proposed draft is headlined, "GOP tries to quell rumor of draft's return." Not, "Democrat-sponsored bill to impose draft fails," because, while that would be more accurate, it wouldn't make Republicans look bad. Here are some highlights:

Sheryl Hughes of Houston was skeptical but still concerned: Could the e-mailed memo she received about a looming national draft be true? Could Hughes' 20-year-old be facing compulsory military duty as soon as next summer?

"People say it won't happen, but this e-mail talked about bills in Congress right now," said Hughes, a pediatric instructor at a Baylor College of Medicine facility.

Of course, those e-mails didn't mention that some Democrats cooked up this bill.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Tuesday night forced a vote on an obscure bill introduced last year by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York that would have set up a new draft. It was defeated 402-2, with the yes votes coming from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif.

Both Rangel, who authored the bill, and DeLay, who brought it to a vote, voted against it — a rarity some longtime members said was unprecedented.

That's because the bill was stupid. Duh!

Democrats also opposed Rangel's bill. And although they didn't comment on DeLay's charges they were behind the e-mails, they criticized the House leader, saying he forced the vote for political gain.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, who originally co-sponsored the legislation, then voted against it Tuesday, said, "This was a protest to say to the president, 'What is your exit strategy? What is your strategy to win the peace? We have none.' "

That was some good thinking, Ms. Jackson Lee. Look, the men and women in the military don't want a draft either. They don't want to work alongside people who don't want to be there, because that would make their jobs harder and more dangerous. So, of course DeLay brought this to a vote. The Republicans didn't start this nonsense and it would be suicide for President Bush to support a draft. Plus, military leaders and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld say a draft is not needed:

"I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft," Mr. Rumsfeld told a Washington gathering of members of the Newspaper Association of America, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press.

Newspaper editors - love that!

This vote does bring something else to mind though:

Democrats said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was trying to avoid protesters Monday when he moved a fund-raiser up by four hours.

But aides to the Sugar Land Republican said the event was moved from noon to 8 a.m. because Congress was in session on Monday. A recess had been expected when the event was set, they said.

[snip]

DeLay spokesman Jonathan Grella said the congressman had to reschedule his event so he could get back to Washington in time for a meeting.

Maybe DeLay had to get back to Washington so he could get things in order to kill the Democrat-sponsored draft bill, with an almost unanimous vote.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/06/04 12:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

Adding insult to injury

The woman who walked into the light rail tram on Monday -- the 66th documented tram accident -- received a ticket for her mistake:

A 57-year-old Houston woman received a citation from Metro police Monday after she walked into the side of a moving light rail train at Reliant Park Station. The woman, ticketed for failing to obey the pedestrian-crossing signal, was struck by a northbound train entering the station about 8:15 a.m. She received minor injuries and was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she was treated and released.

One hopes the overbearing Metro cops at least determined if she was okay before forcing her to sign her citation.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 08:05 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

The Chronicle publishes a letter from Iraq

The Chronicle has published a letter from Iraq. Unfortunately, it's not a letter from a military person. Nope, the Chronicle finally finds a letter it wants to publish and it's from...a journalist:

This probity has been reflected in Fassihi's subsequent work. It also might explain the wildfire circulation of her unofficial, not-for-publication e-mail about Iraq, meant for friends but leaked on the Internet. Though the missive apparently does not contradict her reportage, it is blunt, bleak and opinionated in a way that mainstream coverage generally avoids.

"Iraqis like to call this mess 'the situation,' " Fassihi wrote. "The situation, basically, means a raging barbaric guerrilla war. In four days, 110 people died and over 300 got injured in Baghdad alone. ... Insurgents now attack Americans 87 times a day." Later she adds, "One could argue that Iraq is already lost beyond salvation. For those of us on the ground it's hard to imagine what if anything could salvage it from its violent downward spiral."

Fact for fact, Fassihi's e-mail offers little that can't be found in published accounts. What has made it dart from Web site to Web site is the contrast of unvarnished personal expression with Fassihi's status as reporter for an establishment newspaper. What has made the piece resonate is that its voice was not meant for the public.

You know, this is just pathetic. And the editors made an editorial out of it. How hard can it be to find a letter from a journalist saying things aren't going well in Iraq?

Since the Chronicle is apparently unable to find any letters from our brave troops, who get around a bit more than reporters do, we'll help out:

Here's some background on Al Faluja to keep in mind.

A) Why is it in the news almost every night? Because it is one of the FEW places in all of Iraq where trouble exists. Iraq has 25 million people and is the size of California. Faluja and surrounding towns total 500,000 people. Do the math: that's not a big percentage of Iraq. How many people were murdered last night in L.A.? Did it make headline news? Why not?

B) Saddam could not and did not control Faluja. He bought off those he could, killed those he couldn't and played all leaders against one another. It was and is a 'difficult' town. Nothing new about that. What is new is that outside people have come in to stir up unrest. How many are there is classified, but let me tell you this: there are more people in the northeast Minneapolis gangs than there are causing havoc in Faluja. Surprised?

C) Then why does it get so much coverage? Because the major news outlets have camera crews permanently posted in Faluja. So, if you are from outside Iraq, and want to get air time for your cause, where would you go to terrorize, bomb, mutilate and destroy? Faluja.

There's more to that letter so please read it. Here's the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which managed to get several letters from troops in Iraq and braved space restrictions to publish them all:

The Houston spy camera project

Local blogger Brian Poirier is a little concerned about the surveillance cameras going up all over town.

So, like a good blogger, he's documenting those cameras online. Here's the link, if you want to contribute to his project.

Brian's also a private investigator, and sometimes shares anecdotes and tricks of the trade on his blog, which is interesting reading in itself.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 07:49 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Westpark Tollway hits construction snag

KHOU-11's Jeremy Desel checks in on uncompleted (and seemingly abandoned) connecting ramps at the new Westpark Tollway and Beltway 8:

At issue are the direct connecting ramps from Beltway 8 to the Westpark Tollway. They are tantalizingly close to completion. The signs are up, but there is nowhere to go, and now the company that is supposed to be finishing the job is gone. There is no one on the job.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority says that Jones Contractors quit late last week before mediation about contract issues.

The company says it suspended work after the county walked out of the mediation. It also says the Toll Road Authority didn't pay them for more than $275,000 worth of work that had been completed.

The company also says the project is already delayed more than a year, due to various problems.

Initially, the Toll Road Authority had hoped to have the direct connect on-ramps open early next year. But if mediation is not an option, they'll have to start over from scratch -- with a new contractor.

In that case, a new contractor would not likely begin work again until January at the earliest.

Jones Contractors say they want to finish the job, but they won't work for free. So as of now, there is no new completion date in sight.

The new toll road is an excellent addition to Houston's transit system, and makes west Houston much more accessible from the Galleria and downtown. The Toll Road Authority needs to figure out a timely way to take care of these loose ends.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/06/04 07:33 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

05 October 2004

The Chronicle examines one 527 group

The Chronicle has spent a fair amount of column space reporting on the donators to the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Indeed, given the opening sentence in today's article from D.C. bureau reporter John Frank, one can't help but suspect that some sort of agenda is work at the newspaper:

Two Texas businessmen with a history of supporting Republican causes gave $3 million last week to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group trying to sink the presidential campaign of Democrat John Kerry.

"Sink" the campaign of Senator Kerry? That sounds suspiciously like a value judgment, which journalists allegedly learn to avoid in j-school.

Why not simply describe the organization neutrally, as a 527 group that promotes its perspective on the Senator's Vietnam and post-Vietnam record?

Furthermore, why focus exclusively on one 527 group when there are so many, and the spending has been directed so disproportionately towards defeating a President who calls Texas his home?

The editors can answer, of course, that it's of particular interest to their readers what Texans are contributing to 527 organizations. Fine. Why is it not of similar interest what other individuals are contributing to defeat a President who makes his home in Crawford and who served two terms as governor of Texas?

Fortunately, one need not rely on dinosaur media to track who's spending what against whom in terms of 527 organizations. Indeed, the TaxProf Blog posted a nice summary of 527 spending today, with all sorts of links to back up the research. Interestingly enough, clicking on the link to Top 20 Individual Contributors to 527 Groups shows only one Texan on the list: one Linda Pritzker of Houston, TX, who has contributed $900,000 to the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, a liberal umbrella organization devoted to defeating the "extremist agenda of the Bush Republicans" (note: the Chronicle has asserted previously that Pritzker actually lives in Montana, but the organization through which she makes her contributions is incorporated in Houston). Indeed, the top two contributors alone (Peter Lewis and George Soros) have donated a combined $26 million to defeat a sitting President whose home state is Texas.

The fact that the newspaper that missed Enron (and apparently also missed an important phone call about Dan Rather's fake memos) is so disinterested in individual liberals spending so many millions to defeat a President who calls Texas his home state, but is so much more interested in a group with an obvious personal score to settle over Senator Kerry's Vietnam record, is telling.

It's also illustrative of why trust in the dinosaur media is at historic lows.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/05/04 09:05 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Marvin Zindler fulfills an unusual request

Marvin Zindler is one of those media personalities who just can't be explained to non-Houstonians.

He enjoyed momentary fame outside of town when his character was played by Dom Deluise in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but I suspect most folks would be shocked to know that not only was that character based on a real person, but he's still reporting, and on the perennial leader in ratings for Houston news at that.

Last night, KTRK-13 aired a story by Zindler that is vintage:

When I received the request, I thought it was rather strange. So I read it again and it was still strange. Of the thousands of letters I get each year, one that I received recently is a first. Who would have ever thought I'd be helping somebody get a hair piece like mine? Cara Protain wrote that her dad, Layton Brandt, is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and will lose all his hair. And, he wants hair like Marvin Zindler.

But, which Marvin Zindler? I've had hundreds over the years.

"Which one do you want," I asked him. "I've been wearing different hair pieces for 32 years."

"I like that one right there," he said pointing out one of my hair styles. "Are you sure, because I've got a whole bunch of them?" I asked.

The man who makes my hair is Tom Magliaro and I'm going to tell a tale on Tom. He wears a hair piece, too. I brought in Tom to meet Brandt.

"We're going to take good care of you," said Magliaro. "It will look 100 percent natural."

[snip]

In a few days, I'm going to show you a new Layton Brandt in his new head of hair, all thanks to Marvin's Angel Tom Magliaro.

As Dave Ward frequently says, thank you Marvin.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/05/04 06:17 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (2)

MeMo's feeling blue

Yes, we poke fun at MeMo, but MeMo earns all that poking by writing columns like yesterday's:

As previously noted, MeMo went off for a few days to fight Worldwide Torpor. But as every superhero knows, you're only as good as your costume. MeMo did not expect - or anticipate, for you grammarians - not to be accompanied on her quest by her luggage. It is difficult, but not impossible, to present a plausible persona when you're in a strange (read: Not Lone Star) place with no clean underwear. Or shampoo. Or any of the face paints and unguents that set apart the Warrior Superhero from the Mild-Mannered Editor, or the slightly pulled-together-looking woman from the slightly ragged-looking one.

By Day Four, unless you adopt a certain equipoise and devil-may-care attitude, you could start to get a little jumpy at the thought of yanking on that same pair of crusty jeans again. Even with the right attitude, it's no good to have jeans that incorporate more of your DNA than you yourself do.

We at blogHOUSTON are sorry MeMo is feeling so torpor-ish, but all this crusty-jean talk is way more than we care to know. Torpor means apathy (yes, I had to look it up), and who knows what's got MeMo so down in the dumps (COUGH food editor, downsizing COUGH), but we encourage the Chronicle to get a blog that actually blogs interesting stuff. Perhaps even newsy stuff.

(Since I have already nominated Ken Hoffman for debate analysis, I guess I can't nominate him for a cultural blog, too. Maybe James T. Campbell could take a break from the Trash Beat and we could have a corrections blog.)

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/05/04 03:41 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)

The Chronicle's invaluable debate analysis

The Chronicle's Gebe Martinez gives us a peek at tonight's vice-presidential debate:

One word likely will come up and define differences on domestic policy between the two major party vice-presidential candidates in their debate tonight: Halliburton.

Well, who could have guessed that?

For more blazing political insight, the Chronicle offers this:

On debate nights, Hines will provide up-to-the-minute analysis and commentary in the Sudden Insight feature on www.chron.com/politics.

Cragg Hines. Wonder who he'll think came out on top?

Here's a suggestion for the Chronicle: let Ken Hoffman cover the debates. He would probably be more balanced and his "analysis and commentary" would surely be more fun to read.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/05/04 11:50 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Equal time for endorsements?

Last week, Anne Linehan poked fun at the Chronicle for displaying its killer journalistic instincts in going after a big story: the Crawford, TX Lone Star Iconoclast's endorsement of Senator John Kerry for President.

While the endorsement of another candidate by the President's hometown newspaper is mildly amusing, Rob Booth suggested that perhaps it didn't merit two separate stories in the Chronicle.

Courtesy of NRO, we see that the Lowell Sun has recently endorsed President Bush.

Now, we don't know if Theresa Heinz Kerry allows the Senator to call Lowell his hometown any longer, but that is the place where he launched his political career.

So, surely this endorsement will be of interest to the Chronicle's editors.

It's not in Texas, so we'll forgive them if they don't run two stories on it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/05/04 08:55 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

04 October 2004

Jim Jones profiles Joel Osteen

Jim Jones profiles Lakewood Church's Joel Osteen in an AP article that quite a few publications have picked up:

The Rev. Joel Osteen is a rising star among America's TV evangelists. He is the pastor of the 30,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston, the fastest-growing church in America last year.

And he seldom utters a discouraging word.

He reminds me of one of my favorite aunts, who would always take up for us if we had done something wrong. "He didn't go to do it," Aunt Allie would say kindly, and perhaps we really didn't mean to do something bad -- on that particular occasion.

Osteen, 41, has a similar forgiving touch, telling people not to dwell on past shortcomings and to pick themselves up after misfortune and move on. Millions respond to his message of forgiveness. Others criticize him for not focusing enough on sin.

I admit that when Osteen comes on the tube, telling us to put our bad experiences behind us, that God loves us and that our future is bright, it's a hard-to-resist message. While on vacation, I decided to drive a few extra miles to see what Osteen was like in person.

We were greeted by some of the 7,800 worshippers attending a Sunday-morning service, just part of the more than 20,000 people who attend Lakewood Church on any given weekend.

Lakewood Church will shortly move to the Compaq Center, once home to the Houston Rockets. The growth of the church under Joel Osteen has just been phenomenal, as the article points out.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/04/04 09:40 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)

Chronicle reader rep takes on trash

Houston Chronicle reader representative James T. Campbell gets rare column space today for an article on... a proposed Fondren Southwest trash transfer station?

No doubt, the trash transfer station is an important issue to folks who live in the area.

But at a time when the Chronicle is poised for layoffs and overall trust in the media is at historic lows, it seems an odd topic to assign the Chronicle's reader representative (as opposed to, say, a staff writer), whether it's in his back yard or not.

Other newspapers offer Campbell's equivalent a regular column to talk about editorial issues and to enlighten readers on editorial practices. I can't recall ever seeing Daniel Okrent or Michael Getler or David House getting space on the editorial page to complain about a trash facility in their respective neighborhoods.

It's a strange editorial decision even for the Chronicle.

Maybe it explains why I never got a followup to a question Campbell promised to answer for me but never did. Apparently, he was too busy researching trash to help me (and our readers) understand an editorial policy at his newspaper.

I know the Chronicle is a little shorthanded these days, but making the ombudsman moonlight on the trash beat seems a bit much.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/04/04 09:17 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

GPS, EZ Tags, Transtar, and other concerns

Lucas Wall penned a column for the Chronicle today discussing research by transportation officials from several states (including Texas) on alternative funding mechanisms for the gasoline tax.

The notion is that the gasoline tax might eventually be replaced by some sort of metering system, by which GPS or other equipment would record mileage traveled, which would then be billed. One benefit could potentially be a market-oriented approach to congestion, since mileage prices could be set higher during peak traffic times.

Charles Kuffner, who commented on Wall's column much earlier today, has quite a discussion going on his site. His commenters voice many of the same privacy concerns raised by Chris Baker on his KPRC-950 talk show earlier today.

The folks who are agitated about the notion of GPS tracking systems and recorders in their cars might be surprised to learn that quite a number of cars already have such systems. What is being done or could be done with that data is anybody's guess, but this isn't just some theoretical question over privacy at this point.

In Houston specifically, a caller to the Baker program made the very good point that Houstonians driving around the city with EZ Tags may not realize that they are being monitored already when they use the freeways. If you click on that nice Transtar graphic on the right sidebar, you'll see a map that shows traffic flow on freeways all over town. How is that flow calculated? Yes, you guessed it: From EZ Tags in cars travelling by the monitoring points.

That's not to suggest that Transtar is doing anything untoward with personal data. But it IS to suggest that the idea we shouldn't allow GPS or transponder technology into our cars because of privacy concerns is already moot. The technology's already being used, to some extent, right here in Houston.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/04/04 05:25 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)

Register to vote

The Chronicle has an editorial reminding readers that today is the last day to register to vote for the presidential election. Pretty straightforward, one would think, but the editors couldn't miss this opportunity:

The outcome of the presidential election in Texas might be a foregone conclusion. Ruthless partisan redistricting has practically reserved congressional and legislative seats for one party or the other. Still, there are other reasons for citizens to cast a ballot in the November election.

They are still a bit worked up over the redistricting pushed through by Gov. Perry and Rep. DeLay, huh?

Ah well, we at blogHOUSTON heartily second the register-to-vote sentiment!

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/04/04 08:01 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

03 October 2004

Go 'Stros!

How about those Astros?

They charged into the playoffs today after most everyone -- this blogger included -- had given them up for dead a couple of months ago.

The usual staid analysis from the local sports columnists will come around tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, check in at Astros Daily and Houston's Clear Thinkers, who've got things covered.

Why wait for local analysis on dead tree when we have the internet?

(Update) The Astros will host a rally at Minute Maid on Monday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Full details are here. The Astros' press release indicates that "RCA recording artist Randy Rogers" will be performing. We weren't aware that he'd signed with RCA, but if this is the Randy Rogers they're talking about, fans are in for a treat.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/04 09:09 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

The Grand Parkway

The Grand Parkway has turned into a grand brouhaha, in north Harris County, as opponents of the segment slated to be built through Spring fear it will be fast-tracked. The Chronicle reports on a meeting state Sen. Jon Lindsay held recently with Grand Parkway supporters:

Lindsay said he is doing what it takes to get the Grand Parkway built expeditiously through the Spring area, and it may mean taking the state transportation department out of the equation. He said he is not worried it will move to Montgomery County.

"We brought the developers together to make sure everyone was on the same page," Lindsay said. "There was some discussion about different routes and how they would affect developments, but everyone there agreed we need to do the project."

Opponents would like to see the project rerouted through Montgomery County, something that is being studied by TxDOT now. Supporters who want to see the Grand Parkway built in Spring say the meeting was held only to gauge support for the project.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/03/04 05:58 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

Trees for Houston

Apparently, Houston needs some tree diversity as an ongoing inventory of the city's trees shows a disproportionate number are live oaks:

Surveys of various local neighborhoods consistently show that 60 percent to 70 percent of the trees on public land are live oaks.

Experts say, however, that a diversity of species is essential to keep urban trees healthy and abundant.

"Only 10 percent should be one species," said Charles Burditt, president of a Conroe-based forestry consulting firm that bears his name. "Otherwise, a disease or other catastrophic event could wipe out a large percentage of your trees."

Burditt is providing such information and advice through a tree inventory the firm is conducting in Midtown, a redeveloping neighborhood south of downtown.

Experts say a current database of the number, species and condition of trees is an invaluable tool in preserving urban canopies, which are diminishing in Houston and most other cities.

"This is the best practice for urban forestry," said Kathy Lord, executive director of the nonprofit group Trees for Houston. "If we don't know what we have in this 680 square miles, how can we take care of it?"

I'm a big fan of Trees for Houston and was happy to see the group mentioned in the article, but the Chronicle missed an opportunity to provide a link for the group. That's supposed to be one of the advantages of reading an article online - more information than one might find in the paper. Trees for Houston's website is full of valuable information about choosing and caring for trees, in addition to providing details about what areas and neighborhoods are benefiting from the group's tree plantings.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/03/04 03:47 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Motorists complain about inadequate TXDOT signage

KHOU-11's Wendell Edwards reports that motorists are having difficulties because of inadequate signage around TXDOT's ongoing I-10/610 construction:

One driver who decided to change lanes at the last minute ended up stuck in the median.

Driver Mary Lee Camarata said the reconstruction there is catching a lot of motorists off guard.

"In my case, I saw to cars swerve ahead of me to get into the right lane," said Camarata.

People driving south on this part of 610 can use the intersection to exit east onto I-10 or West onto the Katy Freeway.

But Camarata said the new design, complete with a barrier, is forcing some to make that decision in split second.

"This is much worse. It is scary and somebody's going to get hurt," said Camarata.

One driver was seen putting it in reverse to correct his mistake.

Tx-DOT said they are aware of what is going on out there and said the construction design is only temporary.

The design is only two weeks old, part of the reconstruction of that intersection.

Camarata wants new signs to warn drivers earlier about the barrier and help erase the confusion.

I won't come this way and I hope they make a correction to make it at least safer," said Camarata.

Motorists would be wise to keep the pressure on TXDOT, which doesn't always follow through on such matters. A case in point is TXDOT's ongoing US 59/Spur construction, which still suffers from inadequate signage along entrances, exits, and lane endings, leading to last-second decisions and dangerous conditions. That project has been ongoing for months.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/04 03:15 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (1)

Chron editors misrepresent unreleased study

In a staff editorial today, the Chronicle endorses the smoking ban that has been proposed by Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

One can't help but think that the city ought to be considering more important issues than a smoking ban and a $2 million giveaway for an African-American museum, especially given the current manpower shortage at HPD, municipal pension plans that still have underfunded liabilities and will require the issuance of bonds, and ongoing controversies at the HPD crime lab.

There are two sides to the smoking debate, of course, and HoustonSmokingBan.org promises to be a repository of information on the topic. Given the Chronicle's infamous rail-memo controversy, they'll have to pardon us for not trusting them to provide balanced coverage on this issue they've just adopted.

To wit, this sentence from the Chronicle editorial:

A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburg discovered that a single exposure to tobacco smoke can cause the sort of DNA damage that, after repeated exposure, leads to mutations and cancer.

First, that's Pittsburgh. With an H.

Second, the editors are apparently reporting from a press release about the study, which isn't scheduled to be released until October 5. Further, the press release reports that the study involved exposing cells to condensate obtained by burning cigarettes. While that's useful for scientists studying cell mutation and cancer, the results aren't necessarily analagous to a person exposed to secondhand smoke, and it's a stretch for the Chronicle to conclude that any exposure to secondhand smoke causes DNA damage that can lead to cancer based on this press release.

The Chronicle editors have misrepresented the results of a study that hasn't even been released yet, and seem to have read the associated press release in a fairly self-serving fashion.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/04 02:56 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

That Newsweek poll

One can imagine how excited the Chronicle editors were to pounce on this Reuters story of a Newsweek poll:

Democratic challenger John Kerry has pulled ahead of President Bush in a poll published by Newsweek magazine showing that Thursday's television debate erased the lead Bush had enjoyed for the past month.

In a two-way contest, the Kerry/Edwards ticket in the Nov. 2 presidential election led by 49 percent against 46 percent for Bush/Cheney, according to 1,013 registered voters polled by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

According to the poll, 61 percent of Americans who watched the presidential debate Sept. 30 said Kerry won, 19 percent said Bush won and 16 percent said they tied. The number of viewers surveyed was 770.

Bush's job-approval rating dropped two points from the Sept. 9-10 Newsweek poll to 46 percent — a 6-point drop since the Republican National Convention a month ago. Fifty-seven percent of all poll respondents — a total of 1,144 adults — said they were dissatisfied with the way things were going in the United States now.

Unfortunately, the Chronicle didn't provide much context for what looks like a sizable voter shift.

Here are some bloggers to put it into perspective.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/03/04 02:42 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Bad air in Houston

By all accounts, ozone levels in Houston last week reached unhealthy levels that should please nobody.

However, it's interesting to compare the headlines that different news outlets applied to the news:

Groups disagree on severity of Houston's smog last week (Victoria Advocate/AP)

Group says smog particularly bad this week in Houston (Denton Record-Chronicle/AP)

Houston tops for bad air (Houston Chronicle)

In Houston, record pollution (Dallas Morning News)

The Victoria Advocate's headline is probably most accurate, since an environmental group and a Texas agency did disagree on how to interpret the data. The Denton Record-Chronicle headline if somewhat misleading in that ozone and smog are not synonymous (the story itself is the full version of the AP story run by the Victoria newspaper). The Houston Chronicle headline is somewhat misleading, since bad air and bad ozone readings are not synonymous (although neither is desirable). The DMN headline is true to an extent, but somewhat misleading outside of the context that there are now more data gathering points in Houston, so claiming that a record number of points collected data of some occurrence isn't really a useful method of comparing the data over time (and "pollutions" sounds much more ominous than ozone levels).

Houston air certainly has its problems, but the biggest problem tends to be ozone (and the main reason Houston is exceeding Los Angeles in "bad" ozone days this year is attributed to atmospheric conditions in LA). It doesn't help the public debate on the issue when the media seizes on Houston "beating" LA for "bad air" or "pollution" (not synonymous with ozone) and burying the details well below somewhat misleading headlines.

(Update) The headline for Janice Williamson's report for KHOU-11 is probably the most accurate of all: Houston smog hits danger zone.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/04 01:28 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)

Earth to the Chronicle

CBS News points out something interesting in an online story (we'll assume the story isn't based on fake documents) about the debate last Thursday:

But, with the exception of Mr. Bush’s essentially hometown newspaper, the Houston Chronicle – which gave the president a 51-45 percent advantage – Kerry faired significantly better in online polls from around the country.

The Chicago Tribune's online poll, for example, gave Kerry a 68-31 percent edge, while Newsday.com had Kerry ahead by 83-16 percent.

Similar results were found in the Tampa Tribune online poll (74-23 percent in favor of Kerry) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Kerry the winner by 83-7 percent).

The Denver Post online poll had Kerry winning 74-21 percent, and the Atlant [sic] Journal Constitution had him ahead of the president by 57-30 percent.

MSNBC's online poll showed Kerry the winner by 62–38 percent, while CBSNews.com had him leading Mr. Bush by 88-10 percent.

Everyone knows online polls are unscientific. But if most major news organizations' online polls favored Kerry except the Chronicle's, shouldn't that be a clue to the Chronicle Bigs that their intended readership trends conservative? I say intended because it appears the Chronicle has already turned off many Houstonians.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/03/04 10:47 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

02 October 2004

Rice inaugurates seventh president

Rice University inaugurated its seventh president, former Columbia University law dean David Leebron, earlier today.

Leebron assumed the presidency on 1 July, but today's inauguration represented the official, full transfer of power.

Houston is blessed with one of the nation's most selective universities (Rice), a comprehensive research university (UH), medical schools (the Med Center), and numerous other educational institutions (TSU, HBU, St. Thomas, HCC). We never hear much about Houston's educational institutions, but we should. They are a major asset to our city.

(10-03-2004 Update) Joe Stinebaker covers the inauguration for the Chronicle.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/02/04 10:20 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chron transportation columnist slapped down by monorail advocate

Thanks to requests by Tom Bazan under the Open Records Act, John Gaver has updated his comprehensive list of MetroRail crashes to include several previously unreported collisions. Gaver's count now stands at 65.

Also, it appears that Metro is now classifying as a collision what it had previously deemed a "suicide attempt" in its official count, a lead that had been followed by the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle's transportation columnist, Lucas Wall, recently criticized Gaver's site in a posting to a Yahoo group run by monorail advocates:

Ken Charles stirs it up some more

We mentioned a few days ago that KPRC-950 program director Ken Charles had been highly opportunistic in promoting his station after the Dan Rather memogate controversy, even generating a buzz on a conservative competitor's weblog.

As it turns out, he's even generated a buzz among liberals, with Congressman Gene Green sending Charles a letter complaining about the decision to pull Rather's CBS news segment, and highlighting four "inaccuracies" spread by radio hosts on KPRC.

It's pretty lame stuff, but that's to be expected from the minority party one supposes.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/02/04 03:11 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)

Quotables

Today's Chronicle "Quotable" should actually be plural because we get two. Here's the first:

"Kerry was very presidential in his demeanor...And I had already reached that conclusion before the people on TV told us what to think."

-- Barbara Walenga, a Republican-leaning independent from Franklin, Ind.

Here's the second:

"My biggest impression is that John Kerry never answered the questions...he never said what he would do to change things."

-- Dan Roberts, a 45-year-old Democrat from Vancouver, Wash.

Don't you wonder if some editing snafu happened to mix up the attributions?

It's interesting how obsessed the media is with labels. Let's assume the attributions aren't mixed up. That means the Chronicle found a positive quote for Kerry that appeared to come from a "Republican-leaning independent." And then the Chronicle decided to balance this by having a quote that wasn't so favorable to Kerry from someone who says he is a Democrat. I'm not sure what the point is, but it's amusing, nonetheless.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/02/04 02:41 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Education news

There were two education stories of note last week, the biggest of which was the release of school ratings, based on Texas' new accountability system:

After an absence of one year while a new, tougher standardized test was introduced to students, school ratings came back Thursday. And as state education officials had predicted, it will take time and hard work before student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS, equals the levels reached on the test it replaced — the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, or TAAS.

Here is the site to look at the results.

Some school districts are going back to the drawing board, to find ways to raise student achievement, which is certainly not a bad thing:

When the results were released Thursday morning by the Texas Education Agency, Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley noted that they were based on much more rigorous standards than in previous years, including the more comprehensive Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test.

"I know...that some schools will be disappointed with their ratings today," she said. "I encourage members of their community to look closely at the data behind the ratings. In most cases, these schools and districts have not had a decline in academic performance. The state has significantly raised the bar primarily through its testing program, which will not be fully phased in until the spring of 2005.

"We are asking our students and our schools to perform at higher levels." And that's a good thing, said Montgomery school district Superintendent Bob Smith, whose district went from exemplary to acceptable this year, even with three exemplary campuses. "It's good for schools," he said, "the step up in rigor. We weren't going to continue to grow taking the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) test, by turning out passing levels of 99.9 percent year after year."

01 October 2004

Help wanted: Chron dining section

Rich Connelly notes that the Chronicle food section is without a leader yet again:

There's an old saying about legendary football coaches: You don't want to be the guy who replaces (for example) Bear Bryant. You want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced Bear Bryant.

Apparently that saying doesn't hold for Houston Chronicle food editors. The paper is looking to replace the person who replaced the person who replaced the person who replaced the legend.

Ann Criswell ruled the Chron food section for 34 years before retiring in late 2000. Since then the paper's gone through section editors like Olive Garden goes through busboys.

John DeMers lasted 18 months; Jane P. Marshall endured about half that long, and Janice Schindeler even less.

Schindeler wouldn't comment on her recent firing, but rumors are that she grew exasperated making up for an understaffed section and her bosses grew exasperated with her exasperation.

And so, for the fourth time in four years, the Chron begins a search for a food editor. Whoever they pick probably shouldn't make long-term plans.

Any foodies who are also aspiring journalists might want to ship a resume over to 801 Texas Avenue.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/04 09:45 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Dead Sea Scrolls visit Houston

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the Houston Museum of Natural Science opened today.

The exhibition will run through January 2, 2005.

Ticket prices are below:

Adults: members-$12.50, nonmember-$17.00
Seniors (62+): $15.50
Children (3-11): $9.00

Now might be a good time to become a Museum member.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/04 09:34 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Comments (0)

Hoffman gets results

Ken Hoffman, the Chronicle's resident humorist, penned a column a few weeks ago blasting Metro's comically mislabeled "express" bus that runs from from Intercontinental Airport to downtown.

Hoffman now reports that Metro is actually considering a real express service:

A fast, cheap and truly nonstop express bus between downtown Houston and Bush Intercontinental Airport may be on the way.

"It's in the planning stage. We are determining how many buses and how many drivers it would take and whether it would be practical — whether there would be enough people riding it," said Metro spokesperson Ken Connaughton.

Right now, the proposal is to run buses from the Downtown Transit Center on Travis and St. Joseph to Terminal C at Bush Intercontinental Airport — and vice-versa — every 30 minutes during the day.

"Cost, fare and source of funding issues must be worked out before a decision is made. So I don't have a date for start of service," Connaughton said.

It's about time, Metro. It's unbelievable that Houston doesn't already provide an inexpensive way for people to get from the airport to downtown. Almost every other major city has buses or trains to take visitors to places where they can spend money.

It is even more unbelievable that Connaughton says a study has to be conducted on whether anyone would use a true express service (which would be relatively cheap), but that Metro has no such qualms about an airport light-rail line that will be several orders of magnitude more expensive to build and operate.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/04 09:11 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)

City still dealing with Lee Brown's legacy

Kristen Mack notes that last week's city council decision to cut funding for SimDesk is another example of Mayor White's trying quietly to fix some of the problems created by the last administration.

The SimDesk program, of course, was the Brown Administration's grand idea to spend millions of dollars to enable Houstonians to go into the library, manipulate documents, and save the results on a central server using proprietary software. Hardly anyone ever used the service (since homeless people rarely have the need to crunch complicated Excel spreadsheets), and it's not clear why the proprietary solution was ever preferable to simply giving away floppy disks with a library card. Well, except for the fact that certain developers and city officials seem to have benefitted from the million+ dollar boondoggle.

Mack throws in this curious clause:

The maneuvers on SimDesk and the museum technically allow White to see the projects through, protecting Brown's legacy as the city's first African-American mayor, while not obligating the city to pay more money.

Brown was the city's first African-American mayor, but it's unclear as to why that was mentioned in this discussion of two examples of his fiscal irresponsibility. SimDesk really wasn't a racial issue, despite Mayor Brown's efforts to make it one.

I wonder if Mack is responsible for that clause, or an editor added it later.

Elsewhere in the column, Mack hints that Mayor White has actually worked to torpedo capital-improvements funding for the African-American museum. That may indeed be what he's done behind the scenes, but he certainly has been a public advocate of the project, and taxpayers would be wise to keep a close eye on it and Mayor White.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/04 08:52 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Do 16-year-olds write these editorials?

The Chronicle's staff editorials all too often read like high school students wrote them.

For example, today the editorial board reminds us of the fact that gun accidents are enabled (get ready) by guns:

Gun advocates point to instances when guns have repelled intruders. But it is cold common sense to acknowledge reality: A gun in the house increases a family's chances of suffering an accidental shooting or violent death.

Car accidents usually involve cars. Likewise, it is "cold common sense" that driving cars increases the chances of car accidents.

For that matter, light rail collisions involve the MetroRail tram. But I'm not expecting the Chronicle to come out with any "cold common sense" on that matter.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/04 08:31 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

Seen in the Chronicle

But I can't give a link because it's not online.

In the section titled "Newsmakers," on page A2, is this:

CBS News anchor Dan Rather has decided not to attend the Lone Star Emmy Awards here as originally planned. The Oct. 16 event, honoring the best in Texas television news, will be at the Hilton Americas-Houston. "He would rather the spotlight be placed on the nominees and winners than on him, which it would inevitably be," said one insider. Rather and CBS News are the subject of an investigation into what went wrong in the handling of a story questioning the military service of President Bush. The story made use of documents that were not fully authenticated.

Not to mention the documents were FAKE!

How funny is that? Yeah, the only problem with that breaking-news story is that the documents weren't authenticated.

One can guess the people involved with Texas television news are relieved that he won't be there.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/01/04 02:32 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (0)

Some good news for the Chronicle

It's been a bit trying for the Chronicle lately. Rep. Tom DeLay wasn't indicted by the Travis County district attorney and then, strangely enough, DeLay's constituents haven't been paying attention to the Chronicle's DeLay coverage.

But there was good news yesterday as the House ethics committee admonished DeLay:

In a rare public move against a House leader, the committee found that DeLay violated House rules in his effort to get Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., to change his vote on legislation to provide a prescription drug benefit.

Meeting behind closed doors, the panel voted to adopt recommendations by investigators and issue "a public admonishment" of DeLay, Smith and one other House member.

The committee also recommended that the House take no further action against the three.

No further action? Darn. Oh wait:

Still pending before the committee is a complaint by Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, accusing DeLay of abuse of power, misuse of government resources against Democratic lawmakers in Texas and improperly raising campaign funds.

All is not lost.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/01/04 09:11 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)

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